Cross-version (starting api 7 (eclair)) copy paste in Android?

Question

I want to enable copy paste in a TextView.

I found these very nice explanations in Android docs: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/clipboard/copy-paste.html

But it works only starting at version 11 - honeycomb!

I need something which also works for the majority of users at this point of time, means it has to work also for gingerbread, froyo and eclair.

What do I use?

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 30 '12 at 14:37

3

Use the ClipboardManager found in the android.text package. They moved it to a different package because they started supporting clipping things other than text, but for backwards compatibility you can still use it under the old name.

You still wind up with stuff like:

    ClipboardManager cm=(ClipboardManager)getSystemService(CLIPBOARD_SERVICE);

    cm.setText("something");

Here is a sample project demonstrating this.

answered Apr 30 '12 at 14:37

CommonsWare

986,068
189
2,389
2,491

And how do I enable standard copy paste (like shown in an EditText) for a TextView? This copies to the clipboard but I need the standard mechanism. P.D. I'll make a new thread for that, it's a different question. – User Apr 30 '12 at 15:12
The thread with the new question is here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10386084/how-do-i-enable-standard-copy-paste-for-a-textview-in-android – User Apr 30 '12 at 15:18

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 20 '13 at 23:48

These are the completely cross-platform and exception-free ways to copy plain text to clipboard and paste plain text from clipboard in Android:

@SuppressLint("NewApi") @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
public void copy(String plainText)
{
    if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < 11)
    {
        android.text.ClipboardManager clipboard = (android.text.ClipboardManager) getSystemService(Context.CLIPBOARD_SERVICE);
        if (clipboard != null)
        {
            clipboard.setText(plainText);
        }
    }
    else
    {
        android.content.ClipboardManager clipboard = (android.content.ClipboardManager) getSystemService(Context.CLIPBOARD_SERVICE);
        if (clipboard != null)
        {
            android.content.ClipData clip = android.content.ClipData.newPlainText("text", plainText);
            clipboard.setPrimaryClip(clip);
        }
    }
}

@SuppressLint("NewApi") @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
public String paste()
{
    if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < 11)
    {
        android.text.ClipboardManager clipboard = (android.text.ClipboardManager) getSystemService(Context.CLIPBOARD_SERVICE);
        if (clipboard != null)
        {
            return (String) clipboard.getText();
        }
    }
    else
    {
        android.content.ClipboardManager clipboard = (android.content.ClipboardManager) getSystemService(Context.CLIPBOARD_SERVICE);
        if (clipboard != null && clipboard.getPrimaryClip() != null && clipboard.getPrimaryClip().getItemCount() > 0)
        {
            return (String) clipboard.getPrimaryClip().getItemAt(0).getText();
        }
    }
    return null;
}

Cross-version (starting api 7 (eclair)) copy paste in Android?

2 Answers2