GitHub - areschoug/weather-xamarin: Xamarin tutorial

#Xamarin Tutorial - Lets make an Weather app YO!

##Before you start Download and install Xamarin Studio. This tutorial is for mac with Xamarin Studio, but most steps should be the same on other platforms.

##Setup

###Create solution

#####Protable Library Create a Portable Library (PCL - Portable Class Library).

Name it weather-xamarin-shared
Pick location
Solution name should be weather-xamarin. Remove -shared because only the PCL will be shared.

After creating the PCL you can create the iOS and Android projects.

#####iOS

Right-click your solution in the solution navigator(?)
Go to Add. And Add New Project...

Create empty iPhone project.
Name it weather-xamarin-ios

#####Android

Right-click your solution in the solution navigator(?)
Go to Add. And Add New Project...

Create Android Application
Name it weather-xamarin-android

###Correct formating (optional) To make auto formating look the way I want it you should open your .sln file in the rootfolder of your project in a text editor of choise.

Remove this if you have it: (Most likely you won't have it)

GlobalSection(MonoDevelopProperties) = preSolution
	//Some rows
EndGlobalSection

Add this to the botom of the file, just before EndGlobal.


GlobalSection(MonoDevelopProperties) = preSolution
		Policies = $0
		$0.DotNetNamingPolicy = $1
		$1.DirectoryNamespaceAssociation = None
		$1.ResourceNamePolicy = FileFormatDefault
		$0.TextStylePolicy = $2
		$2.FileWidth = 120
		$2.inheritsSet = VisualStudio
		$2.inheritsScope = text/plain
		$2.scope = text/x-csharp
		$0.CSharpFormattingPolicy = $3
		$3.NamespaceBraceStyle = EndOfLine
		$3.ClassBraceStyle = EndOfLine
		$3.InterfaceBraceStyle = EndOfLine
		$3.StructBraceStyle = EndOfLine
		$3.EnumBraceStyle = EndOfLine
		$3.MethodBraceStyle = EndOfLine
		$3.ConstructorBraceStyle = EndOfLine
		$3.DestructorBraceStyle = EndOfLine
		$3.ElseNewLinePlacement = DoNotCare
		$3.ElseIfNewLinePlacement = DoNotCare
		$3.EmbeddedStatementPlacement = SameLine
		$3.BeforeMethodDeclarationParentheses = False
		$3.BeforeMethodCallParentheses = False
		$3.BeforeConstructorDeclarationParentheses = False
		$3.NewLineBeforeConstructorInitializerColon = SameLine
		$3.NewLineAfterConstructorInitializerColon = SameLine
		$3.BeforeDelegateDeclarationParentheses = False
		$3.AfterDelegateDeclarationParameterComma = True
		$3.NewParentheses = False
		$3.SpacesBeforeBrackets = False
		$3.inheritsSet = Mono
		$3.inheritsScope = text/x-csharp
		$3.scope = text/x-csharp
		$0.TextStylePolicy = $4
		$4.FileWidth = 120
		$4.TabsToSpaces = False
		$4.inheritsSet = VisualStudio
		$4.inheritsScope = text/plain
		$4.scope = text/plain
		$0.TextStylePolicy = $5
		$5.inheritsSet = null
		$5.scope = application/config+xml
		$0.XmlFormattingPolicy = $6
		$6.inheritsSet = null
		$6.scope = application/config+xml
	EndGlobalSection

###Set start project Right-click on the projcet you want to use as start project (ios or android) select Set as Startup Project

##Portable library

In the shared library we have as much of the sharable code as possible. In this case we will have APIClient, Controller, Weather.

APIClient will have all the API-connection code.

Controller will be the connection between ios/android and shared

Weather will be the data model.

#####Add packages To make requests and parse JSON we need to add some packages.

Right-click the weather-xamarin-shared
Go to Add. And Add NuGet Packages...
Select Json.NET and Microsoft HTTP Client Libraries
Click Add Packages

#####Weather Data Model

Add a folder to your PCL. Name it Models
Right-click it and Add File...
Create a General > Empty Class. Name it Weather.

It should look like this

using System;

namespace weatherxamarinshared {

    public class Weather {

        public Weather() {
        }

    }
}

We will use Open Weather Map to get our weather data. (http://openweathermap.org/api)

Example data:

{
  "coord": {
    "lon": 18.06,
    "lat": 59.33
  },
  "sys": {
    "type": 1,
    "id": 5420,
    "message": 0.0144,
    "country": "SE",
    "sunrise": 1426654463,
    "sunset": 1426697827
  },
  "weather": [
    {
      "id": 800,
      "main": "Clear",
      "description": "Sky is Clear",
      "icon": "01n"
    }
  ],
  "base": "cmc stations",
  "main": {
    "temp": 276.05,
    "pressure": 1033,
    "humidity": 69,
    "temp_min": 274.82,
    "temp_max": 278.15
  },
  "wind": {
    "speed": 0.5,
    "deg": 0
  },
  "clouds": {
    "all": 0
  },
  "dt": 1426708086,
  "id": 2673730,
  "name": "Stockholm",
  "cod": 200
}

To parse this json we need to add using Newtonsoft.Json; to the top of the file.

And then map the json to C#-properties like this.

[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "id")]
public int Id { get; set; }

For neasted json objects we need to add an new object to parse it. For example main. You could add a new file and add the class WeatherMain or you could just add the class inside the Weather Like this:

namespace fmtkxamarinshared {

  public class Weather {
  
    [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "id")]
    public int Id { get; set; }

    [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "main")]
    public WeatherMain Main { get; set; }

    public Weather () { }

    public class WeatherMain {

      [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "temp")]
      public double Temp { get; set; }

      [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "pressure")]
      public double Pressure { get; set; }

      [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "humidity")]
      public double Humidity { get; set; }

      public WeatherMain () {}

    }
    
  }
  
}

When you need to parse an json-array like "weather" just add using System.Collections.Generic; to the top. And add List<WeatherObject> as object for the property.

[JsonProperty(PropertyName = "weather")]
public List<WeatherObject> WeatherObjects { get; set; }

public class WeatherObject {

  [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "description")]
  public string Description{ get; set; }

  public WeatherObject () {}

}

Full Weather.cs

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;
using Newtonsoft.Json;

namespace weatherxamarinshared {

    public class Weather {

        [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "id")]
        public int Id { get; set; }

        [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "main")]
        public WeatherMain Main { get; set; }

        [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "weather")]
        public List<WeatherObject> WeatherObjects { get; set; }

        public Weather() {
        }

        public class WeatherObject {

            [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "description")]
            public string Description{ get; set; }

            public WeatherObject() {
            }

        }

        public class WeatherMain {

            [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "temp")]
            public double Temp { get; set; }

            [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "pressure")]
            public double Pressure { get; set; }

            [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "humidity")]
            public double Humidity { get; set; }

            public WeatherMain() {
            }

        }

    }

}

#####APIClient

Add a folder to your PCL. Name it API
Right-click it and Add File...
Create a General > Empty Class. Name it APIClient.

Your file should look like this

using System;

namespace weatherxamarinshared {

    public class APIClient {

        public APIClient() {
            
        }
    }
}

We want our APIClient to be a Singleton. Lets do that.

private static readonly APIClient _instance = new APIClient();

public static APIClient Instance {
	get { return _instance; }
}

To make the get request we need to import some stuff to our client. Add these:

using System.Net.Http; 			//to make http requests
using System.Threading.Tasks; 	//to make async requests
using Newtonsoft.Json; 			//to parse json

(If .HTTP or .JSON make sure that they are in the packages folder, if not add them with NuGet)

We need a HttpClient to make requests, so make a private HttpClient in your APIClient like this.

private static readonly HttpClient _client = new HttpClient();

Lets do our request.

public async void GetWeather(Action<Weather> callback) { // 1

    string url = "http://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?q=stockholm"; // 2

    Task<HttpResponseMessage> task = _client.GetAsync(url); // 3

    HttpResponseMessage response = await task; // 4
    string responseString = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync(); // 5

    Weather weather = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Weather>(responseString); // 6

    callback(weather); // 7

}

Name our method GetWeather it takes one parameter Action<Weather> callback it's the callback action that we want to fire when the request is done. async is to tell the program not to wait until function is finnished.
Url for weather in Stockholm
This line makes the get call.
await tells the thread that it should wait for the task to finish before carrying on. And we will get the HttpResponseMessage with all the good stuff.
To parse the response to an string we need to (a)wait again.
With our response string we can deserialize it to our Weather-object
Return the weather object in the callback action.

Full APIClient.cs

using System;

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Newtonsoft.Json;

namespace weatherxamarinshared {

    public class APIClient {

        private static readonly HttpClient _client = new HttpClient();
        private static readonly APIClient _instance = new APIClient();

        public static APIClient Instance {
            get { return _instance; }
        }

        public APIClient() {
            
        }

        public async void GetWeather(Action<Weather> callback) {

            string url = "http://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?q=stockholm";

            Task<HttpResponseMessage> task = _client.GetAsync(url);

            HttpResponseMessage response = await task;
            string responseString = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();

            Weather weather = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Weather>(responseString); 

            callback(weather);

        }

    }

}

#####Controller In this class we should make all the connections between the app-projects and the API. (And possible other non-platform specific code)

Create a folder called Controllers and add a Empty class called Controller.
Add a public Weather property called Weather
Create a method called FetchWeather with an Action<Weather> as parameter.
In the method call the APIClients GetWeather method and in the callback set Weather to the object from the callback.

Your Controller should look like this:

namespace weatherxamarinshared {
    public class Controller {

        public Weather Weather;

        public Controller() {
        }

        public void FetchWeather(Action<Weather> callback) {
            
            APIClient.Instance.GetWeather((w => {
                Weather = w;        
                callback(Weather);
            }));

        }
    }
}

##Platform specific

###Reference your PLC We need to add the PCL reference to our ios and android projects. Just drag-and-drop the shared project into the Reference folder in the ios and android project. It should look like this.

###iOS

#####Create view controller Add a Empty class called WeatherViewController in Classes/UI/ViewControllers. (You need to create the folders as well)

Make your WeatherViewController a sub-class of UIViewController. Add using MonoTouch.UIKit;

Override ViewDidLoad() and set background color on the view.

 public class WeatherViewController : UIViewController {
        
        public WeatherViewController() { }

        public override void ViewDidLoad() {
            base.ViewDidLoad();
            View.BackgroundColor = UIColor.DarkGray;
        }

    }

In your AppDelegates FinishedLaunching-method set the UIWindows RootViewController to our WeatherViewController

public override bool FinishedLaunching(UIApplication app, NSDictionary options) {

    window = new UIWindow(UIScreen.MainScreen.Bounds);
    window.RootViewController = new WeatherViewController();
    window.MakeKeyAndVisible();

    return true;
}

#####Create labels We need two labels to show the weather description and tempature in. Make two private UILabel properties. And create them in ViewDidLoad(). Add using System.Drawing; to create RectangleF for frames

  public class WeatherViewController : UIViewController {
        
    private UILabel _descriptionLabel;
    private UILabel _temperatureLabel;

    public WeatherViewController() {
    }
        
    public override void ViewDidLoad() {
        base.ViewDidLoad();
        View.BackgroundColor = UIColor.DarkGray;

        _descriptionLabel = new UILabel(new RectangleF(0, 20, View.Frame.Width, 60));
        _descriptionLabel.TextAlignment = UITextAlignment.Center;
        _descriptionLabel.Font = UIFont.FromName("Helvetica-Bold", 20f);
        _descriptionLabel.Text = "description label";
        View.AddSubview(_descriptionLabel);

        //add _temperatureLabel below _descriptionLabel
        _temperatureLabel = new UILabel(new RectangleF(0, _descriptionLabel.Frame.Bottom, View.Frame.Width, 50));
        _temperatureLabel.TextAlignment = UITextAlignment.Center;
        _temperatureLabel.Font = UIFont.FromName("Helvetica", 14f);
        _temperatureLabel.Text = "temperature label";
        View.AddSubview(_temperatureLabel);

    }

}

#####Add Controller to view controller

To use things from our shared project we need to improt it in to our view controller. Like this:

using weatherxamarinshared;

Add a readonly private Controller property named _controller.

private readonly Controller _controller = new Controller();

Add a method that updates our labels with the data from a Weather object.

private void UpdateWeather(Weather weather) {
	double absoluteZeroInCelsius = 273.15;// 1
	_descriptionLabel.Text = weather.WeatherObjects[0].Description; // 2
	_temperatureLabel.Text = String.Format("{0:0.0}°C", weather.Main.Temp - absoluteZeroInCelsius); // 3
}

because OpenWeatherMap uses kelvin
Set description text. weather.WeatherObjects is an array so we use [0] to get the first object.
Set tempature text. With string fromat.

To fetch data add this to ViewDidLoad

_controller.FetchWeather(UpdateWeather);

This will run UpdateWeather function when the controller fires the callback.

Full WeatherViewController

using System;

using MonoTouch.UIKit;
using System.Drawing;

using weatherxamarinshared;

namespace weatherxamarinios {
    
    public class WeatherViewController : UIViewController {

        private readonly Controller _controller = new Controller();

        private UILabel _descriptionLabel;
        private UILabel _temperatureLabel;

        public WeatherViewController() {
        }

        public override void ViewDidLoad() {
            base.ViewDidLoad();
            View.BackgroundColor = UIColor.DarkGray;

            _descriptionLabel = new UILabel(new RectangleF(0, 20, View.Frame.Width, 60));
            _descriptionLabel.TextAlignment = UITextAlignment.Center;
            _descriptionLabel.Font = UIFont.FromName("Helvetica-Bold", 20f);
            _descriptionLabel.Text = "description label";
            View.AddSubview(_descriptionLabel);

            //add _temperatureLabel below _descriptionLabel
            _temperatureLabel = new UILabel(new RectangleF(0, _descriptionLabel.Frame.Bottom, View.Frame.Width, 50));
            _temperatureLabel.TextAlignment = UITextAlignment.Center;
            _temperatureLabel.Font = UIFont.FromName("Helvetica", 14f);
            _temperatureLabel.Text = "temperature label";
            View.AddSubview(_temperatureLabel);

            _controller.FetchWeather(UpdateWeather);

        }

        private void UpdateWeather(Weather weather) {
            double absoluteZeroInCelsius = 273.15;// 1
            _descriptionLabel.Text = weather.WeatherObjects[0].Description; // 2
            _temperatureLabel.Text = String.Format("{0:0.0}°C", weather.Main.Temp - absoluteZeroInCelsius); // 3
        }

    }
}

Run the app and BOOM!

###Android Set your Android project as start up project.

#####Create TextViews

Go to weather-xamarin-android/Resources/layout/Main.axmladd two labels to this layout. One for description and one for temperature. Your layout should look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent">
    <TextView
        android:text="Text"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="50dp"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:id="@+id/txt_description" />
    <TextView
        android:text="Text"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="30dp"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:id="@+id/txt_temperature" />
</LinearLayout>

Go to your MainActivity Add two private TextView properties._descriptionTextView and _temperatureTextView. And use FindViewById in OnCreate-method to link with the .axml.

private TextView _descriptionTextView;
private TextView _temperatureTextView;

protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle) {
    base.OnCreate(bundle);

    SetContentView(Resource.Layout.Main);

    _descriptionTextView = FindViewById<TextView>(Resource.Id.txt_description);
    _temperatureTextView = FindViewById<TextView>(Resource.Id.txt_temperature);

}

#####Add Controller to Activity

To use things from our shared project we need to improt it in to our view controller. Like this:

using weatherxamarinshared;

Add a readonly private Controller property named _controller.

private readonly Controller _controller = new Controller();

Add a method that updates our labels with the data from a Weather object.

private void UpdateWeather(Weather weather) {
	double absoluteZeroInCelsius = 273.15;// 1
	_descriptionTextView.Text = weather.WeatherObjects[0].Description; // 2
	_descriptionTextView.Text = String.Format("{0:0.0}°C", weather.Main.Temp - absoluteZeroInCelsius); // 3
}

Because OpenWeatherMap uses kelvin
Set description text. weather.WeatherObjects is an array so we use [0] to get the first object.
Set tempature text. With string fromat.

To fetch data add this to ViewDidLoad

_controller.FetchWeather(UpdateWeather);

This will run UpdateWeather function when the controller fires the callback.

Full MainActivity.cs

using System;

using Android.App;
using Android.Content;
using Android.Runtime;
using Android.Views;
using Android.Widget;
using Android.OS;

using weatherxamarinshared;

namespace weatherxamarinandroid {
    [Activity(Label = "weather-xamarin-android", MainLauncher = true, Icon = "@drawable/icon")]
    public class MainActivity : Activity {
        
        private readonly Controller _controller = new Controller();

        private TextView _descriptionTextView;
        private TextView _temperatureTextView;

        protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle) {
            base.OnCreate(bundle);

            SetContentView(Resource.Layout.Main);

            _descriptionTextView = FindViewById<TextView>(Resource.Id.txt_description);
            _temperatureTextView = FindViewById<TextView>(Resource.Id.txt_temperature);
           
            _controller.FetchWeather(UpdateWeather);

        }

        private void UpdateWeather(Weather weather) {
            double absoluteZeroInCelsius = 273.15;// 1
            _descriptionTextView.Text = weather.WeatherObjects[0].Description; // 2
            _temperatureTextView.Text = String.Format("{0:0.0}C°", weather.Main.Temp - absoluteZeroInCelsius); // 3
        }

    }

}

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 11 Commits
images		images
packages		packages
weather-xamarin-android		weather-xamarin-android
weather-xamarin-ios		weather-xamarin-ios
weather-xamarin-shared		weather-xamarin-shared
.gitignore		.gitignore
README.md		README.md
weather-xamarin.sln		weather-xamarin.sln
xamarin_tutorial.html		xamarin_tutorial.html
xamarin_tutorial.md		xamarin_tutorial.md

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