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Programmatically Hide/Show Android Soft Keyboard

March 14, 2021 by Code Error
Posted By: Anonymous

Possible Duplicate:
Close/hide the Android Soft Keyboard

First thing first I already saw this thread. I tried accepted methods given there..But nothing worked for me..

I have two screens in my app.

  • First one have 2 EditText’s – One for username and one for password
  • Second one have one ListView, and an EditText – to filter the
    listView

In my first screen, I want username EditText to have focus on startup and Keyboard should be visible..This is my implementation (simplified by removing unnecessary/unrelated codes)..

app_login.xml

<LinearLayout android:orientation="vertical" 
    android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
    android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
    android:paddingLeft="20dip"  
    android:paddingRight="20dip">

    <EditText android:id="@+id/username" 
        android:singleLine="true" 
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"  
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:hint="Username"  
        android:imeOptions="actionDone" android:inputType="text"
        android:maxLines="1"/>

    <EditText android:id="@+id/password" 
        android:password="true" 
        android:singleLine="true"  
        android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"    
        android:hint="Password" />
</LinearLayout>

AppLogin.java

class AppLogin extends Activity{
    private EditText mUserNameEdit = null;
    private EditText mPasswordEdit = null;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState){
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.app_login);

        mUserNameEdit  =    (EditText) findViewById(R.id.username);
        mPasswordEdit  =    (EditText) findViewById(R.id.password);

        /* code to show keyboard on startup.this code is not working.*/
        InputMethodManager imm =  (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
        imm.showSoftInput(mUserNameEdit, InputMethodManager.SHOW_IMPLICIT);

    }//End of onCreate()
}

Well, the keyboard is not showing at startup. And my design badly requires a keyboard there.

Now on to second page..I already said I have a listView and EditText there..I want my keyboard to be hidden on startup only to appear when the user touches the editText..Can you believe it? whatever I tried soft Keyboard is showing when I load the activity..I am not able to hide it.

app_list_view.xml

<LinearLayout android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
    android:layout_height="fill_parent" 
    android:orientation="vertical" >

   <EditText android:id="@+id/filter_edittext"       
        android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
        android:hint="Search" android:inputType="text" 
        android:maxLines="1"/>
    <ListView android:id="@id/android:list" 
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:layout_weight="1.0" 
        android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
        android:focusable="true" 
        android:descendantFocusability="beforeDescendants"/>
</LinearLayout>     

AppList.java

public class MyListActivity extends ListActivity{
   private EditText mfilterEditText;

    @Override
   public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {        
      super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
      setContentView(R.layout.app_list_view);

      mFilterEditText  =  (EditText) findViewById(R.id.filter_edittext);
      InputMethodManager imm = InputMethodManager)getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
      imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(mFilterEditText.getWindowToken(), 0);
   }
}

To simplify

  1. On Login Page (first Page) I want my keyboard to be visible on
    start up.
  2. On SecondPage I want the keyboard to be hidden first, only to appear
    when the user touches editText

And my problem is I am getting exact opposite on both occasion…Hope someone faced this issue before.BTW I am testing on simulator and HTC Desire phone.

FINAL OUTCOME

Well, I got it working, with the help of all friends here.

1. To Show keyboard on startup

Two answers worked for me. One provided by @CapDroid, which is to use a handler and post it delayed..

mUserNameEdit.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
  @Override
  public void run() {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
    InputMethodManager keyboard = (InputMethodManager)getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
    keyboard.showSoftInput(mUserNameEdit, 0);
  }
},50);

Second answers are provided by @Dyarish, In fact, he linked to another SO thread, which I haven’t seen before. But the funny thing is that this solution is given in the thread which I referenced at the start. And I haven’t tried
it out because it had zero votes in a thread where all other posts have plenty of votes..Height of foolishness..

getWindow().setSoftInputMode(WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_VISIBLE);

For me, the second solution looked neat, so I decided to stick with it..But the first one certainly works.
Also, @Dyarish’s answer contains a clever hack of using a ScrollView below EditText to give EditText the focus..But I haven’t tried it, but it should work. Not neat though..

2. To hide keyboard at activity start

Only one answer worked for me, which is provided by @Dyarish. And the solution is to use
focusableInTouchMode settings in xml for the layout containing the editText’s. This did the trick

<LinearLayout android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
    android:layout_height="fill_parent" 
    android:orientation="vertical" 
    android:focusableInTouchMode="true">
    <EditText android:id="@+id/filter_edittext"       
        android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
        android:hint="Search" android:inputType="text" 
        android:maxLines="1"/>
    <ListView android:id="@id/android:list" 
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:layout_weight="1.0" 
        android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
        android:focusable="true" 
        android:descendantFocusability="beforeDescendants"/>
</LinearLayout> 

Anyway, I end up using Dyarish’s answer in both cases. So I am awarding the bounty to him..Thanks to all other friends
who tried to help me..

Solution

Adding this to your code android:focusableInTouchMode="true" will make sure that your keypad doesn’t appear on startup for your edittext box. You want to add this line to your linear layout that contains the EditTextBox. You should be able to play with this to solve both your problems. I have tested this. Simple solution.

ie: In your app_list_view.xml file

<LinearLayout 
    android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
    android:layout_height="fill_parent" 
    android:orientation="vertical" 
    android:focusableInTouchMode="true">
    <EditText 
        android:id="@+id/filter_edittext"       
        android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
        android:hint="Search" 
        android:inputType="text" 
        android:maxLines="1"/>
    <ListView 
        android:id="@id/android:list" 
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:layout_weight="1.0" 
        android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
        android:focusable="true" 
        android:descendantFocusability="beforeDescendants"/>
</LinearLayout> 

—————— EDIT: To Make keyboard appear on startup ———————–

This is to make they Keyboard appear on the username edittextbox on startup. All I’ve done is added an empty Scrollview to the bottom of the .xml file, this puts the first edittext into focus and pops up the keyboard. I admit this is a hack, but I am assuming you just want this to work. I’ve tested it, and it works fine.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" 
    android:orientation="vertical" 
    android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
    android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
    android:paddingLeft="20dip"  
    android:paddingRight="20dip">
    <EditText 
        android:id="@+id/userName" 
        android:singleLine="true" 
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"  
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
        android:hint="Username"  
        android:imeOptions="actionDone" 
        android:inputType="text"
        android:maxLines="1"
       />
    <EditText 
        android:id="@+id/password" 
        android:password="true" 
        android:singleLine="true"  
        android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
        android:hint="Password" />
    <ScrollView
        android:id="@+id/ScrollView01"  
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"   
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"> 
    </ScrollView>
</LinearLayout>

If you are looking for a more eloquent solution, I’ve found this question which might help you out, it is not as simple as the solution above but probably a better solution. I haven’t tested it but it apparently works. I think it is similar to the solution you’ve tried which didn’t work for you though.

Hope this is what you are looking for.

Cheers!

Answered By: Anonymous

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