Android support EditTextPreference input type

Android Support EditTextPreference Input Type

The EditTextPreference in Android’s support library allows you to create settings that let users input text. You can control the type of input accepted using the android:inputType attribute.

Understanding Input Types

Supported Input Types

Android offers a wide range of input types. Here are some of the most commonly used ones:

Example Usage

<PreferenceScreen xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <EditTextPreference
        android:key="username"
        android:title="Username"
        android:summary="Enter your username"
        android:inputType="text"
        android:dialogTitle="Enter Username" />
    <EditTextPreference
        android:key="password"
        android:title="Password"
        android:summary="Enter your password"
        android:inputType="textPassword"
        android:dialogTitle="Enter Password" />
    <EditTextPreference
        android:key="email"
        android:title="Email"
        android:summary="Enter your email address"
        android:inputType="textEmailAddress"
        android:dialogTitle="Enter Email" />
</PreferenceScreen>

Advanced Input Type Customization

Using Input Flags

You can further customize the input by combining input types with input flags. These flags provide specific behaviors and appearance options. For example:

<EditTextPreference
    android:key="phone"
    android:title="Phone Number"
    android:summary="Enter your phone number"
    android:inputType="phone"
    android:digits="0123456789-"
    android:dialogTitle="Enter Phone Number" />

Here, we set the android:digits attribute to allow only numbers and hyphens.

Using the Keyboard View

You can customize the appearance of the keyboard using android:imeOptions. This attribute sets the action key behavior.

<EditTextPreference
    android:key="search"
    android:title="Search"
    android:summary="Enter your search query"
    android:inputType="text"
    android:imeOptions="actionSearch"
    android:dialogTitle="Search" />

This sets the action key to “Search” on the keyboard.

Retrieving User Input

After the user enters data, you can retrieve it using the following code:

EditTextPreference usernamePreference = (EditTextPreference) findPreference("username");
String username = usernamePreference.getText();

Conclusion

By using the EditTextPreference with various input types and flags, you can create flexible and user-friendly settings screens in your Android app. Remember to choose the appropriate input type based on the desired data and to handle the input correctly in your application logic.