ZXing Barcode Scanner NullReferenceException with Xamarin (visual studio)

Question

I am trying to implement ZXing Barcode scanner on my Andriod app built using Visual Studio. I am getting this error when I try to click the button to scan it:

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

This is ScanActivity.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Android.App;
using Android.Content;
using Android.OS;
using Android.Runtime;
using Android.Views;
using Android.Widget;
using ZXing.Mobile;

namespace Shopinator
{
[Activity(Label = "ScanActivity")]

public class ScanActivity : Activity
{
    protected override void OnCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
    {
        base.OnCreate(savedInstanceState);
        SetContentView(Resource.Layout.ScanLayout);
        Button scanCodeSrc = FindViewById<Button>(Resource.Id.scanCode);
        Button goBackSrc = FindViewById<Button>(Resource.Id.goBackBtn);

        scanCodeSrc.Click += scanCodeSrc_Click;
        goBackSrc.Click += goBackSrc_Click;
    }

    public async void scanCodeSrc_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        MobileBarcodeScanner.Initialize(Application);
        MobileBarcodeScanner scanner = new MobileBarcodeScanner();
        var result = await scanner.Scan();
        if (result != null)
            Console.WriteLine("Scanned Barcode: " + result.Text);
    }

    private void goBackSrc_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        StartActivity(typeof(MainMenuActivity));
    }
}
}

This is ScanLayout.axml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#2579BF"
android:orientation="vertical">
<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_centerInParent="true"
    android:layout_margin="10dp"
    android:orientation="vertical">
    <TextView
        android:text="Welcome to the Product Scan page, please press the scan button and proceed with scanning the barcode/qrcode."
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceLarge"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:id="@+id/scanPageHelp" />
    <Button
        android:id="@+id/scanCode"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/password"
        android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
        android:background="#000000"
        android:text="PRESS HERE TO SCAN"
        android:textColor="@android:color/white" />
    <Button
        android:id="@+id/goBackBtn"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/password"
        android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
        android:background="#000000"
        android:text="Go back to the Main Menu"
        android:textColor="@android:color/white" />
</LinearLayout>

This is my first android app on xamarin.

Answer 1

Android Project in MainActivity.cs in OnCreate:

ZXing.Mobile.MobileBarcodeScanner.Initialize(Application);

Answer 2

If you just wire up from scratch your "MainPage" will not be in a navigation context and will die like this. Put your MainPage in a navigation context. Complete "simple" version of Zxing here - https://github.com/jhealy/xammutts/tree/master/ZXingPlaySLN/ZXingPlay .

public App()
{
    InitializeComponent();

    // jhealy: this MUST be a nav page, watch out
    // MainPage = new ZXingPlay.MainPage();
    MainPage = new NavigationPage(new ZXingPlay.MainPage());
}