Setting the text to be in the center works for one spinner, but not for other

Question

In my application I've got 3 spinners - one on the top, which when used provides the user with 2 more aligned below it.

I looked at this question where I found the answer I was looking for, but only half-way.. Now the two supplementary spinners have their text shown in the center, but the first one - no.

Looking at the .xml for the spinners I can see only one difference regarding to centering and it is that the two supplementary ones have the android:layout_gravity="center" attribute, which for some reason is not applicable to the first spinner. Why is this so? Could this be the reason? By not applicable I mean it is not in the properties for the spinner in the design view and when I add it manually in the .xml nothing changes.

So ideally the answer which I am looking for is why the 2 supplementary spinners have their text centered, but the first one - no? Note I am not interested in centering the elements in the popup, this is purely optional. I just want to have the selected option to be in the center.

Here is a screenshot of how it looks now with the problem in red:

Here is the .xml I am using:

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:id="@+id/some_layout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
app:layout_behavior="@string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior"
tools:context="packagename"
tools:showIn="@layout/specific_activity_layout"
android:gravity="center_horizontal"
android:background="#FF9800">

<Spinner
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="50dp"
    android:id="@+id/spinner1"
    android:entries="@array/spinner1entries"
    android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
    android:layout_marginBottom="15dp"
    android:gravity="center|top"
    android:background="@drawable/rounded_corners"
    android:paddingTop="4dp"
    android:paddingBottom="4dp"
    android:popupBackground="#FFB74D"
    android:layout_alignParentEnd="false"
    android:textAlignment="center" />

<LinearLayout
    android:id="@+id/horizontal_layout_spinners"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentEnd="false"
    android:layout_alignParentStart="false"
    android:visibility="invisible"
    android:layout_below="@+id/spinner1">

    <Spinner
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="50dp"
        android:id="@+id/spinner2"
        android:visibility="visible"
        android:background="@drawable/rounded_corners"
        android:layout_marginRight="5dp"
        android:popupBackground="#FFB74D"
        android:textAlignment="center"
        android:gravity="center|top"
        android:layout_weight="0.5"
        android:layout_gravity="center" />

    <Spinner
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="50dp"
        android:id="@+id/spinner3"
        android:visibility="visible"
        android:layout_marginLeft="5dp"
        android:background="@drawable/rounded_corners"
        android:popupBackground="#FFB74D"
        android:textAlignment="center"
        android:gravity="center|top"
        android:layout_weight="0.5"
        android:layout_gravity="center" />

</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

And the rounded_corners file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <solid android:color="#FFB74D"/>
    <stroke android:width="0dip" android:color="#B1BCBE" />
    <corners android:radius="10dip"/>
    <padding android:left="0dip" android:top="0dip" android:right="0dip" android:bottom="0dip" />
</shape>

In the first spinner what happens when you change `android:layout_width="fill_parent"` to `android:layout_width="wrap_content"` ?. `android:gravity` seems fine but if not, then try changing to `android:gravity="center" and see the difference. — Shobhit Puri, Apr 19 '16 at 19:56
`android:layout_width="fill_parent"` shrinks the spinner, but I'd like to have it edge-to-edge :( — Phantomazi, Apr 19 '16 at 20:02
Can you show a screenshot? it's hard to see whats going on with the layout with just a text description. — Dave S, Apr 19 '16 at 20:42
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7511049/set-view-text-align-at-center-in-spinner-in-android — Dave S, Apr 19 '16 at 21:07
Does spinner1 use a different adapter from spinner2 and spinner3? — totoro, Apr 26 '16 at 13:32

Shobhit Puri · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-19T21:53:56.493

Try adding : android:dropDownWidth="wrap_content" to the spinner.

You can try to set the text style programatically after an item is selected from the spinner. Set an setOnItemSelectedListener and inside it set TextView to be centred.

Spinner spinner1 = (Spinner) findViewById(R.id.spinner1);
spinner1.setOnItemSelectedListener(new AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener() {

    @Override
    public void onItemSelected(AdapterView<?> arg0, View view, int arg2, long arg3) {
        // Set the text style after item is selected.
        setSpinnerSelectedItemParams(spinner1, getActivity());
}

    @Override
    public void onNothingSelected(AdapterView<?> parent) {
    }
});



/**
 * Sets the spinner text style to a different one after one value has been chosen.
 * @param spinner Spinner currently in use
 */
public void setSpinnerSelectedItemParams(Spinner spinner, Context context) {
    if (spinner.getChildCount() > 0){
        TextView tvSpinner = ((TextView) spinner.getChildAt(0));
        tvSpinner.setPadding(0, 0, 0, 0);
        tvSpinner.setGravity(Gravity.CENTER);
        LinearLayout.LayoutParams params = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
        params.gravity = Gravity.CENTER;
        params.setMargins(0, 0, 0, 0);
        tvSpinner.setLayoutParams(params);
    }
}

If you want the text before selecting it in centre as well, try setting a custom resource when creating the adapter.

In Activity or Fragment:

ArrayAdapter<String> yourAdapter = new ArrayAdapter(activity, R.layout.default_spinner_adapter_view, yourDataToFillTheSpinner);

"default_spinner_adapter_view.xml" file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- This is the view for each individual item of the spinner-->
<CheckedTextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/tv_default_spinner"
    style="?android:attr/spinnerItemStyle"
    android:layout_width="match_parent
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_gravity="center"
    android:ellipsize="marquee"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:singleLine="true"
    android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
    android:textColor="@android:color/black" />

What about the default item? This way it will be inconsistent - if it works it will display it in the centre only after user selection, but the default item will still be stuck to the left. — Phantomazi, Apr 19 '16 at 20:40
@Phantomazi The way I get around doing it is by setting a custom resource when creating the `ArrayAdapter`. Something like: `ArrayAdapter adapter = new ArrayAdapter(activity, R.layout.spinner_adapter_picker_view_center, yourData);`. Let me try to include it in answer. — Shobhit Puri, Apr 19 '16 at 20:44

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 22 '16 at 10:20

If you want to customize the dropdown list items you will need to create a new layout file. Let’s call it spinner_dropdown_item.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CheckedTextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@android:id/text1"
    style="?android:attr/spinnerDropDownItemStyle"
    android:singleLine="true"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="?android:attr/listPreferredItemHeight"
    android:ellipsize="marquee"
    android:textColor="#aa66cc"/>

Another change in the declaration of the spinner:

ArrayAdapter adapter = ArrayAdapter.createFromResource(this,R.array.planets_array, R.layout.spinner_item);
adapter.setDropDownViewResource(R.layout.spinner_dropdown_item);
spinner.setAdapter(adapter);

Shahab Rauf · Answer 3 · 2016-04-26T09:56:56.407

Make your custom list item of spinner and set as you want and that should have a TextView id text1 and use this list_item.xml like below

Spinner spinner = (Spinner) findViewById(R.id.spinner);

// Create an ArrayAdapter using the string array and a default spinner layout

ArrayAdapter<CharSequence> adapter = ArrayAdapter.createFromResource(this,
                R.array.planets_array, android.R.layout.your_list_item);

// Specify the layout to use when the list of choices appears

adapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.your_drop_down_list_item);

// Apply the adapter to the spinner

 spinner.setAdapter(adapter);

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 26 '16 at 13:18

0

change relative layout to linear layout vertical and width of the spinner should be match_parent.

answered Apr 26 '16 at 13:18

harsha javagal

81
2
8

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 26 '16 at 13:33

0

Make sure all spinners are using the same type of adapter—or at least another adapter using the same item layout—the adapter provides the layout.

answered Apr 26 '16 at 13:33

totoro

2,469
2
19
23

Setting the text to be in the center works for one spinner, but not for other

5 Answers5