Specifying the Input Method Type | Android Developers - M.I.T.

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CreatingMultipleAPKsforDifferentScreenSizes CreatingMultipleAPKsforDifferentGLTextures CreatingMultipleAPKswith2+Dimensions MonetizingYourApp AdvertisingwithoutCompromisingUserExperience SpecifyingtheInputMethodType Previous Next Getstarted Thislessonteachesyouto SpecifytheKeyboardType EnableSpellingSuggestionsandOtherBehaviors SpecifytheInputMethodAction Youshouldalsoread TextFields Everytextfieldexpectsacertaintypeoftextinput,suchasan emailaddress,phonenumber,orjustplaintext.Soit'simportant thatyouspecifytheinputtypeforeachtextfieldinyourapp sothesystemdisplaystheappropriatesoftinputmethod(suchasanon-screenkeyboard). Beyondthetypeofbuttonsavailablewithaninputmethod,youshouldspecify behaviorssuchaswhethertheinputmethodprovidesspellingsuggestions, capitalizesnewsentences,andreplacesthecarriagereturnbuttonwithan actionbuttonsuchasaDoneorNext. Thislessonshowshowtospecifythesecharacteristics. SpecifytheKeyboardType Youshouldalwaysdeclaretheinputmethodforyourtextfieldsbyadding theandroid:inputTypeattributetotheelement. Figure1.Thephoneinputtype. Forexample,ifyou'dlikeaninputmethodforenteringaphonenumber, usethe"phone"value: Figure2.ThetextPasswordinputtype. Orifthetextfieldisforapassword,usethe"textPassword"value sothetextfieldconcealstheuser'sinput: Thereareseveralpossiblevaluesdocumentedwiththe android:inputTypeattributeand someofthevaluescanbecombinedtospecifytheinputmethod appearanceandadditionalbehaviors. EnableSpellingSuggestionsandOtherBehaviors Figure3.AddingtextAutoCorrect providesauto-correctionformisspellings. Theandroid:inputTypeattributeallowsyoutospecifyvariousbehaviorsforthe inputmethod.Mostimportantly,ifyourtextfieldisintendedforbasictextinput(such asforatextmessage),youshouldenableautospellingcorrectionwiththe "textAutoCorrect"value. Youcancombinedifferentbehaviorsandinputmethodstyleswiththe android:inputTypeattribute.Forexample, here'showtocreateatextfieldthatcapitalizesthefirstwordofasentence andalsoauto-correctsmisspellings: SpecifytheInputMethodAction Mostsoftinputmethodsprovideauseractionbuttoninthe bottomcornerthat'sappropriateforthecurrenttextfield. Bydefault,thesystemusesthisbuttonforeitheraNextor Doneactionunlessyourtextfieldallowsmulti-linetext(suchaswithandroid:inputType="textMultiLine"),inwhichcasetheactionbuttonisacarriagereturn. However,youcanspecifyadditionalactionsthatmightbemoreappropriateforyour textfield,suchasSendorGo. Tospecifythekeyboardactionbutton,usetheandroid:imeOptionsattributewithanactionvaluesuchas"actionSend"or "actionSearch".Forexample: Figure4.TheSendbuttonappearswhenyoudeclare android:imeOptions="actionSend". Youcanthenlistenforpressesontheactionbuttonbydefininga TextView.OnEditorActionListenerfortheEditText element.Inyourlistener,respondtotheappropriateIMEactionIDdefinedinthe EditorInfoclass,suchas IME_ACTION_SEND.Forexample: EditTexteditText=(EditText)findViewById(R.id.search); editText.setOnEditorActionListener(newOnEditorActionListener(){ @Override publicbooleanonEditorAction(TextViewv,intactionId,KeyEventevent){ booleanhandled=false; if(actionId==EditorInfo.IME_ACTION_SEND){ sendMessage(); handled=true; } returnhandled; } }); Previous Next Nextclass: Exceptasnoted,thiscontentis licensedunder CreativeCommonsAttribution2.5.Fordetailsand restrictions,seetheContent License. AboutAndroid  |  Legal  |  Support