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

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

Output

Getting Started

We can define android Input Chip widget as below –

Android Chips are compact elements that are used to represent an attribute, text, entity or action. They allow users to enter information, select a choice, filter component, or trigger an action.

Now, how do we use Input Chip in android application ?

Before we move ahead, we need to setup for viewBinding to access Input Chip 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 Input Chip 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">DynamicChipInput</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:orientation="vertical"
    android:padding="20dp"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

</LinearLayout>

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

4. Create Android Input Chip programmatically in Kotlin

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

package com.tutorialwing.dynamicchipinput

import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.ViewGroup
import android.widget.LinearLayout
import android.widget.Toast
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat
import com.google.android.material.chip.Chip
import com.tutorialwing.dynamicchipinput.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)

		setupChip()
	}

	private fun setupChip() {
		val chip = Chip(this, null, R.style.Widget_MaterialComponents_Chip_Entry)
		chip.layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
		)

		chip.text = "India"
		chip.isCloseIconVisible = true
		chip.isCheckable = true
		chip.isClickable = true

		// Add Chip to LinearLayout
		binding.rootContainer.addView(chip)
	}
}

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

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

Set Checkable in Chip Programmatically

We can set if we want to make Chip checkable or not using chip.isCheckable as below –

chip.isCheckable = true

If set true, chip is checkable. By default, it’s not checkable.
Learn to Set Checkable property Using XML Attribute

Show/Hide Chip Icon of Chip Programmatically

We can show or hide chip icon of Chip using isChipIconVisible as below –

chip.isChipIconVisible = true

If set true, Chip icon will be visible, else it is hidden.
Learn to Show or Hide property Using XML Attribute

Show/Hide Close Icon of Chip Programmatically

We can show or hide close icon of input chip using isCloseIconVisible as below –

chip.isCloseIconVisible = true

If set true, close icon of Chip will be visible, else it is hidden.
Learn to Show or Hide Close Icon property Using XML Attribute

Set Chip Icon of Chip Programmatically

We can set chip icon of input chip as below –

chip.chipIcon = ContextCompat.getDrawable(this, PATH_OF_ICON)

Learn to Set Chip Icon Using XML Attribute

Set Chip Clickable Programmatically

If we want to set chip clickable, we can do so using isClickable as below –

chip.isClickable = true

Learn to Set Chip Clickable property Using XML Attribute

Set Click Listener of Chip Programmatically

We can set click listener programmatically as below –

chip.setOnCloseIconClickListener {
	Toast.makeText(this, "Chip clicked successfully", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
}

Set Id of Input Chip

Follow steps below to set id of Input Chip 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="inputChip_ID" />
  </resources>
  

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

  chip.id = R.id.inputChip_ID  // Input Chip
  

  Here, we have set id of Input Chip using property access syntax – chip.id

Learn to Set ID of Input Chip Using XML Attribute

Set Width and Height of Input Chip

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

chip.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 Input Chip 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 Input Chip Using XML Attribute

Set Padding of Input Chip

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

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

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

Learn to Set Padding of Input Chip Using XML Attribute

Set Margin of Input Chip

Follow steps below to set margin of Input Chip 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 Input Chip 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)
  chip.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 Input Chip.

Learn to Set Margin of Input Chip Using XML Attribute

Set Background of Input Chip

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

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

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

Learn to Set Background of Input Chip Using XML Attribute

Set Visibility of Input Chip

We can set visibility of Input Chip programmatically as –

chip.visibility = View.VISIBLE

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

Set Text of Input Chip

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

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

  Here, we used chip.text to set text in chip.

Learn to Set Text of Input Chip Using XML Attribute

Set Color of Text of Input Chip

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

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

  Here, we used setTextColor() method to set color of Input Chip of chip.

Learn to Set Color of Input Chip Using XML Attribute

Set Gravity of Input Chip

We can set gravity of text of Input Chip programmatically in Kotlin as –

chip.gravity = Gravity.CENTER

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

chip.gravity = Gravity.CENTER_HORIZONTAL or Gravity.BOTTOM

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

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

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

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

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

  Above code will set text, “Hello Tutorialwing”, to Input Chip 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 chip.

Learn to Set Text in Uppercase or Lowercase Using XML Attribute

Set Size of Text in Input Chip

Follow steps below to set size of Input Chip programmatically using chip.textSize attribute –

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

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

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

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

Learn to Set Size of Text in Input Chip Using XML Attribute

Set Style (Bold/italic) of Text in Input Chip

We can set textStyle of Input Chip programmatically as –

chip.typeface = Typeface.DEFAULT_BOLD;

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

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

chip.setTypeface(chip.typeface, Typeface.BOLD);

Learn to Set Typeface of Input Chip Using XML Attribute

Set Letter Spacing of Text in Input Chip

Follow steps below to set letter spacing of Input Chip programmatically –

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

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

• We use chip.letterSpacing attribute to set letter spacing of Input Chip as below –

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

Learn to Set Letter Spacing of Input Chip Using XML Attribute

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