How to grab text in which a user input in Java Android Development

Question

So i'm making this android application using Eclipse and I have created a text field where the user can input a message and send it, the application then shows the user the text they input, how would I allow them to share this message? Here's the code;

MainActivity.java:

package com.example.myfirstapp;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.EditText;

public class MainActivity extends Activity {
public final static String EXTRA_MESSAGE = "com.example.myfirstapp.MESSAGE";


@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}


@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
    getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
    return true;
}
/**called when user clicks the send button */
public void sendMessage (View view) {
    //do something
    Intent intent = new Intent(this, DisplayMessageActivity.class);
    EditText editText = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.edit_message);
    String message = editText.getText().toString();
    intent.putExtra(EXTRA_MESSAGE, message);
    startActivity(intent);
}
public void shareMessage (View view){
    Intent sendIntent = new Intent();
    sendIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
    sendIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "This is my text to send.");
    sendIntent.setType("text/plain");
    startActivity(sendIntent);
}

}

activity_main.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<EditText android:id="@+id/edit_message"
    android:layout_weight="1"
    android:layout_width="0dp"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:hint="@string/edit_message" />
<Button
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="@string/button_send"
    android:onClick="sendMessage" />
    <Button
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="@string/button_share"
    android:onClick="shareMessage" />
 </LinearLayout>

Oh and yes, I am very inexperienced with this type of stuff, I've just started learning about it today. Thanks for any help!

Possibly related? http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9948373/android-share-plain-text-using-intent-to-all-messaging-apps — telkins, Feb 04 '14 at 19:48
"how would I allow them to share this message?" How do you mean? — codeMagic, Feb 04 '14 at 19:48

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 04 '14 at 19:55

The message that they entered is stored in the EditText

To access the text, you need to do as you did in your SendMessage method. You need to access the EditText element by id, and then get it's text as a string. Your code will look like this to share the string:

public void shareMessage (View view){
    final String message = ((EditText)findViewById(R.id.edit_message)).getText().toString();
    Intent sendIntent = new Intent();
    sendIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
    sendIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, message);
    sendIntent.setType("text/plain");
    startActivity(sendIntent);
}

How to grab text in which a user input in Java Android Development

1 Answers1