How do I default to numeric keyboard on EditText without forcing numeric input?

Question

This has been asked elsewhere online to no avail. Is there any way in Android to display the numeric soft keyboard when focusing on an EditText, but still allow any text to be entered?

I'd like to let the user enter quantities (e.g. "1 kg", "2 L"), so just setting inputType="number" won't work.

There are lots of answers to this on many related posts, but unfortunately *it is not currently possible* using `inputType` or `setRawInputType()` if you want your code to work on "most devices" — Richard Le Mesurier, Nov 25 '15 at 05:49

score 33 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

33

Add the following line of code, and it will do the trick :)

editText.setRawInputType(Configuration.KEYBOARD_QWERTY);

This will show the the numeric keypad first, but also allows you to enter free text.

More information here.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

Community

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answered Jan 08 '12 at 09:14

rDroid

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it doesn't work with all the soft keyboards. – user1940676 Jun 25 '13 at 07:45
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exact, not working on samsung s3 mini and s4 – Juliatzin Jul 02 '14 at 15:35
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This answer doesn't make sense, the setRawInputType function expects values from InputType not Configuration. It just so happens that Configuration.KEYBOARD_QWERTY is 2 and InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER is also 2. – satur9nine Dec 26 '14 at 19:26
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This answer is completely invalid! Solution does not work, and Configuration class constants are not appropriate for setRawInputType. – Michael P Jan 29 '15 at 07:46
this worked for me with the default google keyboard at least. maybe not valid for third party ones. I used this way back in 2012 in the days of honeycomb, and when the most popular OS was gingerbread. Maybe things have changed after ICS. – rDroid Apr 16 '15 at 07:46
This is not the expected one. – Mohamed Ibrahim Mar 16 '17 at 03:05
Didn't worked on Nexus. – Bruno Aug 02 '17 at 07:08

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered May 27 '11 at 15:00

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This may be device dependant but have you tried:

 android:inputType="phone"

All Input Types Link

in the EditText's xml , this gives you the number pad keyboard but then you can still switch to letter's if you want. (Atleast on my Nexus One).

answered May 27 '11 at 15:00

Blundell

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If you specify inputType="number" you can also switch to letters, but pressing on letters has no effect. If I set inputType="phone", I cannot even switch to letters on my device, never mind actually typing text. Can you type letters into your phone field? – Lyudmil May 27 '11 at 15:09

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 21 '13 at 12:24

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Note that: setRawInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER);

has the desired effect on some devices but not others...

On htc it works fine however on galaxy tab II you only get the numeric keyboard and no way to switch back to alpha.

answered Jan 21 '13 at 12:24

Mark

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score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 13 '11 at 01:47

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write the code in XML, android:numeric="integer" android:inputType="phone" android:digits="1234567890"

answered Jul 13 '11 at 01:47

Mostafiz

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score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 28 '12 at 05:52

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It looks like the underlying question you're dealing with is: how can I allow the user to enter quantities?

One appropriate answer is: with a numeric input, paired with some form of category select for the unit. e.g. radio, dropdown, or spinner. This is probably easier to use and also saves you the headache of having to validate your input every time.

You could also just have iron cojones and write a custom soft keyboard.

answered Apr 28 '12 at 05:52

Cheezmeister

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Custom Keyboard - the only available solution really. – Richard Le Mesurier Nov 25 '15 at 05:35

score -1 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 07 '12 at 20:14

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I tried many different combinations before I figured this out, but this appears to work correctly:

setRawInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_NUMBER);

The key lies in the description for setRawInputType(int):

Directly change the content type integer of the text view, without modifying any other state.

answered Nov 07 '12 at 20:14

twaddington

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Same as Mark's answer. Doesn't work on all devices – OneWorld Mar 25 '15 at 08:21

How do I default to numeric keyboard on EditText without forcing numeric input?

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