Develop Reference

Difference between <android.support.design.widget.TextInputEditText> and <EditText>

I downloaded a code and the source is written in this format:
<android.support.design.widget.TextInputEditText/>
instead of:
<EditText/>
I tested both of them and i didn't see the difference, so I want to know if there's a difference between these two ways of declaring a widget in Android.

<android.support.design.widget.TextInputEditText/>
Creates a Field with an EditText with more functions like show the placeholder up the edit text when you're typing in.
https://gyazo.com/844d6c0fe8aace1ef671859823d39a58
https://gyazo.com/bf891de7807955e76bf487e3a07a6317

Only difference is: in landscape mode you can see the hint in TextInputEditText1, whereas you can't see in EditText.

Can I give an additional label for a TextView that's only announced by TalkBack, not shown visually?

Say I have a list of items, and one of the views in each item is a message, in a simple TextView, that is populated in code (dynamic data from a backend service).
<TextView
android:id="#+id/message"
style="#style/DefaultText"
/>
Visually it doesn't need a label; the list item layout is pretty clear. But listening to how TalkBack reads the screen, I think it would be beneficial to have a "label" or description for it. So that TalkBack would read something like:
Message: [the actual dynamic message content]
My question is: is it possible to add a label/description for a TextView that, firstly, does not replace the TextView content, but is read along with it, and secondly, only affects TalkBack (not the visual presentation)?
What I tried:
contentDescription for the TextView. Doesn't work: if set, the actual content is not announced, only the contentDescription. Hmm, maybe if I'd set this in code with the description prepended to the actual content... but is there no easier way?
Separate TextView with labelFor pointing to #+id/message. The problem is that it's also shown visually and screws up the design. If I make it not visible, one way or other, it seems TalkBack won't read it either.

Alright, I found two solutions! As mentioned in the question, I'd rather have avoided doing it in code, but it seems for optimal results that's the way to go.
Use android:hint in XML
The most simple way is to set android:hint="Message" for the TextView. TalkBack reads it after the actual text:
[the actual dynamic message content] Message
For my needs, with the message being optional, this has some drawbacks: the hint is announced even if the TextView has no actual content (I'd prefer to omit it then), and in that case it's also shown visually (not what I want). Also, I'd prefer TalkBack to read the hint before the actual text.
Set contentDescription programmatically
Not as simple, but not complicated either, and you have complete control over what TalkBack says.
In my case, preferring to omit the description if message is missing and having it read before the message content, I'd do something like this in the code that populates the list items:
textView.setText(message);
if (!TextUtils.isEmpty(message)) {
textView.setContentDescription(
context.getString(R.string.message_desc, message));
}
With resource:
<string name="message_desc">Message: %s</string>

You can use this namespace it not visually show on real screen
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
tools:text="your text"/>

In your XML file, set the importance to "no". You can also do this at run time using the View.setImportantForAccessibility() API.
android:importantForAccessibility="no"
Programmatically you can say:
view.setImportantForAccessibility(IMPORTANT_FOR_ACCESSIBILITY_NO);
Example click here
click here for more info

How to allow the user to select a text range in a TextView (Similar to EditText)

I've got a TextView that I would like to allow the user to select a range of text from within it. The TextView takes up the entire width and height of the device (minus some padding and a title at the top). In an EditText if you long-click you get a selection overlay that allows you to set your selection left and right bounds. I'd like this functionality in a TextView. I've read that in API level 9 (2.3) (http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.3.html) there are new text selection controls, but I'm having difficulty implementing this. I'm doing this right now:
eic = new InputConnection( bookTextView );
eic.beginBatchEdit();
But it doesn't do anything noticable. Does anyone know how to use InputConnection correctly? Thanks.
Edit: I don't necessarily need to use what I was attempting above. I ultimately want to use either a TextView or an EditText which looks and feels like a TextView and be able to select text using a dragging cursor. Then I would like to manipulate the selected text with various context menu options (or a menu that pops up above the selected text).

Here is an idea.. Add an EditText with a TextView background, Here is an example
<EditText
android:text=" This is not an editable EditText"
android:id="#+id/EditText01"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:textColor = "#android:color/white"
android:editable = "false"
android:cursorVisible="false"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background = "#android:drawable/dark_header">
</EditText>
add this to your xml in the place of TextView

You can enable the TextView's Spannable storage. See Highlight Text in TextView or WebView for an example.
See also:
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/text/Spanned.html

You could display the text in a WebView and enable text selection. If you want to only use a textview/edittext, here is an answer that might help you and here is information on the Spannable class that might help you accomplish what you want.

Actually, you do not have to develop this feature by yourself. You just need to use EditText instead TextView, while you set the android:editable of EditText to false. My idea is the same as sandy's.
My code is here, hope it may help you:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/11026292/966405

After long internet surfing to find a solution, i prefered create my own class
https://github.com/orionsource/SelectableTextViewer
Goal features:
Easy to use - only one class
Support for text and Html.fromHtml
Can be in ScrollView with correct touches
Cursors can be redefined
Color of selection can be redefined

All the above solutions either too long or not working for me.
What you need is to add just textView.setTextIsSelectable(true)
in your activity or fragment or adapter.

Access text of Multiline TextView in Android

I want to access text of particular line in a multi-line TextView. Any suggestions on how I could do this?

Fetch the Layout (android.text.Layout) of the TextView by calling mTextView.getLayout(); There you can for instance use the getLineStart or getLineEnd methods to get the offset of the text. That combined with getText and used using normal String operations should probably be enough for u!

By default, text view is multi line. Set the text with new line characters for ex. "First line \nSecond line".
Another option is listed here : https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2610280/how-to-get-multi-line-text-on-a-button-in-android

Android EditText

in my custom listview that Contain an image and EditText ,and in EditText i can comment the photo ,i can give text comment max length of 50 ,when i lost the focus in EditText i want to rearrange the text in EditText in following format
EG: suppose comment contain 40 char and user can at a time directly view only 20 char,then if i lost the focus text should be rearranged that at the end there should be 3 dot
Original Comment i wirte:eg-> eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
after i lost focus it should shown as-> eeeeeeeee...
it's importent that the nothing happens to original text because these text i want to send to server, and i directly take these values,and if am replace the text by new this type of text this will create problem, also when i gain focus i need to see full text also.
NB: i set android:singleline=true

Try android:ellipsize="end", or if you want to fade, try android:fadingEdge="horizontal"

Use the android:ellipsize="end" in you XML layout file. You can also show the scrolling text by using android:ellipsize="marquee".