How to limit chars of each line in multiline edit text?

Question

I want to limit the char per line to 15 chars. After every 15 chars I should include/add a "enter" key pressed ("\n") to the line so that the user can write without stopping. Any suggestion?

This is my EditText xml

<EditText
        android:id="@+id/ET"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
        android:ems="10"
        android:maxLength="20"
        android:inputType="textMultiLine"
        android:visibility="gone" />

This is my ET TextChangedListener

ET.addTextChangedListener(new TextWatcher(){
        @Override
        public void afterTextChanged(Editable s) {}
        @Override
        public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int count,
                int after) {}
        @Override
        public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before,
                int count) {
            if (count % 20 == 0)
            {
                ((Editable) s).append("\n");
                ET.setSelection(ET.getText().length());
            }

        }
    });

Why dont you write this programmatically? When it reaches 15 chars then change line — lantonis, Jan 20 '14 at 15:32
@lantonis because it doesn't change. It includes the "\n", but even when trying to move the cursor to the end it stays at the end of that line — Rotary Heart, Jan 20 '14 at 15:35
possible duplicate of http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10933412/how-to-set-maximum-characters-per-line-for-text-view-in-android — Daniel Bo, Jan 20 '14 at 15:38

Salman Khakwani · Answer 1 · 2014-01-21T08:50:12.613

0

You need a custom Text Watcher here, please take help from the following template:

private class CustomTextWatcher implements TextWatcher {
private EditText recieved_et;

public CustomTextWatcher(EditText e) {
    recieved_et = e;
}

public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int count,
        int after) {
       //Your Implementation
}

public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before,
        int count) 
{
    if (count % 20 == 0)
    {
        ((Editable) s).append("\n");
        recieved_et.setText(s.toString());
    }
}   

public void afterTextChanged(Editable s) {
       //Your Implementation
    }
}

Here is how you set this to your Edit Text :

ET.addTextChangedListener(new CustomTextWatcher(ET));
I hope this helps.

edited Jan 21 '14 at 08:50

answered Jan 20 '14 at 15:23

Salman Khakwani

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That's not working, it will limit my entire length to 20, not the line to 20. – Rotary Heart Jan 20 '14 at 15:30
I didn't understand you. You only want to show some of your Lines to 20 chars ? – Salman Khakwani Jan 20 '14 at 15:34
No, I want to limit each line to 20 chars, not the length of the full text. – Rotary Heart Jan 20 '14 at 15:35

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 20 '14 at 15:53

0

You have to add TextWatcher to the EditText programatically.

In the onTextChanged() function you can get the text and if the last line is 20 chars long, use s.append("\n"); function.

You also need to implement the delete functionality I think. If the user deletes a "\n" char you also need to delete the previous one.

You also need to be careful about that function because it can easily stuck in an infinite loop.

answered Jan 20 '14 at 15:53

tasomaniac

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That's exactly what I tried before, but even after including `ET.setSelection(ET.getText().length());` the cursor don't move to the next line – Rotary Heart Jan 20 '14 at 16:01
Can you post the code. I think there is no other way. We can go after your implementation. – tasomaniac Jan 20 '14 at 16:02
I did not try it but can you try this: ET.append("\n"); ET.setSelection(ET.getText().length()); – tasomaniac Jan 20 '14 at 16:56
Tried that one too, but I got the same result. The cursor looks to be in the new line, but when I type any other letter it keeps writing in the previous line. – Rotary Heart Jan 20 '14 at 17:06
Ok I got it now. count variable is not the length of the text. you should go like this: if (s.length() % 20 == 0) – tasomaniac Jan 20 '14 at 17:24
No, I got the same results. – Rotary Heart Jan 20 '14 at 19:43

How to limit chars of each line in multiline edit text?

2 Answers2