Set maximum number of text lines for an EditText

Question

Is there a way of specifying the maximum numbers of lines for an EditText? By that I mean all the lines of text, not only the visible ones (as the android:maxLines attribute is described). The lines number must not be 1, so android:singleLine is not an option.

score 11 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 18 '12 at 14:35

11

You could use this:

android:singleLine="false" android:lines="5"

I don't know if that does what you need.

answered Jan 18 '12 at 14:35

MartijnG

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No. android:lines is about the visible lines. I'm interested in the text lines. If you set android:lines to an edit text and you write 10 lines, you will have 10 lines of text, but only 5 visible. What I want is to have maximum 5 lines of text. After the fift line you should not be able to write anymore. Thanks for the reply. – Gratzi Jan 18 '12 at 14:36
Okay, but there is no build in "row limiter". You have to do it by yourself. There's a topic on stackoverflow with a sample code, maybe you can use that: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7092961/edittext-maxlines-not-working-user-can-still-input-more-lines-than-set – MartijnG Jan 18 '12 at 14:38
I saw that post, but the fix handles only the enter key and it's not very elegant. You delete portions of text, even if it isn't necessary to do so. – Gratzi Jan 18 '12 at 14:43
If you really want it you have to build a code yourself because there's no simple built in feature. Another option is to limit the editview to a max allowed characters with `android:maxLength="10"`. But then you can't check for max 5 lines. There's no other option for now I can think of, maybe someone else. Sorry. – MartijnG Jan 18 '12 at 14:48
`android:singleLine` is deprecated – Onkar Nene May 08 '17 at 13:01

score 7 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 28 '15 at 10:40

7

set android:maxLines="2"in xml and add :

edittext.addTextChangedListener(new TextWatcher() {
    @Override
    public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence charSequence, int i, int i2, int i3) { }
    @Override
    public void onTextChanged(CharSequence charSequence, int i, int i2, int i3) { }

    @Override
    public void afterTextChanged(Editable editable) {
        if (null != edittext.getLayout() && edittext.getLayout().getLineCount() > 2) {
           edittext.getText().delete(edittext.getText().length() - 1, edittext.getText().length());
        }
    }
});

is solution for me . The same you can do for 3,4 ... n rows limit for your edittext.

edited Aug 28 '15 at 10:40

Hugo Yates

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answered Aug 28 '15 at 09:51

fvolodimir

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Can you format the code in a proper way and also explain it a little if you can? – giri-sh Aug 28 '15 at 10:13
maxLines="2" in your edittext in xml - makes only 2 rows visible for user , but he can type more then 2 rows . In this case 1 row will be hidden and user will see second and third row and so on.. In afterTextChanged(Editable editable) method we check - did new symbol appear in third row , or it is still in second or first. if symbol appears in third row - we delete it. So text can not be longer than 2 rows in edittext. – fvolodimir Aug 31 '15 at 08:55

NagRock · Answer 3 · 2016-03-08T13:03:11.343

import android.text.Editable;
import android.text.TextWatcher;
import android.widget.EditText;

public class EditTextLinesLimiter implements TextWatcher {
    private EditText editText;
    private int maxLines;
    private String lastValue = "";

    public EditTextLinesLimiter(EditText editText, int maxLines) {
        this.editText = editText;
        this.maxLines = maxLines;
    }

    @Override
    public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence charSequence, int i, int i1, int i2) {
        lastValue = charSequence.toString();
    }

    @Override
    public void onTextChanged(CharSequence charSequence, int i, int i1, int i2) {

    }

    @Override
    public void afterTextChanged(Editable editable) {
        if (editText.getLineCount() > maxLines) {
            int selectionStart = editText.getSelectionStart() - 1;
            editText.setText(lastValue);
            if (selectionStart >= editText.length()) {
                selectionStart = editText.length();
            }
            editText.setSelection(selectionStart);
        }
    }
}

And then:

editText.addTextChangedListener(new EditTextLinesLimiter(editText, 2));

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 16 '19 at 11:43

<EditText
android:id="@+id/edit_text"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:inputType="text"
android:maxLines="1" />

You just need to make sure you have the attribute "inputType" set. It doesn't work without this line.

android:inputType="text"

score 0 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 26 '14 at 11:52

I believe you can use this code to check the number of lines in edittext,

editText.getLayout().getLineCount() > row-limit;

Preferably you may use it in a TextWatcher Listener's "afterTextChanged()" to disallow the user for entering further if the row limit has been reached.

edit.addTextChangedListener(new TextWatcher() {

    @Override
    public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before, int count) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

    }

    @Override
    public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int count,
            int after) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

    }

    @Override
    public void afterTextChanged(Editable s) {
        if(editText.getLayout().getLineCount() > row-limit){
           //Code to stop edittext from being edited any further.
          }
});

score -3 · Answer 6 · edited Nov 10 '13 at 08:35

-3

android:maxLength="140"

I believe this is equal to one line, in theory you could change the maxlength to "700" which would be 5 lines. I'm not exactly sure on the numbers but the logic behind it is valid.

edited Nov 10 '13 at 08:35

Pranav 웃

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answered Nov 10 '13 at 08:16

Hounge

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That's not valid. What if the user types 140x Enter? He creates 140 Lines then. – Sebi Jul 17 '16 at 15:05
Sebi- what the user enters doesn't create the maximum number of lines. this is the program code that sets the limit. – Hounge Dec 07 '16 at 09:58
This answer doesn't sound right to me. As @Sebi mention, 140 characters could span a large variety of lines, depending on which characters are in the string. Aside from line breaks, there is a large difference between the width of 140 'i's and 140 'm's. – Paul Wintz Aug 10 '17 at 20:10

Set maximum number of text lines for an EditText

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