How to Handle Enter Key Using TextWatcher on Android

Question

I am working on Android. Previously i used onKeyListener to handle specific action on key event.

However, this way seems not to solve my problem since almost all key would get disable once i have implemented that listener to my EditText. After reading some topics in SO, i know that i should use TextWatcher instead, but i'm still wondering how to handle ENTER key event inside because parameters provided there are only CharSequence, Editable, etc. I didn't find any keyCode parameters.

`However, this way seems not to solve my problem since almost all key would get disable once i have implemented that listener to my EditText.`..seams like your code is not correct. It should work. with `text watcher` you can not get `Enter event` — Mohsin Naeem, Oct 14 '12 at 10:40

score 18 · Answer 1 · answered May 04 '13 at 04:28

18

try this

@Override
public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before, int count) {
    if (s.length()>0 && s.subSequence(s.length()-1, s.length()).toString().equalsIgnoreCase("\n")) {
        //enter pressed
    }
}

answered May 04 '13 at 04:28

user2348959

189
1
3

@user2348959 that method isn't fit for the purpose. If you move up a line with back space this also gets called. – DJ-DOO Sep 17 '15 at 12:50
@user2348959 it works if new line appears at the end of the string.. but it is not working new line appears in between the string – Pallavi Sep 05 '16 at 07:06

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 14 '12 at 10:42

7

try this

protected View.OnKeyListener onEnter = new View.OnKeyListener() {

    @Override
    public boolean onKey(View v, int keyCode, KeyEvent event) {
        if ((event.getAction() == KeyEvent.ACTION_DOWN)
                && (keyCode == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_ENTER)) {
            //here do what you want
        }
        return false; // very important
    }
};

answered Oct 14 '12 at 10:42

Mohsin Naeem

12,542
3
39
53

3

According to doc: _Called when a hardware key is dispatched to a view._ – Divers Dec 26 '13 at 08:09
2

As Divers said, KeyListener actually listens to hardware keys (volume, home, etc.). – Waclock Nov 14 '14 at 18:41

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 15 '16 at 08:53

I think this is the better solution, because you can press 'Enter' in any place of your EditText field and not only at the end of line.

    edittext.addTextChangedListener(new TextWatcher() {
        public void afterTextChanged(Editable s) {
        }

        public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int st, int ct,
                                      int af) {
        }

        public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before, int count) {
            if (s.length() < 1 || start >= s.length() || start < 0)
                return;

            // If it was Enter
            if (s.subSequence(start, start + 1).toString().equalsIgnoreCase("\n")) {

                // Change text to show without '\n'
                String s_text = start > 0 ? s.subSequence(0, start).toString() : "";
                s_text += start < s.length() ? s.subSequence(start + 1, s.length()).toString() : "";
                edittext.setText(s_text);

                // Move cursor to the end of the line
                edittext.setSelection(s_text.length());
            }
        }
    });

"It is an error to attempt to make changes to s from this callback." https://developer.android.com/reference/android/text/TextWatcher.html#onTextChanged(java.lang.CharSequence,%20int,%20int,%20int) — Brian Davis, Dec 12 '18 at 16:15

How to Handle Enter Key Using TextWatcher on Android

3 Answers3