How to put hint on a spinner?

Question

I have a Spinner, where the user should select his gender: So far everything works well, but I need to leave a hint written the word sex in the spinner component, as well as in the image below:

Code I have so far:

<Spinner
    android:id="@+id/spinner_sex"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_below="@id/edittext_email"
    android:layout_marginTop="6dp"
    android:layout_marginLeft="23dp"
    android:layout_marginRight="23dp"
    android:entries="@array/spinner_genre_items"
    android:textColor="@color/h_gray"
    android:textColorHint="@color/h_gray"
    android:textSize="@dimen/h_three"
    android:fontFamily="sans-serif-medium">
 </Spinner>

Array with Spinner items:

<string-array name="spinner_genre_items">
    <item>Masculino</item>
    <item>Feminino</item>
</string-array>

Java:

private Spinner mSpinnerGender;
mSpinnerGender = (Spinner) findViewById(R.id.spinner_sex);
ArrayAdapter<CharSequence> adapter = ArrayAdapter.createFromResource(this,
    R.array.spinner_genre_items,
    android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item);
adapter.setDropDownViewResource(
    android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item);
mSpinnerGender.setAdapter(adapter);

How could I do that?

Answer 1

Complementing @Caiqueoliveira’s reply: To achieve the desired effect you can do the following

1. Create a string array where the first element is hint

2. Use the following code for Adapter

   final ArrayAdapter<String> spinnerArrayAdapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(
           this,R.layout.spinner_item,plantsList){
   
       @Override
       public boolean isEnabled(int position){
   
           if(position == 0){
   
               // Disabilita a primeira posição (hint)
               return false;
   
           } else {
               return true;
           }
       }
   
       @Override
       public View getDropDownView(int position, View convertView,
                                   ViewGroup parent) {
   
           View view = super.getDropDownView(position, convertView, parent);
           TextView tv = (TextView) view;
   
           if(position == 0){
   
               // Deixa o hint com a cor cinza ( efeito de desabilitado)
               tv.setTextColor(Color.GRAY);
   
           }else {
               tv.setTextColor(Color.BLACK);
           }
   
           return view;
       }
   });
   
   spinnerArrayAdapter.setDropDownViewResource(R.layout.spinner_item);
   spinner.setAdapter(spinnerArrayAdapter);
   
   spinner.setOnItemSelectedListener(new AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener() {
   
       @Override
       public void onItemSelected(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {
   
           String selectedItemText = (String) parent.getItemAtPosition(position);
   
           if(position > 0){
   
               // Ação realizada quando um elemento diferente
              // do hint é selecionado
           }
       }
   
       @Override
       public void onNothingSelected(AdapterView<?> parent) {
   
       }
   });
   

Obs.: Withdrawn and adapted from http://android--code.blogspot.com.br/2015/08/android-spinner-hint.htmlhttp://android--code.blogspot.com.br/2015/08/android-spinner-hint.html

Answer 2

The simplest way I could find was this:

Create a Textview or Linearlayout and place it together with Spinner in a Relativelayout. Initially the textview will have the text as if it were the tip "Select a ...", after the first click this Textview becomes invisible, disabled and calls the Spinner that is just behind it.

Step 1:

In the Activity.xml that finds the spinner, put:

 <RelativeLayout
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content">
    <Spinner
        android:id="@+id/sp_main"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:spinnerMode="dropdown" />
    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/ll_hint_spinner"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true"
        android:gravity="center">
        <TextView

            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:gravity="center"
            android:text="Select..."/>

    </LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

Step 2:

In your Activity.java:

  public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    private LinearLayout ll_hint_spinner;
    private Spinner sp_main;
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        ll_hint_spinner = findViewById(R.id.ll_hint_spinner);
        sp_main = findViewById(R.id.sp_main);
        //Action after clicking LinearLayout / Spinner;
        ll_hint_spinner.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                //By clicking "Select ..." the Spinner is requested;
                sp_main.performClick();
                //Make LinearLayout invisible
                setLinearVisibility(false);
                //Disable LinearLayout
                ll_hint_spinner.setEnabled(false);
                //After LinearLayout is off, Spinner will function normally;
                sp_main.setOnItemSelectedListener(new AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onItemSelected(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {
                        sp_main.setSelection(position);
                    }
                    @Override
                    public void onNothingSelected(AdapterView<?> parent) {
                        setLinearVisibility(true);
                    }
                });
            }
        });
    }
    //Method to make LinearLayout invisible or visible;
    public void setLinearVisibility(boolean visible) {
        if (visible) {
            ll_hint_spinner.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        } else {
            ll_hint_spinner.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
        }
    }
}

The examples of the images I used a custom Spinner, but the result of the last example will be the same.

Note: My example is in github queiro case: https://github.com/MurilloComino/android-spinner-hint

Answer 3

Hello!

Just add in the first row of your spinner what you want and this line of items will be visible.