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

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

Output

Tutorialwing Kotlin Dynamic ImageButton Output

Getting Started

We can define android ImageButton widget as below –

ImageButton is a subclass of imageView that displays a button with image that can be clicked or pressed by user. By default, it acts as button. However, you can set image using android:src attribute.

Now, how do we use ImageButton in android application ?

Before we move ahead, we need to setup for viewBinding to access ImageButton 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 ImageButton 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">DynamicImageButton</string>
    <string name="img_btn_clicked">You clicked ImageButton</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 ImageButton Dynamically and add it into this LinearLayout having id rootContainer.

4. Create Android ImageButton programmatically in Kotlin

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

package com.tutorialwing.dynamicimagebutton

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.ViewGroup
import android.widget.ImageButton
import android.widget.LinearLayout
import android.widget.Toast
import com.tutorialwing.dynamicimagebutton.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)

		setupImageButton()
	}

	private fun setupImageButton() {
		val imageButton = ImageButton(this)
		imageButton.layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
		)
		imageButton.setImageResource(R.mipmap.ic_launcher)

		imageButton.setOnClickListener {
			Toast.makeText(
				this@MainActivity,
				R.string.img_btn_clicked,
				Toast.LENGTH_SHORT
			).show()
		}

		// Add ImageButton to LinearLayout
		binding.rootContainer.addView(imageButton)
	}
}

In MainActivity.kt file, we have defined an imageButton programmatically in kotlin application. Then, we have set layoutParams and image in it. After that, we have set clickListener that will display a toast message whenever it is clicked. At last, we have added this imageButton widget in linearLayout.

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

Tutorialwing Kotlin Dynamic ImageButton Output

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

Set Id of ImageButton

Follow steps below to set id of ImageButton 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="imageButton_ID" />
  </resources>
  

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

  imageButton.id = R.id.imageButton_ID  // ImageButton
  

  Here, we have set id of ImageButton using property access syntax – imageButton.id

Learn to Set ID of ImageButton Using XML Attribute

Set Width and Height of ImageButton

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

imageButton.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 ImageButton 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 ImageButton Using XML Attribute

Set Padding of ImageButton

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

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

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

Learn to Set Padding of ImageButton Using XML Attribute

Set Margin of ImageButton

Follow steps below to set margin of ImageButton 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 ImageButton 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)
  imageButton.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 ImageButton.

Learn to Set Margin of ImageButton Using XML Attribute

Set Background of ImageButton

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

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

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

Learn to Set Background of ImageButton Using XML Attribute

Set Visibility of ImageButton

We can set visibility of ImageButton programmatically as –

imageButton.visibility = View.VISIBLE

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

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