In this article, we will learn how to create android AutoCompleteTextView programmatically in Kotlin. We will go through various steps that explains how to create AutoCompleteTextView and add it in kotlin file, use different attributes to customise it etc. in any android application. For example, how to set text in AutoCompleteTextView programmatically, how to set id of AutoCompleteTextView, how to capitalise text of AutoCompleteTextView dynamically etc. We will get answer to all such questions in this post.

Learn to use Different Attributes of AutoCompleteTextView in XML File to Customize it.

Output

Tutorialwing Android Dynamic AutoCompleteTextVie Output

Getting Started

We can define android AutoCompleteTextView widget as below –

AutoCompleteTextView is an editable textView that shows completion suggestions while user is typing in the view i.e. When user starts typing in the view, as soon as entered character crosses thresold character limit, user sees some available suggestions based on the entered character.

Now, how do we use AutoCompleteTextView in android application ?

Before we move ahead, we need to setup for viewBinding to access AutoCompleteTextView in Kotlin file without using findViewById() method.

Setup ViewBinding

Add viewBinding true in app/build.gradle file.

 
 android { 
 	// OTHER CODE... 
 	buildFeatures { 
 		viewBinding true 
 	} 
 } 
 

Now, set content in activity using view binding.
Open MainActivity.kt file and write below code in it.

 
 class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() { 
 	
 	private lateinit var binding: ActivityMainBinding 
 	
 	override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { 
 		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState) 
 		binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater) 
 		val view = binding.root 
 		setContentView(view) 
 	} 
 } 
 

Now, we can access view in Kotlin file without using findViewById() method.

Since we have a new project, we will modify the xml and class file to use AutoCompleteTextView programmatically in kotlin. Please follow the steps below.

2. Modify Values Folder

Open res/values/strings.xml file. Add below code into it.

<resources>
    <string name="app_name">DynamicAutoCompleteTextView</string>
    <string name="hint">Please type something...</string>
    <string name="entered_text">Entered text:</string>
    <string name="submit">Submit</string>

    <string-array name="countries_array">
        <item>India</item>
        <item>Albania</item>
        <item>Algeria</item>
        <item>American Samoa</item>
        <item>Andorra</item>
        <item>Angola</item>
        <item>Anguilla</item>
        <item>Antarctica</item>
    </string-array>

</resources>

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

3. Modify Layout Folder

Open res/layout/activity_main.xml file. Add below code into it.

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

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/rootContainer"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="vertical">

    </LinearLayout>

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

</LinearLayout>

Note that LinearLayout has id rootContainer. In Kotlin file, we will create AutoCompleteTextView Dynamically and add it into this LinearLayout having id rootContainer.

4. Create Android AutoCompleteTextView programmatically in Kotlin

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

package com.tutorialwing.dynamicautocompletetextview

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.ViewGroup
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter
import android.widget.AutoCompleteTextView
import android.widget.LinearLayout
import android.widget.Toast
import com.tutorialwing.dynamicautocompletetextview.databinding.ActivityMainBinding

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

	private lateinit var binding: ActivityMainBinding

	override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
		binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
		val view = binding.root
		setContentView(view)

		setupAutoCompleteTextView()
	}

	private fun setupAutoCompleteTextView() {
		// Create AutoCompleteTextView Dynamically
		val textView = AutoCompleteTextView(this)
		val layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
		)
		textView.layoutParams = layoutParams
		layoutParams.setMargins(30, 30, 30, 30)
		textView.setHint(R.string.hint)

		// Get the string array
		val countries = resources.getStringArray(R.array.countries_array)
		// Create the adapter and set it to the AutoCompleteTextView
		val adapter = ArrayAdapter(this, android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, countries)
		textView.setAdapter(adapter)

		binding.btnSubmit.setOnClickListener {
			val text = getString(R.string.entered_text) + " " + textView.text
			Toast.makeText(this@MainActivity, text, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
		}

		// Add AutoCompleteTextView to LinearLayout
		binding.rootContainer.addView(textView)
	}
}

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

Tutorialwing Android Dynamic AutoCompleteTextVie Output

Now, Let’s check how to use different attributes of AutoCompleteTextView to customize it dynamically –

Set Id of AutoCompleteTextView

Follow steps below to set id of AutoCompleteTextView programmatically –

• Create ids.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code into it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <item type="id" name="autoCompleteTextView_ID" />
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set id of AutoCompleteTextView dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  autoCompleteTextView.id = R.id.autoCompleteTextView_ID  // AutoCompleteTextView
  

  Here, we have set id of AutoCompleteTextView using property access syntax – autoCompleteTextView.id

Learn to Set ID of AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

Set Width and Height of AutoCompleteTextView

We use layoutParams to set width and height of any View programmatically. In this article, we have added AutoCompleteTextView in LinearLayout. So, we will define LayoutParams as below –

autoCompleteTextView.layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
)

Here, we have set width and height as WRAP_CONTENT. Some of possible values for width and height are –

• WRAP_CONTENT: Sets value of width or height depending on text inside it.
• MATCH_PARENT: Sets value of width of height depending on width or height of parent layout . i.e. width or height of AutoCompleteTextView will be same as width or height of parent layout.
• Fixed Value: Sets width or height as per value provided.

Learn to Set Width or Height of AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

Set Padding of AutoCompleteTextView

Follow steps below to set padding of AutoCompleteTextView Dynamically –

• If there is no dimens.xml file, create dimens.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code in it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <dimen name="text_padding">16dp</dimen>
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set padding of AutoCompleteTextView dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  val padding = resources.getDimension(R.dimen.text_padding).toInt()
  autoCompleteTextView.setPadding(padding, padding, padding, padding)
  

  Here, we have accessed dimension defined in dimens.xml using getDimension() method. Then, set padding of AutoCompleteTextView using setPadding() method.

Learn to Set Padding of AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

Set Margin of AutoCompleteTextView

Follow steps below to set margin of AutoCompleteTextView Dynamically –

• If there is no dimens.xml file, create dimens.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code in it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <dimen name="text_margin">16dp</dimen>
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set margin of AutoCompleteTextView dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  val margin = resources.getDimension(R.dimen.text_margin).toInt()
  val layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
  	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
  	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
  )
  layoutParams.setMargins(margin, margin, margin, margin)
  autoCompleteTextView.layoutParams = layoutParams
  

  Here, we have accessed dimension defined in dimens.xml using getDimension() method. Then, we have defined layoutParams, set margin to layoutParams. After that, set layoutParams to AutoCompleteTextView.

Learn to Set Margin of AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

Set Background of AutoCompleteTextView

Follow steps below to set background of AutoCompleteTextView programmatically –

• If there is no colors.xml file, create colors.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code in it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <color name="purple_200">#FFBB86FC</color>
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set background of AutoCompleteTextView dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  val color = ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.purple_200)
  autoCompleteTextView.setBackgroundColor(color)
  

  Here, we used setBackgroundColor() method to set background color in autoCompleteTextView.

Learn to Set Background of AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

Set Visibility of AutoCompleteTextView

We can set visibility of AutoCompleteTextView programmatically as –

autoCompleteTextView.visibility = View.VISIBLE

Here, we have set visibility of AutoCompleteTextView using autoCompleteTextView.visibility attribute. Visibility can be of three types – gone, visible and invisible.
Learn to Set Visibility of AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

Set Text of AutoCompleteTextView

Follow steps below to set text of AutoCompleteTextView programmatically –

• If there is no strings.xml file, create strings.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code in it –

  <resources>
      <string name="click_on_me">Click on me</string>
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set text of AutoCompleteTextView dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  autoCompleteTextView.text = getString(R.string.click_on_me)
  

  Here, we used autoCompleteTextView.text to set text in autoCompleteTextView.

Learn to Set Text of AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

Set Color of Text of AutoCompleteTextView

Follow steps below to set color of text of AutoCompleteTextView programmatically in Kotlin –

• If there is no colors.xml file, create colors.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code in it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <color name="black">#FF000000</color>
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set color of text of AutoCompleteTextView dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  val textColor = ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.black)
  autoCompleteTextView.setTextColor(textColor)
  

  Here, we used setTextColor() method to set color of AutoCompleteTextView of autoCompleteTextView.

Learn to Set Color of AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

Set Gravity of AutoCompleteTextView

We can set gravity of text of AutoCompleteTextView programmatically in Kotlin as –

autoCompleteTextView.gravity = Gravity.CENTER

Here, we have set gravity of AutoCompleteTextView as center. So, all the text of AutoCompleteTextView will be center aligned.
We can also apply multiple gravity values as –

autoCompleteTextView.gravity = Gravity.CENTER_HORIZONTAL or Gravity.BOTTOM

Here, we have applied multiple gravity values, in Kotlin, to AutoCompleteTextView. In above case, text will be aligned as horizontally centered to bottom.
Learn to Set Margin of AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

Set Text in Uppercase or Lowercase

Follow steps below to set text in uppercase or lowercase programmatically as –

• Set Text in Uppercase

  We use autoCompleteTextView.isAllCaps attributes to set text in uppercase or normal. If it is true, text will be set in uppercase.

  autoCompleteTextView.text = "Hello Tutorialwing"
  autoCompleteTextView.isAllCaps = true
  

  In Above case, “Hello Tutorialwing” will be set in Uppercase to AutoCompleteTextView. So, text will be “HELLO TUTORIALWING”.

• By default, isAllCaps is false. So, whatever is written, text will be set as it is. For example,

  autoCompleteTextView.text = "Hello Tutorialwing"
  autoCompleteTextView.isAllCaps = false. // By default it is false. Written here for example.
  

  Above code will set text, “Hello Tutorialwing”, to AutoCompleteTextView without changing it to Uppercase.

  Actually, if isAllCaps is false, text is set as it is. It neither changes to uppercase nor lowercase.

  How do we set text in lowercase?

  Answer –

  • In xml file – write all the text in lowercase.
  • In kotlin file – take text as string. Then, convert it in lowercase. Then, set it to autoCompleteTextView.

Learn to Set Text in Uppercase or Lowercase Using XML Attribute

Set Size of Text in AutoCompleteTextView

Follow steps below to set size of AutoCompleteTextView programmatically using autoCompleteTextView.textSize attribute –

• Open res/values/dimens.xml file. Then, add below font-size in it –

  <dimen name="text_size">16sp</dimen>
  

• Now, using autoCompleteTextView.textSize attribute, we can set size of text dynamically as –

  autoCompleteTextView.textSize = resources.getDimension(R.dimen.text_margin)
  

Learn to Set Size of Text in AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

Set Style (Bold/italic) of Text in AutoCompleteTextView

We can set textStyle of AutoCompleteTextView programmatically as –

autoCompleteTextView.typeface = Typeface.DEFAULT_BOLD;

In above case, we have set textStyle as bold. So, text of AutoCompleteTextView will be displayed as bold letters.

If we want to preserve previous textStyle too, we can do it as –

autoCompleteTextView.setTypeface(autoCompleteTextView.typeface, Typeface.BOLD);

Learn to Set Typeface of AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

Set Letter Spacing of Text in AutoCompleteTextView

Follow steps below to set letter spacing of AutoCompleteTextView programmatically –

• Open res/values/dimens.xml file. Then, add below dimension in it –

  <dimen name="text_letter_spacing">1dp</dimen>
  

• We use autoCompleteTextView.letterSpacing attribute to set letter spacing of AutoCompleteTextView as below –

  autoCompleteTextView.letterSpacing = resources.getDimension(R.dimen.text_letter_spacing)
  

Learn to Set Letter Spacing of AutoCompleteTextView Using XML Attribute

That’s end of tutorial on AutoCompleteTextView Programmatically in Kotlin With Example.