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Core Controls (Widgets)

Index

This page focuses on getting control of the basic Android control set. Buttons, TextViews, EditControls are all covered here.

Primary Controls

All the primary Android controls are widgets.

Handling a Button Click

Create a new application. Open up the main layout file (Package Explorer | YourProject | res | layout), called Main.xml. Modify it so that it includes a second TextView and a Button:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >

<TextView
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/hello" />

<TextView
android:id="@+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Large Text"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceLarge" />

<Button
android:id="@+id/button1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:onClick="onClicker"
android:text="@string/buttonString" />

</LinearLayout>

Notice that I have set the textAppearance of the second TextView to textAppearanceLarge, and it’s onClick even to an as yet unwritten method called onClicker.

Write code for the onClickermethod:

You will need to add an import or two:

import android.view.View;
import android.widget.TextView;

The following is your on click method:

public void onClicker(View view)
{
  TextView textView = (TextView)this.findViewById(R.id.textView1);
  textView.setText("My Text");
}

Change Text in TextView using a Button and an Edit Control

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >

<TextView
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/hello" />

<EditText
android:id="@+id/editText1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:hint="@string/editHint" >
<requestFocus />
</EditText>

<TextView
android:id="@+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/textResult"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium" />

<Button
android:id="@+id/button1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/buttonChange"
android:onClick="onChangeText" />

</LinearLayout>

You might get the warning: “This text field does not specify an InputType or hint.” Try creating a resource string that provides a hint about what you want the user to enter into the text field. Right click on the control in the designer and set the hint to your string resource. Alternatively, explicitly fill in the android:hint:

<EditText
android:id="@+id/editText2"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:hint="@string/textEditMe" />

And here is the button click method that will change the text:

public void onChangeText(View view)
{
  EditText editText = (EditText)this.findViewById(R.id.editText1);
  TextView textView = (TextView)this.findViewById(R.id.textView1);
  String data = editText.getText().toString();
  textView.setText(data);
}

Create an addition program. Have the user enter two values and then add them together and display them to the user.

RadioButtons

The main layout:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >

<TextView
android:id="@+id/textViewMain"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/hello" />

<RadioGroup
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical">
<RadioButton
android:id="@+id/radioButtonWalk"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:onClick="onButtonDown"
android:text="@string/rbWalk" />


<RadioButton
android:id="@+id/radioButtonDrive"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:onClick="onButtonDown"
android:text="@string/rbDrive" />


<RadioButton
android:id="@+id/radioButtonFly"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:onClick="onButtonDown"
android:text="@string/rbFly" />

</RadioGroup>

</LinearLayout>

The Strings:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>

<string name="hello">Hello World, SimpleRadioButtonActivity!</string>
<string name="app_name">SimpleRadioButton</string>
<string name="rbWalk">Walk</string>
<string name="rbDrive">Drive</string>
<string name="rbFly">Fly</string>

</resources>

The Source Code

package com.elvenware.simpleradiobutton;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.RadioButton;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class SimpleRadioButtonActivity extends Activity {

    RadioButton radioButtonWalk;
    RadioButton radioButtonDrive;
    RadioButton radioButtonFly;
    TextView textViewMain;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
    {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
        textViewMain = (TextView)this.findViewById(R.id.textViewMain);
        radioButtonWalk = (RadioButton)this.findViewById(R.id.radioButtonWalk);
        radioButtonDrive = (RadioButton)this.findViewById(R.id.radioButtonDrive);
        radioButtonFly = (RadioButton)this.findViewById(R.id.radioButtonFly);
    }

    public void onButtonDown(View view)
    {
        if (radioButtonWalk.isChecked())
            textViewMain.setText("You choose to walk");
        else if (radioButtonDrive.isChecked())
            textViewMain.setText("You choose to drive");
        else if (radioButtonFly.isChecked())
            textViewMain.setText("You choose to fly");
    }
}

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