Getting Started with .NET MAUI Autocomplete

17 Sep 202411 minutes to read

This section guides you through setting up and configuring a Autocomplete in your .NET MAUI application. Follow the steps below to add a basic Autocomplete to your project.

To quickly get started with the .NET MAUI Autocomplete, watch this video.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure the following are in place:

  1. Install .NET 7 SDK or later.
  2. Set up a .NET MAUI environment with Visual Studio 2022 (v17.3 or later) or Visual Studio Code. For Visual Studio Code users, ensure that the .NET MAUI workload is installed and configured as described here.

Step 1: Create a New MAUI Project

Visual Studio

  1. Go to File > New > Project and choose the .NET MAUI App template.
  2. Name the project and choose a location. Then, click Next.
  3. Select the .NET framework version and click Create.

Visual Studio Code

  1. Open the Command Palette by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P and type .NET:New Project and press Enter.
  2. Choose the .NET MAUI App template.
  3. Select the project location, type the project name and press Enter.
  4. Then choose Create project

Step 2: Install the Syncfusion MAUI Inputs NuGet Package

  1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the project and choose Manage NuGet Packages.
  2. Search for Syncfusion.Maui.Inputs and install the latest version.
  3. Ensure the necessary dependencies are installed correctly, and the project is restored.

Step 3: Register the handler

Syncfusion.Maui.Core nuget is a dependent package for all Syncfusion controls of .NET MAUI. In the MauiProgram.cs file, register the handler for Syncfusion core.

  • C#
    • using Microsoft.Maui;
using Microsoft.Maui.Hosting;
using Microsoft.Maui.Controls.Compatibility;
using Microsoft.Maui.Controls.Hosting;
using Microsoft.Maui.Controls.Xaml;
using Syncfusion.Maui.Core.Hosting;

namespace AutocompleteSample
{
    public static class MauiProgram
    {
        public static MauiApp CreateMauiApp()
        {
            var builder = MauiApp.CreateBuilder();
            builder
            .UseMauiApp<App>()
            .ConfigureSyncfusionCore()
            .ConfigureFonts(fonts =>
            {
                fonts.AddFont("OpenSans-Regular.ttf", "OpenSansRegular");
            });

            return builder.Build();
        }      
    }
}

    Step 4: Add a Basic Autocomplete

    The .NET MAUI Autocomplete control can be configured entirely using C# code or XAML markup. The following steps explain how to create a .NET MAUI Autocomplete (SfAutocomplete) and configure its elements:

    Adding the .NET MAUI Autocomplete control

    Step 1: Add the namespace as shown in the following code sample:

    xmlns:editors="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.Maui.Inputs;assembly=Syncfusion.Maui.Inputs"
    using Syncfusion.Maui.Inputs;

    Step 2: Set the control as the content in a ContentPage.

    <ContentPage.Content>    
    <editors:SfAutocomplete x:Name="autocomplete" />
</ContentPage.Content>
    SfAutocomplete autocomplete = new SfAutocomplete(); 
Content = autocomplete;

    Step 5: Populate items using data binding

    The .NET MAUI Autocomplete control can be bound to an external data source using the ItemsSource property. Now, let’s create Model and ViewModel classes to populate items with social media details in the Autocomplete.

    Step 1: Create a simple model class called ‘SocialMedia’ with fields ‘ID’ and ‘Name’, and then populate social media data in the ‘SocialMediaViewModel’.

    //Model.cs
public class SocialMedia
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int ID { get; set; }
}

//ViewModel.cs
public class SocialMediaViewModel
{
    public ObservableCollection<SocialMedia> SocialMedias { get; set; }
    public SocialMediaViewModel()
    {
        this.SocialMedias = new ObservableCollection<SocialMedia>();
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "Facebook", ID = 0 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "Google Plus", ID = 1 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "Instagram", ID = 2 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "LinkedIn", ID = 3 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "Skype", ID = 4 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "Telegram", ID = 5 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "Televzr", ID = 6 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "Tik Tok", ID = 7 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "Tout", ID = 8 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "Tumblr", ID = 9 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "Twitter", ID = 10 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "Vimeo", ID = 11 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "WhatsApp", ID = 12 });
        this.SocialMedias.Add(new SocialMedia() { Name = "YouTube", ID = 13 });
    }
}

    Step 2: Populate data in .NET MAUI Autocomplete.

    Now, populate this ‘SocialMediaViewModel’ data in the Autocomplete control by binding to the ItemsSource property.

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/dotnet/2021/maui"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
             xmlns:editors="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.Maui.Inputs;assembly=Syncfusion.Maui.Inputs"
             xmlns:local="clr-namespace:AutocompleteSample"             
             x:Class="AutocompleteSample.MainPage">

       <ContentPage.BindingContext>
            <local:SocialMediaViewModel />
       </ContentPage.BindingContext>

       <ContentPage.Content>
            <!--Setting ItemsSource-->
            <editors:SfAutocomplete x:Name="autocomplete" 
                                    WidthRequest="250"
                                    HeightRequest = "50"
                                    ItemsSource="{Binding SocialMedias}" />
        </ContentPage.Content>
</ContentPage>
    SocialMediaViewModel socialMediaViewModel = new SocialMediaViewModel();
this.BindingContext = socialMediaViewModel;
SfAutocomplete autocomplete = new SfAutocomplete(); 
autocomplete.WidthRequest = 250;
autocomplete.HeightRequest = 50;
autocomplete.ItemsSource = socialMediaViewModel.SocialMedias;
Content = autocomplete;

    NOTE

    Set the BindingContext of your page to an instance of SocialMediaViewModel. This allows you to bind the properties of SocialMediaViewModel to the Autocomplete control.

    Step 3: Set the TextMemberPath and DisplayMemberPath.

    The .NET MAUI Autocomplete control is populated with a list of social media options. However, since the ‘SocialMedia’ model includes two properties, ‘Name’ and ‘ID’, it’s necessary to specify which property should be used as the display value in both the selection box portion and the drop-down suggestion list of the Autocomplete control.

    TextMemberPath: This property path is used to retrieve the value that will be displayed in the selection box portion of the .NET MAUI Autocomplete control when an item is selected. The default value is String.Empty.

    DisplayMemberPath: This property path is used to specify the name or path of the property that will be displayed for each data item in the drop-down list. The default value is String.Empty.

    <editors:SfAutocomplete x:Name="autocomplete"
                        WidthRequest="250" 
                        HeightRequest = "50"
                        DisplayMemberPath = "Name"
                        TextMemberPath = "Name"
                        ItemsSource="{Binding SocialMedias}" />
    SfAutocomplete autocomplete = new SfAutocomplete(); 
autocomplete.WidthRequest = 250;
autocomplete.HeightRequest = 50;
autocomplete.DisplayMemberPath = "Name";
autocomplete.TextMemberPath = "Name";
autocomplete.ItemsSource = socialMediaViewModel.SocialMedias;

    NOTE

    You can refer to our .NET MAUI Autocomplete feature tour page for its groundbreaking feature representations. You can also explore our .NET MAUI Autocomplete Example that shows you how to render the Autocomplete in .NET MAUI.