TextView

Android TextView is simply a view that are used to display the text to the user and optionally allow us to modify or edit it. First of all, open Kotlin project in Android Studio.

1. Formatting the TextView

Android offers mainly 3 types of typefaces:

normal , sans , serif , monospace

The above four types of faces are to be invoked under the “typeFace” attribute of the TextView in XML

3. Changing Text Style

In Android there are basically three text styles:

Bold , Italic , Normal

The text style of the text in android can be implemented using the attribute “textStyle”.

Multiple text styles can also be implemented using the pipeline operator. Example “android:textStyle=”bold|italic”.

4. Changing the Text Color

The color of the text should also change according to the change in the context of the information displayed to the user.

For example, if there is warning text it must be in the red color and for disabled text, the opacity or the text color should be grayish. To change the color of the text, the attribute “textColor” is used.

Android also offers the predefined text colors, which can be implemented using “@android:color/your Color” as value for the “textColor”. Here the value may be hex code or the predefined colors offered by the android.

5. Text Shadow

Shadow for the text can also be given in Android. The attributes required for the shadowed text view are:

android:shadowDx=”integer_value” -> which decides the distance of text from its shadow with respect to x axis, if the integer_value is positive the shadow is on positive of the x axis and vice versa.

android:shadowDy=”integer_value” -> which decides the distance of text from its shadow with respect to y axis, if the integer_value is positive the shadow is on negative of the y axis and vice versa.

android:shadowRadius=”integer_value” -> which decides the amount of the shadow to be given for the text view.

6. Letter Spacing and All Caps

Letter spacing and capital letters are some of the important properties of the text View in android.

For the text of buttons and tab layouts, the text should be in uppercase letters recommended by Google Material Design.

The letter spacing also should be maintained according to the scenario.

android:letterSpacing=”floatingTypeValue” -> This attribute is used to give the space between each of the letters.

android:textAllCaps=”trueOrfalse” -> This attribute decides, all the letters should be in uppercase or not.

7. Adding Icons for TextView

Android also allows adding drawable with the text views.

There are three positions to add the icons for the TextView.

They are a start, end, top, and bottom.


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
	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"
	android:orientation="vertical"
	tools:context=".MainActivity"
	tools:ignore="HardcodedText">

	<TextView
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:layout_marginStart="32dp"
		android:layout_marginTop="64dp"
		android:drawableStart="@drawable/ic_lappy"
		android:padding="4dp"
		android:text="GeeksforGeeks"
		android:textColor="@android:color/black"
		android:textSize="32sp" />

	<TextView
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:layout_marginStart="32dp"
		android:layout_marginTop="64dp"
		android:drawableEnd="@drawable/ic_lappy"
		android:padding="4dp"
		android:text="GeeksforGeeks"
		android:textColor="@android:color/black"
		android:textSize="32sp" />

</LinearLayout>

Output:

Different attributes of TextView widgets –

Attributes	Description
android:text	Sets text of the Textview
android:id	Gives a unique ID to the Textview
android:cursorVisible	Use this attribute to make cursor visible or invisible. Default value is visible.
android:drawableBottom	Sets images or other graphic assets to below of the Textview.
android:drawableEnd	Sets images or other graphic assets to end of Textview.
android:drawableLeft	Sets images or other graphic assets to left of Textview.
android:drawablePadding	Sets padding to the drawable(images or other graphic assets) in the Textview.
android:autoLink	This attribute is used to automatically detect url or emails and show it as clickable link.
android:autoText	Automatically correct spelling errors in text of the Textview.
android:capitalize	It automatically capitalize whatever the user types in the Textview.
android:drawableRight	Sets drawables to right of text in the Textview.
android:drawableStart	Sets drawables to start of text in the Textview.
android:drawableTop	Sets drawables to top of text in the Textview.
android:ellipsize	Use this attribute when you want text to be ellipsized if it is longer than the Textview width.
android:ems	Sets width of the Textview in ems.
android:gravity	We can align text of the Textview vertically or horizontally or both.
android:height	Use to set height of the Textview.
android:hint	Use to show hint when there is no text.
android:inputType	Use to set input type of the Textview. It can be Number, Password, Phone etc.
android:lines	Use to set height of the Textview by number of lines.
android:maxHeight	Sets maximum height of the Textview.
android:minHeight	Sets minimum height of the Textview.
android:maxLength	Sets maximum character length of the Textview.
android:maxLines	Sets maximum lines Textview can have.
android:minLines	Sets minimum lines Textview can have.
android:maxWidth	Sets maximum width Textview can have.
android:minWidth	Sets minimum lines Textview can have.
android:textAllCaps	Show all texts of the Textview in capital letters.
android:textColor	Sets color of the text.
android:textSize	Sets font size of the text.
android:textStyle	Sets style of the text. For example, bold, italic, bolditalic.
android:typeface	Sets typeface or font of the text. For example, normal, sans, serif etc
android:width	Sets width of the TextView.


<?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:orientation="vertical"
	android:layout_width="match_parent"
	android:layout_height="match_parent"
	tools:context=".MainActivity">

	<!-- Used to Display Text -->

	<TextView
		android:id="@+id/text_view_id"
		android:layout_height="wrap_content"
		android:layout_width="wrap_content"
		android:text="@string/text_view"
		android:textColor="#008000"
		android:textSize="40dp"
		android:textStyle="bold"/>


</LinearLayout>

For more Use in Kotlin file :

Text View