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

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

Output

Tutorialwing Kotlin Dynamic TimePicker Output

Getting Started

We can define android TimePicker widget as below –

TimePicker is widget to select time in either 24-hour format or AM/PM format.

Now, how do we use TimePicker in android application ?

Before we move ahead, we need to setup for viewBinding to access TimePicker 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 TimePicker 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">DynamicTimePicker</string>
    <string name="selected_time">The selected time is:</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"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/rootContainer"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="50dp"
        android:orientation="vertical"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent">

    </LinearLayout>

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginStart="35dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="30dp"
        android:visibility="gone"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/rootContainer" />

</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

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

4. Create Android TimePicker programmatically in Kotlin

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

package com.tutorialwing.dynamictimepicker

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.View
import android.view.ViewGroup
import android.widget.LinearLayout
import android.widget.TimePicker
import com.tutorialwing.dynamictimepicker.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)

		setupTimePicker()
	}

	private fun setupTimePicker() {
		val timePicker = TimePicker(this)
		val layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
		)
		layoutParams.setMargins(40, 40, 40, 40)
		timePicker.layoutParams = layoutParams

		timePicker.setOnTimeChangedListener { _, hourOfDay, minute ->
			val dayHour = when {
				hourOfDay == 0 -> {
					hourOfDay + 12
				}
				hourOfDay > 12 -> {
					hourOfDay - 12
				}
				else -> hourOfDay
			}

			val format = when {
				hourOfDay >= 12 -> {
					"PM"
				}
				else -> "AM"
			}

			val hour = if (dayHour < 10) "0$dayHour" else dayHour
			val min = if (minute < 10) "0$minute" else minute

			val text = getString(R.string.selected_time) + " " + hour + " : " + min + " " + format
			binding.textView.text = text
			binding.textView.visibility = View.VISIBLE
		}

		binding.rootContainer.addView(timePicker)
	}
}

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

Tutorialwing Kotlin Dynamic TimePicker Output

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

Set Id of TimePicker

Follow steps below to set id of TimePicker 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="timePicker_ID" />
  </resources>
  

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

  timePicker.id = R.id.timePicker_ID  // TimePicker
  

  Here, we have set id of TimePicker using property access syntax – timePicker.id

Learn to Set ID of TimePicker Using XML Attribute

Set Width and Height of TimePicker

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

timePicker.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 TimePicker 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 TimePicker Using XML Attribute

Set Padding of TimePicker

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

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

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

Learn to Set Padding of TimePicker Using XML Attribute

Set Margin of TimePicker

Follow steps below to set margin of TimePicker 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 TimePicker 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)
  timePicker.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 TimePicker.

Learn to Set Margin of TimePicker Using XML Attribute

Set Background of TimePicker

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

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

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

Learn to Set Background of TimePicker Using XML Attribute

Set Visibility of TimePicker

We can set visibility of TimePicker programmatically as –

timePicker.visibility = View.VISIBLE

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

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