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JetBrains Rider supports creating and working with Xamarin applications for both Android and iOS. Although currently JetBrains Rider does not provide a designer or a previewer for Xamarin forms, you can still benefit from code analysis, coding assistance, and debugging features in C#, VB.NET, and other languages, as well as from general IDE features, such as the integrated VCS client.
- Build Xamarin App On Mac Computer
- Xamarin Windows App
- Xamarin Forms Mac App
- Build Xamarin App On Mac Download
- Xamarin On Mac
Xamarin is a free and open source mobile app platform for building native and high-performance iOS, Android, tvOS, watchOS, macOS, and Windows apps in C# with.NET. This site uses cookies for analytics, personalized content and ads. Jul 06, 2020 Xamarin. JetBrains Rider supports creating and working with Xamarin applications for both Android and iOS. Although currently JetBrains Rider does not provide a designer or a previewer for Xamarin forms, you can still benefit from code analysis, coding assistance, and debugging features in C#, VB.NET, and other languages, as well as from general IDE features, such as the integrated VCS client. Xamarin lets you develop fully native Mac apps in C# and.NET using the very same macOS APIs as you would for Objective-C or Swift projects. You can either create your user interfaces directly in C# code, or, thanks to Xamarin's direct integration with Xcode, you can use Xcode's Interface Builder. Last month, David Ortinau of Xamarin.Forms team published this announcement on Xamarin Forum that they have released the preview version of Xamarin.Forms for Mac. I was thinking about giving it a try since I came to know about the source tree last year and even tried to setup the code on my local machine (even blogged about it under a different topic). Apr 27, 2019 In this video, I'll show you the steps to build your first iOS application in Visual Studio 2019 with C#,.NET, and Xamarin. We will see how to build a basic app, connection to the macOS host, and dep.
If other tools that Xamarin relies on (for example, Android SDK, Android Emulator) are configured properly, you will be able to build and run your Xamarin application right from the JetBrains Rider IDE.
Xamarin SDK
To develop Xamarin Applications you need to have a Xamarin SDK on your machine. There are two different Xamarin SDKs — for iOS/Mac and for Android.
Xamarin SDK consists of two parts:
- Assemblies with .NET types for the target platform. For example, a .NET type to represent the base OSX
NSObject
. Using these assemblies, IDE and compiler resolve and build user code. - Tools that transform .NET projects into native applications, which can be deployed and executed on the emulator or a physical device. For example, using these tools .apk packages for Android are built.
JetBrains Xamarin SDK
JetBrains Rider can use different Xamarin SDKs, for example the one from Visual Studio. However, if you do not have Visual Studio on your machine, you can use JetBrains Xamarin SDK prepared and packed by the JetBrains Rider team.
JetBrains Xamarin SDK is a custom build of Xamarin GitHub sources with some improvements and additional code.
Currently JetBrains Xamarin SDK lacks some features compared to Visual Studio Xamarin SDK, but it is in the process of constant improvement.
JetBrains Xamarin SDK is available for Windows and macOS:
There are two JetBrains Xamarin SDK builds available on Windows targeting the following platforms:
- Apple platform (iOS, Mac, tvOS, watchOS)JetBrains Xamarin SDK for iOS development provides a limited feature set on Windows. For example, currently it does not supportconnecting to a remote Mac and perform full build/deploy.JetBrains Xamarin SDK for Apple platforms on Windows ships as a .zip file (~ 60Mb) and installs into the JetBrains MsBuild directory:
%LOCALAPPDATA%JetBrainsBuildTools. - AndroidJetBrains Xamarin SDK for Android development provides a solid feature set. However, fast deployment is currently not supported.JetBrains Xamarin SDK for Android platforms on Windows ships as a .zip file (~ 700Mb) and installs into the JetBrains MsBuild directory:
%LOCALAPPDATA%JetBrainsBuildTools.
There are two JetBrains Xamarin SDK builds available on macOS targeting the following platforms:
- Apple platform (iOS, Mac, tvOS, watchOS)On macOS, JetBrains Xamarin SDK for Apple platforms provides almost the same feature set as Visual Studio SDK, all known scenarios are supported.JetBrains Xamarin SDK for iOS development on macOS ships as a .dmg file (~ 700Mb) and installs into:
- /Library/Frameworks/Xamarin.iOS.framework
- /Library/Frameworks/Xamarin.Mac.framework
- /Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External
- AndroidJetBrains Xamarin SDK for Android development provides a solid feature set. However, fast deployment is currently not supported.JetBrains Xamarin SDK for Android development on macOS ships as a .dmg file (~ 700Mb) and installs into:
- /Library/Frameworks/Xamarin.Android.framework
- /Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External
Before you start
Xamarin aims to be executed on a variety of different platforms and therefore Xamarin development relies on several different tools for building and running your applications.
On Windows, you can develop Xamarin applications for any platform, but local build and run/debug is limited to Android devices and emulators.
If you use Visual Studio Xamarin SDK, you will be able to build and run your application on iOS and macOS. To do so, configure a Mac agent accessible on the network, and then connect to it (Tools | iOS | Xamarin Mac Agent).
If you use Visual Studio Xamarin SDK, you will be able to build and run your application on iOS and macOS. To do so, configure a Mac agent accessible on the network, and then connect to it (Tools | iOS | Xamarin Mac Agent).
- Install a Xamarin SDK for iOS on your machine in one of the following ways.
- Install Xamarin in Visual Studio. Note that you can use Visual Studio Community, which is free. If you already have Visual Studio installed, you have to add Xamarin support to it.
- Start installation of Xamarin iOS & Mac on the Environment page of JetBrains Rider preferences ^+⌥+S and follow the installation wizard. This way JetBrains Rider will automatically download and install JetBrains Xamarin SDK for iOS & Mac.
- Alternatively you can clone the Xamarin open-source repo from GitHub, build it and install on the machine. This way is quite complicated and we do not recommend it.
- Install Android development tools in one of the following ways:
- Start installation of Xamarin Android on the Environment page of JetBrains Rider preferences ^+⌥+S and follow the installation wizard. This way JetBrains Rider will automatically download and install JetBrains Xamarin SDK for Android.
- Alternatively, all components that are automatically installed on the the Environment page of JetBrains Rider preferences ^+⌥+S, could be also installed manually:
- Rider Xamarin Android Support plugin. It has all necessary features, like Android SDK manager.
- Android SDK developed and provided by Google. You can install it from Visual Studio, Android Studio, Rider (with Rider Xamarin Android Support plugin), or downloaded as a set of command line tools.
On macOS, you can develop, build and run fully cross-platform Xamarin applications.
- Install a Xamarin SDK on your machine in one of the following ways.
- Install Visual Studio for Mac.
- Start installation of Xamarin iOS & Mac on the Environment page of JetBrains Rider preferences ^+⌥+S and follow the installation wizard. This way JetBrains Rider will automatically download and install JetBrains Xamarin SDK for iOS & Mac.
- Alternatively you can clone the Xamarin open-source repo from GitHub, build it and install on the machine. This way is quite complicated and we do not recommend it.
- For iOS and Mac development, install Xcode. You will need an Apple ID for installing and signing into Xcode. If you do not already have it, you can create a new one at https://appleid.apple.com.
JetBrains Rider will detect Xcode automatically. If you have several Xcode versions, you can choose which one to use on the Build, Execution, Deployment | iOS page of JetBrains Rider preferences ^+⌥+S. - Install Android development tools in one of the following ways:
- Start installation of Xamarin Android on the Environment page of JetBrains Rider preferences ^+⌥+S and follow the installation wizard. This way JetBrains Rider will automatically download and install JetBrains Xamarin SDK for Android.
- Alternatively, all components that are automatically installed on the the Environment page of JetBrains Rider preferences ^+⌥+S, could be also installed manually:
- Rider Xamarin Android Support plugin. It has all necessary features, like Android SDK manager.
- Android SDK developed and provided by Google. You can install it from Visual Studio, Android Studio, Rider (with Rider Xamarin Android Support plugin), or downloaded as a set of command line tools.
You can check the status of Xamarin tools and install or update them on the Environment page of JetBrains Rider preferences ^+⌥+S:
Create and open Xamarin projects
JetBrains Rider supports creating new and working with existing projects. Project templates are available, too.
You can create a new Xamarin project in a new solution using File | New.. or add a new Xamarin project to the existing solution by right-clicking the solution or solution folder node in the Solution Explorer, and choosing Add | New Project.
Xcode integration on macOS
When developing Xamarin applications on macOS, it is recommended to edit resource files and connect resources to code using Xcode.
You can use context menus of .storyboard, .xib, .plist files or of the Xamarin macios project node to open them in Xcode.
If the file or project has never been opened in Xcode before, JetBrains Rider will generate an Xcode project as follows:
- xcodeproj project specifications (a project descriptor similar to csproj but for Xcode) is generated
- Source files for all user types inherited
NSObject
(forms, delegates, views, controls, and so on) in Objective C are generated - All resources (images, designer files) are copied
When the project structure is ready, Xcode will start automatically and you can use it to edit resources. Every time Rider receives focus, it looks for changes (edits in existing files, new files, removed files) and integrates these changes into the Xamarin .NET project. It modifies .designer.cs parts of user types (inherited from
NSObject
) and copies back all changed resources. All Xcode-related events are printed in the Xcode console tool window, which appears when you open resources or projects in Xcode:
When you create a new Xamarin macios project
- JetBrains Rider creates the corresponding xcodeproj project (pbxproj and other necessary files) project in the objxcode subdirectory with all required settings and configurations.
- Copies of all content files (views, plist files, images, and so on) are created in that directory.
- For each
ViewController
type JetBrains Rider generates an objc class with actions and outlets. - The generated project is opened automatically in Xcode.
When you made changes in Xcode and then switch to Rider
- All modified content files are copied back into .NET project.
- Settings are updated.
- objc files are parsed and *.designer.cs files are regenerated for view controllers. For all these files you will see a generated header:// WARNING//// This file has been generated automatically by Rider IDE// to store outlets and actions made in Xcode.// If it is removed, they will be lost.// Manual changes to this file may not be handled correctly.
Run and debug Xamarin applications
When you create or open a Xamarin project, JetBrains Rider automatically creates run/debug configurations for each Xamarin project in the solution.
If you want to adjust something in the way your application starts and executes, you can edit and create new run/debug configurations. When you start a Xamarin application from the IDE, you can use the corresponding selector on the navigation bar to choose which configuration should be used:
Debug a Xamarin project, which was not created with JetBrains Rider
Build Xamarin App On Mac Computer
- In the Settings/Preferences dialog ^+⌥+S, select Environment.
- Enable Xamarin Android and Xamarin iOS & Mac support.If you are on Windows and have Xamarin SDK installed via Visual Studio, it will be detected automatically. Otherwise, JetBrains Rider will suggest installing JetBrains Xamarin SDK.JetBrains Xamarin SDK cannot be installed alongside with Visual Studio Xamarin SDK.
- Once Xamarin SDK is installed, you can create Xamarin-specific run/debug configurations.
- Open the Run/Debug Configuration dialog in one of the following ways:
- Select Run | Edit Configurations from the main menu.
- With the Navigation bar visible (View | Appearance | Navigation Bar), choose Edit Configurations from the run/debug configuration selector.
- Press ^+⌥+⇧+R, then press 0 or select the configuration from the popup and press F4.
- In the Run/Debug Configuration dialog that opens, press ^+N or click , then choose Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS, or Xamarin.Mac from the list.
- Specify the target project and other parameters if necessary, then click OK.
- Use the newly created configuration to run and debug your Xamarin project.
Webinar recording: Better Xamarin Development with Rider for Mac
You can also watch this webinar recording where Dylan Berry explores the various ways Rider can help you improve your coding speed and quality when developing Xamarin apps.
Webinar agenda:
- 0:05 – Introduction
- 1:22 – Tools are important
- 11:00 – Get started with Rider on Mac
- 13:43 – Exploring Rider
- 1:04:46 – Plugins
Last modified: 14 July 2020
-->Xamarin.Mac allows for the development of fully native Mac apps in C# and .NET using the same macOS APIs that are used when developing in Objective-C or Swift. Because Xamarin.Mac integrates directly with Xcode, the developer can use Xcode's Interface Builder to create an app's user interfaces (or optionally create them directly in C# code).
Additionally, since Xamarin.Mac applications are written in C# and .NET, code can be shared with Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android mobile apps; all while delivering a native experience on each platform.
This article will introduce the key concepts needed to create a Mac app using Xamarin.Mac, Visual Studio for Mac and Xcode's Interface Builder by walking through the process of building a simple Hello, Mac app that counts the number of times a button has been clicked:
The following concepts will be covered:
- Visual Studio for Mac – Introduction to the Visual Studio for Mac and how to create Xamarin.Mac applications with it.
- Anatomy of a Xamarin.Mac Application – What a Xamarin.Mac application consists of.
- Xcode’s Interface Builder – How to use Xcode’s Interface Builder to define an app’s user interface.
- Outlets and Actions – How to use Outlets and Actions to wire up controls in the user interface.
- Deployment/Testing – How to run and test a Xamarin.Mac app.
Requirements
Xamarin.Mac application development requires:
- A Mac computer running macOS High Sierra (10.13) or higher.
- Xcode 10 or higher.
- The latest version of Xamarin.Mac and Visual Studio for Mac.
To run an application built with Xamarin.Mac, you will need:
- A Mac computer running macOS 10.7 or greater.
Warning
The upcoming Xamarin.Mac 4.8 release will only support macOS 10.9 or higher.Previous versions of Xamarin.Mac supported macOS 10.7 or higher, butthese older macOS versions lack sufficient TLS infrastructure to supportTLS 1.2. To target macOS 10.7 or macOS 10.8, use Xamarin.Mac 4.6 orearlier.
Starting a new Xamarin.Mac App in Visual Studio for Mac
As stated above, this guide will walk through the steps to create a Mac app called
Hello_Mac
that adds a single button and label to the main window. When the button is clicked, the label will display the number of times it has been clicked.To get started, do the following steps:
- Start Visual Studio for Mac: Download spotify app mac os.
- Click on the New Project.. button to open the New Project dialog box, then select Mac > App > Cocoa App and click the Next button:
- Enter
Hello_Mac
for the App Name, and keep everything else as default. Click Next: - Confirm the location of the new project on your computer:
- Click the Create button.
Visual Studio for Mac will create the new Xamarin.Mac app and display the default files that get added to the app's solution:
Visual Studio for Mac uses the same Solution and Project structure as Visual Studio 2019. A solution is a container that can hold one or more projects; projects can include applications, supporting libraries, test applications, etc. The File > New Project template creates a solution and an application project automatically.
Anatomy of a Xamarin.Mac Application
Xamarin.Mac application programming is very similar to working with Xamarin.iOS. iOS uses the CocoaTouch framework, which is a slimmed-down version of Cocoa, used by Mac.
Take a look at the files in the project:
- Main.cs contains the main entry point of the app. When the app is launched, the
Main
class contains the very first method that is run. - AppDelegate.cs contains the
AppDelegate
class that is responsible for listening to events from the operating system. - Info.plist contains app properties such as the application name, icons, etc.
- Entitlements.plist contains the entitlements for the app and allows access to things such as Sandboxing and iCloud support.
- Main.storyboard defines the user interface (Windows and Menus) for an app and lays out the interconnections between Windows via Segues. Storyboards are XML files that contain the definition of views (user interface elements). This file can be created and maintained by Interface Builder inside of Xcode.
- ViewController.cs is the controller for the main window. Controllers will be covered in detail in another article, but for now, a controller can be thought of the main engine of any particular view.
- ViewController.designer.cs contains plumbing code that helps integrate with the main screen’s user interface.
The following sections, will take a quick look through some of these files. Later, they will be explored in more detail, but it’s a good idea to understand their basics now.
Main.cs
The Main.cs file is very simple. It contains a static
Main
method which creates a new Xamarin.Mac app instance and passes the name of the class that will handle OS events, which in this case is the AppDelegate
class:AppDelegate.cs
The
AppDelegate.cs
file contains an AppDelegate
class, which is responsible for creating windows and listening to OS events:This code is probably unfamiliar unless the developer has built an iOS app before, but it’s fairly simple.
The
DidFinishLaunching
method runs after the app has been instantiated, and it’s responsible for actually creating the app's window and beginning the process of displaying the view in it.The
WillTerminate
method will be called when the user or the system has instantiated a shutdown of the app. The developer should use this method to finalize the app before it quits (such as saving user preferences or window size and location).ViewController.cs
Cocoa (and by derivation, CocoaTouch) uses what’s known as the Model View Controller (MVC) pattern. The
ViewController
declaration represents the object that controls the actual app window. Generally, for every window created (and for many other things within windows), there is a controller, which is responsible for the window’s lifecycle, such as showing it, adding new views (controls) to it, etc.The
ViewController
class is the main window’s controller. The controller is responsible for the life cycle of the main window. This will be examined in detail later, for now take a quick look at it:ViewController.Designer.cs
The designer file for the Main Window class is initially empty, but it will be automatically populated by Visual Studio for Mac as the user interface is created with Xcode Interface Builder:
Designer files should not be edited directly, as they’re automatically managed by Visual Studio for Mac to provide the plumbing code that allows access to controls that have been added to any window or view in the app.
With the Xamarin.Mac app project created and a basic understanding of its components, switch to Xcode to create the user interface using Interface Builder.
Info.plist
The
Info.plist
file contains information about the Xamarin.Mac app such as its Name and Bundle Identifier:It also defines the Storyboard that will be used to display the user interface for the Xamarin.Mac app under the Main Interface dropdown. In example above,
Main
in the dropdown relates to the Main.storyboard
in the project's source tree in the Solution Explorer. It also defines the app's icons by specifying the Asset Catalog that contains them (AppIcon in this case).Entitlements.plist
The app's
Entitlements.plist
file controls entitlements that the Xamarin.Mac app has such as Sandboxing and iCloud:For the Hello World example, no entitlements will be required. The next section shows how to use Xcode's Interface Builder to edit the Main.storyboard file and define the Xamarin.Mac app's UI.
Introduction to Xcode and Interface Builder
As part of Xcode, Apple has created a tool called Interface Builder, which allows a developer to create a user interface visually in a designer. Xamarin.Mac integrates fluently with Interface Builder, allowing UI to be created with the same tools as Objective-C users.
To get started, double-click the
Main.storyboard
file in the Solution Explorer to open it for editing in Xcode and Interface Builder:This should launch Xcode and look like this screenshot:
Before starting to design the interface, take a quick overview of Xcode to orient with the main features that will be used.
Note
The developer doesn't have to use Xcode and Interface Builder to create the user interface for a Xamarin.Mac app, the UI can be created directly from C# code but that is beyond the scope of this article. For the sake of simplicity, it will be using Interface Builder to create the user interface throughout the rest of this tutorial.
Components of Xcode
When opening a .storyboard file in Xcode from Visual Studio for Mac, it opens with a Project Navigator on the left, the Interface Hierarchy and Interface Editor in the middle, and a Properties & Utilities section on the right:
The following sections take a look at what each of these Xcode features do and how to use them to create the interface for a Xamarin.Mac app.
Project Navigation
When opening a .storyboard file for editing in Xcode, Visual Studio for Mac creates a Xcode Project File in the background to communicate changes between itself and Xcode. Later, when the developer switches back to Visual Studio for Mac from Xcode, any changes made to this project are synchronized with the Xamarin.Mac project by Visual Studio for Mac.
The Project Navigation section allows the developer to navigate between all of the files that make up this shim Xcode project. Typically, they will only be interested in the
.storyboard
files in this list such as Main.storyboard
.Interface Hierarchy
The Interface Hierarchy section allows the developer to easily access several key properties of the user interface such as its Placeholders and main Window. This section can be used to access the individual elements (views) that make up the user interface and to adjust the way they are nested by dragging them around within the hierarchy.
Interface Editor
The Interface Editor section provides the surface on which the user interface is graphically laid out. Drag elements from the Library section of the Properties & Utilities section to create the design. As user interface elements (views) are added to the design surface, they will be added to the Interface Hierarchy section in the order that they appear in the Interface Editor.
Properties & Utilities
The Properties & Utilities section is divided into two main sections, Properties (also called Inspectors) and the Library:
Initially this section is almost empty, however if the developer selects an element in the Interface Editor or Interface Hierarchy, the Properties section will be populated with information about the given element and properties that they can adjust.
Within the Properties section, there are eight different Inspector Tabs, as shown in the following illustration:
Properties & Utility Types
From left-to-right, these tabs are:
- File Inspector – The File Inspector shows file information, such as the file name and location of the Xib file that is being edited.
- Quick Help – The Quick Help tab provides contextual help based on what is selected in Xcode.
- Identity Inspector – The Identity Inspector provides information about the selected control/view.
- Attributes Inspector – The Attributes Inspector allows the developer to customize various attributes of the selected control/view.
- Size Inspector – The Size Inspector allows the developer to control the size and resizing behavior of the selected control/view.
- Connections Inspector – The Connections Inspector shows the Outlet and Action connections of the selected controls. Outlets and Actions will be discussed in detail below.
- Bindings Inspector – The Bindings Inspector allows the developer to configure controls so that their values are automatically bound to data models.
- View Effects Inspector – The View Effects Inspector allows the developer to specify effects on the controls, such as animations.
Use the Library section to find controls and objects to place into the designer to graphically build the user interface:
Creating the Interface
With the basics of the Xcode IDE and Interface Builder covered, the developer can create the user interface for the main view.
Follow these steps to use Interface Builder:
- In Xcode, drag a Push Button from the Library Section:
- Drop the button onto the View (under the Window Controller) in the Interface Editor:
- Click on the Title property in the Attribute Inspector and change the button's title to Click Me:
- Drag a Label from the Library Section:
- Drop the label onto the Window beside the button in the Interface Editor:
- Grab the right handle on the label and drag it until it is near the edge of the window:
- Select the Button just added in the Interface Editor, and click the Constraints Editor icon at the bottom of the window:
- At the top of the editor, click the Red I-Beams at the top and left. As the window is resized, this will keep the button in the same location at the top left corner of the screen.
- Next, check the Height and Width boxes and use the default sizes. This keeps the button at the same size when the window resizes.
- Click the Add 4 Constraints button to add the constraints and close the editor.
- Select the label and click the Constraints Editor icon again:
- By clicking Red I-Beams at the top, right and left of the Constraints Editor, tells the label to be stuck to its given X and Y locations and to grow and shrink as the window is resized in the running application.
- Again, check the Height box and use the default size, then click the Add 4 Constraints button to add the constraints and close the editor.
- Save the changes to the user interface.
While resizing and moving controls around, notice that Interface Builder gives helpful snap hints that are based on macOS Human Interface Guidelines. These guidelines will help the developer to create high quality apps that will have a familiar look and feel for Mac users.
Look in the Interface Hierarchy section to see how the layout and hierarchy of the elements that make up the user interface are shown:
From here the developer can select items to edit or drag to reorder UI elements if needed. For example, if a UI element was being covered by another element, they could drag it to the bottom of the list to make it the top-most item on the window.
With the user interface created, the developer will need to expose the UI items so that Xamarin.Mac can access and interact with them in C# code. The next section, Outlets and Actions, shows how to do this.
Outlets and Actions
So what are Outlets and Actions? In traditional .NET user interface programming, a control in the user interface is automatically exposed as a property when it’s added. Things work differently in Mac, simply adding a control to a view doesn’t make it accessible to code. The developer must explicitly expose the UI element to code. In order do this, Apple provides two options:
- Outlets – Outlets are analogous to properties. If the developer wires up a control to an Outlet, it’s exposed to the code via a property, so they can do things like attach event handlers, call methods on it, etc.
- Actions – Actions are analogous to the command pattern in WPF. For example, when an Action is performed on a control, say a button click, the control will automatically call a method in the code. Actions are powerful and convenient because the developer can wire up many controls to the same Action.
In Xcode, Outlets and Actions are added directly in code via Control-dragging. More specifically, this means that to create an Outlet or Action, the developer will choose a control element to add an Outlet or Action to, hold down the Control key on the keyboard, and drag that control directly into the code.
For Xamarin.Mac developers, this means that the developer will drag into the Objective-C stub files that correspond to the C# file where they want to create the Outlet or Action. Visual Studio for Mac created a file called
ViewController.h
as part of the shim Xcode Project it generated to use Interface Builder:This stub
.h
file mirrors the ViewController.designer.cs
that is automatically added to a Xamarin.Mac project when a new NSWindow
is created. This file will be used to synchronize the changes made by Interface Builder and is where the Outlets and Actions are created so that UI elements are exposed to C# code.Adding an Outlet
With a basic understanding of what Outlets and Actions are, create an Outlet to expose the Label created to our C# code.
Do the following:
- In Xcode at the far right top-hand corner of the screen, click the Double Circle button to open the Assistant Editor:
- The Xcode will switch to a split-view mode with the Interface Editor on one side and a Code Editor on the other.
- Notice that Xcode has automatically picked the ViewController.m file in the Code Editor, which is incorrect. From the discussion on what Outlets and Actions are above, the developer will need to have the ViewController.h selected.
- At the top of the Code Editor click on the Automatic Link and select the
ViewController.h
file: - Xcode should now have the correct file selected:
- The last step was very important!: if you didn't have the correct file selected, you won't be able to create Outlets and Actions, or they will be exposed to the wrong class in C#!
- In the Interface Editor, hold down the Control key on the keyboard and click-drag the label created above onto the code editor just below the
@interface ViewController : NSViewController {}
code: - A dialog box will be displayed. Leave the Connection set to Outlet and enter
ClickedLabel
for the Name: - Click the Connect button to create the Outlet:
- Save the changes to the file.
Adding an Action
Next, expose the button to C# code. Just like the Label above, the developer could wire the button up to an Outlet. Since we only want to respond to the button being clicked, use an Action instead.
Do the following:
- Ensure that Xcode is still in the Assistant Editor and the ViewController.h file is visible in the Code Editor.
- In the Interface Editor, hold down the Control key on the keyboard and click-drag the button created above onto the code editor just below the
@property (assign) IBOutlet NSTextField *ClickedLabel;
code: - Change the Connection type to Action:
- Enter
ClickedButton
as the Name: - Click the Connect button to create Action:
- Save the changes to the file.
With the user interface wired-up and exposed to C# code, switch back to Visual Studio for Mac and let it synchronize the changes made in Xcode and Interface Builder.
Note
It probably took a long time to create the user interface and Outlets and Actions for this first app, and it may seem like a lot of work, but a lot of new concepts were introduced and a lot of time was spent covering new ground. After practicing for a while and working with Interface Builder, this interface and all its Outlets and Actions can be created in just a minute or two.
Synchronizing Changes with Xcode
When the developer switches back to Visual Studio for Mac from Xcode, any changes that they have made in Xcode will automatically be synchronized with the Xamarin.Mac project.
Select the ViewController.designer.cs in the Solution Explorer to see how the Outlet and Action have been wired up in the C# code:
Notice how the two definitions in the ViewController.designer.cs file:
Line up with the definitions in the
ViewController.h
file in Xcode:Visual Studio for Mac listens for changes to the .h file, and then automatically synchronizes those changes in the respective .designer.cs file to expose them to the app. Notice that ViewController.designer.cs is a partial class, so that Visual Studio for Mac doesn't have to modify ViewController.cs which would overwrite any changes that the developer has made to the class.
Normally, the developer will never need to open the ViewController.designer.cs, it was presented here for educational purposes only.
Note
In most situations, Visual Studio for Mac will automatically see any changes made in Xcode and sync them to the Xamarin.Mac project. In the off occurrence that synchronization doesn't automatically happen, switch back to Xcode and then back to Visual Studio for Mac again. This will normally kick off a synchronization cycle.
Writing the Code
With the user interface created and its UI elements exposed to code via Outlets and Actions, we are finally ready to write the code to bring the program to life.
For this sample app, every time the first button is clicked, the label will be updated to show how many times the button has been clicked. To accomplish this, open the
ViewController.cs
file for editing by double-clicking it in the Solution Explorer:First, create a class-level variable in the
ViewController
class to track the number of clicks that have happened. Edit the class definition and make it look like the following:Next, in the same class (
ViewController
), override the ViewDidLoad
method and add some code to set the initial message for the label:Use
ViewDidLoad
, instead of another method such as Initialize
, because ViewDidLoad
is called after the OShas loaded and instantiated the user interface from the .storyboard file. If the developer tried to access the label control before the .storyboard file has been fully loaded and instantiated, they would get a NullReferenceException
error because the label control would not exist yet.Next, add the code to respond to the user clicking the button. Add the following partial method to the
ViewController
class:This code attaches to the Action created in Xcode and Interface Builder and will be called any time the user clicks the button.
Testing the Application
It’s time to build and run the app to make sure it runs as expected. The developer can build and run all in one step, or they can build it without running it.
Whenever an app is built, the developer can choose what kind of build they want:
- Debug – A debug build is compiled into an .app (application) file with a bunch of extra metadata that allows the developer to debug what’s happening while the app is running.
- Release – A release build also creates an .app file, but it doesn’t include debug information, so it’s smaller and executes faster.
The developer can select the type of build from the Configuration Selector at the upper left-hand corner of the Visual Studio for Mac screen:
Building the Application
In the case of this example, we just want a debug build, so ensure that Debug is selected. Build the app first by either pressing ⌘B, or from the Build menu, choose Build All.
If there weren't any errors, a Build Succeeded message will be displayed in Visual Studio for Mac's status bar. If there were errors, review the project and make sure that the steps above have been followed correctly. Start by confirming that the code (both in Xcode and in Visual Studio for Mac) matches the code in the tutorial.
Running the Application
There are three ways to run the app:
- Press ⌘+Enter.
- From the Run menu, choose Debug.
- Click the Play button in the Visual Studio for Mac toolbar (just above the Solution Explorer).
The app will build (if it hasn’t been built already), start in debug mode and display its main interface window:
If the button is clicked a few times, the label should be updated with the count:
Where to Next
Xamarin Windows App
With the basics of working with a Xamarin.Mac application down, take a look at the following documents to get a deeper understanding:
- Introduction to Storyboards - This article provides an introduction to working with Storyboards in a Xamarin.Mac app. It covers creating and maintaining the app's UI using storyboards and Xcode's Interface Builder.
- Windows - This article covers working with Windows and Panels in a Xamarin.Mac application. It covers creating and maintaining Windows and Panels in Xcode and Interface builder, loading Windows and Panels from .xib files, using Windows and responding to Windows in C# code.
- Dialogs - This article covers working with Dialogs and Modal Windows in a Xamarin.Mac application. It covers creating and maintaining Modal Windows in Xcode and Interface builder, working with standard dialogs, displaying and responding to Windows in C# code.
- Alerts - This article covers working with Alerts in a Xamarin.Mac application. It covers creating and displaying Alerts from C# code and responding to Alerts.
- Menus - Menus are used in various parts of a Mac application's user interface; from the application's main menu at the top of the screen to pop up and contextual menus that can appear anywhere in a window. Menus are an integral part of a Mac application's user experience. This article covers working with Cocoa Menus in a Xamarin.Mac application.
- Toolbars - This article covers working with Toolbars in a Xamarin.Mac application. It covers creating and maintaining. Toolbars in Xcode and Interface builder, how to expose the Toolbar Items to code using Outlets and Actions, enabling and disabling Toolbar Items and finally responding to Toolbar Items in C# code.
- Table Views - This article covers working with Table Views in a Xamarin.Mac application. It covers creating and maintaining Table Views in Xcode and Interface builder, how to expose the Table View Items to code using Outlets and Actions, populating Table Items and finally responding to Table View Items in C# code.
- Outline Views - This article covers working with Outline Views in a Xamarin.Mac application. It covers creating and maintaining Outline Views in Xcode and Interface builder, how to expose the Outline View Items to code using Outlets and Actions, populating Outline Items and finally responding to Outline View Items in C# code.
- Source Lists - This article covers working with Source Lists in a Xamarin.Mac application. It covers creating and maintaining Source Lists in Xcode and Interface builder, how to expose the Source Lists Items to code using Outlets and Actions, populating Source List Items and finally responding to Source List Items in C# code.
- Collection Views - This article covers working with Collection Views in a Xamarin.Mac application. It covers creating and maintaining Collection Views in Xcode and Interface builder, how to expose the Collection View elements to code using Outlets and Actions, populating Collection Views and finally responding to Collection Views in C# code.
- Working with Images - This article covers working with Images and Icons in a Xamarin.Mac application. It covers creating and maintaining the images needed to create an app's Icon and using Images in both C# code and Xcode's Interface Builder.
The Mac Samples Gallery contains ready-to-use code examples to help learn Xamarin.Mac.
One complete Xamarin.Mac app that includes many of the features a user would expect to find in a typical Mac application is the SourceWriter Sample App. SourceWriter is a simple source code editor that provides support for code completion and simple syntax highlighting.
Xamarin Forms Mac App
The SourceWriter code has been fully commented and, where available, links have been provided from key technologies or methods to relevant information in the Xamarin.Mac documentation.
Summary
Build Xamarin App On Mac Download
This article covered the basics of a standard Xamarin.Mac app. It covered creating a new app in Visual Studio for Mac, designing the user interface in Xcode and Interface Builder, exposing UI elements to C# code using Outlets and Actions, adding code to work with the UI elements and finally, building and testing a Xamarin.Mac app.