---
description: This page describe how you handle selection of items in a CollectionView
---

# Selection

MauiReactor provides 2 ways to be notified when the user selects an item:

1. OnSelected\<CollectionView, T> is called when a new item is selected, T is the type of the model bound to the ItemsSource property of the CollectionView
2. OnSelectionChanged() reports old and new selections, particularly useful when you have SelectionMode set to Multiple

{% hint style="info" %}
By default selection is disabled, set SelectionMode to either Single or Multiple to enable it
{% endhint %}

In the following sample code we see how selection mode affects the selection of the items of a CollectionView:

```csharp
class MainPageSelectionState
{
    public Person[] Persons { get; set; }

    public ObservableCollection<string> EventMessages = new();

    public MauiControls.SelectionMode SelectionMode { get; set; }
}

class MainPageSelection : Component<MainPageSelectionState>
{
    protected override void OnMounted()
    {
        var person1 = new Person("John", "Doe", new DateTime(1980, 5, 10));
        var person2 = new Person("Jane", "Smith", new DateTime(1990, 6, 20));
        var person3 = new Person("Alice", "Johnson", new DateTime(1985, 7, 30));
        var person4 = new Person("Bob", "Williams", new DateTime(2000, 8, 15));
        var person5 = new Person("Charlie", "Brown", new DateTime(1995, 9, 25));

        State.Persons = new [] { person1, person2, person3, person4, person5 };
        base.OnMounted();
    }

    public override VisualNode Render()
    {
        return new ContentPage
        {
            new Grid("Auto,*,*", "*")
            {
                new Picker()
                    .ItemsSource(Enum.GetValues<MauiControls.SelectionMode>().Select(_=>_.ToString()).ToList())
                    .SelectedIndex((int)State.SelectionMode)
                    .OnSelectedIndexChanged(index => SetState(s => s.SelectionMode = (MauiControls.SelectionMode)index)),

                new CollectionView()
                    .ItemsSource(State.Persons, RenderPerson)
                    .SelectionMode(State.SelectionMode)
                    //use either the OnSelectionChanged callback or OnSelected<CollectionView, Person>
                    .OnSelectionChanged(OnSelectionChanged)
                    //.OnSelected<CollectionView, Person>(OnSelectedSinglePerson)
                    .GridRow(1),

                new CollectionView()
                    .ItemsSource(State.EventMessages, message => new Label(message).Margin(4,8))
                    .GridRow(2),
            }
        };
    }

    private void OnSelectedSinglePerson(Person person)
    {
        State.EventMessages.Add($"Selected: {person}");
    }

    private void OnSelectionChanged(object sender, MauiControls.SelectionChangedEventArgs args)
    {
        State.EventMessages.Add($"Previous selection: {string.Join(",", args.PreviousSelection)}");
        State.EventMessages.Add($"Current selection: {string.Join(",", args.CurrentSelection)}");
    }

    private VisualNode RenderPerson(Person person)
    {
        return new VStack(spacing: 5)
        {
            new Label($"{person.FirstName} {person.LastName}"),
            new Label(person.DateOfBirth.ToShortDateString())
                .FontSize(12)
                .TextColor(Colors.Gray)
        }
        .Margin(5,10);
    }
}

```

<figure><img src="https://877538538-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fh1eh1igwiwRzrw2kbxSp%2Fuploads%2F93u1L9cYV0IgFOmXOIrH%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=bcf5f749-1390-4d3e-b6bd-efa79d124796" alt=""><figcaption><p>The CollectionView control with 2 items selected</p></figcaption></figure>

You can change the selected item using the method SelectedItem() shown below:

```csharp
class MainPageSelection2State
{
    public List<Person> Persons { get; set; }

    public Person SelectedPerson { get; set; }
}

class MainPageSelection2 : Component<MainPageSelection2State>
{
    protected override void OnMounted()
    {
        var person1 = new Person("John", "Doe", new DateTime(1980, 5, 10));
        var person2 = new Person("Jane", "Smith", new DateTime(1990, 6, 20));
        var person3 = new Person("Alice", "Johnson", new DateTime(1985, 7, 30));
        var person4 = new Person("Bob", "Williams", new DateTime(2000, 8, 15));
        var person5 = new Person("Charlie", "Brown", new DateTime(1995, 9, 25));

        State.Persons = new List<Person>(new[] { person1, person2, person3, person4, person5 });
        base.OnMounted();
    }

    public override VisualNode Render()
    {
        return new ContentPage
        {
            new Grid("Auto,*", "*")
            {
                new Grid("*", "*,*,*")
                {
                    new Button("Up")
                        .OnClicked(MoveUp),
                    new Button("Down")
                        .GridColumn(1)
                        .OnClicked(MoveDown),
                    new Button("Reset")
                        .GridColumn (2)
                        .OnClicked(()=>SetState(s => s.SelectedPerson = null)),
                },

                new CollectionView()
                    .ItemsSource(State.Persons, RenderPerson)
                    .SelectedItem(State.SelectedPerson)
                    .SelectionMode(MauiControls.SelectionMode.Single)
                    .OnSelected<CollectionView, Person>(OnSelectedSinglePerson)
                    .GridRow(1),
            }
        };
    }

    private void MoveUp()
    {
        if (State.SelectedPerson == null)
        {
            return;
        }

        var indexOfPerson = State.Persons.IndexOf(State.SelectedPerson);
        if (indexOfPerson > 0)
        {
            indexOfPerson--;
            SetState(s => s.SelectedPerson = State.Persons[indexOfPerson]);
        }
    }

    private void MoveDown()
    {
        if (State.SelectedPerson == null)
        {
            return;
        }

        var indexOfPerson = State.Persons.IndexOf(State.SelectedPerson);
        if (indexOfPerson < State.Persons.Count - 1)
        {
            indexOfPerson++;
            SetState(s => s.SelectedPerson = State.Persons[indexOfPerson]);
        }
    }

    private void OnSelectedSinglePerson(Person person)
    {
        SetState(s => s.SelectedPerson = person);
    }

    private VisualNode RenderPerson(Person person)
    {
        return new VStack(spacing: 5)
        {
            new Label($"{person.FirstName} {person.LastName}"),
            new Label(person.DateOfBirth.ToShortDateString())
                .FontSize(12)
                .TextColor(Colors.Gray)
        }
        .Margin(5,10);
    }
}

```

<figure><img src="https://877538538-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fh1eh1igwiwRzrw2kbxSp%2Fuploads%2FRftFpQeR4mCfpMQUnC76%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=ea52ed07-0cbc-49f6-9742-1a3aff599817" alt=""><figcaption><p>Move the selected item up and down</p></figcaption></figure>

Selection background colors can be modified using an XAML resource as shown [here](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/maui/user-interface/controls/collectionview/selection#change-selected-item-color). In MauiReactor, you can also modify the render of each item accordnly to the state of the component.

For example:

```csharp
private VisualNode RenderPerson(Person person)
{
    return new VStack(spacing: 5)
    {
        new Label($"{person.FirstName} {person.LastName}"),
        new Label(person.DateOfBirth.ToShortDateString())
            .FontSize(12)
            .TextColor(Colors.Gray)
    }
    .BackgroundColor(State.SelectedPerson == person ? Colors.Green : Colors.White)
    .Padding(5,10);
}
```



## Visual States

Visual states allow you to modify some properties of the item containers like the background color when items assume specific states.

For example, you can link the background of the items to their selected state:

```csharp
new CollectionView()
    .SelectionMode(MauiControls.SelectionMode.Single)
    .ItemsSource(ItemsSource, RenderItem)
    .ItemVisualState(nameof(CommonStates), CommonStates.Normal, MauiControls.VisualElement.BackgroundColorProperty, Colors.Transparent)
    .ItemVisualState(nameof(CommonStates), CommonStates.Selected, MauiControls.VisualElement.BackgroundColorProperty, Colors.LightCoral)

```
