Change background color of selected item on a List

Question

I want to know on how I can change the background color of the selected item on my listView. I only want to change the specific item clicked by the user, meaning if the user clicks another item it will be the one which is highlighted. Well since I want it to keep simple as possible and use the default android listview I used this code instead:

record_list.setOnItemClickListener(new AdapterView.OnItemClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> adapterView, View view, int i, long l) {
                try{
                    for (int ctr=0;ctr<=record_items.length;ctr++){
                        if(i==ctr){
                            record_list.getChildAt(ctr).setBackgroundColor(Color.CYAN);
                        }else{
                            record_list.getChildAt(ctr).setBackgroundColor(Color.WHITE);
                        }
                    }
                }
                catch (Exception e){
                    e.printStackTrace();
                }
                Log.v("Selected item",record_list.getItemAtPosition(i));
            }
        });

Ok this one is working but the problem is that it's slow. Now I want to know if there's any other way around that I can do which will give the same output as I made.

I tried using record_list.getSelectedView().setBackgroundColor(Color.CYAN); but it gives me a null pointer exception.

I also tried the selector.xml but it also didn't do the trick. Furthermore, there is one properties here on ListView which is called listSelector. It's a drawable as said by the documentation "Drawable used to indicate the currently selected item in the list." I also believe that this should do the trick and yes it do the trick on my emulator but not on my galaxy tab. I also tried the other methods but nothing works as I wanted it to be.

Answer 1

If you want to have the item remain highlighted after you have clicked it, you need to manually set it as being selected in the onItemClick listener

Android ListView selected item stay highlighted:

myList.setOnItemClickListener(new OnItemClickListener() {
    public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {   
        view.setSelected(true); // <== Will cause the highlight to remain
        //... do more stuff                          
    }});

This assumes you have a state_selected item in your selector:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">  
  <item android:state_enabled="true" android:state_pressed="true" android:drawable="@color/red" />
  <item android:state_enabled="true" android:state_focused="true" android:drawable="@color/red" />
  <item android:state_enabled="true" android:state_selected="true" android:drawable="@color/red" />
  <item android:drawable="@color/white" />
</selector>

Answer 2

For those wondering what EXACTLY needs to be done to keep rows selected even as you scroll up down. It's the state_activated The rest is taken care of by internal functionality, you don't have to worry about toggle, and can select multiple items. I didn't need to use notifyDataSetChanged() or setSelected(true) methods.

Add this line to your selector file, for me drawable\row_background.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item android:state_pressed="true" android:drawable="@android:color/holo_blue_light"/>

    <item android:state_enabled="true" android:state_pressed="true" android:drawable="@android:color/holo_blue_light" />
    <item android:state_enabled="true" android:state_focused="true" android:drawable="@android:color/holo_blue_bright" />
    <item android:state_enabled="true" android:state_selected="true" android:drawable="@android:color/holo_blue_light" />
    <item android:state_activated="true" android:drawable="@android:color/holo_blue_light" />

    <item android:drawable="@android:color/transparent"/>
</selector>

Then in layout\custom_row.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:padding="10dip"
        android:background="@drawable/row_background"
        android:orientation="vertical">
  <TextView
        android:id="@+id/line1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
</LinearLayout>

---

For more information, I'm using this with ListView Adapter, using myList.setChoiceMode(ListView.CHOICE_MODE_MULTIPLE_MODAL); and myList.setMultiChoiceModeListener(new MultiChoiceModeListener()...

from this example: http://www.androidbegin.com/tutorial/android-delete-multiple-selected-items-listview-tutorial/

Also, you (should) use this structure for your list-adapter coupling: List myList = new ArrayList();

instead of: ArrayList myList = new ArrayList();

Explanation: Type List vs type ArrayList in Java

Answer 3

It's very simple. In the constructor of the "OnItemClick" use the parameter "view" which is the second one that represents the listView or GridView's items's view and it becomes the new item's view made by the adapterView it self. So to set new color ONLY to the SELECTED ITEM itself do as the following:

public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> adapterView, View view, int i, long l){ //view is instead of the view like textView , ImageView, or whatever view.setBackgroundColor(Color.green); }

If you do any different codes to set new color, you will face awkward behaviours like the green color will be applied to the unclicked item.

Answer 4

View updateview;// above oncreate method
listView.setChoiceMode(ListView.CHOICE_MODE_SINGLE);


listView.setOnItemClickListener(new AdapterView.OnItemClickListener() {
    @Override
    public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {
         if (updateview != null) 
            updateview.setBackgroundColor(Color.TRANSPARENT);
         updateview = view;   

         view.setBackgroundColor(Color.CYAN);
     }
});

Answer 5

Define variable

private ListView mListView;

Initialize variable

mListView = (ListView)findViewById(R.id.list_view);

OnItemClickListener of listview

   mListView.setOnItemClickListener(new OnItemClickListener() {

        @Override
        public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> adpterView, View view, int position,
                long id) {
            for (int i = 0; i < mListView.getChildCount(); i++) {
                if(position == i ){
                    mListView.getChildAt(i).setBackgroundColor(Color.BLUE);     
                }else{
                    mListView.getChildAt(i).setBackgroundColor(Color.TRANSPARENT);
                }
            }
        }
    });

Build and run the project - Done

Answer 6

This is a simple method that can handle selection even if the list is long as well:

public View getView(final int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
    Holder holder=new Holder();
    View rowView;
    rowView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.list_item, null);
    //Handle your items.
    //StringHolder.mSelectedItem is a public static variable.
    if(getItemId(position)==StringHolder.mSelectedItem){
        rowView.setBackgroundColor(Color.LTGRAY);

    }else{
        rowView.setBackgroundColor(Color.TRANSPARENT);
    }
    return rowView;
}

And then in your onclicklistener:

list.setOnItemClickListener(new AdapterView.OnItemClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> adapterView, View view, int i, long l) {
            StringHolder.mSelectedItem = catagoryAdapter.getItemId(i-1);
            catagoryAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
.....