Xamarin Forms Maps - how to refresh/update the map - CustomMap Renderer

Question

If you are searching for a full polylines, pins, tiles, UIOptions (and 3D effects soon) renderings/implementations, you should take a loot at the public github I made at XamarinByEmixam23/..../Map.

---

I search a lot but I still have the same problem:

How can I update, refresh or reload the Xamarin.Forms.Maps?

In the class definition (class CustomMap : Map), there is no method to update the maps.. Maybe a MVVM logic can solves the problem, but I can't find it on the Web..

I followed this tutorial for the maps : Working with maps

To customise it, I followed this tutorial : Highlight a Route on a Map

So, after these tutorials (I made the same things, no changes), I tried with 2 RouteCoordinates which gave me a straight line... I then made an algorithm which works perfectly.

DirectionMap

public class DirectionMap
{
    public Distance distance { get; set; }
    public Duration duration { get; set; }
    public Address address_start { get; set; }
    public Address address_end { get; set; }
    public List<Step> steps { get; set; }

    public class Distance
    {
        public string text { get; set; }
        public int value { get; set; }
    }
    public class Duration
    {
        public string text { get; set; }
        public int value { get; set; }
    }
    public class Address
    {
        public string text { get; set; }
        public Position position { get; set; }
    }
    public class Step
    {
        public Position start { get; set; }
        public Position end { get; set; }
    }
}

ResponseHttpParser

public static void parseDirectionGoogleMapsResponse(HttpStatusCode httpStatusCode, JObject json, Action<DirectionMap, string> callback)
{
    switch (httpStatusCode)
    {
        case HttpStatusCode.OK:

            DirectionMap directionMap = null;
            string strException = null;

            try
            {
                directionMap = new DirectionMap()
                {
                    distance = new DirectionMap.Distance()
                    {
                        text = (json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["distance"]["text"]).ToString(),
                        value = Int32.Parse((json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["distance"]["value"]).ToString())
                    },
                    duration = new DirectionMap.Duration()
                    {
                        text = (json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["duration"]["text"]).ToString(),
                        value = Int32.Parse((json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["duration"]["value"]).ToString())
                    },
                    address_start = new DirectionMap.Address()
                    {
                        text = (json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["start_address"]).ToString(),
                        position = new Position(Double.Parse((json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["start_location"]["lat"]).ToString()), Double.Parse((json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["start_location"]["lng"]).ToString()))
                    },
                    address_end = new DirectionMap.Address()
                    {
                        text = (json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["end_address"]).ToString(),
                        position = new Position(Double.Parse((json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["end_location"]["lat"]).ToString()), Double.Parse((json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["end_location"]["lng"]).ToString()))
                    }
                };

                bool finished = false;
                directionMap.steps = new List<Step>();
                int index = 0;

                while (!finished)
                {
                    try
                    {
                        Step step = new Step()
                        {
                            start = new Position(Double.Parse((json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["steps"][index]["start_location"]["lat"]).ToString()), Double.Parse((json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["steps"][index]["start_location"]["lng"]).ToString())),
                            end = new Position(Double.Parse((json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["steps"][index]["end_location"]["lat"]).ToString()), Double.Parse((json["routes"][0]["legs"][0]["steps"][index]["end_location"]["lng"]).ToString()))
                        };
                        directionMap.steps.Add(step);
                        index++;
                    }
                    catch (Exception e)
                    {
                        finished = true;
                    }
                }
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                directionMap = null;
                strException = e.ToString();
            }
            finally
            {
                callback(directionMap, strException);
            }
            break;
        default:
            switch (httpStatusCode)
            {

            }
            callback(null, json.ToString());
            break;
    }
}

I just get the distance and duration for some private calculs and get each step that I put into a List<>;

When everything is finished, I use my callback which bring us back to the controller (MapPage.xaml.cs the XAML Form Page (Xamarin Portable))

Now, everything becomes weird. It's like the map doesn't get that changes are made

public partial class MapPage : ContentPage
{
    public MapPage()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        setupMap();
        setupMapCustom();
    }

    public void setupMapCustom()
    {
        customMap.RouteCoordinates.Add(new Position(37.785559, -122.396728));
        customMap.RouteCoordinates.Add(new Position(37.780624, -122.390541));
        customMap.RouteCoordinates.Add(new Position(37.777113, -122.394983));
        customMap.RouteCoordinates.Add(new Position(37.776831, -122.394627));

        customMap.MoveToRegion(MapSpan.FromCenterAndRadius(new Position(37.79752, -122.40183), Xamarin.Forms.Maps.Distance.FromMiles(1.0)));
    }       

    public async void setupMap()
    {
        customMap.MapType = MapType.Satellite;

        string origin = "72100 Le Mans";
        string destination = "75000 Paris";

        HttpRequest.getDirections(origin, destination, callbackDirections);

        customMap.RouteCoordinates.Add(await MapUtilities.GetMapPointOfStreetAddress(origin));
        Position position = await MapUtilities.GetMapPointOfStreetAddress(destination);
        //customMap.RouteCoordinates.Add(position);

        var pin = new Pin
        {
            Type = PinType.Place,
            Position = position,
            Label = "Destination !!",
        };
        customMap.Pins.Add(pin);
    }

    private async void callbackDirections(Object obj, string str)
    {
        if (obj != null)
        {
            DirectionMap directionMap = obj as DirectionMap;

            foreach (Step step in directionMap.steps)
            {
                customMap.RouteCoordinates.Add(step.start);
                System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("add step");
            }

            customMap.RouteCoordinates.Add(directionMap.address_end.position);
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("add last step");
        }
        else
        {
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(str);
        }
    }
}

I run my app, everything works until it's something fast, because of the time spent by my algorithm etc, the callback is coming too late and then I need to refresh, reload or update my map... Anyway, I need to update my map in the future, so... If anyone can help, this one is welcome !

EDIT 1 I took a look at your answer ( thank a lot ! ;) ) but it doesn't works :/

I updated CustomMap as you did

public class CustomMap : Map
{
    public static readonly BindableProperty RouteCoordinatesProperty =
    BindableProperty.Create<CustomMap, List<Position>>(p => p.RouteCoordinates, new List<Position>());

    public List<Position> RouteCoordinates
    {
        get { return (List<Position>)GetValue(RouteCoordinatesProperty); }
        set { SetValue(RouteCoordinatesProperty, value); }
    }

    public CustomMap()
    {
        RouteCoordinates = new List<Position>();
    }
}

Same for CustomMapRenderer (Droid)

public class CustomMapRenderer : MapRenderer, IOnMapReadyCallback
{
    GoogleMap map;
    Polyline polyline;

    protected override void OnElementChanged(Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.ElementChangedEventArgs<Xamarin.Forms.View> e)
    {
        base.OnElementChanged(e);

        if (e.OldElement != null)
        {
            // Unsubscribe
        }

        if (e.NewElement != null)
        {
            ((MapView)Control).GetMapAsync(this);
        }
    }

    protected override void OnElementPropertyChanged(object sender, System.ComponentModel.PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnElementPropertyChanged(sender, e);
        if (this.Element == null || this.Control == null)
            return;

        if (e.PropertyName == CustomMap.RouteCoordinatesProperty.PropertyName)
        {
            UpdatePolyLine();
        }
    }

    private void UpdatePolyLine()
    {
        if (polyline != null)
        {
            polyline.Remove();
            polyline.Dispose();
        }

        var polylineOptions = new PolylineOptions();
        polylineOptions.InvokeColor(0x66FF0000);

        foreach (var position in ((CustomMap)this.Element).RouteCoordinates)
        {
            polylineOptions.Add(new LatLng(position.Latitude, position.Longitude));
        }

        polyline = map.AddPolyline(polylineOptions);
    }

    public void OnMapReady(GoogleMap googleMap)
    {
        map = googleMap;
        UpdatePolyLine();
    }
}

So, for the last change, in my MapPage.xaml.cs I made changes in the callbackDirections as you explained (I hope I did good)

private async void callbackDirections(Object obj, string str)
    {
        if (obj != null)
        {
            Device.BeginInvokeOnMainThread(() =>
            {
                DirectionMap directionMap = obj as DirectionMap;
                var list = new List<Position>(customMap.RouteCoordinates);

                foreach (Step step in directionMap.steps)
                {
                    list.Add(directionMap.address_end.position);
                    System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("add step");
                }

                System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("last step");
                customMap.RouteCoordinates = list;
                System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("finished?");
            });
        }
        else
        {
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(str);
        }
    }

The map is still doesn't display the polyline :/ I only made these changes, I didn't change anything else from my previous code.

I didn't tell you, but I'm not an expert in MVVM binding, so if I forget something, I'm sorry :/

EDIT 2 So after your answer and some read, read and re-read of your answer, there is my "test code" in MapPage.xaml.cs

public MapPage()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        //HttpRequest.getDirections(origin, destination, callbackDirections);

        Device.BeginInvokeOnMainThread(() =>
        {
            customMap.RouteCoordinates = new List<Position>
            {
                new Position (37.797534, -122.401827),
                new Position (37.776831, -122.394627)
            };
        });

        //setupMap();
        //setupMapCustom();
    }

Because it doesn't works (for me), I took a look at my code and then, I saw that public static readonly BindableProperty RouteCoordinatesProperty = BindableProperty.Create<CustomMap, List<Position>>( p => p.RouteCoordinates, new List<Position>()); was deprecated..

So I red on this post a different way to implement this binding, but it also said that this way is deprecated SEE HERE... I also saw some tutorials about binding which says that they put some code into their xaml, let me remember you mine

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"
     xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
     xmlns:local="clr-namespace:NAMESPACE;assembly=NAMESPACE"
     x:Class="NAMESPACE.Controlers.MapPage">
         <ContentPage.Content>
             <local:CustomMap x:Name="customMap"/>
         </ContentPage.Content>
</ContentPage>

I'm not using something as ItemSource="{PolylineBindable}"

Solution 1

So after lot of searches and, of course, the answer of @Sven-Michael Stübe, you can have your proper maps which works on each platform "Android, iOS, WinPhone". Follow my code, then edit it following the @Sven-Michael Stübe's answer.

Once you finished everything, it could works (like for @Sven-Michael Stübe), but it also couldn't work (like for me). If it doesn't works, try to change the following code:

public static readonly BindableProperty RouteCoordinatesProperty =
    BindableProperty.Create<CustomMap, List<Position>>(
        p => p.RouteCoordinates, new List<Position>());

by

public static readonly BindableProperty RouteCoordinatesProperty =
    BindableProperty.Create(nameof(RouteCoordinates), typeof(List<Position>), typeof(CustomMap), new List<Position>(), BindingMode.TwoWay);

See the documentation for more information about it. (Deprecated implementation)

Then the code works !

PS: You can have some troubles with the polyline at the end, which not following the road right, I'm working on it.

PS2: I'll also make a video to explain how to code your customMap to don't have to install a NuGet package, to be able to edit everything at the end ! (The first one will be in French, the second in English, this post will be edited when the video will be made)

Thank angain to @Sven-Michael Stübe !! Thank to up his answer as well :)

Solution 2

The custom renderer from the example is not made for dynamic updating the path. It is just implemented for the case, where all points of the paths are known before initializing the map / drawing the path the first time. So you have this race condition, you ran into, because you are loading the directions from a web service.

So you have to do some changes:

RouteCoordinates must be a BindableProperty

public class CustomMap : Map
{
    public static readonly BindableProperty RouteCoordinatesProperty =
        BindableProperty.Create<CustomMap, List<Position>>(p => p.RouteCoordinates, new List<Position>());

    public List<Position> RouteCoordinates
    {
        get { return (List<Position>)GetValue(RouteCoordinatesProperty); }
        set { SetValue(RouteCoordinatesProperty, value); }
    }

    public CustomMap ()
    {
        RouteCoordinates = new List<Position>();
    }
}

Update the Polyline whenever the coordinates change

• Move the creation of the polyline from OnMapReady to UpdatePolyLine
• call UpdatePolyLine from OnMapReady and OnElementPropertyChanged

public class CustomMapRenderer : MapRenderer, IOnMapReadyCallback
{
    GoogleMap map;
    Polyline polyline;

    protected override void OnElementChanged(Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.ElementChangedEventArgs<View> e)
    {
        base.OnElementChanged(e);

        if (e.OldElement != null)
        {
            // Unsubscribe
        }

        if (e.NewElement != null)
        {
            ((MapView)Control).GetMapAsync(this);
        }
    }

    protected override void OnElementPropertyChanged(object sender, System.ComponentModel.PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnElementPropertyChanged(sender, e);
        if (this.Element == null || this.Control == null)
            return;

        if (e.PropertyName == CustomMap.RouteCoordinatesProperty.PropertyName)
        {
            UpdatePolyLine();
        }
    }

    private void UpdatePolyLine()
    {
        if (polyline != null)
        {
            polyline.Remove();
            polyline.Dispose();
        }               

        var polylineOptions = new PolylineOptions();
        polylineOptions.InvokeColor(0x66FF0000);

        foreach (var position in ((CustomMap)this.Element).RouteCoordinates)
        {
            polylineOptions.Add(new LatLng(position.Latitude, position.Longitude));
        }

        polyline = map.AddPolyline(polylineOptions);
    }

    public void OnMapReady(GoogleMap googleMap)
    {
        map = googleMap;
        UpdatePolyLine();
    }
}

Setting the data

Updating the positions changes a bit. Instead of adding the positions to the existing list, you have to (create a new list) and set it to RouteCoordinates. You can use Device.BeginInvokeOnMainThread to ensure, that the operation is performed on the UI thread. Else the polyline will not update.

Device.BeginInvokeOnMainThread(() =>
{
    customMap.RouteCoordinates = new List<Position>
    {
        new Position (37.797534, -122.401827),
        new Position (37.776831, -122.394627)
    };
}) 

In your case it's something like

var list = new List<Position>(customMap.RouteCoordinates);
list.Add(directionMap.address_end.position);
customMap.RouteCoordinates = list;

Todo

On iOS you have now to implement a similar behavior (like UpdatePolyLine)

Note

That might not the most performant implementation, because you redraw everything instead of adding one point. But it's fine as long as you have no performance issues :)

Solution 3

I followed the tutorial available on Xamarin Docs and it worked for me with some changes based on @Sven-Michael Stübe answer

I load the coordinates from a WebService and then I create a separate List, and after this, I set the new list to the RouteCoordinates property on Custom Map.

Some changes are made on Android Renderer

I'm using MVVM.

CustomMap Class:

public static readonly BindableProperty RouteCoordinatesProperty =
        BindableProperty.Create(nameof(RouteCoordinates), typeof(List<Position>), typeof(CustomMap), new List<Position>(), BindingMode.TwoWay);

public List<Position> RouteCoordinates
{
    get { return (List<Position>)GetValue(RouteCoordinatesProperty); }
    set { SetValue(RouteCoordinatesProperty, value); }
}

public CustomMap()
{
    RouteCoordinates = new List<Position>();
}

ViewModel (Codebehind, in your case):

private async void LoadCoordinates(string oidAula, CustomMap mapa)
{
    IsBusy = true;

    var percurso = await ComunicacaoServidor.GetPercurso(oidAula); // Get coordinates from WebService
    var pontos = percurso.Select(p => new Position(p.Latitude, p.Longitude)).ToList(); // Create coordinates list from webservice result

    var latitudeMedia = percurso[percurso.Count / 2].Latitude;
    var longitudeMedia = percurso[percurso.Count / 2].Longitude;

    mapa.RouteCoordinates = pontos;
    mapa.MoveToRegion(MapSpan.FromCenterAndRadius(new Position(latitudeMedia, longitudeMedia), Distance.FromMiles(1.0)));

    IsBusy = false;
}

XAML:

<maps:CustomMap
        AbsoluteLayout.LayoutFlags  = "All"
        AbsoluteLayout.LayoutBounds = "0, 0, 1, 1"
        VerticalOptions             = "FillAndExpand"
        HorizontalOptions           = "FillAndExpand"
        x:Name                      = "PercursoMapa" />

Android Renderer:

public class CustomMapRenderer : MapRenderer
{
    bool isDrawn;

    protected override void OnElementChanged(ElementChangedEventArgs<Map> e)
    {
        base.OnElementChanged(e);

        if (e.OldElement != null)
        {
            // Unsubscribe
        }

        if (e.NewElement != null)
            Control.GetMapAsync(this);
    }

    protected override void OnElementPropertyChanged(object sender, System.ComponentModel.PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnElementPropertyChanged(sender, e);

        if ((e.PropertyName == "RouteCoordinates" || e.PropertyName == "VisibleRegion") && !isDrawn)
        {
            var polylineOptions = new PolylineOptions();
            polylineOptions.InvokeColor(0x66FF0000);

            var coordinates = ((CustomMap)Element).RouteCoordinates;

            foreach (var position in coordinates)
                polylineOptions.Add(new LatLng(position.Latitude, position.Longitude));

            NativeMap.AddPolyline(polylineOptions);
            isDrawn = coordinates.Count > 0;
        }
    }
}

This example have more than 3600 points of location and the polyline shows correctly on device:

Screenshot

Solution 4

Building on these answers, here is what I did to get it to work on iOS. This allows changing the route even after the map is loaded, unlike the Xamarin sample.

Firstly, custom map class as per @Sven-Michael Stübe with the update from @Emixam23:

public class CustomMap : Map
{
    public static readonly BindableProperty RouteCoordinatesProperty =
        BindableProperty.Create(nameof(RouteCoordinates), typeof(List<Position>), typeof(CustomMap), new List<Position>(), BindingMode.TwoWay);

    public List<Position> RouteCoordinates
    {
        get { return (List<Position>)GetValue(RouteCoordinatesProperty); }
        set { SetValue(RouteCoordinatesProperty, value); }
    }

    public CustomMap()
    {
        RouteCoordinates = new List<Position>();
    }
}

Next, the iOS custom renderer:

[assembly: ExportRenderer(typeof(CustomMap), typeof(CustomMapRenderer))]
namespace KZNTR.iOS
{
    public class CustomMapRenderer : MapRenderer
    {
        MKPolylineRenderer polylineRenderer;
        CustomMap map;

        protected override void OnElementPropertyChanged(object sender, System.ComponentModel.PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            base.OnElementPropertyChanged(sender, e);

            if ((this.Element == null) || (this.Control == null))
                return;

            if (e.PropertyName == CustomMap.RouteCoordinatesProperty.PropertyName)
            {
                map = (CustomMap)sender;
                UpdatePolyLine();
            }
        }

        [Foundation.Export("mapView:rendererForOverlay:")]
        MKOverlayRenderer GetOverlayRenderer(MKMapView mapView, IMKOverlay overlay)
        {
            if (polylineRenderer == null)
            {
                var o = ObjCRuntime.Runtime.GetNSObject(overlay.Handle) as MKPolyline;

                polylineRenderer = new MKPolylineRenderer(o);
                //polylineRenderer = new MKPolylineRenderer(overlay as MKPolyline);
                polylineRenderer.FillColor = UIColor.Blue;
                polylineRenderer.StrokeColor = UIColor.Red;
                polylineRenderer.LineWidth = 3;
                polylineRenderer.Alpha = 0.4f;
            }
            return polylineRenderer;
        }

        private void UpdatePolyLine()
        {

            var nativeMap = Control as MKMapView;

            nativeMap.OverlayRenderer = GetOverlayRenderer;

            CLLocationCoordinate2D[] coords = new CLLocationCoordinate2D[map.RouteCoordinates.Count];

            int index = 0;
            foreach (var position in map.RouteCoordinates)
            {
                coords[index] = new CLLocationCoordinate2D(position.Latitude, position.Longitude);
                index++;
            }

            var routeOverlay = MKPolyline.FromCoordinates(coords);
            nativeMap.AddOverlay(routeOverlay);
        }
    }
}

And finally, adding a polyline to the map:

            Device.BeginInvokeOnMainThread(() =>
            {
                customMap.RouteCoordinates.Clear();

                var plist = new List<Position>(customMap.RouteCoordinates);

                foreach (var point in track.TrackPoints)
                {
                    plist.Add(new Position(double.Parse(point.Latitude, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture), double.Parse(point.Longitude, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)));
                }

                customMap.RouteCoordinates = plist;

                var firstpoint = (from pt in track.TrackPoints select pt).FirstOrDefault();
                customMap.MoveToRegion(MapSpan.FromCenterAndRadius(new Position(double.Parse(firstpoint.Latitude, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture), double.Parse(firstpoint.Longitude, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)), Distance.FromMiles(3.0)));

            });

Not sure if this is the best way to do it, or the most efficient, I don't know much about renderers, but it does seem to work.

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