Clear text in EditText when entered

Question

I'm trying to set and onclicklistener so that when I click within the edittext element it will clear its current contents. Is there something wrong here? When I compile this code I get a force quit and ActivityManager: Can't dispatch DDM chunk 4d505251: no handler defined error.

public class Project extends Activity implements OnClickListener {
    /** Called when the activity is first created. */
    EditText editText = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.editText1);
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);


        editText.setOnClickListener(this);

        setContentView(R.layout.main);

    }

    @Override
    public void onClick(View v) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        editText.setText("");
    }
}

Thanks all! Is there a reason that I have to declare it after? — locoboy, Mar 15 '11 at 06:34
Yep! you have to call setContentView(id) first. So that the system can display the screen contents, and then you point out the EditText which will probably exist in your screen contents. Otherwise it will show an exception with Force Close dialog. — Adil Soomro, Mar 15 '11 at 06:57
You can also achieve same functionality by setting the hint property of an edittext. You just have to set the text in hint property and same functionality will be achieved. — bhavindesai, Mar 15 '11 at 06:27
You can't use `findViewById` until after you've called `setContentView`. — Ted Hopp, Mar 15 '11 at 06:25
`EditText editText = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.editText1);` This line here should be placed inside the onCreate method. It is a function call by the context. — Some Noob Student, Mar 15 '11 at 06:24
Move EditText editText = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.editText1); after setContentView(R.layout.main); — Diego Torres Milano, Mar 15 '11 at 06:25
Please check that have you added this activity in your manifest file? — Rohit Mandiwal, Mar 15 '11 at 06:25
Notice that you can set a "hint" to an `EditText`, which makes it display a text when empty and which disappears when the user starts typing. Add `android:hint="your hint text here"` to your `EditText` in xml. A 'hint' is usually used to indicate what the EditText is made for. It is maybe not what you're looking for, but I was also looking to clear the `EditText` on click until I discovered that the "hint" did what I was really looking for. — Jecimi, Jul 05 '12 at 21:26

score 232 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 25 '13 at 13:19

232

Also you can use code below

editText.getText().clear();

answered Jan 25 '13 at 13:19

Serhii Nadolynskyi

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Ali, you are absolutely right. But we call method getText() first. It returns us Editable instance, which has method clear(); – Serhii Nadolynskyi Mar 04 '18 at 20:17

Chirag · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-06T09:09:15.203

151

First you need to call setContentView(R.layout.main) then all other initialization.

Please try below Code.

public class Trackfolio extends Activity implements OnClickListener {
    /** Called when the activity is first created. */
    public EditText editText;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        setContentView(R.layout.main);

        editText = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.editText1);
        editText.setOnClickListener(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void onClick(View v) {
        editText.getText().clear(); //or you can use editText.setText("");
    }
}

edited Aug 06 '18 at 09:09

answered Mar 15 '11 at 06:26

Chirag

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Hi, I know this is an old answer but you're the only one that mentions both options (`.clear` or `.setText("")`). Are there any differences? When should I use which one or are they completely the same? Thanks. – Alex Feb 15 '19 at 12:29
editText.getText().clear(); did nt work for mr in android studio 3.5.1 – Abdul Wahid Apr 22 '20 at 17:14

score 45 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 19 '13 at 19:17

45

just use the android:hint attribute in your EditText. This text shows up when the box is empty and not focused, but disappears upon selecting the EditText box.

answered Feb 19 '13 at 19:17

user2088464

459
4
2

this should be the accepted answer, +1 for simplicity. – Giga Chad Coding Feb 15 '18 at 23:08
This is correct answer from design perspective! Thanks – kyxap Mar 18 '18 at 19:23

score 15 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 16 '18 at 11:11

15

We can clear EditText data in two ways

First One setting EditText is empty like below line

editext.setText("");

Second one clearing EditText data like this

editText.getText().clear();

I suggest second way

answered Jul 16 '18 at 11:11

Venki WAR

1,997
4
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38

This is an old thread but I can't find a better one to post this. I have tried: – PeteC Mar 19 '21 at 18:45
This is an old thread but I can't find a better one to post this. I have tried the OnClick with edittext.setText("). When the user taps in the EditText any previous text is cleared and the keyboard pops up. I can type numbers but then when Ii tap done on the keyboard the numbers are cleared and the keyboard remains ready for more numbers. I can't get rid of the keyboard unless I restart the app – PeteC Mar 19 '21 at 18:52
_Why_ do you suggest the second way? How is it better? Please elaborate – Captain Jack Sparrow Jun 23 '22 at 20:27

score 8 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 15 '11 at 06:27

Your code should be:

    public class Project extends Activity implements OnClickListener {
            /** Called when the activity is first created. */
            EditText editText;
            @Override
            public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
                super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);            

                setContentView(R.layout.main);
                editText = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.editText1);
                editText.setOnClickListener(this);            
            }

            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub

                if(v == editText) {
                    editText.setText("");
                }
            }
        }

score 6 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 24 '20 at 11:05

6

For Kotlin:

Create two extensions, one for EditText and one for TextView

EditText:

fun EditText.clear() { text.clear() }

TextView:

fun TextView.clear() { text = "" }

and use it like

myEditText.clear()

myTextView.clear()

answered Feb 24 '20 at 11:05

MaKi

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5
11

score 4 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 06 '12 at 13:11

public EditText editField;
public Button clear = null;
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
 super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.text_layout);
   this. editField = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.userName);
this.clear = (Button) findViewById(R.id.clear_button);  
this.editField.setOnClickListener(this);
this.clear.setOnClickListener(this);
@Override
public void onClick(View v) {

    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
if(v.getId()==R.id.clear_button){
//setText will remove all text that is written by someone
    editField.setText("");
    }
}

score 4 · Answer 8 · edited Jun 15 '16 at 11:04

4

Very Simple to clear editText values.when u click button then only follow 1 line code.

Inside button or anywhere u want.Only use this

editText.setText("");

edited Jun 15 '16 at 11:04

Ashish Dwivedi

8,048
5
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answered Jul 18 '14 at 05:49

Guru

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14

score 3 · Answer 9 · edited Jan 28 '16 at 07:51

3

i don't know what mistakes i did while implementing the above solutions, bt they were unsuccessful for me

txtDeck.setOnFocusChangeListener(new OnFocusChangeListener() {
    @Override       
    public void onFocusChange(View v, boolean hasFocus) {
        txtDeck.setText("");
    }
});

This works for me,

edited Jan 28 '16 at 07:51

Ziem

6,579
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answered Oct 13 '12 at 14:53

sailor

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score 3 · Answer 10 · answered Mar 04 '13 at 10:26

package com.example.sampleproject;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.ImageView;

public class SampleProject extends Activity {
    EditText mSearchpeople;
    Button mCancel , msearchclose;
    ImageView mprofile, mContact, mcalender, mConnection, mGroup , mFollowup , msetting , mAddacard;
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.dashboard);
        mSearchpeople = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.editText1);
        mCancel = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button2);
        msearchclose = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button1);
        mprofile = (ImageView)findViewById(R.id.imageView1);
        mContact = (ImageView)findViewById(R.id.imageView2);
        mcalender = (ImageView)findViewById(R.id.imageView3);
        mConnection = (ImageView)findViewById(R.id.imageView4);
        mGroup = (ImageView)findViewById(R.id.imageView5);
        mFollowup = (ImageView)findViewById(R.id.imageView6);
        msetting = (ImageView)findViewById(R.id.imageView7);
        mAddacard = (ImageView)findViewById(R.id.imageView8);
    }
    @Override
    protected void onResume() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        super.onResume();
        mCancel.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {

            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub
                mSearchpeople.clearFocus();

            }
        });
    }


}

Not post your whole code plz provide necessary solution for op its help them to easily understand — Digvesh Patel, Feb 03 '14 at 05:59

score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 03 '13 at 11:23

//To clear When Clear Button is Clicked

firstName = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.firstName);

    clear = (Button) findViewById(R.id.clearsearchSubmit);

    clear.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {

        @Override
        public void onClick(View v) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            if (v.getId() == R.id.clearsearchSubmit);
            firstName.setText("");
        }
    });

This will help to clear the wrong keywords that you have typed in so instead of pressing backspace again and again you can simply click the button to clear everything.It Worked For me. Hope It Helps

score 1 · Answer 12 · edited Mar 10 '17 at 07:22

final EditText childItem = (EditText) convertView.findViewById(R.id.child_item);
childItem.setHint(cellData);

childItem.setOnFocusChangeListener(new View.OnFocusChangeListener() {
    @Override
    public void onFocusChange(View v, boolean hasFocus) {
        //Log.d("NNN", "Has focus " + hasFocus);
        if (hasFocus) {
            Toast.makeText(ctx.getApplicationContext(), "got the focus", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
        } else {
            Toast.makeText(ctx.getApplicationContext(),
            "loss the focus", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        }
        return;
    });

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Jul 28 '17 at 04:46

1

by setting Empty string you can clear your edittext

    editext.setText("");

answered Jul 28 '17 at 04:46

saigopi.me

14,011
2
83
54

score 1 · Answer 14 · answered Nov 20 '19 at 22:13

If the use of EditText is not mandatory, you can implement this behavior easily with the new material components:

<com.google.android.material.textfield.TextInputLayout
            style="@style/Widget.MaterialComponents.TextInputLayout.OutlinedBox.Dense"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:hint="@string/hint_field"
            app:endIconDrawable="@drawable/ic_close_black_24dp"
            app:endIconMode="clear_text"
            app:endIconTint="@color/black">

            <com.google.android.material.textfield.TextInputEditText
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:hint="@string/hint_value"
                android:maxLines="1"
                android:text="@{itemModel.value}" />

        </com.google.android.material.textfield.TextInputLayout>

You only have to specify the drawable you want for the button that will clear the text and the action that it will execute. To clear the text, you can use iconMode="clear_text", but also "password_toggle" is available.

score 1 · Answer 15 · answered Dec 09 '19 at 07:10

In XML you can write like:

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/txtsearch"
        android:layout_width="250dp"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_gravity="right"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:background="@drawable/roundlayoutbutton1"
        android:ems="10"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:inputType="text"
        android:textAllCaps="true"
        android:text="search_xxxx"

        android:textColor="@color/colorPrimaryDark"
        android:visibility="visible" />

and in java class you may have below one :

    EditText searchHost;

OnCreate() you write:

    searchHost=findViewById(R.id.txtsearch);

    searchHost.setOnFocusChangeListener(new View.OnFocusChangeListener() {
        @Override
        public void onFocusChange(View v, boolean hasFocus) {
            if(searchHost.getText().toString().equalsIgnoreCase("search_xxxx")){
                searchHost.setText("");
                Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(),"Enter you text xxx...", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
            }
        }
    });

It works fine for me.

score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Sep 30 '19 at 13:23

You can use the 'android:hint' attribute in your EditText also from code:

editText.setHint(CharSequence hint / int resid);

Then you don't need any onClickListener or similar. But consider that the hint value won't be passed. The editText will be stayed empty. In this case you can set your editText with your deflault value:

if(editText.getText().toString().equals("")) { 
...use your default value instead of the editText... }

score 0 · Answer 17 · edited Dec 24 '19 at 14:48

It's simple: declare the widget variables (editText, textView, button etc.) in class but initialize it in onCreate after setContentView.

The problem is when you try to access a widget of a layout first you have to declare the layout. Declaring the layout is setContentView. And when you initialize the widget variable via findViewById you are accessing the id of the widget in the main layout in the setContentView.

I hope you get it!

score -1 · Answer 18 · answered Mar 08 '20 at 10:15

-1

I am not sure if your searching for this one

    {
    <EditText
     .
     . 
     android:hint="Please enter your name here">
    }

answered Mar 08 '20 at 10:15

Mohamed Sajjadh

139
2
11

Clear text in EditText when entered

18 Answers18

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