How can I intercept text before it is inserted into a TextView

Question

In Android, I am writing an app where the user enters text into an EditText view, and I would like to intercept that text before the system actually inserts it into the view, so that I can first wrap it in a SpannableText and do some decoration.

Is there any way to do this, or do I need to wait until the text is inserted, and then replace it in the afterTextChanged method (which seems like a waste of processing!)

Any ideas?

do you want to implement a syntax highlighting or something different? — Sergey Benner, Feb 24 '12 at 14:48
Kind of - I want to highlight some words, based on some conditions, then turn off the highlight after a short time. — Victor Grazi, Feb 24 '12 at 14:54

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 24 '12 at 14:48

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I am sure that this can be achieved using TextWatcher. I hope this helps you even though I can't provide any examples. You can set a TextWatcher to your EditText via mEditText.addTextChangedListener(mTextWatcher).

answered Feb 24 '12 at 14:48

m1ntf4n

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 24 '12 at 14:51

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Maybe try to use the TextWatcher class : http://developer.android.com/reference/android/text/TextWatcher.html

Good luck !

answered Feb 24 '12 at 14:51

Olivier.G

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I know the TextWatcher can detect an insertion, but I don't see any way to get it to actually replace anything. – Victor Grazi Feb 24 '12 at 14:53
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@VictorGrazi http://stackoverflow.com/questions/476848/android-textwatcher-aftertextchanged-vs-textwatcher-ontextchanged read both answers there – Sergey Benner Feb 24 '12 at 15:01
Those answers don't seem to help - seems like TextWatcher needs a hook for you to decorate text before it is actually inserted into the EditText component – Victor Grazi Feb 24 '12 at 16:44

How can I intercept text before it is inserted into a TextView

2 Answers2