Develop Reference

Android partially active Activity

I have an activity A. I am creating a kind of tutorial for user for this activity, to teach him how he can use the app on that screen.
For that, my requirement is :
I want to blur all the views of the activity except one view. I want to prompt user to click on that view through a hand image pointing at that view.
Nothing should happen if the user clicks on the blurred/greyed out area, but if he taps on that particular active view, it should react to that touch.
I was thinking of using a full screen fragment for this. The Fragment will take the following input from the activity :
for what coordinates, is should not blur the screen and pass the touch event to the activity
the coordinates on which it should show that pointing hand image.
After from these coordinates, the fragment background would be blur.
I wanted to confirm if that's possible, to make the fragment partially active, i.e. delegate it's touch events to the activity for a particular view of the activity.
Also, please let me know if there is any other better approach of achieving the same thing.
Edit1 :
Thinking of using a fragment here, because I'd want this type of behaviour on different screen in future. In that case, I'd make that fragment generic which takes some inputs (as described above) and use it on different screens.

There's a very good library called SCV which does what you're trying to achieve, you're able to customize the styles for it too. I've used this for first time the app is opened to show the user a tutorial.
According to their Github
The ShowcaseView (SCV) library is designed to highlight and showcase specific parts of apps to the user with a distinctive and attractive overlay. This library is great for pointing out points of interest for users, gestures, or obscure but useful items.
Further Reading:
Android Arsenal - Showcase Views Tutorial
ShowCaseView on Android - Indipendev

I found it much easier to include an 'extra' layout around the UI of my activity, and then to add a highest-z grey mostly-transparent filter to it and put the instructions on that.
Each "step" of the instructions was a different layout that was dynamically loaded into that layout container as they clicked. (Just another approach)
The 'container' layout is a: FrameLayout
then in my Activity I have: (ignore bad naming)
private void addOverlayLayout() {
frameLayout = (FrameLayout) findViewById(R.id.framelayoutInner);
frameLayout3 = (FrameLayout) findViewById(R.id.framelayout3);
frameLayout3.setBackgroundColor(Color.DKGRAY);
frameLayout3.setAlpha(0.3f);
// Dynamically create a relativelayout which will be appended to framelayout
relativeLayout = new RelativeLayout(getApplicationContext());
relativeLayout.setLayoutParams(new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(ViewGroup.LayoutParams
.MATCH_PARENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT));
instructionOverlays.add(createSimpleClickInstruction(R.layout.instruction_reader_1));
instructionOverlays.add(createSimpleClickInstruction(R.layout.instruction_reader_2));
if (FullscreenReaderActivity.isFirstRun) {
displayNextGuide();
}
}
public void displayNextGuide() {
// clean relative layout if it has views
relativeLayout.removeAllViews();
// clean frame layout if it has child (safe if empty)
frameLayout.removeView(relativeLayout);
if (!isFirstRun) {
return;
}
if (instructionOverlays.size() > 0) {
runOnUiThread(instructionOverlays.get(0));
instructionOverlays.remove(0);
} else {
frameLayout3.setBackgroundColor(Color.TRANSPARENT);
frameLayout3.setAlpha(1.0f);
}
}
public Runnable createSimpleClickInstruction(final int resource) {
return new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
getLayoutInflater().inflate(
resource,
relativeLayout,
true
);
relativeLayout.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
displayNextGuide();
}
});
frameLayout.addView(relativeLayout);
}
};
}

Mvvmcross: launching an android dialog containing a ListView

First, I will like to give a big Kudos to Stuart Lodge for this awesome framework. Together with Xamarin's Visual Studio integration, this is one of the most productive cross platform frameworks I have laid my hands on.
What I want to achieve is launch a dialog containing a selectable ListView when a button is clicked. I need access to the selected item when the user closes this dialog. Is there a recommended way to do this using the Mvvmcross' dialog plugin while following the MVVM paradigm?
I am using the following Activity to create a dialog.
[Activity(Theme = "#android:style/Theme.Holo.Dialog")]
public class SearchResultDialogView : MvxActivity
{
protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
{
base.OnCreate(bundle);
SetContentView(Resource.Layout.SearchResultView);
}
}
Navigating to SearchResultDialogViewModel from another view model brings up this view as modal. So it looks like I am heading in the right direction. However, the dialog is missing the OK and Cancel buttons and I will also like to get rid of the default header. Think I need an AlertDialog but so far I have had no success launching one with this code:
[Activity(Theme = "#android:style/Theme.NoTitleBar")]
public class SearchResultDialogView : MvxActivity
{
protected override Dialog OnCreateDialog(int id, Bundle args)
{
AlertDialog.Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(this);
builder.SetTitle("some title");
return builder.Create();
}
}
Apologies if this question is vague. I am new to Android UI development.
TIA.

There are several different uses of the word dialog here.
Android Dialogs are 'popup displays' and are covered in http://blog.ostebaronen.dk/2013/02/using-dialogs-in-mono-for-android.html
The MvvmCross Dialog plugin is a code-based form-builder forked from the existing MonoDroid.Dialog and MonoTouch.Dialog tools - see https://github.com/migueldeicaza/MonoTouch.Dialog
The Holo Dialog display is (actually I'm not sure) some theme-based skin on a normal Activity.
With these in mind...
If you want to display a general popup window to collect some data, then you can try using a fragment based dialog to collect data - this is demonstrated (with a little code behind) in Fragments HomeView.cs with NameDialogFragment.cs - for general background on fragments, watch N=26 in http://mvvmcross.wordpress.com/
If you want to use a separate activity for data collection, then #gschackles wrote this article on one way of returning data from child viewmodels - http://www.gregshackles.com/2012/11/returning-results-from-view-models-in-mvvmcross/ - I'm sure other schemes could also be used.
If you do want to learn about the Mvx Dialog plugin, see N=23 in http://mvvmcross.wordpress.com/

You can do it with the builder.
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/dialogs.html#AddingAList
The code is:
#Override
public Dialog onCreateDialog(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
AlertDialog.Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(getActivity());
builder.setTitle(R.string.pick_color);
.setItems(R.array.colors_array, new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
// The 'which' argument contains the index position
// of the selected item
}
});
return builder.create();
}
and you can get your element by returning the which value to your caller.

Transparent InputMethod for Android

Trying to make an Android InputMethod that is transparent - i.e. the underlying content shows through to the keyboard that I am developing.
I've been able to make the View that I pass to the system transparent - I think - but there seems to be something underneath my view that is solid white - and obfuscating the underlying content.
It is definitely possible, these guys do it:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aitype.android.tablet.p&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5haXR5cGUuYW5kcm9pZC50YWJsZXQucCJd

I figured it out! Not sure if this is how the guys in your play store link did it, but this is what worked for me. Also, I realize this post is over a year old, but I'm still answering it just in case someone else out there discovers this when trying to create a transparent keyboard.
The "something" under your view is actually nothing - it's empty space. Your keyboard pushed the entire view up and out of the way to make room for its height, leaving empty white space behind. Your transparent keyboard let this white space show through.
Here's the solution: instead of returning your view in onCreateInputView, return it in onCreateCandidatesView. That's the view that normally lives above the keyboard and lists the autocorrect suggestions. But you're going to use this to house your actual keyboard.
The reason you want to have your keyboard be a candidates view is because the input view most often pushes the underlying view up. Individual apps can decide how they want to behave when a keyboard is shown via android:windowSoftInputMode and the input view respects their preference, but the candidates view always uses adjustPan.
From the docs: "Note that because the candidate view tends to be shown and hidden a lot, it does not impact the application UI in the same way as the soft input view: it will never cause application windows to resize, only cause them to be panned if needed for the user to see the current focus." http://developer.android.com/reference/android/inputmethodservice/InputMethodService.html
So, return your transparent view from onCreateCandidatesView, return null from onCreateInputView and make sure to call setCandidatesViewShown(true) so your candidates view shows up (I call it in onWindowShown).

Normally InputMethodServices uses background color which is same with current binding application's background color. If you want to make this transparent, I think you should make it as popup-window structure, not an inputmethod window I think.

It may such easy to make the full screen keyboard layout extra area transparent via java reflection only if you're quite familiar with InputMethodService.
the extra area has an id name fullscreenArea, you can fetch the area's id, then findViewById() then set its background.
the keyboard look as this before I done my practice :
a giant blank cover the below page.
so after is :
you can see the below page which contained an EditText and others displayed.
here is my code :
public static void makeKeyboardTransparent(InputMethodService service) {
try {
View decorView = service.getWindow().getWindow().getDecorView();
final int viewId = fetchInternalRId("fullscreenArea");
View fullscreenArea = decorView.findViewById(viewId);
if (fullscreenArea != null) {
modifyView(fullscreenArea);
return;
}
} catch (Exception e) {
}
try {
Class<?> superClass = service.getClass().getSuperclass();
Field fullscreenAreaField = superClass.getDeclaredField("mFullscreenArea");
fullscreenAreaField.setAccessible(true);
View fullscreenArea = (View) fullscreenAreaField.get(service);
if (fullscreenArea != null) {
modifyView(fullscreenArea);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
}
}
private static void modifyView(View fullscreenArea) {
fullscreenArea.setBackgroundColor(Color.TRANSPARENT);
}
private static int fetchInternalRId(String name) throws Exception {
Class<?> rIdClass = Class.forName("com.android.internal.R$id");
return rIdClass.getDeclaredField(name).getInt(rIdClass);
}
I provided two approach to make the blank area transparent, both of them worked fine in my test, all you need is pass your InputMethodService into makeKeyboardTransparent() and see what it can do.

Can I make a button appear disabled and still listen for clicks?

I'd like to gray out a button so it appears disabled to the user, but still listen for clicks so that I can display a message to the user that explains why the button isn't applicable.
I'd like to ensure that the Android API is the one configuring whatever is the appropriate standard disabled appearance as opposed to manually setting the button color to gray, etc. What's the best way to do this?
Related: Android - Listen to a disabled button

this is custom button which expose the event of touch when disabled
it working for sure, and tested. designed specific to you
public class MyObservableButton extends Button
{
public MyObservableButton(Context context, AttributeSet attrs)
{
super(context, attrs);
}
private IOnClickWhenEnabledListner mListner;
public void setOnClickWhenEnabledListener(IOnClickWhenEnabledListner listener) {
mListner = listener;
}
private interface IOnClickWhenEnabledListner {
public void onClickWhenEnabled();
}
#Override
public boolean onTouchEvent(MotionEvent event)
{
if (event.getAction() == MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN) {
if (!isEnabled() && mListner != null) {
mListner.onClickWhenEnabled();
}
}
return super.onTouchEvent(event);
}
}
this is the right way to accomplish what you want from my point of view as android developer.
there is no problem extanding all android's views, and use them on the xml files, and source instead..
good luck

You could also manually set the background of your Button to the default one for disabled. But leave the button enabled and handle the click events in the normal fashion
something like this should do it:
mBtn.setBackgroundResource(android.R.drawable.btn_default_normal_disabled);

I am not an Android expert, so there could be better ways, but what about disabling the button and overlaying a transparent view that will catch the events?
You could have the view always there laying below the button so you just need to change a z-index, or create it dynamically when needed.

If your button is on the newer types that controls color via backgroundTint rather then background, this is what you should do:
if (enabled) {
ViewCompat.setBackgroundTintList(btn, getResources().getColorStateList(R.color.button_states)); // either use a single color, or a state_list color resource
} else {
ViewCompat.setBackgroundTintList(btn, ColorStateList.valueOf(Color.GRAY));
}
// make sure we're always clickable
btn.setEnabled(true);
btn.setClickable(true);

You could also set the Button's style to look grayed out (for both pressed and non-pressed states), then setOnClickListener() as normal, but have the onClick() method give the message that it isn't clickable.

Since button extends textview. You may use the methods in textview such as .setTextColor() or .setBackgroundColor() .
Now for the the display you have 2 options:
AlertDialog - displays an alert but doesn't self close unless specified.
Toast - displays a text over a given time and self closes.
take your pick.

Android: select all text on focus on EditField

I'm trying to get Android to select all the text in an EditText field when it gets the focus. I'm using this attribute in the layout (on both fields):
android:selectAllOnFocus="true"
I'm not sure if this is relevant, but to get the cursor to the first editable field (there's also a disabled field before it), I'm using the following commands:
quizStartNum.setFocusable(true);
quizStartNum.requestFocus();
But, while the cursor does move to the desired field when the layout is first displayed, the text doesn't get highlighted; instead the cursor ends up to the left of the text, the default behavior. If I move to the second field by touching it, all the text is selected as desired. Then, if I move back to the first field, again by touching it, the text is also completely selected. I would like to have the behavior right from the start. Is there a way to do this?

If android:selectAllOnFocus="true" does not work, try calling setSelectAllOnFocus(true) on that particular EditText.
If that doesn't work either, this is another workaround from a previous SO post.
EditText dummy = ...
dummy.setOnFocusChangedListener(new OnFocusChangedListener(){
public void onFocusChange(View v, boolean hasFocus){
if (hasFocus) && (isDummyText())
((EditText)v).selectAll();
}
});

I had a similar issue and android:selectAllOnFocus="true" did not work for me.
The reason was that i was programatically requesting focus to the EditText before it was displayed. So if you are doing this for a EditText in an AlertDialog make sure you show it before you request focus to the EditText.

EditText should be focussed after it displayed.
Following workout worked for me,
#Override
public void onViewCreated(#NonNull View view, #Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onViewCreated(view, savedInstanceState);
// Set Input Methode
getDialog().getWindow().setSoftInputMode(WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_ADJUST_RESIZE);
}
#Override
public void onStart() {
super.onStart();
new Handler().post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
Dialog dialog = getDialog();
if (dialog != null) {
// Set Layout
dialog.getWindow().setLayout(ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
// Set Cancelable False
setCancelable(false);
// Set Focus Here <------------------------
uiET_myTextView.requestFocus();
}
}
});
}

Try removing your focus commands. They aren't necessary, Android should focus on the first field automatically?

I also noticed that with android:selectAllOnFocus="true" seemed not to work, I used the mouse to select EditText in the emulator, but if I used my finger and touched it, as if on the phone, it worked. If you don't have a touch screen on your computer you may have to install your app on a physical device to test it.
Android Studio may not recognize the mouse in this case

I'll refer to this older post.
If you just want your EditText to show a hint (for "what goes in here"), you might want to use the Android's XML-attribute hint (link).