Add new items to top of list view on Android?

Question

Android has the transcript mode to allow to automatically scroll a list view to the bottom when new data is added to the adapter.

Can this be somehow reversed so that new items are automatically added at the top of the list ("inverse transcript mode")

Method stackFromBottom seems about right, but does not do the auto-scrolling on input change.

Does anyone have some example code where a list is constantly adding stuff that gets always inserted at the top? Am I on the right track here?

Update

Thanks for the answers, that made me think more. Actually. I want to have new entries to appear at the top, but the screen still show the item the user is looking at. The user should actively scroll to the top to view the new items. So I guess that transcript mode is not what I want.

Do you want it to 'scroll' (smooth or otherwise) or do you simply want it to jump/stay with the most recently added item as the first (top) item in the list. If it's the second behaviour you want, just call the ListView 'setSelection(0)' method after you add a new item at index 0 in your adapter. — Squonk, May 05 '11 at 22:20
to do the smooth scroll wait 100 millis then do your scroll , here is code example https://stackoverflow.com/a/37491888/6039240 — Amr, Nov 05 '21 at 09:47

Kevin Coppock · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-01T00:52:10.407

48

Hmm, well, if I was going to try this, I'd do something like the following:

List items = new ArrayList();

//some fictitious objectList where we're populating data
for(Object obj : objectList) {
    items.add(0, obj);
    listAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
}

listView.post(new Runnable() {
    @Override
    public void run() {
        listView.smoothScrollToPosition(0);
    }
}

I don't know for certain that this will work, but it seems logical. Basically, just make sure to add the item at the beginning of the list (position 0), refresh the list adapter, and scroll to position (0, 0).

edited Apr 01 '14 at 00:52

answered May 05 '11 at 20:48

Kevin Coppock

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I don't get what is 'items' and what is 'objectList'? – Nii Laryea Dec 23 '13 at 16:43
This did work for me `items.add(0, obj); listAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();` but not the 3º line of the loop: `listView.scrollTo(0, 0);` – Dani Sancas Mar 31 '14 at 23:55
1

@DaniSancas You probably want to post a runnable to do the scroll to, since notifyDataSetChanged() won't immediately update the contents of the ListView. – Kevin Coppock Mar 31 '14 at 23:56
But why is `listView.scrollTo(0, 0);` writen inside the loop if it doesn't work? The Runnable could work, I'll try it. – Dani Sancas Apr 01 '14 at 00:00
I never actually tested this code; that's the only reason. :) – Kevin Coppock Apr 01 '14 at 00:01
Well, bad news. None of those 2 `.scrollTo()` work, at least in my code (everything else does) – Dani Sancas Apr 01 '14 at 00:04
1

Give `listView.smoothScrollToPosition(0);` a try. – Kevin Coppock Apr 01 '14 at 00:05
1

Bingo! It does work inside the post Runnable, so you can remove it from the loop statement. Thanks, @kcoppock – Dani Sancas Apr 01 '14 at 00:08
Thanks for the confirmation. :) I've updated the post. – Kevin Coppock Apr 01 '14 at 00:09
Don't forget the `run()` method inside the `new Runnable`, mate ;) – Dani Sancas Apr 01 '14 at 00:28
@DaniSancas It's shorthand. ;) (fixed) – Kevin Coppock Apr 01 '14 at 00:52
`insert(Object,index)` is much more interesting ! You can use it in your adapter then make a `notifyDataSetChanged()` and that's all – Lilia Dec 23 '17 at 11:41

score 9 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 31 '16 at 08:31

9

instead of this:

items.add(edittext.getText().toString());
adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();

you should try that (works for me):

listview.post(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                items.add(0, edittext.getText().toString());
                adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
                listview.smoothScrollToPosition(0);
            }
            });

edited Mar 31 '16 at 08:31

Matcoil

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answered Feb 21 '15 at 14:19

elementstyle

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1

Pardon me for asking a naive question, but how this solution is better than the accepted answer? – Darpan Aug 20 '15 at 08:55

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered May 05 '11 at 20:49

7

Shouldn't it be enough to just add a smoothScrollToPosition(0) whenever stuff gets added to the ListView? Don't think there's an automatic scroll option.

answered May 05 '11 at 20:49

Femi

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(Note that transcript mode scrolls immediately instead of smoothly) – Josh Lee May 05 '11 at 23:19
Well, you could use `scrollTo` if you feel strongly about it. – Femi May 06 '11 at 00:17

score 7 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 06 '11 at 12:50

I spent several hours attempting to accomplish the same thing. Essentially, this acts like a chat app where the user scrolls up to view older messages at the top of the list.

The problem is that, you want to dynamically add another 50 or 100 records to the top but the scrolling should be continuous from where the prepended items were added.

The moment you do a notifyDataSetChanged, the ListView will automatically position itself at the first item in your data set and NOT at the position that preceded the position where the new items got inserted.

This makes it look like your list just jumped 50 or 100 records. I believe TranscriptMode set to normal is not the solution. The listview needs to function as a normal listview and you need to programmatically scroll to the bottom of the list to simulate the TranscriptMode as it functions under "normal".

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 11 '13 at 03:47

2

Try to use

LinkedList items = new LinkedList<Object>();

//some fictitious objectList where we're populating data
for(Object obj : objectList) {
    items.addFirst(obj);
}
listAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();

answered Sep 11 '13 at 03:47

sonida

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Don't use LinkedList for reading data, because the LinkedList is slower than ArrayList for reading data, but LinkedList faster for adding data in list. – Sinan Dizdarević Nov 02 '14 at 06:30

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 19 '16 at 15:12

This resolves the problem:

...
ListView lv;
ArrayAdapter<String> adapter;
ArrayList<String> aList;
...
        lv = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.mylist);

        aList = new ArrayList<String>();
        adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(getApplicationContext(), android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item, aList);
        lv.setAdapter(aAdapter);
        ...
        adapter.insert ("Some Text 1", 0);
        adapter.insert ("Some Text 2", 0);
        adapter.insert ("Some Text 3", 0);
        ...

score 0 · Answer 7 · edited Apr 22 '17 at 18:01

0

you should try that (list position and refresh adapter)

list.add(0,editTextSName.getText().toString());
adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();

edited Apr 22 '17 at 18:01

Alexan

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answered Apr 22 '17 at 17:39

Sanjay Rathore

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Add new items to top of list view on Android?

7 Answers7

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