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

Learn to use Different Attributes of EditText in XML File to Customise it.

Output

Tutorialwing – Create EditText dynamically in Kotlin

Video Output

Getting Started

We can define android EditText widget as below –

EditText is subclass of TextView that is used to take input from user in any android application.

Now, how do we use EditText in android application ?

Before we move ahead, we need to setup for viewBinding to access EditText 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 EditText 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">DynamicEditText</string>
    <string name="enter_something">Enter Something...</string>
</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
    android:id="@+id/rootLayout"
    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>

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

4. Create Android EditText programmatically in Kotlin

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

package com.tutorialwing.dynamicedittext

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.ViewGroup
import android.widget.EditText
import android.widget.LinearLayout
import com.tutorialwing.dynamicedittext.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)

		addEditText()
	}

	private fun addEditText() {
		// Create EditText
		val editText = EditText(this)
		editText.setHint(R.string.enter_something)
		editText.layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
		)
		editText.setPadding(20, 20, 20, 20)

		// Add EditText to LinearLayout
		binding.rootLayout.addView(editText)
	}
}

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

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

Set Id of EditText

Follow steps below to set id of EditText 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="editTextID" />
  </resources>
  

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

  textView.id = R.id.editTextID
  

  Here, we have set id of EditText using property access syntax – textView.id

Learn to Set ID of EditText Using XML Attribute

Set Width and Height of EditText

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

editText.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 textView 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 EditText Using XML Attribute

Set Padding of EditText

Follow steps below to set padding of EditText 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 EditText dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

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

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

Learn to Set Padding of EditText Using XML Attribute

Set Margin of EditText

Follow steps below to set margin of EditText 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 EditText 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)
  editText.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 editText.

Learn to Set Margin of EditText Using XML Attribute

Set Background of EditText

Follow steps below to set background of EditText 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 EditText dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

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

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

Learn to Set Background of EditText Using XML Attribute

Set Visibility of EditText

We can set visibility of EditText programmatically as –

editText.visibility = View.VISIBLE

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

Set Text of EditText

Follow steps below to set text of EditText 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 EditText dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

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

  Here, we used editText.text to set text in EditText .

Learn to Set Text of EditText Using XML Attribute

Set Color of Text of EditText

Follow steps below to set color of text of EditText 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 EditText dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

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

  Here, we used setTextColor() method to set color of text of EditText .

Learn to Set Color of EditText Using XML Attribute

Set Gravity of EditText

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

editText.gravity = Gravity.CENTER

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

editText.gravity = Gravity.CENTER_HORIZONTAL or Gravity.BOTTOM

Here, we have applied multiple gravity values, in Kotlin, to EditText . In above case, text will be aligned as horizontally centered to bottom.
Learn to Set Margin of EditText 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 editText.isAllCaps attributes to set text in uppercase or normal. If it is true, text will be set in uppercase.

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

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

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

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

  Above code will set text, “Hello Tutorialwing”, to EditText 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 editText.

Learn to Set Text in Uppercase or Lowercase Using XML Attribute

Set Size of Text in EditText

Follow steps below to set size of EditText programmatically using editText.textSize attribute –

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

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

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

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

Learn to Set Size of Text in EditText Using XML Attribute

Set Style (Bold/italic) of Text in EditText

We can set textStyle of EditText programmatically as –

editText.typeface = Typeface.DEFAULT_BOLD;

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

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

editText.setTypeface(textView.typeface, Typeface.BOLD);

Learn to Set Typeface of EditText Using XML Attribute

Set Letter Spacing of Text in EditText

Follow steps below to set letter spacing of EditText programmatically –

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

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

• We use editText.letterSpacing attribute to set letter spacing of EditText as below –

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

Learn to Set Letter Spacing of EditText Using XML Attribute

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