How to AutoCompleteTextView Android

In Android, AutoCompleteTextView is an editable text view, used to display a list of suggestions based on user input. The list of suggestions will be displayed as a drop-down menu from which users can select an item to replace the content of the text box.

AutoCompleteTextView is a subclass of EditText class, so we can inherit all the properties of EditText in AutoCompleteTextView based on our requirements.
The following is a representative image of using AutoCompleteTextView in Android applications.
Create AutoCompleteTextView in File Layout
The following is a sample way to define an AutoCompleteTextView in XML layout file in an Android application.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >
    <AutoCompleteTextView
        android:id="@+id/autoComplete_Country"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
</LinearLayout>

Create the AutoCompleteTextView control in the active file
In Android example, we can programmatically create the AutoCompleteTextView control in the activity file to display a list of suggestions based on the text the user has entered.
The following is an example of creating a flexible how to use AutoCompleteTextView control in the active file.

LinearLayout l_layout =  (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.linear_Layout);
AutoCompleteTextView actv = new AutoCompleteTextView(this);
l_layout.addView(actv);

Set Text of Android AutoCompleteTextView
In Android, we can place the text of the AutoCompleteTextView example control using the CHAPTERAd set () method in the Activity file.
The following is an example of AutoCompleteTextView associated data in the activity file using the CHAPTERAd set () method.

String[] Countries = { "India", "USA", "Australia", "UK", "Italy", "Ireland", "Africa" };
ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, android.R.layout.simple_dropdown_item_1line, Countries);
AutoCompleteTextView actv = AutoCompleteTextView)findViewById(R.id.autoComplete_Country);
actv.setAdapter(adapter);

How to  AutoCompleteTextView example

Following is the example of defining AutoCompleteTextView control in LinearLayout to bind the data to defined control using data adapter and getting the selected list item value in android application.

Create a new android application using android studio and give names as AutoCompleteTextViewExample. In case if you are not aware of creating an app in android studio check this article Android Hello World App.

Now open an activity_main.xml file from \res\layout path and write the code like as shown below

activity_main.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:paddingLeft="20dp"
    android:paddingRight="20dp"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:id="@+id/linear_Layout">
    <AutoCompleteTextView
        android:id="@+id/ac_Country"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="100dp"
        android:hint="Enter Country Name"/>
</LinearLayout>

Creata a class MainActivity.java

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    String[] Countries = { "India", "USA", "Australia", "UK", "Italy", "Ireland", "Africa" };
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this,
                android.R.layout.simple_dropdown_item_1line, Countries);
        AutoCompleteTextView actv = (AutoCompleteTextView)findViewById(R.id.ac_Country);
        actv.setThreshold(1);
        actv.setAdapter(adapter);
        actv.setOnItemClickListener(new AdapterView.OnItemClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {
                Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Selected Item: " + parent.getSelectedItem(), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        });
    }
}

Output of Android AutoCompleteTextView Example