MauiAppToolkit

Toolkit denomination take place in simple code that can be used to make simple integration.

This project comes from the need of understanding what happend on Android plateform when you save a file the content is not saved it just disapear in cache memory what is the way to save a file for exemple in OneDrive...

storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.compagnyname.appname

Requirements

• Visual Studio Community 2022
• .NET Multiplateform App UI Development

Getting started

This application is a Flyout Tab ContentPage:

<FlyoutItem Title="Console" Route="consolepage" FlyoutIcon="{StaticResource IconTwo}">
    <Tab Title="File" Icon="{StaticResource IconOneTab}">
        <ShellContent
            Title="One"
            ContentTemplate="{DataTemplate local:MainPage}"
            Route="mainpage" />
    </Tab>

Make very easy the way to add a Page (View)

Summary

• Log to a Console
  • Understanding MVVM Pattern
  • Go to Console
• Storage and Save File
• Integration of SpeechToText module
• Spy monitor Play with Permission
• Spy monitor Play with Camera.MAUI

Log to a Console

For applications that are a little tutchy, it's important while you are not in debug mode to have clear messages to the user. This the aim of Console.

Understanding MvvM pattern

I did several tries until I realized that my Console viewmodel was not updated, I was wrong in MvvM model. I had binder on a SetProperty of the Community.Mvvm.Toolkit when I clicked on Navigate to Console the Message was not updated.

Then I realize I could have code into the View to do something when you Navigated To the View:

NavigatedTo="ContentPage_NavigatedTo"

Then all I had to do, is to instanciate a new ViewModel with the updated Message:

//<event>
private void ContentPage_NavigatedTo(object sender, NavigatedToEventArgs e)
{
    ConsoleViewModel viewModel = new ConsoleViewModel(_viewModel.MessageText);
    BindingContext = viewModel;
}
//</event>

Last thing was to add a constructor to ConsoleViewModel that pass the updated Message to the new ConsoleViewModel.

public ConsoleViewModel(string msg)
{
    base.MessageText = msg;
}

I think now I have a good command of the MvvM model.

Go to the Console

I came back here months later then I find hard to remember that the Console was reachable here:

FlyoutItem means you have a main menu.

Storage and Save Files

This is the tuff subject when you deploy on multiple platforms because you deal with each FileSystems.

FileSystem.Current.CacheDirectory:

/data/user/0/com.companyname.mauiapptoolkit/cache

FileSystem.Current.AppDataDirectory:

/data/user/0/com.companyname.mauiapptoolkit/files

Here is the path to a file ridden from OneDrive:

/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.companyname.mauiapptoolkit/cache /2203693cc04e0be7f4f024d5f9499e13/92c9d622ed3d489a8a37b988f0c003c1/file.xxx

Has we can see when you read a file from OneDrive, or other clouds, the file is stored in cache directory. Therefor it's not usefull to save the file in this place, user will not be able find it. So the application will save the file in "application user's accessible directory".

Integration of SpeechToText module

If there is, this one is a very intresting game, first discover the module in:

community-toolkit\samples\CommunityToolkit.Maui.Sample\Pages\Essentials

Then make it works in MauiAppToolkit:

Doing this you will see all the implications.

Spy monitor Play with Permission

A need today is to know if you can be spyied, so look at the status of the camera and the microphone and if they are active try to deactivate them.

For now it's a bit disappointing because MAUI doesn't go far enough, I still can't find a way to activate or deactivate the camera or the microphone without going through platform specific code

Spy monitor Play with CameraMAUI

I discover the Camera.MAUI plugin nuget to play with the camera device:

And guess what, you can't turn off the camera, you still have to do it!

Have fun!