Dynamic Spinner in Android

Last Updated : 20 Jul, 2022

Many times in android applications we have to create any view dynamically without writing any XML code. For that, we can create our view using our Kotlin or Java file. In this article, we will take a look at How to Dynamically create a spinner in an android application. A sample video is given below to get an idea about what we are going to do in this article.

Note: This Android article covered in both Java and Kotlin languages.

Step by Step Implementation

Step 1: Create a New Project in Android Studio

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio.

Step 2: Working with the activity_main.xml file

Navigate to app > res > layout > activity_main.xml and add the code below. Comments are added in the code to get to know in detail.

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--on below line we are creating our linear layout-->
<LinearLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/idLLContainer"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_centerInParent="true"
    android:layout_gravity="center"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">
</LinearLayout>

Step 3: Working with the MainActivity file

Navigate to app > java > your app’s package name > MainActivity file and add the below code to it. Comments are added in the code to get to know in detail.

Kotlin

package com.gtappdevelopers.kotlingfgproject
 
import android.graphics.Typeface
import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.Gravity
import android.view.View
import android.view.ViewGroup
import android.widget.*
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.core.view.setPadding
 
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
 
    // on below line we are creating a variable.
    lateinit var languagesList: List<String>
    lateinit var containerLL: LinearLayout
 
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
 
        // on below line we are initializing our variables
        languagesList = ArrayList()
        containerLL = findViewById(R.id.idLLContainer)
 
        // on below line we are adding languages
        // to our language list
        languagesList = languagesList + "Java"
        languagesList = languagesList + "Kotlin"
        languagesList = languagesList + "C++"
        languagesList = languagesList + "C"
 
        // on below line we are creating layout
        // params for text view.
        // and specifying width as match parent
        // and height as wrap content
        val txtLayoutParam = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
            ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
            ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
        )
        // on below line we are adding gravity
        txtLayoutParam.gravity = Gravity.CENTER
 
        // on below line we are creating layout params for spinner.
        // and specifying width as wrap parent and height as wrap content
        val spinnerLayoutParam = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
            ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
            ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
        )
 
        // on below line we are adding gravity
        spinnerLayoutParam.gravity = Gravity.CENTER
 
        // on below line we are creating our dynamic text view
        val headingTV = TextView(this)
         
        // on the below line we are setting for our text view.
        headingTV.text = "Dynamic Spinner in Android"
         
        // on below line we are updating text size.
        headingTV.textSize = 20f
         
        // on below line we are updating text color and font
        headingTV.setTextColor(resources.getColor(R.color.black))
        headingTV.typeface = Typeface.DEFAULT_BOLD
         
        // on below line we are adding padding
        headingTV.setPadding(20)
         
        // on below line we are specifying text alignment.
        headingTV.textAlignment = TextView.TEXT_ALIGNMENT_CENTER
         
        // on below line we are adding layout
        // param for heading text view.
        headingTV.layoutParams = txtLayoutParam
 
 
        //create spinner programmatically
        val spinner = Spinner(this)
 
        // on below line we are adding params for spinner.
        spinner.layoutParams = spinnerLayoutParam
 
        // on below line we are adding our views
        // to container linear layout
        containerLL.addView(headingTV)
        containerLL.addView(spinner)
 
        // on below line we are checking
        // if spinner is not null
        if (spinner != null) {
 
            // on below line we are initializing 
            // and setting our adapter
            // to our spinner.
            val adapter = ArrayAdapter(this, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item, languagesList)
            spinner.adapter = adapter
 
            // on below line we are adding on item selected listener for spinner.
            spinner.onItemSelectedListener = object : AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener {
                override fun onItemSelected(
                    parent: AdapterView<*>,
                    view: View, position: Int, id: Long
                ) {
                    // in on selected listener we are displaying a toast message
                    Toast.makeText(
                        this@MainActivity,
                        "Selected Language is : " +
                                "" + languagesList[position], Toast.LENGTH_SHORT
                    ).show()
                }
 
                override fun onNothingSelected(parent: AdapterView<*>) {
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Java

package com.gtappdevelopers.kotlingfgproject;
 
import android.graphics.Typeface;
import android.os.Build;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Gravity;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.AdapterView;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.LinearLayout;
import android.widget.Spinner;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.Toast;
import androidx.annotation.RequiresApi;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import java.util.ArrayList;
 
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
 
    // on below line we are creating variables.
    private LinearLayout containerLL;
    private ArrayList<String> languageList;
 
    @RequiresApi(api = Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR1)
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
 
        // on below line we are initializing our variables.
        containerLL = findViewById(R.id.idLLContainer);
        languageList = new ArrayList<>();
 
        // on below line we are adding 
        // languages to our language list
        languageList.add("Java");
        languageList.add("Kotlin");
        languageList.add("C++");
        languageList.add("C");
 
        // on below line we are creating layout params for text view.
        // and specifying width as match parent and height as wrap content
        LinearLayout.LayoutParams txtLayoutParam = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
                ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
                ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
        );
        // on below line we are adding gravity
        txtLayoutParam.gravity = Gravity.CENTER;
 
        // on below line we are creating layout params for spinner.
        // and specifying width as wrap parent and height as wrap content
        LinearLayout.LayoutParams spinnerLayoutParam = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
                ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
                ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
        );
        // on below line we are adding gravity
        spinnerLayoutParam.gravity = Gravity.CENTER;
 
        // on below line we are creating our dynamic text view
        TextView headingTV = new TextView(this);
        
        // on below line we are setting  for our text view.
        headingTV.setText("Dynamic Spinner in Android");
         
        // on below line we are updating text size.
        headingTV.setTextSize(20f);
         
        // on below line we are updating text color and font
        headingTV.setTextColor(getResources().getColor(R.color.black));
        headingTV.setTypeface(Typeface.DEFAULT_BOLD);
         
        // on below line we are adding padding
        headingTV.setPadding(20, 20, 20, 20);
         
        // on below line we are specifying text alignment.
        headingTV.setTextAlignment(View.TEXT_ALIGNMENT_CENTER);
         
        // on below line we are adding layout param 
        // for heading text view.
        headingTV.setLayoutParams(txtLayoutParam);
 
        // create spinner programmatically
        Spinner spinner = new Spinner(this);
         
        // on below line we are adding params for spinner.
        spinner.setLayoutParams(spinnerLayoutParam);
 
        // on below line we are adding our 
        // views to container linear layout
        containerLL.addView(headingTV);
        containerLL.addView(spinner);
 
        // on below line we are checking if spinner is not null
        if (spinner != null) {
            // on below line we are initializing and setting our adapter
            // to our spinner.
            ArrayAdapter adapter = new ArrayAdapter(this, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item, languageList);
            spinner.setAdapter(adapter);
            // on below line we are adding on item selected listener for spinner.
            spinner.setOnItemSelectedListener(new AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener() {
                @Override
                public void onItemSelected(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {
                    // in on selected listener we are displaying a toast message
                    Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, "Selected Language is : " + languageList.get(position), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                }
 
                @Override
                public void onNothingSelected(AdapterView<?> parent) {
 
                }
            });
        }
    }
}

Now run your application to see the output of it.

Output:

Suggest improvement

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Dynamic Spinner in Android

Step by Step Implementation

XML

Kotlin

Java

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