How can I reference a text view that is created through code?

Question

public TextView descriptionTextView(Context context, String text) {
        final ViewGroup.LayoutParams lparams = new ViewGroup.LayoutParams(ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
        final TextView textView = new EditText(context);
        textView.setLayoutParams(lparams);
        textView.setTextSize(10);
        textView.setTextColor(Color.rgb(0,0,0));
        textView.setText(" " + text + "");
        textView.setMaxEms(8);
        textView.setKeyListener(null);
        textView.setFocusableInTouchMode(false);
        textView.setEnabled(false);
        return textView;
    }

Here is the code that I have written for the TextView. I would like to reference it from another classes, or within the same class, but I cannot find a way to pin it down; as in I would like to change the value based on an input.

You must be using this method to add `TextView` to some Layout at runtime. So you can find it out again at runtime by reading the children views of that Layout and than cast the `View` as `TextView` and update the data. — Harpreet, Feb 03 '20 at 10:18

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 03 '20 at 10:56

Give TextView a id and then access the textView via id like below -

give id like textView.setId(1);

public TextView descriptionTextView(Context context, String text) {
        final ViewGroup.LayoutParams lparams = new ViewGroup.LayoutParams(ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
        final TextView textView = new EditText(context);
        textView.setLayoutParams(lparams);
        textView.setTextSize(10);
        textView.setId(1);
        textView.setTextColor(Color.rgb(0,0,0));
        textView.setText(" " + text + "");
        textView.setMaxEms(8);
        textView.setKeyListener(null);
        textView.setFocusableInTouchMode(false);
        textView.setEnabled(false);
        return textView;
    }

let say your layout for textView is LinearLayout.

you can get textView by id by using below code -

TextView tv = (TextView)view.findViewById(1); // view is LinearLayout object

Hope this helps!

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 03 '20 at 10:17

This is the code to create TextView Dynamically

LinearLayout layout = findViewById(R.id.linearLayout);

TextView view = descriptionTextView(this, "Sample text");
layout.addView(view);

Below method for calling it from same/different class:

public TextView descriptionTextView(Context context, String text){
    ViewGroup.LayoutParams lparams = new ViewGroup.LayoutParams(ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
    final TextView textView = new TextView (context); //Change this to TextView
    textView.setLayoutParams(lparams);
    textView.setTextSize(10);
    textView.setTextColor(Color.rgb(0,0,0));
    textView.setText(" " + text + "");
    textView.setMaxEms(8);
    textView.setKeyListener(null);
    textView.setFocusableInTouchMode(false);
    textView.setEnabled(false);
    return textView;
}

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 03 '20 at 10:21

Creating Views other them XML file is not a preferred method in Android. The best approach is to make this TextView in XML file and link it using its id. like this.

<TextView
    android:id="@+id/textView"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="TextView"
    />

Futher use this anywhere in you classes and activity by creating an object like this.

 TextView textView = findViewById(R.id.textView);
    //to change value use this 
    textView.setText("Value you want to set");
    //to change its visibility
    textView.setVisibility(textView.GONE);
    //to get its string
    String value = textView.getText().toString();

If this method is not helpful and you still want to make views in Java file then, make them public and out of function boundaries to make them accessible everywhere.

How can I reference a text view that is created through code?

3 Answers3