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

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

Output

Tutorialwing Kotlin Dynamic HorizontalScrollView Output

Getting Started

We can define android HorizontalScrollView widget as below –

HorizontalScrollview is a widget, a subclass of FrameLayout, that acts as container for the view to be scrolled horizontally. It can contains only one direct child. So, if you want to define multiple child views inside horizontalScrollView, you must define a viewGroup(i.e. LinearLayout, RelativeLayout etc.) as a direct child. Then, you can define multiple views inside defined viewGroup.

Now, how do we use HorizontalScrollView in android application ?

Before we move ahead, we need to setup for viewBinding to access HorizontalScrollView 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 HorizontalScrollView programmatically in kotlin. Please follow the steps below.

Download Drawable Resources Needed

We will need some images, stored in res/drawable folder, to be used in the application. These drawable images will be used to create views to be scrolled inside horizontalScrollView.

2. Modify Values Folder

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

<resources>
    <string name="app_name">DynamicHorizontalScrollView</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/rootContainer"
    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 rootContainer. In Kotlin file, we will create HorizontalScrollView Dynamically and add it into this LinearLayout having id rootContainer.

4. Create Android HorizontalScrollView programmatically in Kotlin

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

package com.tutorialwing.dynamichorizontalscrollview

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.Gravity
import android.view.ViewGroup
import android.widget.HorizontalScrollView
import android.widget.ImageView
import android.widget.LinearLayout
import com.tutorialwing.dynamichorizontalscrollview.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)

		addScrollView()
	}

	private fun addScrollView() {
		val scrollView = HorizontalScrollView(this)
		val layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
		)
		scrollView.layoutParams = layoutParams

		val linearLayout = createLinearLayout()
		linearLayout.addView(createImageView(R.drawable.guava))
		linearLayout.addView(createImageView(R.drawable.jackfruit))
		linearLayout.addView(createImageView(R.drawable.mix_fruit))
		linearLayout.addView(createImageView(R.drawable.pomegranate))
		linearLayout.addView(createImageView(R.drawable.strawberry))
		linearLayout.addView(createImageView(R.drawable.zespri_kiwi))

		scrollView.addView(linearLayout)
		binding.rootContainer.addView(scrollView)
	}

	private fun createLinearLayout(): LinearLayout {
		val linearLayout = LinearLayout(this)
		val linearParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
		)
		linearLayout.orientation = LinearLayout.HORIZONTAL
		linearLayout.layoutParams = linearParams
		return linearLayout
	}

	private fun createImageView(imgSrc: Int): ImageView {
		val imageView = ImageView(this)
		val params = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
		)
		params.setMargins(20, 20, 20, 20)
		params.gravity = Gravity.CENTER
		imageView.layoutParams = params
		imageView.setImageResource(imgSrc)
		return imageView
	}
}

We have defined horizontalScrollView programmatically in kotlin file (i.e. in MainActivity.kt file). Then, we have set layout params etc. in it. After that, we have created a linearLayout and added it as direct child of horizontalScrollView. Since, horizontalScrollView can have only one direct child, all the defined imageViews have been added in linearLayout. Finally, we have added horizontalScrollView into linearLayout having id rootContainer.

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

Tutorialwing Kotlin Dynamic HorizontalScrollView Output

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

Set Id of HorizontalScrollView

Follow steps below to set id of HorizontalScrollView 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="horizontalScrollView_ID" />
  </resources>
  

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

  horizontalScrollView.id = R.id.horizontalScrollView_ID  // HorizontalScrollView
  

  Here, we have set id of HorizontalScrollView using property access syntax – horizontalScrollView.id

Learn to Set ID of HorizontalScrollView Using XML Attribute

Set Width and Height of HorizontalScrollView

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

horizontalScrollView.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 HorizontalScrollView 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 HorizontalScrollView Using XML Attribute

Set Padding of HorizontalScrollView

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

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

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

Learn to Set Padding of HorizontalScrollView Using XML Attribute

Set Margin of HorizontalScrollView

Follow steps below to set margin of HorizontalScrollView 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 HorizontalScrollView 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)
  horizontalScrollView.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 HorizontalScrollView.

Learn to Set Margin of HorizontalScrollView Using XML Attribute

Set Background of HorizontalScrollView

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

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

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

Learn to Set Background of HorizontalScrollView Using XML Attribute

Set Visibility of HorizontalScrollView

We can set visibility of HorizontalScrollView programmatically as –

horizontalScrollView.visibility = View.VISIBLE

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

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