Charts in Xamarin Forms Application

Introduction                        Displaying charts in mobile apps has always been a great way to offer users a clear overview of numerical data. I want this task to be as easy as writing a few lines of code, but I couldn't find a straight-forward way to achieve this. This is why I started exploring SkiaSharp and created Microcharts.

NuGet Package : Xamarin.Forms = search "Microcharts.Forms"

   

This simple plugin can display microcharts in Xamarin.Forms.

Available charts Microcharts.Forms Plugin

• Barchart
• PointChart
• LineChart
• DonutChart
• RadialGaugeChart
• RadarChart

Chart Types

1. BarChart

1.  Chartview.Chart =  new BarChart(){Entries = entries};

2. PointChart

1. Chartview.Chart =  new PointChart(){Entries = entries};

3. LineChart

1. Chartview.Chart =  new LineChart(){Entries = entries};

4. DonutChart

1. Chartview.Chart =  new DonutChart(){Entries = entries}; 

5. RadialGaugeChart

1. Chartview.Chart =  new RadialGaugeChart(){Entries = entries}; 

6. RadarChart

1. Chartview.Chart =  new RadartChart(){Entries = entries};

Step 1                 You can create Xamarin.Forms app by going to File >> New >> Visual C# >> Cross Platform >> Cross Platform App (Xamarin.Native or Xamarin.Forms), give the application name and press OK.

(Project name: MicrochartsApp)

Step 2      Now, add the following NuGet Package for your projects.

• Microcharts.Forms
  
  For that, go to Solution Explorer and select your solution. Right-click and select "Manage NuGet Packages for the Solution". Now, select the following NuGet Package, select your project, and install it.

• Microcharts.Forms

Step 3
   To display a chart, we'll need to host it in a ChartView.

      

    After installing NuGet packages, add a ChartView control to your project. For that, go to Solution Explorer >> MicrochartsApp(PCL) >>> Double-click on MainPage.xaml. After opening this, you can add assembly and XAML code to your project. Here is the code for this page.

Assembly

1. xmlns:forms="clr-namespace:Microcharts.Forms;assembly=Microcharts.Forms"

XAML code

1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>  
2. <ContentPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"  
3.              xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"  
4.              xmlns:local="clr-namespace:MicrochartsApp"  
5.              x:Class="MicrochartsApp.MainPage"  
6.              xmlns:forms="clr-namespace:Microcharts.Forms;assembly=Microcharts.Forms">  
7.     <ScrollView>   
8.         <StackLayout Orientation="Vertical">  
9.           
10.         <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart1"  
11.                                HeightRequest="150"/>  
12.         <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart2"  HeightRequest="150" />  
13.         <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart3"  
14.                              HeightRequest="150"/>  
15.         <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart4"  
16.                              HeightRequest="150"/>  
17.         <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart5"  
18.                              HeightRequest="150"/>  
19.         <forms:ChartView x:Name="Chart6"                                                          HeightRequest="160"/>  
20.         </StackLayout>  
21.     </ScrollView>  
22. </ContentPage>

Step 4          In this step, add data entries. For that, open Solution Explorer >> MicrochartsApp(PCL) >>click open MainPage.xaml.cs. This class code is given below.

           Every chart displays via Microcharts and consumes a set of data entries. They will always have the same structure regardless of the chart type that you want to display.

Each entry

•  Floating number representing it's value is required.
•  Label - what your entry is associated with.
•  ValueLabel - format your value
•  Color - entry

1. using Microcharts;  
2. using SkiaSharp;  
3. using Microcharts.Forms;  
4. using System;  
5. using System.Collections.Generic;  
6. using System.Linq;  
7. using System.Text;  
8. using System.Threading.Tasks;  
9. using Xamarin.Forms;  
10. using Entry = Microcharts.Entry;  
11.   
12.   
13. namespace MicrochartsApp  
14. {  
15.     public partial class MainPage : ContentPage  
16.     {  
17.         List<Entry> entries = new List<Entry>  
18.         {  
19.             new Entry(200)  
20.             {  
21.                 Color=SKColor.Parse("#FF1943"),  
22.                 Label ="January",  
23.                 ValueLabel = "200"  
24.             },  
25.             new Entry(400)  
26.             {  
27.                 Color = SKColor.Parse("00BFFF"),  
28.                 Label = "March",  
29.                 ValueLabel = "400"  
30.             },  
31.             new Entry(-100)  
32.             {  
33.                 Color =  SKColor.Parse("#00CED1"),  
34.                 Label = "Octobar",  
35.                 ValueLabel = "-100"  
36.             },  
37.             };  
38.         public MainPage()  
39.         {  
40.             InitializeComponent();  
41.   
42.               
43.             Chart1.Chart = new RadialGaugeChart() { Entries = entries };  
44.             Chart2.Chart = new LineChart() { Entries = entries };  
45.             Chart3.Chart = new DonutChart() { Entries = entries };  
46.             Chart4.Chart = new BarChart() { Entries = entries };  
47.             Chart5.Chart = new PointChart() { Entries = entries };  
48.             //Chart6.Chart = new RadarChart() { Entries = entries };  
49.         }  
50.     }  
51. } 

Step 5
Now, go to "Build" menu and configure your startup project. After configuring, run your project. You will have the result like below.

Finally, we have successfully created Xamarin.Forms Microcharts application.