Getting Started with Xamarin Charts (SfChart)

14 Sep 202319 minutes to read

This section explains you the steps required to populate the Chart with data, title, add data labels and tooltips to the Chart. This section covers only the minimal features that you need to know to get started with the Chart.

To get start quickly with Xamarin.Forms SfChart, you can check on this video:

Assembly deployment

After installing Essential Studio for Xamarin, you can find all the required assemblies in the installation folders, {Syncfusion Essential Studio Installed location} \Essential Studio\{Version #}\Xamarin\lib.

E.g.: C:\Program Files (x86) \Syncfusion\Essential Studio\19.1.0.54\Xamarin\lib

NOTE

Assemblies can be found in unzipped package location(Documents/Syncfusion/{Version #}/Xamarin/lib) in Mac.

Adding SfChart reference

You can add SfChart reference using one of the following methods:

Method 1: Adding SfChart reference from nuget.org

Syncfusion Xamarin components are available in nuget.org. To add chart to your project, open the NuGet package manager in Visual Studio, search for Syncfusion.Xamarin.SfChart, and then install it.

Adding Xamarin.Forms Chart reference

NOTE

  • Install the same version of the chart NuGet in all the projects.
  • In addition, you need to install the Syncfusion.Xamarin.SfChart.WPF package for Xamarin.Forms WPF platform only.

Method 2: Adding SfChart reference from toolbox

Syncfusion provides Xamarin Toolbox. Using this toolbox, you can drag the SfChart control to the XAML page. It will automatically install the required NuGet packages and add the namespace to the page. To install Syncfusion Xamarin Toolbox, refer to Toolbox.

Method 3: Adding SfChart assemblies manually from the installed location

If you prefer to manually reference the assemblies instead referencing from NuGet, add the following assemblies in respective projects.

Location : {Installed location}/{version}/Xamarin/lib

PCL Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Core.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Licensing.dll
Android Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.Android.dll
Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Core.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Core.XForms.Android.dll
Syncfusion.Licensing.dll
iOS Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.iOS.dll
Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Core.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Core.XForms.iOS.dll
Syncfusion.Licensing.dll
macOS Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.macOS.dll
Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Core.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Core.XForms.macOS.dll
Syncfusion.Licensing.dll
UWP Syncfusion.SfChart.UWP.dll
Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.UWP.dll
Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Core.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Core.XForms.UWP.dll
Syncfusion.Licensing.dll
WPF Syncfusion.SfChart.WPF.dll
Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.WPF.dll
Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Core.XForms.dll
Syncfusion.Core.XForms.WPF.dll
Syncfusion.Licensing.dll

NOTE

To know more about obtaining our components, refer to these links for Mac and Windows.

IMPORTANT

Starting with v16.2.0.x, if you reference Syncfusion assemblies from the trial setup or from the NuGet feed, you also have to include a license key in your projects. Please refer to Syncfusion license key to know about registering Syncfusion license key in your Xamarin application to use our components.

Launching the application on each platform with chart

To use the chart inside an application, each platform application requires some additional configurations. The configurations vary from platform to platform and is discussed in the following sections:

iOS

To launch the chart in iOS, call the SfChartRenderer.Init() method in the FinishedLaunching overridden method of the AppDelegate class after the Xamarin.Forms framework initialization and before the LoadApplication method is called as demonstrated in the following code sample:

NOTE

If you are adding the references from toolbox, this step is not needed.

  • C#
    • public override bool FinishedLaunching(UIApplication app, NSDictionary options) 
{ 
    … 
    global::Xamarin.Forms.Forms.Init();

    Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.iOS.Renderers.SfChartRenderer.Init();

    LoadApplication(new App()); 
    …
}

    macOS

    To launch the chart in macOS, call the SfChartRenderer.Init() method in the DidFinishLaunching overridden method of the AppDelegate class after the Xamarin.Forms framework initialization and LoadApplication method as demonstrated in the following code sample:

  • C#
    • public override void DidFinishLaunching(NSNotification notification)
{ 
    … 
    Forms.Init();

    LoadApplication(new App());       

    Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.MacOS.SfChartRenderer.Init();   
    …
}

    Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)

    To launch the chart in WPF, call the SfChartRenderer.Init() method in the MainWindow constructor of the MainWindow class after the Xamarin.Forms framework has been initialized and before the LoadApplication method is called as demonstrated in the following code sample.

  • C#
    • public partial class MainWindow : FormsApplicationPage
{
     public MainWindow()
     { 
            InitializeComponent();

            Forms.Init();

            Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.WPF.SfChartRenderer.Init();

            LoadApplication(new App());
     }
}

    Universal Windows Platform (UWP)

    To deploy the chart in Release mode, you need to initialize the chart assemblies in App.xaml.cs in UWP project as shown in the below code snippets.

  • C#
    • // In App.xaml.cs 
protected override void OnLaunched(LaunchActivatedEventArgs e)
{ 
   … 
   if (rootFrame == null) 
   { 
      List<Assembly> assembliesToInclude = new List<Assembly>();

      assembliesToInclude.Add(typeof(Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms.UWP.SfChartRenderer).GetTypeInfo().Assembly);

      Xamarin.Forms.Forms.Init(e, assembliesToInclude); 
   } 
… 
}

    Android

    The Android platform does not require any additional configuration to render the chart.

    Initialize Chart

    Import the SfChart namespace as shown below in your respective Page,

    xmlns:chart="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms;assembly=Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms"
    using Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms;

    IMPORTANT

    To render chart inside the StackLayout/ScrollView, please refer this KB.

    Then initialize an empty chart with PrimaryAxis and SecondaryAxis as shown below,

    <chart:SfChart>

    <chart:SfChart.PrimaryAxis>

        <chart:CategoryAxis>
 
        </chart:CategoryAxis>

    </chart:SfChart.PrimaryAxis>

    <chart:SfChart.SecondaryAxis>

        <chart:NumericalAxis>

        </chart:NumericalAxis>

    </chart:SfChart.SecondaryAxis>
		  
</chart:SfChart>
    SfChart chart = new SfChart();

 //Initializing Primary Axis
CategoryAxis primaryAxis = new CategoryAxis();

chart.PrimaryAxis = primaryAxis;

//Initializing Secondary Axis
NumericalAxis secondaryAxis  =  new NumericalAxis  ();

chart.SecondaryAxis = secondaryAxis;

this.Content = chart;

    Run the project and check if you get following output to make sure you have configured your project properly to add SfChart.

    Initializing Xamarin.Forms Chart

    Initialize view model

    Now, let us define a simple data model that represents a data point in SfChart.

  • C#
    • public class Person   
{   
    public string Name { get; set; }

    public double Height { get; set; }
}

    Next, create a view model class and initialize a list of Person objects as shown below,

  • C#
    • public class ViewModel  
{
      public List<Person> Data { get; set; }      

      public ViewModel()       
      {
            Data = new List<Person>()
            {
                new Person { Name = "David", Height = 180 },
                new Person { Name = "Michael", Height = 170 },
                new Person { Name = "Steve", Height = 160 },
                new Person { Name = "Joel", Height = 182 }
            }; 
       }
 }

    Set the ViewModel instance as the BindingContext of your Page; this is done to bind properties of ViewModel to SfChart.

    NOTE

    Add namespace of ViewModel class in your XAML page if you prefer to set BindingContext in XAML.

    <ContentPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"

             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"

             x:Class="ChartDemo.MainPage"

             xmlns:chart="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms;assembly=Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms"

             xmlns:local="clr-namespace:ChartDemo"> 
   
    <ContentPage.BindingContext>
       
	    <local:ViewModel></local:ViewModel>
   
    </ContentPage.BindingContext>
 
</ContentPage>
    this.BindingContext = new ViewModel();

    Populate Chart with data

    As we are going to visualize the comparison of heights in the data model, add ColumnSeries to SfChart.Series property, and then bind the Data property of the above ViewModel to the ColumnSeries.ItemsSource property as shown below.

    NOTE

    You need to set XBindingPath and YBindingPath properties, so that SfChart would fetch values from the respective properties in the data model to plot the series.

    <chart:SfChart>
   
   <chart:SfChart.PrimaryAxis>
    
        <chart:CategoryAxis>

            <chart:CategoryAxis.Title>

                  <chart:ChartAxisTitle Text="Name"> </chart:ChartAxisTitle>

            </chart:CategoryAxis.Title>

         </chart:CategoryAxis>
   
   </chart:SfChart.PrimaryAxis>

   <chart:SfChart.SecondaryAxis>
  
       <chart:NumericalAxis>
            
           <chart:NumericalAxis.Title>
           
                 <chart:ChartAxisTitle Text="Height (in cm)"></chart:ChartAxisTitle>
           
          </chart:NumericalAxis.Title>      
       
      </chart:NumericalAxis>   

     </chart:SfChart.SecondaryAxis>
    
      <chart:SfChart.Series>
              
         <chart:ColumnSeries ItemsSource="{Binding Data}" XBindingPath="Name" YBindingPath="Height">
		 
		 </chart:ColumnSeries>
    
      </chart:SfChart.Series>

 </chart:SfChart>
    //Initializing primary axis
CategoryAxis primaryAxis = new CategoryAxis();

primaryAxis.Title.Text = "Name";

chart.PrimaryAxis = primaryAxis;

//Initializing secondary Axis
NumericalAxis secondaryAxis = new NumericalAxis();

secondaryAxis.Title.Text = "Height (in cm)";

chart.SecondaryAxis = secondaryAxis;

//Initializing column series
ColumnSeries series = new ColumnSeries();

series.SetBinding(ChartSeries.ItemsSourceProperty, "Data");

series.XBindingPath = "Name";

series.YBindingPath = "Height";

chart.Series.Add(series);

    Add Title

    You can add title to chart to provide quick information to the user about the data being plotted in the chart. You can set title using SfChart.Title property as shown below.

    <chart:SfChart>

	...

   <chart:SfChart.Title>

        <chart:ChartTitle Text="Chart"/>  

   </chart:SfChart.Title>

	...

</chart:SfChart>
     
chart.Title.Text = "Chart";

    Refer this link to learn more about the options available in SfChart to customize chart title.

    Enable data labels

    You can add data labels to improve the readability of the chart. This can be achieved using ChartSeries.DataMarkers property as shown below.

    <chart:SfChart>

	...

        <chart:ColumnSeries>

	     <chart:ColumnSeries.DataMarker>

		 <chart:ChartDataMarker/>

	     </chart:ColumnSeries.DataMarker>

       </chart:ColumnSeries>

	...

</chart:SfChart>
     
series.DataMarker = new ChartDataMarker();

    Refer this link to learn more about the options available in SfChart to customize data markers.

    Enable legend

    You can enable legend using SfChart.Legend property as shown below,

    <chart:SfChart>

	...

    <chart:SfChart.Legend>

        <chart:ChartLegend/>

    </chart:SfChart.Legend>

    ...

</chart:SfChart>
     
chart.Legend = new ChartLegend ();

    Additionally, you need to set label for each series using ChartSeries.Label property, which will be displayed in corresponding legend.

    <chart:SfChart>

	...

      <chart:SfChart.Series>
              
         <chart:ColumnSeries Label="Heights" ItemsSource="{Binding Data}" XBindingPath="Name" YBindingPath="Height">
		 
		 </chart:ColumnSeries>
         
       </chart:SfChart.Series>

	...

</chart:SfChart>
     
series.Label = "Heights";

    Refer this link to learn more about the options available in SfChart to customize legend.

    Enable tooltip

    Tooltips are used to show information about the segment, when you tap on the segment. You can enable tooltip by setting ChartSeries.EnableTooltip property to true.

    <chart:SfChart>

	...

   <chart:SfChart.Series>
       
        <chart:ColumnSeries ItemsSource="{Binding Data}" XBindingPath="Name" YBindingPath="Height" EnableTooltip ="True">
		
		</chart:ColumnSeries>
   
   </chart:SfChart.Series>

	...

 </chart:SfChart>
     
series.EnableTooltip = true;

    Refer this link to learn more about the options available in SfChart to customize tooltip.

    The following code example gives you the complete code of above configurations.

    <ContentPage xmlns:chart="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms;assembly=Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms"
             xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"
             xmlns:local="clr-namespace: ChartGettingStarted;assembly=ChartGettingStarted"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
             x:Class="ChartGettingStarted.ChartSample">

  <chart:SfChart x:Name="Chart" HorizontalOptions="FillAndExpand" VerticalOptions="FillAndExpand">

    <chart:SfChart.BindingContext>
      <local:ViewModel/>
    </chart:SfChart.BindingContext>

    <chart:SfChart.Legend>
      <chart:ChartLegend />
    </chart:SfChart.Legend>

    <chart:SfChart.Title>
      <chart:ChartTitle Text="Chart"/>
    </chart:SfChart.Title>

    <chart:SfChart.PrimaryAxis>
      <chart:CategoryAxis>
        <chart:CategoryAxis.Title>
          <chart:ChartAxisTitle Text="Name"/>
        </chart:CategoryAxis.Title>
      </chart:CategoryAxis>
    </chart:SfChart.PrimaryAxis>

    <chart:SfChart.SecondaryAxis>
      <chart:NumericalAxis>
        <chart:NumericalAxis.Title>
          <chart:ChartAxisTitle Text="Height (in cm)"/>
        </chart:NumericalAxis.Title>
      </chart:NumericalAxis>
    </chart:SfChart.SecondaryAxis>

    <chart:SfChart.Series>
      <chart:ColumnSeries ItemsSource="{Binding Data}" Label="Heights" XBindingPath="Name" YBindingPath="Height" EnableTooltip="True">
        <chart:ColumnSeries.DataMarker>
          <chart:ChartDataMarker/>
        </chart:ColumnSeries.DataMarker>
      </chart:ColumnSeries>
    </chart:SfChart.Series>
  </chart:SfChart>

</ContentPage>
     

using Syncfusion.SfChart.XForms;

namespace ChartGettingStarted
{
    public partial class ChartSample : ContentPage
    {
        public ChartSample()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            SfChart chart = new SfChart();
            chart.Title.Text = "Chart";

            //Initializing primary axis
            CategoryAxis primaryAxis = new CategoryAxis();
            primaryAxis.Title.Text = "Name";
            chart.PrimaryAxis = primaryAxis;

            //Initializing secondary Axis
            NumericalAxis secondaryAxis = new NumericalAxis();
            secondaryAxis.Title.Text = "Height (in cm)";
            chart.SecondaryAxis = secondaryAxis;

            //Initializing column series
            ColumnSeries series = new ColumnSeries();
            series.ItemsSource = viewModel.Data;
            series.XBindingPath = "Name";
            series.YBindingPath = "Height";
            series.Label = "Heights";

            series.DataMarker = new ChartDataMarker();
            series.EnableTooltip = true;
            chart.Legend = new ChartLegend();

            chart.Series.Add(series);
            this.Content = chart;

        }
    }
}

    The following chart is created as a result of the above codes.

    Tooltip support in Xamarin.Forms Chart

    You can find the complete getting started sample from this link.

    NOTE

    You can refer to our Xamarin Charts feature tour page for its groundbreaking feature representations. You can also explore our Xamarin.Forms Charts example to knows various chart types and how to easily configured with built-in support for creating stunning visual effects.

    See also

    How to resolve the rendering issue with chart in iOS and macOS

    How to make Syncfusion Xamarin.Forms chart to work in UWP in release mode when .NET Native tool chain is enabled

    How to solve application crashes due to privacy violation in iOS 10+ devices

    How to add the Xamarin.Forms chart in a ListView

    How to remove the default padding of Xamarin.Forms chart

    How to make animation work on Android chart in release mode

    How to add the chart inside StackLayout/ScrollView

    How to upgrade to newer versions of NuGet Package

    How to view corner segments without cutting in edge of Xamarin.Forms chart