How to use setRequestedOrientation

Question

I am using Visual Studio 2019, C#, for Android.

I am trying to set the orientation and lock it. When I follow the examples, I get the error message:

The name 'setRequestedOrientation' does not exist in the current context

This is a stripped-down beginning of my MainActivity.cs file:

using Android.App;
using Android.Widget;
using Android.OS;
using Android.Content;
using System;
using System.Text;
using SQLite;
using Android.Support.V4.Content;
using Android;
using Android.Support.V4.App;
using Android.Content.PM;
using System.IO;
using Android.Bluetooth;
using System.Collections;
using Java.Util;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace Fubar
{
    [Activity(Label = "Fubar", MainLauncher = true, Icon = "@drawable/icon", ScreenOrientation = Android.Content.PM.ScreenOrientation.Portrait)]
    public partial class MainActivity : Android.Support.V7.App.AppCompatActivity
    {
        public static Android.Support.V4.Widget.DrawerLayout drawerLayout;

        protected override void OnCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
        {
            Vars.Is_Land = false;
            base.OnCreate(savedInstanceState);
            Vars.thisApp = this;

            setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);
    // .
    // .
    // .

What do I need to add to make this work? I assume that I have to add another "using" line.

This app has been around for a long time, so it currently supports Android 4.4.x (KitKat) and above. Do I need to stop supporting some of these early versions to get this working?

Answer 1

The problem with your code is that you are mixing Android Java with Android Xamarin. Given that Android Xamarin is a binding of the earlier then you need to know that any method in Android Java needs to follow the C# method naming convention when used from the Android Xamarin context. In your case you're using an Android Java method.

setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);

which will not compile because that method already broke the Xamarin Android C# naming convention. The method does exist for Xamarin Android as a property of the Activity class object and you can use it like shown in the code snippet below.

RequestedOrientation = ScreenOrientation.Landscape;.