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

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

Output

Getting Started

We can define android Horizontal Divider widget as below –

Horizontal Divider is created using View component. View is basic building block of user interface components.

Now, how do we use Horizontal Divider in android application ?

Before we move ahead, we need to setup for viewBinding to access Horizontal Divider 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 Horizontal Divider 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">DynamicHorizontalDivider</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 xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/rootContainer"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

</LinearLayout>

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

4. Create Android Horizontal Divider programmatically in Kotlin

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

package com.tutorialwing.dynamichorizontaldivider

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.View
import android.widget.LinearLayout
import com.tutorialwing.dynamichorizontaldivider.databinding.ActivityMainBinding

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

	private lateinit var binding: ActivityMainBinding

	override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

		binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
		setContentView(binding.root)

		setupHorizontalDivider()
	}

	private fun setupHorizontalDivider() {
		val view = View(this)
		view.layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
			LinearLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, 4
		)
		view.setBackgroundResource(R.color.purple_500)
		binding.rootContainer.addView(view)
	}
}

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

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

Set Id of Horizontal Divider

Follow steps below to set id of Horizontal Divider 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="horizontalDivider_ID" />
  </resources>
  

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

  horizontalDivider.id = R.id.horizontalDivider_ID  // Horizontal Divider
  

  Here, we have set id of Horizontal Divider using property access syntax – horizontalDivider.id

Learn to Set ID of Horizontal Divider Using XML Attribute

Set Width and Height of Horizontal Divider

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

horizontalDivider.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 Horizontal Divider 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 Horizontal Divider Using XML Attribute

Set Padding of Horizontal Divider

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

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

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

Learn to Set Padding of Horizontal Divider Using XML Attribute

Set Margin of Horizontal Divider

Follow steps below to set margin of Horizontal Divider 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 Horizontal Divider 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)
  horizontalDivider.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 Horizontal Divider.

Learn to Set Margin of Horizontal Divider Using XML Attribute

Set Background of Horizontal Divider

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

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

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

Learn to Set Background of Horizontal Divider Using XML Attribute

Set Visibility of Horizontal Divider

We can set visibility of Horizontal Divider programmatically as –

horizontalDivider.visibility = View.VISIBLE

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

That’s end of tutorial on Horizontal Divider Programmatically in Kotlin With Example