EditText with number keypad by default, but allowing alphabetic characters

Question

I have an EditText box and I want the default keyboard that comes up when it is selected to be the numeric keypad, since most of the time users will be entering numbers. However, I do want to allow users to enter alphabetic characters too, if they need to. Using android:inputType="number" restricts input to numeric digits only. What options do I have?

Hi have you got the solution ?If yes then please share it.I have to implement the same — Sneha Bansal, Nov 15 '14 at 09:51
Do you want user to start with numeric only and then after more than 1 digit he/she can allow to enter alphanumeric? — Dhrumil Shah - dhuma1981, Feb 05 '15 at 09:08
this have an answer [here](http://stackoverflow.com/a/8776491/1529129) — Rahul Tiwari, Sep 25 '15 at 14:01
possible duplicate. question answered in this [Similar Post](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11134873/android-display-numeric-keypad-on-button-click) — hrk_er, Oct 15 '15 at 07:50

score 21 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 02 '16 at 15:56

21

Define your EditText in your xml this way:

<EditText 
    android:id="@+id/txtOppCodigoCliente"
    android:inputType="textVisiblePassword"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:maxLength="11"
    android:hint="@string/strCodigoCliente"/>

output: android:inputType="textVisiblePassword"

A row of numbers and the rest of letters.

answered Sep 02 '16 at 15:56

Diego Santamaria

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This should be the chosen answer! – Tash Pemhiwa Jan 17 '17 at 07:22
It depends on the keyboard. In my case does not work with the last versions of Google Keyboard and Nougat. – fireb86 Jun 29 '17 at 07:56
Did you fixed the problem – Ashwin S Ashok Aug 01 '17 at 09:36
this._editText.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_TEXT_VARIATION_VISIBLE_PASSWORD); this._editText.setTypeface(Typeface.DEFAULT); works for me – xevser Jul 05 '18 at 05:41
@fireb86 it does work with the latest version of Gboard. And its working perfectly fine on Oreo. – Tim John Sep 20 '18 at 11:53

score 11 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 29 '13 at 15:26

I would suggest a more Robust solution:

Present the user with the ability to choose the input type:

NEEDED FIXES

-better handling of showing/hiding the input selection buttons

-probably remove the suggestions when the input type is letter

enter image description here

Here is the activity:

package mobi.sherif.numberstexttextview;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.text.InputType;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnFocusChangeListener;
import android.widget.EditText;

public class MainActivity extends Activity {

    EditText mEdit;
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        mEdit = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.input);
        mEdit.setOnFocusChangeListener(new OnFocusChangeListener() {

            @Override
            public void onFocusChange(View view, boolean focused) {
                findViewById(R.id.llmenu).setVisibility(focused?View.VISIBLE:View.GONE);
            }
        });
    }

    public void onNumbers(View v) {
        mEdit.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER);
    }

    public void onLetters(View v) {
        mEdit.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT);
    }

}

Here is the activity's xml : activity_main.xml

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <ScrollView
        android:id="@+id/scrollview"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:layout_alignWithParentIfMissing="true"
        android:layout_above="@+id/llmenu" >

        <LinearLayout
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content" >

            <EditText
                android:id="@+id/input"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:inputType="number" >

                <requestFocus />
            </EditText>
        </LinearLayout>
    </ScrollView>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/llmenu"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:background="#000000"
        android:padding="0dp" >

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/buttonnumbers"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:onClick="onNumbers"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:text="Numbers" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/buttonletters"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:onClick="onLetters"
            android:text="Letters" />
    </LinearLayout>

</RelativeLayout>

If number is one of the inputTypes and the keyboard is in fullscreen mode (landscape), letters get hidden. When switching back to the TEXT inputType, they appear again. — OneWorld, Mar 25 '15 at 08:02

score 10 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 29 '13 at 11:41

10

Here is what you are looking for:

Define your EditText in your xml this way:

<EditText
    android:id="@+id/etTest"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:ems="10"
    android:hint="@string/hint">

</EditText>

And call following in your onCreate():

etTest = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.etTest);
etTest.setRawInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER);
// Note the "Raw"

Whenever you click into your EditText now, you can enter digits AND letters! (Digit keyboard is shown first)

answered Jan 29 '13 at 11:41

Terel

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For me on a Nexus 7 it showed the numeric pad but it had no way of showing the normal keyboard. – Rob Oct 15 '14 at 09:42
Looked promising, but if number is one of the inputTypes and the keyboard is in fullscreen mode (landscape), letters get hidden. – OneWorld Mar 25 '15 at 08:03

score 8 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 23 '13 at 09:37

8

Unfortunately this is not possible, because only one inputType can be set for an EditText. The following will just show alphabatic characters on buttons.

<EditText
        android:id="@+id/editText1"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:inputType="text|number" />

However, what I can suggest you is, set your input type to numeric, and just add a small switchKeyboard button on your form close to the numpad. And set its onClick

editText1.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_TEXT_FLAG_NO_SUGGESTIONS);

so that users can switch to alphabetic characters, too.

answered Jan 23 '13 at 09:37

Alpay

1,350
2
24
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Reason for that lies in the [documentation](http://developer.android.com/reference/android/text/InputType.html) Take a close look at the constant names. You only can combine one class with one variation and one flag. Like `TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER | TYPE_NUMBER_FLAG_SIGNED`. **But you never can mix classes like `number` and `text`** – OneWorld Mar 24 '15 at 07:38
the documentation certainly does not state that classes cannot be mixed. there's no lint check complaining about it. and there's even a specific keyboard when combining eg `number|text` (see above) which implies you could enter letters via long press, doesn't actually work. looks rather buggy to me, or incomplete at least. – masc3d Oct 20 '17 at 10:41
@masc3d - agreed doc doesn't say that where it should. Is mentioned under [InputType](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/text/InputType), in description of `TYPE_MASK_CLASS`: Mask of bits that determine the overall class of text being given. supported classes are: TYPE_CLASS_TEXT, TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER, TYPE_CLASS_PHONE, TYPE_CLASS_DATETIME. IME authors: If the class is not one you understand, assume TYPE_CLASS_TEXT with NO variation or flags." – ToolmakerSteve Feb 14 '19 at 19:41

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 23 '10 at 05:16

Basically, EditText inputtype is used to set the input type in your EditText.

The possible values for the android:inputtype are:

text
textCapCharacters
textCapWords
textCapSentences
textAutoCorrect
textAutoComplete
textMultiLine
textImeMultiLine
textNoSuggestions
textUri
textEmailAddress
textEmailSubject
textShortMessage
textLongMessage
textPersonName
textPostalAddress
textPassword
textVisiblePassword
textWebEditText
textFilter
textPhonetic
number
numberSigned
numberDecimal
phone
datetime
date
time

then you can use any value as showing in example:

<EditText android:id="@+id/EditText01"
 android:layout_height="wrap_content"
 android:layout_width="fill_parent"
 android:inputType="number"
 android:text="1212223"/>

Thanks! I couldn't even find the Google Android documentation, listing all of this! — gimmegimme, Feb 11 '17 at 17:23

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 29 '13 at 07:26

4

Asus tablet has that feature, they have customized the default keyboard. And the keyboard contains the numbers and alphabets only. I think your requirement solution is too to customize the default keyboard

answered Jan 29 '13 at 07:26

Shaista Naaz

8,281
9
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50

score 3 · Answer 7 · answered May 25 '15 at 13:05

You should not use any inputType filter in this case, just add the below line in your EditText Property

android:digits="abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890 "

Now only these characters will be allowed to enter in the EditText. The complete code of your edittext will be like this:

<EditText
 android:id="@+id/etTest"
 android:layout_width="match_parent"
 android:layout_height="wrap_content"
 android:ems="10"
 android:digits="abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890 "
 android:hint="@string/hint">

1

Perfect solution ! Thank you ! – BSQ Oct 20 '17 at 15:53

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 24 '13 at 04:38

2

You can follow Paresh Mayani answer.

And in advice you can use android:inputType="textPhonetic" for the inputType Text and Number based on user selection.

Hope you will got my point.

answered Jan 24 '13 at 04:38

Shreyash Mahajan

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score 2 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 29 '13 at 07:18

In OnCreate in Activity do this:

    t = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.test);
    t.setKeyListener(new KeyListener() {

        @Override
        public boolean onKeyUp(View view, Editable text, int keyCode, KeyEvent event) {
            return false;
        }

        @Override
        public boolean onKeyOther(View view, Editable text, KeyEvent event) {
            return false;
        }

        @Override
        public boolean onKeyDown(View view, Editable text, int keyCode, KeyEvent event) {
            if (keyCode == 67) { // Handle backspace button =)
                if (text.length() > 0) {
                    t.setText(text.subSequence(0, text.length() - 1));
                    t.setSelection(text.length()-1);
                }
            }
            return false;
        }

        @Override
        public int getInputType() {
            return InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER;
        }

        @Override
        public void clearMetaKeyState(View view, Editable content, int states) {

        }
    });

In this case you type is number and android will show numeric keyboard, but you can input whatever you want. Also you can override other methods as you wish.

Did you try it in landscape, when the keyboard is in fullscreen mode? — OneWorld, Mar 25 '15 at 08:06

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Oct 27 '13 at 03:06

2

Here is how I achieved it...

android:inputType="textPhonetic|numberDecimal" android:digits="/0123456789.abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"

Only characters specified by digits will be allowed.

Please note that the keyboard shown is that of the dialer, not the typical keyboard. For me, it achieved what I needed to entirely within the XML.

answered Oct 27 '13 at 03:06

slaman

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Don't mix input classes. They always will result in number. See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3544214/edittext-with-number-keypad-by-default-but-allowing-alphabetic-characters/28694835#comment46661555_14476449 – OneWorld Mar 25 '15 at 08:09
Thanks slamn, I needed to use only whole numbers and "-"/minus operator – gimmegimme Feb 11 '17 at 17:22

score 2 · Answer 11 · edited May 10 '16 at 08:56

Programmatically it is possible with little bit of tweak to the usual flow. First you have to set editText as:

editText.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER);

Then you have to listen for keyevent. On pressing of pound set the InputType again to InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT. This should work as it works for me.

editText.setOnKeyListener(new View.OnKeyListener() 
{
     @Override
     public boolean onKey(View v, int keyCode, KeyEvent event) {
     // TODO Auto-generated method stub
     Log.d("KeyBoard", "Keyboard Test Key Hit");

        switch (keyCode) 
        {
              KeyEvent.KEYCODE_POUND:

              if(editText.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT);
              {                             
                   editText.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT);
                   return true;
              }
         }
     }
}

is it a java code? Also, some keyboards, when in TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER, don't have a KEYCODE_POUND button. — nutella_eater, Aug 13 '21 at 09:07

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Jan 27 '13 at 09:36

Why not just have a toggle button that either:

Sets the input type to allow only numerical values
Sets the input type to allow the use of the QWERTY keyboard
Or set other input types (if needed)

That way, you can set the numeric keypad to default, then the user can change it by pressing a button.

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Nov 25 '15 at 05:47

This is not possible given current default Android input types across various phones.

There are many possible hacks that work on some keyboards but not on others, like the common method of setting the raw input type that is commonly included in answers:

editText.setRawInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER)

Best advice I could find is to use the textPostalAddress input type in your XML:

android:inputType="textPostalAddress"

Unfortunately this doesn't do what we want it to do yet, but maybe it will in the future. The only advantage of this is that the meta information on your edit box will reflect what you intend.

score 0 · Answer 14 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

0

You can try setting---

editText.setRawInputType(Configuration.KEYBOARD_QWERTY);

for more description

edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

Community

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answered Jan 27 '13 at 07:59

Swati

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Configuration.KEYBOARD_QWERTY == InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER == 2 – Enyby Nov 10 '15 at 05:34

score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Jan 29 '13 at 05:43

0

In your code for textView, remove the "text" in android:inputType.

It should be,

<EditText
        android:id="@+id/editText1"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:inputType="number" />

answered Jan 29 '13 at 05:43

Ms. B

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This is not solving his problem. He wants to allow letters and numbers with numbers keyboard – OneWorld Mar 25 '15 at 08:05

score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Feb 04 '15 at 15:16

You can do this programatically:

// Numbers
mEditText.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER);

// Text
mEditText.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT);

setInputType(int type) Set the type of the content with a constant as defined for inputType.

score 0 · Answer 17 · edited May 10 '16 at 09:35

As Saurav says, the best way is changing between QWERTY Keyboard and Numeric Keyborad with a simple listener:

input.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT);

input.setOnKeyListener(new View.OnKeyListener() {
    @Override
    public boolean onKey(View v, int keyCode, KeyEvent event) {

        switch (keyCode) {
        case 24: // Volumen UP

             input.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER);
             break;
         case 25: // Volumen DOWN

             input.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT);
             break;
        }
        return true;
    }
});

score 0 · Answer 18 · answered Jul 23 '16 at 13:15

I try all the method but not perfect. So I have another idea. Work perfect for all keyboard.

 @Override
protected void onCreate(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_reset_password);
    editText.setRawInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER);
}
@Override
public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
    super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);


    // Checks whether a hardware keyboard is available
    if (newConfig.hardKeyboardHidden == Configuration.HARDKEYBOARDHIDDEN_NO) {
        Toast.makeText(this, "keyboard visible", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        if (editText.isFocused()) {
            editText.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT);
        }

    } else if (newConfig.hardKeyboardHidden == Configuration.HARDKEYBOARDHIDDEN_YES) {
        Toast.makeText(this, "keyboard hidden", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        if (editText.getInputType() == InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT) {
            editText.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER);
        }
    }
}

score -2 · Answer 19 · answered Feb 04 '15 at 15:15

-2

In your xml layout for EditText add this parameter:

android:inputType="number|text"

This will allow the user to enter both text and number and contains the logic in the xml rather than having code in your activity or fragment.

answered Feb 04 '15 at 15:15

Sam Bains

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Don't mix input classes. They always will result in number. See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3544214/edittext-with-number-keypad-by-default-but-allowing-alphabetic-characters/28694835#comment46661555_14476449 – OneWorld Mar 25 '15 at 08:08

EditText with number keypad by default, but allowing alphabetic characters

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