Accessing a Custom Renderer Instance from Xamarin Forms Element Shared Code

Question

I am creating a component that uses a custom renderer on each platform. Let's just call it a SpecialButton element. BindableProperty works fine for values but I also want to allow a user to invoke operations on the renderer from shared code (call methods on the renderer from the Forms control code). I was looking at DependencyService as a possible solution but I don't think that will work because it is possible for multiple buttons to appear on the same page so I need the specific renderer instance that was created and linked to my Xamarin Forms element.

So, is there an elegant way for my Xamarin Forms control element to get access to the custom renderer that was instantiated by the Forms framework?

I had thought about exposing a property on the control and letting the renderer set itself to the property in its constructor but this feels hacky and also exposes it to the user of the control which I don't want to do.

Answer 1

I think I figured out a solution. I didn't realize the MessagingCenter had a source parameter which can be used to specify the element property.

MessagingCenter.Subscribe(this, "DoOperation", myButton => DoOperation(), Element);