iosxamarin.formsviewrendering

Overridden Draw method of ViewRenderer blocks UI


I implement a Xamarin.Forms control. The problem I'm currently experiancing is that an overridden Draw() method of a custom renderer blocks UI (at least for iOS platform). I've googled but with no success. Is is possible to perform the drawing in a background without blocking the UI?

Here is the code of a simple renderer for iOS platform that that demonstrates the issue.

public class MyCustomRenderer : ViewRenderer
{
   protected override void OnElementPropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
   {
      base.OnElementPropertyChanged(sender, e);
      SetNeedsDisplay();
   }

   public override void Draw(CoreGraphics.CGRect rect)
   {
      var myControl = (MyControl)this.Element;

      if (!myControl.IsRendered)
      {
         using (var context = UIGraphics.GetCurrentContext())
         {
            var token = CancellationToken.None;
            var task = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => TimeConsumingRendering(context, token), token);

            // task.Wait() blocks the UI but draws the desired graphics.
            // When task.Wait() is commented out = the desired graphics doesn't get drawn and it doesn't block the UI
            task.Wait();
         }
      }
   }

   private void TimeConsumingRendering(CGContext context, CancellationToken token)
   {
      try
      {
         for (int i = 0; i <= 100; i++)
         {
            token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
            var delay = Task.Delay(50);
            delay.Wait();
         }

         context.ScaleCTM(1f, -1f);
         context.TranslateCTM(0, -Bounds.Height);
         context.SetTextDrawingMode(CGTextDrawingMode.FillStroke);
         context.SelectFont("Helvetica-Bold", 16f, CGTextEncoding.MacRoman);
         context.SetFillColor(new CoreGraphics.CGColor(1f, 0f, 0f));
         context.ShowTextAtPoint(0, 0, "Finished");
      }
      catch
      { }
   }
}

Solution

  • Looks like that the only solution for that is to separate the time consuming drawing and drawing on the actual control.

    The solution is

    1. to generate an image in a background(triggered by an event). and only than use it within the Draw method.
    2. to use the generated image within the overridden Draw method.

    At least it works for me.