In this post, we will learn about android EditText widget. We will also go through different attributes that are used to customise it.

Output

Tutorialwing Android EditText widget Output

Video Output

Getting Started

EditText widget can be defined as below –

An Android EditText widget is user interface that are used to take input from user and modify the text.

While defining EditText widget, we can also specify android:inputType attribute. Based on the value provided in this attribute, keyboard type shown also changes acceptable characters and appearance of the edit text. For Example, If you set inputType to numberPassword, the keyboard shown will be similar as below –

Android EditText numberPassword input Type

Different attributes of Android EditText Widget

Different attributes that are used to customise the EditText are listed below. However, you can check android official documentation for EditText to see the complete list of it’s attributes. Here, we are listing the commonly used attributes.

Attributes in EditText are inherited from TextView and View. Some of the popular attributes are –

Example Of Android EditText Widget

In this section, you will learn how to use android EditText widget in any android application. At First, we will create an android application, then, we will use this widget in application.

1. Creating New Project

Follow the steps below to create new android application. Please ignore the steps if you have already created it.

Since we have a new project now, we will modify xml and java to use EditText widget. Please follow the steps below –

2. Modify Values folder

Open res/values/strings.xml file. Then, add below code into it.

<resources>
	<string name="app_name">EditText</string>
	<string name="show_text">Show Text</string>
	<string name="hint_enter_something">Enter Something.......</string>
</resources>

Then, open res/values/dimens.xml file and add below code into it.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
	<dimen name="padding">10dp</dimen>
	<dimen name="margin">10dp</dimen>
</resources>

Other values have not been changed. So, we are not going to mention it here.

3. Use EditText Widget in xml File

Open res/layout/activity_main.xml file. Add below code into it. You may also visit post to use EditText Widget programmatically in Android

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
	android:id="@+id/activity_main"
	xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
	android:layout_width="match_parent"
	android:layout_height="match_parent"
	android:gravity="center"
	android:orientation="vertical">

	<EditText
		android:id="@+id/editText"
		android:layout_width="match_parent"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:layout_margin="@dimen/margin"
		android:hint="@string/hint_enter_something"
		android:padding="@dimen/padding"
		android:inputType="numberPassword"/>

	<Button
		android:id="@+id/btnShow"
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:text="@string/show_text">
	</Button>

</LinearLayout>

We have added EditText in xml file. Now, we will access this EditText in java file. Then, we will show Toast message, showing text entered in the EditText, on button click.

4. Access EditText in java file

Open src/main/java/com.tutorialwing.edittext/MainActivity.java file. Then, add below code into it.

package com.tutorialwing.edittext;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

	@Override
	protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
		setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

		Button btnShow = findViewById(R.id.btnShow);
		if (btnShow != null) {
			btnShow.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
				@Override
				public void onClick(View v) {
					showText();
				}
			});
		}
	}

	private void showText() {
		EditText editText = findViewById(R.id.editText);
		if (editText != null) {
			Toast.makeText(this, editText.getText(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
		}
	}
}

Here, we are showing Toast message on button click that displays text entered in the android EditText.

Since AndroidManifest.xml file is important file in any android application, we are also going to mention it here.

AndroidManifest.xml file

Code inside main/AndroidManifest.xml file is as below.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest package="com.tutorialwing.edittext"
		  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

	<application
		android:allowBackup="true"
		android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
		android:label="@string/app_name"
		android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
		android:supportsRtl="true"
		android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
		<activity android:name=".MainActivity">
			<intent-filter>
				<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>

				<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
			</intent-filter>
		</activity>
	</application>

</manifest>

When you run the application, you will get output as shown above.

That’s end of tutorial on Android EditText widget.