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AdapterView - How to get the selected item

In this tutorial you will learn about the getSelectedItem method which you can use to get the selected item in an AdapterView in Android.

This tutorial will help you learn the following concepts:

  1. How to bind data to Spinner widget.
  2. How to set the DropdownView resource.
  3. How to get the selected item from a Spinner.

Example 1: Android AdapterView getSelectedItem Example.

Learn how to get the selected item from a Spinner using the getSelectedItem() method in Android.

This example will comprise the following files:

  • MainActivity.java

Step 1: Create Project

  1. Open your AndroidStudio IDE.
  2. Go to File-->New-->Project to create a new project.

Step 2: Add Dependencies

Step 3: Design Layouts

*(a). activity_main.xml

Create a file named activity_main.xml and design it as follows:

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <Button android:id="@+id/button1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/button1_text"/>
    "
    <Spinner android:id="@+id/spinner"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

</LinearLayout>

Step 4: Write Code

Write Code as follows:

*(a). MainActivity.java

Create a file named MainActivity.java

Add imports

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.Spinner;
import android.widget.Toast;

Extend the Activity class to create our Activity:

public class MainActivity extends Activity {

Prepare a Context as an instance field:

    Context mContext;

Override the onCreate

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

Assign the Context to this:

        mContext = this;

Instantiate an ArrayAdapter:

        ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item);

Because we are using the Spinner widget. set the DropdownView resource to android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item:

        adapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item);

Add items to the adapter

        adapter.add("Item1");
        adapter.add("item2");
        adapter.add("Item3"); 

Set the adapter to the `Spinner`:

```java
        spinner.setAdapter(adapter);

Reference our button1:

        Button button1 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button1);

Listen to its click event:

        button1.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {

Get the selected item from a Spinner using the getSelectedItem() method:

                String itemStr = (String)spinner.getSelectedItem();

You can then show it in a Toast message

                Toast.makeText(mContext, itemStr, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

Here is the full code

package com.bgstation0.android.sample.adapterview_;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.Spinner;
import android.widget.Toast;
//end
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
//end
    Context mContext;
    //end
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        //end
        mContext = this;
        //end

        ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item);
        //end
        adapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item);
        //end
        adapter.add("Item1");
        adapter.add("item2");
        adapter.add("Item3"); 
        //end
        // -Reference the `Spinner`:
        final Spinner spinner = (Spinner)findViewById(R.id.spinner);
        //end
        spinner.setAdapter(adapter);
        //end
        Button button1 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button1);
        //end
        button1.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                //end
                String itemStr = (String)spinner.getSelectedItem();
                //end
                Toast.makeText(mContext, itemStr, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                //end
            }

        });

    }

}

Run

Simply copy the source code into your Android Project,Build and Run.

Example 2: Set and Get Selected Item

This tutorial will help you learn the following concepts:

  1. How to set the selected item listener on a spinner.
  2. How to get the selected item on a spinner.

This example will comprise the following files:

  • MainActivity.java

Step 1: Create Project

  1. Open your AndroidStudio IDE.
  2. Go to File-->New-->Project to create a new project.

Step 2: Dependencies

No special dependencies are needed.

Step 3: Design Layouts

*(a). activity_main.xml

Create a file named activity_main.xml and design it as follows:

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <Button android:id="@+id/button1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/button1_text"/>
    "
    <Spinner android:id="@+id/spinner"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

</LinearLayout>

Step 4: Write Code

Write Code as follows:

*(a). MainActivity.java

Create a file named MainActivity.java

Create our Activity

public class MainActivity extends Activity {

Define a Context as our instance field:

    Context mContext;

Override the onCreate() function:

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        mContext = this;

Create an ArrayAdapter and set its layout

        ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item);    // android.R.layout.simple_spinner_itemŃA_v^쐬.
        adapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item); // hbv_EXg\̃r[͊android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_itemZbg.

Add items to the adapter

        adapter.add("Item1");
        adapter.add("item2");
        adapter.add("Item3");

Reference the spinner and set its adapter

        final Spinner spinner = (Spinner)findViewById(R.id.spinner);
        spinner.setAdapter(adapter);

Reference a button and set its click listener:

        Button button1 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button1);
        button1.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {

Get and show the selected item

                String itemStr = (String)spinner.getSelectedItem(); // AdapterView.getSelectedItemőIꂽACeitemStr擾.
                Toast.makeText(mContext, itemStr, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();    // itemStr

Invoke the setOnItemSelectedListener on our Spinner. This will allow us listen to selection events.

        spinner.setOnItemSelectedListener(new AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener() {

Override the onItemSelected:

             @Override
             public void onItemSelected(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {

Get the parent spinner:

                 Spinner spnr = (Spinner)parent;

then get the selected item using the getSelectedItem()function and show it in a message:

                 String itemStr = (String)spnr.getSelectedItem();
                 Toast.makeText(mContext, itemStr, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();   // itemStr\.

You can also override the onNothingSelected() selected callback

             @Override
             public void onNothingSelected(AdapterView<?> arg0) {

             }

Here is the full code

package com.bgstation0.android.sample.adapterview_;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.AdapterView;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.Spinner;
import android.widget.Toast;
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
//end
    Context mContext;
    //end
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        mContext = this;
        //end

        ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item);    // android.R.layout.simple_spinner_itemŃA_v^쐬.
        adapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item); // hbv_EXg\̃r[͊android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_itemZbg.
        //end
        adapter.add("Item1");
        adapter.add("item2");
        adapter.add("Item3");
        //end
        final Spinner spinner = (Spinner)findViewById(R.id.spinner);
        spinner.setAdapter(adapter);
        //end
        Button button1 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button1);
        button1.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                //end
                String itemStr = (String)spinner.getSelectedItem(); // AdapterView.getSelectedItemőIꂽACeitemStr擾.
                Toast.makeText(mContext, itemStr, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();    // itemStr
                //end
            }

        });
        spinner.setOnItemSelectedListener(new AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener() {
             //end
             @Override
             public void onItemSelected(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {
                 //end
                 Spinner spnr = (Spinner)parent;
                 //end
                 String itemStr = (String)spnr.getSelectedItem();
                 Toast.makeText(mContext, itemStr, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();   // itemStr\.
                 //end
             }
             @Override
             public void onNothingSelected(AdapterView<?> arg0) {

             }
             //end

        });

    }

}

Run

Simply copy the source code into your Android Project, Build and Run.