Android Text Selection Terminology

Question

How are the two "trapezoids" that appear during text selection (in the emulator) called?

Where can I find more information about how to control them programmatically?

For further clarity, I am attaching a snapshot where you can see the left & right "text-selection trapezoids":

Gatepost

Answer 1

We just call them cursor controllers, or handles.

Cleodell

Thanks, Googling on [Android "cursor controllers"] yields no information on how to access them programmatically. Where can I find more information on these? Can they be controlled? – Gatepost

Are these "cursor controllers" the same as in updateCursorControllerPositions() in the following? hi-android.info/src/android/widget/TextView.java.html – Gatepost

Is View.startDrag() the right way to control these handles? Is it possible to position each one of them independently? If so, how? (oops... I just noticed this is only available with API 11. Is there something similar for API 8?) – Gatepost

You cannot control them programmatically, they are handled by TextView.updateCursorControllerPositions() and startDrag() has nothing to do with them. – Cleodell

Answer 2

This is a shot in the dark--but maybe they're called carets in Webkit?

Brisesoleil

Thanks but I can't find any references that use the term "carets" for these. The closest I found were "cursors" and "tags": androidcommunity.com/forums/f12/… – Gatepost

Answer 3

to be precise ..

In android terminology it is "SelectionModifierCursorController"

Elbertine

Answer 4

It would appear based on the name of the images used to display these handles that they're called Text Select Handles, of which there's a

• Left Text Select Handle;
• Right Text Select Handle; and a
• Middle Text Select Handle (which is just the Left and Right images side-by-side)

The underlying code that manages these is in the three classes that derive from HandleView in android.widget.Editor:

• InsertionHandleView
• SelectionStartHandleView
• SelectionEndHandleView

Bournemouth