Rich Text Memo?

Question

I can't believe, as comprehensive as Syncfusion for Xamarin Forms is, that I might have found a component it doesn't offer.....

What I am looking for a something in which I can log data being received in realtime (similar to a terminalo application). As I would like to annotation some entries, it would be useful for me to show those entries in a different colour/font, which is why Rich Text support would be useful.

I don't want to enable the user to edit these entries, so I don't think RichTextEditor or DocIO are appropriate. I also don't want to keep regenerating a PDF so have rejected the PDF view too. I might be able to use SfListView, or a multi-line label (Syncfusion don't offer one), but this seems making the best of what's available, rather than using something indended for displaying text.

So is using a standard Xamarin Label the best I can use to achieve what I want?

Thanks.

Lakshmi Natarajan · Answer

Hi Paul,We
could not understand your requirement clearly. Could you please share your requirement
in detail with a demo image? It will be helpful for us to provide you with the best
possible solution at the earliest.Based
on the given details, you can use the SfRichTextBox to display the Rich text. You
can restrict editing by setting the ReadOnly
property to True and you can hide the editor ToolBar by setting the ShowToolBar
to False. Please
refer to our user guidance document regarding the same,UG
link:
https://help.syncfusion.com/xamarin/rich-text-editor/customization#read-only-supportPlease
refer to the following code snippets for more reference,

<richtexteditor:SfRichTextEditor
  VerticalOptions="FillAndExpand"
                                      ReadOnly="True"
                                      ShowToolbar="False"
                                      HtmlText="This is &lt;strong
  style=&quot;color:red&quot;&gt;HTML&lt;/strong&gt;
  text." />

You
can also use the Xamarin.Forms Label to achieve your requirement.And
the SfListView is used to display the list of items by setting the ItemsSource
property. Also, the SfListView is a templated control, and the Item appearance
can be achieved by customizing elements in the DataTemplate. Please
refer to our user guidance document regarding SfListView,UG
link:
https://help.syncfusion.com/xamarin/listview/overviewRegards,Lakshmi Natarajan

Paul Parkins · Answer

Hi,Thanks for your reply.No I don't have an image. If you are familiar with HyperTerminal or PuTTY, they displayed everything they received from a serial port on screen in a scrollable window. The only difference for me, is that I would additionally like some formatting control.It sounds like SfRichTextEditor in a non-editable mode might do the job. If I used this and used binding to drive the text contents, would I be able to append extra lines, without the RichTextEditor scrolling back to the start of the text?Paul

Paul Parkins · Answer

I haven't tried formatting the text yet, but SfRichTextEditor is looking likely. I have set ScrollOrientation to Vertical and it is scrolling when I would expect, but it only shows the scrollbars whilst I am actually scrolling.

Is it possible to always show the vertical scrollbar when there is more text available than is visible? This would alert my user to the possibility of scrolling. Otherwise they might only see the visible lines and not realise there is more available.

Thanks

Paul

Gayathri Ramalingam · Answer

Hi Paul,Based on your provided information, we suspect you are facing below
issues,The vertical scrollbar is not visible when the
text exceeds the height of the RichTextEditor.The RichTextEditor scrolls to cursor position
0(i.e., top) when we append the text to RichTextEditor.We are able to reproduce the reported issue and please find the
sample to reproduce the reported issue from below,https://www.syncfusion.com/downloads/support/directtrac/general/ze/GettingStarted597424279We
created a video for illustrating the same and it can be downloaded from the
below links,https://www.syncfusion.com/downloads/support/directtrac/general/ze/RTEWithScrollView1139957947Could you please confirm us whether you have faced the issue in
which platform in Xamarin? And please confirm us whether you are facing the
issue in same scenario as we shared in the sample and mentioned in the video? It will be easy for us to investigate further
and assist you with the better solution at
the earliest.If our understating is different, could you please modify the provided
sample with replication procedure?With Regards,Gayathri R

Paul Parkins · Answer

I am using Syncfusion 19.3.0.53 with Xamarin Forms 4.8.0.1687, and currently I am only developing for the Android platform.

One difference between your demo and my project, is that I am not allowing the user to edit the text, but programmatically appending new text to the end.

I have updated your project accordingly.

I can confirm that your project demonstrates the issue of the scrollbar not being visible, unless you are actively attempting to scroll the contents
In my project is does not scroll to top when text is appended. In fact, there is no automatic scrolling whatsoever. For my use, I would prefer it if it did scroll DOWN to the bottom, when I append text to the bottom. However I would prefer no scrolling (as I get at present), to it scrolling to the top as you described, as that means I would never be able to view the text at the bottom if text keeps getting appended in the background
I have encountered another problem.... I have no control over the content of what I need to log, and the device I am capturing information from includes some Soap content such as the following

<s:Envelope xmlns:s="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope">
<s:Header/>
<s:Body>

So I am using HtmlEncode to sanitise the text I am appending. Whilst I can confirm that the text is including the sanitised Soap, it is not displaying. The updated project I am attaching demonstrates this.

Paul

Attachment: sfRichTextEditor_b0a70323.zip

Gayathri Ramalingam · Answer

Hi Paul,Thank you for your update.We are currently analyzing your requirement and will provide
you details on 16th May 2022.With Regards,Gayathri R

Gayathri Ramalingam · Answer

Hi Paul,Thank you for your patience.On further analyzation we found that, RichTextEditor is implemented
based on the Xamarin Forms WebView concept and relies on WebView for rendering the HTML content and we have ensured the behaviour
in Editor Xamarin Forms control also which possess the vertical scrollbar is
not visible when the text is exceeds than the control height. So RichTextEditor
also possesses the same behaviour. Regarding automatic scrolling, In the sample
shared by you in the previous update, you have set the ‘ReadOnly’ property to ‘true’
which allows the users to
restrict editing. We have mentioned the same in the below UG
documentation link,https://help.syncfusion.com/xamarin/rich-text-editor/customization#read-only-supportSince we were able to focus and automatically
scroll the control based on the appended text. We are facing the issue “The
RichTextEditor control should scroll based on the appended text even if the ‘ReadOnly’
mode is false”. We have resolved the issue and prepared custom test patch and
please find the custom NuGet for the same from below,https://www.syncfusion.com/downloads/support/directtrac/general/ze/CustomNuGet1290422716Disclaimer: 
Please note that we have created this NuGet for version 19.3.0.53 specifically
to resolve the following issue(s) reported in this/the Forum(s). 174934Kindly follow the steps to clear
the NuGet cache and then install patched NuGet to get the issue
resolved.       https://www.syncfusion.com/kb/6987/how-to-clear-nuget-cache  We have modified the sample for the same and it
can be downloaded from below,https://www.syncfusion.com/downloads/support/directtrac/general/ze/sfRichTextEditor-1574250167Note: Kindly set the
‘ReadOnly’ property to ‘False’ and have to set focus once control loaded. We
created a video for illustrating the same and it can be downloaded from the
below links,https://www.syncfusion.com/downloads/support/directtrac/general/ze/CursorPositionVideo268910894Could you please
try the above suggested solution with provided custom NuGet and let us know
whether it meets your requirement or not?  With Regards,Gayathri R

Paul Parkins · Answer

Hi,Ok I can accept that the scroll controls will not be visible unless actually scrolling.Regarding the use of Read Only, yes I was aware that I am setting this as this was recommended in the first reply to this very post from one of your colleagues.I tried watching your video, and have downloaded it twice but I keep getting told that the video is unplayable (file type not supported, extension incorrect, or file corrupted). I am using Win11, perhaps that does not support mp4 files out of the box?   It it can't be viewed without installing an additional player or codecs, then I'd suggest you are not using the most appropriate video format.So I tried the updated sample (Android only) and this is my feedbackThe text still does not scroll automatically﻿﻿The "Focus" button you have had, appears to have no visual effect at all. What did you expect it to do?So given your latest sample also did not work for me, I have not tried your updated Nuget.regardsPaul

Paul Parkins · Answer

Also, you never mentioned the fact that the html text cannot seemingly be displayed.

In the sample, it should be adding 3 line of text per second, 1 x timestamp and 2 x html text. All you ever see logged, is the timestamp.

Paul

Gayathri Ramalingam · Answer

Hi Paul,As
we mentioned in the previous update, we are facing the issue
“The RichTextEditor control should scroll based on the appended text even if
the ‘ReadOnly’ mode is false”. We have resolved the issue and prepared custom
test patch and please find the custom NuGet for the same from below,https://www.syncfusion.com/downloads/support/directtrac/general/ze/CustomNuGet1290422716Note: You have mentioned that did not tried the
provided above NuGet. The reported issue only works when we install the above
NuGet.We created a video with proper format for illustrating the
same and it can be downloaded from the below links,https://www.syncfusion.com/downloads/support/directtrac/general/ze/Video-1912277805Kindly follow the steps to clear the NuGet cache and then install
patched NuGet to get the issue resolved.   https://www.syncfusion.com/kb/6987/how-to-clear-nuget-cacheKindly follow the
steps to install the given above custom NuGet from below link,https://help.syncfusion.com/xamarin/installation/install-nuget-packages#installation-using-package-manager-uiCould you please try the above suggested solution with
provided custom NuGet and let us know whether it meets your requirement or
not?  If you are still facing the
issue even after installed provided custom NuGet, we would like to
setup a web meeting to look into it and provide the solution. Please let us
know your availability. We will make every effort to have this scheduled on a
date and time of your convenience. With Regards,Gayathri R

Paul Parkins · Answer

Hi,I'm, sorry but I am failing to install the custom Nuget you have supplied. All the instructions in the linked page on installing nuget packages appear to use Nuget.org as the source, and none indicate the use of a local .nupkg file.I am not even sure which of the 3 options discussed there, you expect to me use: Package Manager UI, DotNet CLI, or Package Manager Console.All instructions refer to packages by name, not by local file. Please could you clarify further?ThanksPaul

Gayathri Ramalingam · Answer

Hi Paul,Kindly follow the steps mentioned in the below link to configure
the custom NuGet package,https://www.syncfusion.com/kb/7441/how-to-configure-package-source-and-install-syncfusion-nuget-packages-in-an-existingIf you are
still facing the issue of installing the provided custom NuGet, we would like to set up a web
meeting to look into it and provide the solution. Please let us know your
availability (we are ready to assist you by tomorrow). We will make every
effort to have this scheduled on a date and time of your convenience. Note: We are working on IST timing from 8.30 AM to 7.30 PM.With Regards,Gayathri R

Paul Parkins · Answer

I followed the instructions in the latest link, but I didn't see how registering an online source would help me install a local .nupkg file. I tried it anyway and browsing from that source offered me components up to v16.4.0.52, which do not include SfRichTextEditor.

So I tried a URL of file://<local path> and that did seems to work and offer me your upgraded 19.3.0.53 package (which I understand is NOT the same as your standard 19.3.0.53 release). I uninstalled the existing package and installed the new one of the same name/version from my local repo. When I cleared the nuget cache, rebuilt and ran the sample app on my Android simulator, it still didn't work as you expect.

Compared the the original version, it now does appear to show the html formatted content.
However it does not auto-scroll, even when I press the "Enabled Focus" button as was done in your video.
I also note that in your video the keyboard is visible, which is not desired since we are meant to be in read-only mode.

I believe I have done everything correct, but if you wish to double check then yes we can have a web meeting. What software would you use? If it helps, we use TeamViewer in house so I already have that installed and can allow you to connect in via that.

I am in the UK so we are on British Summer Time (BST). I believe that your hours of 8:30 to 19:30 IST equate to 4:00 to 15:00 BST. I will be in the office 9am to 5pm today, which is 13:00 to 21:30 IST. My conclusion is that I would be available today from now, until your end of day at 19:30. Otherwise we can try for the same sort of time range, on Monday if you prefer?

regards

Paul

Anitha Azhagesan · Answer

Hi Paul,Since it is a public forum we couldn't send the meeting invitation here. So we've created a ticket in your account, scheduled a meeting, and sent you an invite.Regards,Anitha