Is it possible to have multiple styles inside a TextView?

Question

Is it possible to set multiple styles for different pieces of text inside a TextView?

For instance, I am setting the text as follows:

tv.setText(line         


        

Answer 1

In case, anyone is wondering how to do this, here's one way: (Thanks to Mark again!)

mBox = new TextView(context);
mBox.setText(Html.fromHtml("<b>" + title + "</b>" +  "<br />" + 
            "<small>" + description + "</small>" + "<br />" + 
            "<small>" + DateAdded + "</small>"));

For an unofficial list of tags supported by this method, refer to this link or this question: Which HTML tags are supported by Android TextView?

Answer 2

Try Html.fromHtml(), and mark up your text with bold and italic HTML tags e.g:

Spanned text = Html.fromHtml("This mixes <b>bold</b> and <i>italic</i> stuff");
textView.setText(text);

Answer 3

I was running into the same problem. I could use fromHtml, but I am android now, not web, so I decided to try this out. I do have to localize this though so I gave it a shot using string replacement concept. I set the style on the TextView to be the main style, then just format the other peices.

I hope this helps others looking to do the same thing - I don't know why this isn't easier in the framework.

My strings look like this:

<string name="my_text">{0} You will need a {1} to complete this assembly</string>
<string name="text_sub0">1:</string>
<string name="text_sub1">screwdriver, hammer, and measuring tape</string>

Here are the styles:

<style name="MainStyle">
    <item name="android:textSize">@dimen/regular_text</item>
    <item name="android:textColor">@color/regular_text</item>
</style>
<style name="style0">
    <item name="android:textSize">@dimen/paragraph_bullet</item>
    <item name="android:textColor">@color/standout_text</item>
    <item name="android:textStyle">bold</item>
</style>
<style name="style1">
    <item name="android:textColor">@color/standout_light_text</item>
    <item name="android:textStyle">italic</item>
</style>

Here is my code that calls my formatStyles method:

SpannableString formattedSpan = formatStyles(getString(R.string.my_text), getString(R.string.text_sub0), R.style.style0, getString(R.string.main_text_sub1), R.style.style1);
textView.setText(formattedSpan, TextView.BufferType.SPANNABLE);

The format method:

private SpannableString formatStyles(String value, String sub0, int style0, String sub1, int style1)
{
    String tag0 = "{0}";
    int startLocation0 = value.indexOf(tag0);
    value = value.replace(tag0, sub0);

    String tag1 = "{1}";
    int startLocation1 = value.indexOf(tag1);
    if (sub1 != null && !sub1.equals(""))
    {
        value = value.replace(tag1, sub1);
    }

    SpannableString styledText = new SpannableString(value);
    styledText.setSpan(new TextAppearanceSpan(getActivity(), style0), startLocation0, startLocation0 + sub0.length(), Spanned.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
    if (sub1 != null && !sub1.equals(""))
    {
        styledText.setSpan(new TextAppearanceSpan(getActivity(), style1), startLocation1, startLocation1 + sub1.length(), Spanned.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
    }

    return styledText;
}

Answer 4

Spanny make SpannableString easier to use.

Spanny spanny = new Spanny("Underline text", new UnderlineSpan())
                .append("\nRed text", new ForegroundColorSpan(Color.RED))
                .append("\nPlain text");
textView.setText(spanny)

Answer 5

As Jon said, for me this is the best solution and you dont need to set any text at runtime, only use this custom class HtmlTextView

public class HtmlTextView extends TextView {

  public HtmlTextView(Context context) {
      super(context);
  }

  public HtmlTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
      super(context, attrs);
  }

  public HtmlTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr) 
  {
      super(context, attrs, defStyleAttr);
  }

  @TargetApi(21)
  public HtmlTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr, int defStyleRes) {
      super(context, attrs, defStyleAttr, defStyleRes);
  }

  @Override
  public void setText(CharSequence s,BufferType b){
      super.setText(Html.fromHtml(s.toString()),b);
  }

}

and thats it, now only put it in your XML

<com.fitc.views.HtmlTextView
    android:id="@+id/html_TV"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="@string/example_html" />

with your Html String

<string name="example_html">
<![CDATA[
<b>Author:</b> Mr Donuthead<br/>
<b>Contact:</b> me@donut.com<br/>
<i>Donuts for life </i>
]]>

Answer 6

Me Too

How about using some beautiful markup with Kotlin and Anko -

import org.jetbrains.anko.*
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
    title = "Created with Beautiful Markup"
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

    verticalLayout {
        editText {
            hint = buildSpanned {
                append("Italic, ", Italic)
                append("highlighted", backgroundColor(0xFFFFFF00.toInt()))
                append(", Bold", Bold)
            }
        }
    }
}