Programming Tutorials

ArrayAdapter sample program in Android

By: Ashley Printer Friendly Format    

This sample android program shows you how to use ArrayAdapter in Android. In this program a list is shown. When you click on the list, the selected item is shown on the text view. You can use this ArrayAdapter widget and the onListItemClick() method to determine the selected index and process accordingly.

The ArrayAdapterDemo.java file is as follows:

package com.javasamples;

import android.app.ListActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.ListView;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class ArrayAdapterDemo extends ListActivity {
   TextView selection;
   String[] items = { "this", "is", "a", "really", 
   "silly", "list" };
   @Override
   public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
       super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
       setContentView(R.layout.main);
setListAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String>(
      this,
      android.R.layout.simple_expandable_list_item_1,
      items));
selection=(TextView)findViewById(R.id.selection); 
   }

@Override
protected void onListItemClick(ListView l, View v, int position, long id) {
super.onListItemClick(l, v, position, id);
String text = " position:" + position + "  " + items[position];
selection.setText(text);
}
      
}

The output of this program will be as shown in the android emulator below.

The main.xml file in your res/layout folder is as follows:

<?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="fill_parent" >
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/selection"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
        android:background="#ff0000cc" 
        android:textStyle="bold"/>
    <ListView
        android:id="@android:id/list"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:drawSelectorOnTop="false"
        android:choiceMode="multipleChoice"
        />
</LinearLayout>