How can I set a minimum width (in characters) for a TextView?

Question

I've had a good search for this on here and can't find a solution.

I have a TextView in a RelativeLayout which contains an integer number. The number will range between 1 and 99 - can anyone tell me how to size the TextView so that its width is always the width of the string "99" even if it only contains "1"?

I need this because the positions of the components to the right of this TextView depend on its width, so all are position depending on how many digits the TextView contains.

I don't mind if this is done in XML or code - I just want to avoid having to set the width of a TextView in pixels!

Thanks for any possible solutions; Please ask if I've missed out any important info!

score 77 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 20 '15 at 15:24

77

try this:

android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:minEms="2"

edited Feb 20 '15 at 15:24

Denys Kniazhev-Support Ukraine

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answered Jun 04 '11 at 19:48

Adrian

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you may also want to add android:gravity="center" – Shyri Jan 12 '17 at 17:10
it doesn't work correct, width still much bigger, basically 5 ems == 10 characters – user924 Aug 31 '22 at 11:57

score 23 · Answer 2 · answered May 11 '12 at 19:38

23

Ems works if your font is monospace. For proportional fonts, you want it the width of two '0's, not two 'm's. You can fall back to TextPaint.measureText like so:

float measureText = zip.getPaint().measureText("00000");
zip.setWidth(zip.getPaddingLeft() + zip.getPaddingRight() + (int) measureText);

answered May 11 '12 at 19:38

pforhan

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Works like magic! Thanks a lot for sharing this code snippet. :) – Annie Lagang May 27 '15 at 02:34
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Setting ems did not work for me, but this did. Thanks pforhan :) – Jay Sep 15 '16 at 12:57

Andrii Shpek · Answer 3 · 2019-07-21T14:27:54.077

Best way is to use TextPaint. Here is a simple example:

TextPaint textPaint = new TextPaint();
textPaint.setTextSize(yourTextView.getTextSize());
yourTextView.setMinWidth((int) textPaint.measureText("-88.88"));

Do not forget to specify text size in your TextPaint object
In measureText enter longest possible string you're expecting to see (I've written "-88.88" assuming my text can handle positive or negative numbers below 100 with 2 digits after comma)

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 22 '11 at 07:44

0

I think you're looking for the getTextBounds() method in the Paint class. Didn't try it myself tho.

answered Feb 22 '11 at 07:44

Zsombor Erdődy-Nagy

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score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 31 '20 at 06:27

-1

Simple solution, set typeface of your textview as Monospace.

android:typeface="monospace"

answered Dec 31 '20 at 06:27

Kuldeep Sakhiya

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How can I set a minimum width (in characters) for a TextView?

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