Getting Started with the .NET MAUI DataForm

29 Jun 20266 minutes to read

This section provides a quick overview of how to get started with the .NET MAUI DataForm(SfDataForm) for .NET MAUI and a walk-through to configure the .NET MAUI DataForm control in a real-time scenario. Follow the steps below to add .NET MAUI DataForm control to your project.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure the following are set up:

  1. Install .NET 9 SDK or later.
  2. Set up a .NET MAUI environment with Visual Studio 2022 v17.12 or later.

Step 1: Create a new .NET MAUI project

  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.

Step 2: Install the Syncfusion® MAUI DataForm NuGet package

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

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure the following are set up:

  1. Install .NET 9 SDK or later.
  2. Set up a .NET MAUI environment with Visual Studio Code.
  3. Ensure that the .NET MAUI workloads are installed and configured as described here.

Step 1: Create a new .NET MAUI project

  1. Open the command palette by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P and type .NET:New Project and 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 DataForm NuGet package

  1. Press Ctrl + ` (backtick) to open the integrated terminal in Visual Studio Code.
  2. Ensure you’re in the project root directory where your .csproj file is located.
  3. Run the command dotnet add package Syncfusion.Maui.DataForm to install the Syncfusion® .NET MAUI DataForm NuGet package.
  4. To ensure all dependencies are installed, run dotnet restore.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure the following are set up:

  1. Install .NET 9 SDK or later.
  2. Set up a .NET MAUI environment with JetBrains Rider 2024.3 or later.
  3. Make sure the MAUI workloads are installed and configured as described here.

Step 1: Create a new .NET MAUI project

  1. Go to File > New Solution, Select .NET (C#) and choose the .NET MAUI App template.
  2. Enter the Project Name, Solution Name, and Location.
  3. Select the .NET framework version and click Create.

Step 2: Install the Syncfusion® MAUI DataForm NuGet package

  1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the project and choose Manage NuGet Packages.
  2. Search for Syncfusion.Maui.DataForm and install the latest version.
  3. Ensure the necessary dependencies are installed correctly, and the project is restored. If not, Open the Terminal in Rider and manually run: dotnet restore

Step 3: Register Syncfusion handler

Make sure to add the namespace.

using Syncfusion.Maui.Core.Hosting;

Register the Syncfusion core handler in your CreateMauiApp method of MauiProgram.cs file to use Syncfusion controls.

builder.ConfigureSyncfusionCore();

Step 4: Define Model and View Model

The SfDataForm is a data edit control, so create a data object with details to create a data form based on your business requirement.

Here, the data object named ContactsInfo is created with some properties.

public class ContactsInfo
{
    public string FirstName { get; set; }
    public string MiddleName { get; set; }
    public string LastName { get; set; }
    public string ContactNumber { get; set; }
    public string Email { get; set; }
    public string Address { get; set; }
    public DateTime? BirthDate { get; set; }
    public string GroupName { get; set; }
}

Initialize the data object in view model class to bind in the DataObject property of SfDataForm.

public class DataFormViewModel
{
    public ContactsInfo ContactsInfo {get; set;}
        
    public DataFormViewModel()
    {
        this.ContactsInfo = new ContactsInfo();
    }
}

Step 5: Import the DataForm namespace

Add the following namespace in your XAML or C#.

xmlns:dataForm="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.Maui.DataForm;assembly=Syncfusion.Maui.DataForm"
using Syncfusion.Maui.DataForm;

Step 6: Add the DataForm component

Create an instance and set it as the DataForm’s DataObject. By default, the data form auto-generates the editors based on the primitive data type in the DataObject property. Please refer the following code to set the DataObject property.

<dataForm:SfDataForm DataObject="{Binding ContactsInfo}">
    <dataForm:SfDataForm.BindingContext>
        <local:DataFormViewModel />
    </dataForm:SfDataForm.BindingContext>
</dataForm:SfDataForm>
this.BindingContext = new DataFormViewModel();
SfDataForm dataForm = new SfDataForm()
{
    DataObject = new ContactsInfo()
};

The following screenshot illustrates the result of the above code.

DataForm control in .NET MAUI platform

You can download the DataForm Getting Started sample from GitHub

NOTE

When publishing in AOT mode on iOS and macOS, ensure that [Preserve(AllMembers = true)] is added to the model class to maintain the binding between DataForm and DataObject.

NOTE

You can refer to our .NET MAUI DataForm feature tour page for its groundbreaking feature representations. You can also explore our .NET MAUI DataForm example that shows you how to render and configure the DataForm.