Android EditText - Focus on it and select all text programmatically

Question

I am new to Android and I am trying to figure out how do I focus on EditText and select all text in it.

Here is the scenario:

User enters user name in EditText
App evaluates it somehow and if user name is not valid, it should automatically focus on User Name Edit text and select all text user has entered previously so user does not have to backspace to delete it all in order to reenter new user name.

Much appreciated,

Can we select a specific word programmatically? for example, sth like `select(start,end)` — K.Sopheak, Jan 20 '17 at 09:26

score 17 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 21 '15 at 23:59

17

I figured it out. Here is what I did.

I have a button user clicks when he enters user name (the positive button on DialogFragment). On button click event, I do this:

editUserName.setSelectAllOnFocus(true);
editUserName.selectAll();

This will focus and select all text in the EditText.

answered Jul 21 '15 at 23:59

pixel

7

`editUserName.requestFocus();` instead of `selectAll()`. – Xdg Jan 01 '17 at 15:13

score 13 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 17 '17 at 07:05

13

For selection of all the text of Edittext, you can use

editText.setSelection(0,editText.getText().toString().length());

and if you want to set cursor position you can use

editText.setSelection(position);

answered Feb 17 '17 at 07:05

varotariya vajsi

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 18 '20 at 12:52

1

You can also add android:selectAllOnFocus="true" to the EditText

answered Jun 18 '20 at 12:52

Tgo1014

3 Answers3