Creating custom android pickers

Question

Bear with me as this is my first app. My app isn't too revolutionary but I'd like to make it more user-friendly by implementing some custom pickers. For instance, a date picker that uses a calender view or a spinner-like picker that flows horizontally (much like SetCPU). Unfortunately, I don't even know where to start with building custom ui components like these.

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 03 '12 at 00:45

I guess following skeleton code would help to provide some flexibility in your application that you desire.

 /* Simple Dialog

                    Dialog dialog = new Dialog(this);
                    dialog.setTitle("Hello");
                    dialog.show();
      */

    /*    Inflating an layout as the Dialog

                    Dialog loginDialog = new Dialog(this);
                    View layout = LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(R.layout.login, null);
                    loginDialog.setContentView(layout);
                    Button btn = (Button)(layout.findViewById(R.id.button1));
                    final EditText txt = (EditText) layout.findViewById(R.id.editText1);

                    btn.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {

                        public void onClick(View v) {
                            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
                            //Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), txt.getText().toString(), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                            txt.setText("Ahmedabad");
                        }
                    });
                    loginDialog.show();

            /* ProgreessBar Dialog (you need to implement thread)

        ProgressDialog dialog = new ProgressDialog(this);
                    dialog.setProgressStyle(2);

                    dialog.show();
    */


       /* Alert Dialog to alert a mesage or an error or customize exception like Enter the field, etc.

                AlertDialog dialog = new AlertDialog.Builder(this).create();
                    dialog.setMessage("Message");
                    dialog.setIcon(R.drawable.ic_launcher);
                    dialog.setTitle("Done");
                    dialog.show();
    */


/* ------------------- Binding array items into the spinner ---------------------------

        sp = (Spinner)findViewById(R.id.spinner1);
        String bloodgroups[]={
            "A +ve","B +ve","O +ve","AB +ve","A -ve","B -ve","O -ve","AB -ve"
        };
        ArrayAdapter<String> adapter=new ArrayAdapter<String>(this,android.R.layout .simple_spinner_dropdown_item,bloodgroups); 
        sp.setAdapter(adapter);

*/

/* DatePicker Dialog Code: I have used a button whose click event bring datepicker dialog into focus

 Button btnselDate = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btnseldate); // date select button

// ----------------------------- DATE PICKER DIALOG PROMPT ---------------------
        btnselDate.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {

        public void onClick(View arg0) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
                showDialog(1);
            }
        });

 @Override
     protected Dialog onCreateDialog(int id) {
         DatePickerDialog dialog = new DatePickerDialog(this, new OnDateSetListener()
         {
            public void onDateSet(DatePicker view, int year, int monthOfYear, int dayOfMonth)
            {
                ((EditText)findViewById(R.id.txtdate)).setText(dayOfMonth + "/" + monthOfYear + "/" + year);
            }           
         }, new GregorianCalendar().get(Calendar.YEAR), new GregorianCalendar().get(Calendar.MONTH), new GregorianCalendar().get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH));
        return dialog;
     }


*/

@mango: Kindly Mark my Answer as Appropriate if you find the answer worth and answers your question. — Rushabh, Sep 03 '12 at 00:49

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 30 '12 at 20:05

2

Android's default widget are simple, but by mixing them you can build your own custom widgets. Read more about this here.

answered Aug 30 '12 at 20:05

S.D.

29,290
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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 30 '12 at 20:10

Create a custom class which extends View. Then you can set the size and control what is drawn on the Canvas and how it will respond to touch events. There are plenty of examples around regarding creating 'widgets'. Reto Meiers book has a good example where he creates a compass.

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 04 '12 at 00:07

0

well, I've decided to give up for now, but for anyone else this webpage really helped me at least to wrap my head around it.

http://mindtherobot.com/blog/272/android-custom-ui-making-a-vintage-thermometer/

answered Sep 04 '12 at 00:07

mango

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Creating custom android pickers

4 Answers4