TextInputLayout Error right align

Question

I've an EditText enclosed within a TextInputLayout. I wish to display errors under the EditText, but aligned to the right end of the screen.

This is what I currently have:

The error is displayed like this:

What I want it to look like:

My XML is this:

        <android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout
            android:id="@+id/text_input_email"
            style="@style/forgot_pass_text_inputlayout"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_below="@id/tv_enter_email_message"
            android:layout_marginTop="@dimen/email_padding_top"
            android:hintTextAppearance="@{forgotPasswordVM.hintTextAppearance}"
            android:theme="@style/forgot_pass_til_state"
            app:error="@{forgotPasswordVM.email.textInputError}">

            <EditText
                android:id="@+id/actv_email"
                style="@style/forgot_pass_edit_text"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:hint="@string/email_address"
                android:imeActionId="@+id/btn_submit"
                android:imeOptions="actionSend"
                android:inputType="textEmailAddress"
                android:maxLines="1"
                android:onEditorAction="@{forgotPasswordVM.onEditorAction}"
                android:singleLine="true"
                app:binding="@{forgotPasswordVM.email.text}" />
        </android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout>

I'm using data-binding.

I've tried setting android:gravity="right" and android:layout_gravity="right" on both the EditText and the TextInputLayout. Neither works the way I want it to.

I've tried setting right gravity in the theme as well as the style. Neither has any effect on the error.

I've tried right gravity on the style that is applied within app:errorTextAppearance="@style/right_error". Even this doesn't work.

I tried programmatically shifting the Error to the right by using a SpannableStringBuilder with an AlignmentSpan following this link. Even that doesn't work for me.

I'm not sure what else to try. Please suggest.

Dinsdale

You might try using one of the options in my answer here to get the error TextView, and call setGravity(Gravity.RIGHT) on it. I've not tested it, but IIRC, the error TextView has a match_parent width, so it should align its text as you describe. – Beekeeper

Good suggestion Mike M. but I tried both RIGHT and END to no avail. Had to go with the programmatic approach detailed below ... – Livingstone

https://mcmap.net/q/749535/-how-to-make-error-message-in-textinputlayout-appear-in-center – Mollie

Answer 1

So thanks to Mike's answer I was able to figure out the solution.

I created a custom class:

public class CustomTextInputLayout extends TextInputLayout {

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

    @Override
    public void setErrorEnabled(boolean enabled) {
        super.setErrorEnabled(enabled);

        if (!enabled) {
            return;
        }

        try {
            Field errorViewField = TextInputLayout.class.getDeclaredField("mErrorView");
            errorViewField.setAccessible(true);
            TextView errorView = (TextView) errorViewField.get(this);
            if (errorView != null) {
                errorView.setGravity(Gravity.RIGHT);
                LinearLayout.LayoutParams params = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(LinearLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
                params.gravity = Gravity.END;
                errorView.setLayoutParams(params);
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            // At least log what went wrong
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Now I simply replaced my TextInputLayout with the CustomTextInputLayout. Works like a charm. Thanks a lot Mike. I wish I could credit you more for this answer.

Dinsdale

hi,im trying to show the error message ON the edittext and right aligned corner,any idea how i do that? – Criticaster

@ViVekH, can you explain a little more as to what you want? – Dinsdale

This doesn't appear to work any longer (or, certainly not on a 3.3.2 / Android 9 setup). – Livingstone

That doesn't work for me. I've supportsRtl disabled it in the manifest. Is there any way to do this? – Metropolitan

Answer 2

Here's a hack in Kotlin that doesn't depend on view hierarchy:

class CustomTextInputLayout @JvmOverloads constructor(
    context: Context, attrs: AttributeSet? = null, defStyleAttr: Int = 0
) : TextInputLayout(context, attrs, defStyleAttr) {

    override fun setError(errorText: CharSequence?) {
        super.setError(errorText)
        with(findViewById<TextView>(R.id.textinput_error)) {
            // this will work as long as errorView's layout width is
            // MATCH_PARENT -- it is, at least now in material:1.2.0-alpha06
            textAlignment = TextView.TEXT_ALIGNMENT_VIEW_END
        }
    }
}

Chemosh

Thank you, it helped me a lot. If someone wants to use this with view binding, just do as follows: with(binding.root.findViewById<TextView>(R.id.textinput_error)) {textAlignment = TextView.TEXT_ALIGNMENT_CENTER} – Lian

Answer 3

My custom class is in Kotlin

class CustomTextInputLayout(context: Context, attrs: AttributeSet) :
    TextInputLayout(context, attrs) {

    override fun setErrorEnabled(enabled: Boolean) {
        super.setErrorEnabled(enabled)

        if (!enabled) {
            return
        }

        try {
            val layout = this
            val errorView : TextView = ((this.getChildAt(1) as ViewGroup).getChildAt(0) as ViewGroup).getChildAt(0) as TextView

            (layout.getChildAt(1) as ViewGroup).layoutParams.width = LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT
            (layout.getChildAt(1) as ViewGroup).getChildAt(0).layoutParams.width = FrameLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT

            errorView.gravity = Gravity.END

        } catch (e: Exception) {
            e.printStackTrace()
        }

    }
}

Reserpine

This works for now (2019-02-18), but it will stop working when the view hierarchy changes again. – Intelligible

Answer 4

With material-componets version 1.2.0-rc01, you can create a CustomTextInputLayout that inherits from TextInputLayout to change the text alignment to the end (or where you want it to be) like this:

class CustomTextInputLayout : TextInputLayout {

    constructor(context: Context) : super(context)

    constructor(context: Context, attrs: AttributeSet?) : super(context, attrs)

    constructor(
        context: Context,
        attrs: AttributeSet?,
        defStyleAttrs: Int
    ) : super(context, attrs, defStyleAttrs)

    override fun setErrorEnabled(enabled: Boolean) {
        super.setErrorEnabled(enabled)
        if (!enabled) {
            return
        }
        try {
            changeTextAlignment(
                com.google.android.material.R.id.textinput_error,
                View.TEXT_ALIGNMENT_VIEW_END
            )
        } catch (e: Exception) {
            e.printStackTrace()
        }
    }

   
    private fun changeTextAlignment(textViewId: Int, alignment: Int) {
        val textView = findViewById<TextView>(textViewId)
        textView.textAlignment = alignment
    }
}

The alignment is specified in the IndicatorViewController class to always be View.TEXT_ALIGNMENT_VIEW_START. This class is used by the TextInputLayout.

From the IndicatorViewController class

  void setErrorEnabled(boolean enabled) {
    if (errorEnabled == enabled) {
      return;
    }

    cancelCaptionAnimator();

    if (enabled) {
      errorView = new AppCompatTextView(context);
      errorView.setId(R.id.textinput_error);
      if (VERSION.SDK_INT >= 17) {
        errorView.setTextAlignment(View.TEXT_ALIGNMENT_VIEW_START);
      }
//More code...

Piccoloist

Answer 5

If selected answer not works. Another solution is below:

Create custom class as below:

public class CustomTextInputLayout extends TextInputLayout
{

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

@Override
public void setErrorEnabled(boolean enabled)
{
    super.setErrorEnabled(enabled);

    if (!enabled)
    {
        return;
    }

    try
    {
        TextView errorView = this.findViewById(R.id.textinput_error);
        FrameLayout errorViewParent = (FrameLayout) errorView.getParent();
        errorViewParent.setLayoutParams(new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(LinearLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,LinearLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT));
        errorView.setGravity(Gravity.CENTER); // replace CENTER  with END or RIGHT
    }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}
}

Then create your custom TextInputLayout as:

 <CustomTextInputLayout
    android:id="@+id/til_first_name"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_margin="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    app:layout_constraintBottom_toTopOf="@+id/til_last_name">

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/et_first_name"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:hint="@string/first_name"
        android:gravity="right"
        />

</CustomTextInputLayout>

After that initialize in your code as:

private CustomTextInputLayout tilFirstName;
tilFirstName = view.findViewById(R.id.til_first_name);

Congratulations! You have done what you have required.

Aerometry

Thats basically textview in which error is shown of textinputlayout. – Aerometry

I think the id should be com.google.android.material.R.id.textinput_error, otherwise it will complain R not found – Lashondra

Brother I have above working code. Its working fine. – Aerometry

Android Studio complains about your code on my end. Unless you import com.google.android.material.R, which you should mention it in the answer. – Lashondra

Answer 6

Based on @Emmanuel Guerra's answer. I've applied it on helperText too:

class CustomTextInputLayout @JvmOverloads constructor(
    context: Context,
    attrs: AttributeSet? = null,
    defStyleAttr: Int = com.google.android.material.R.attr.textInputStyle
) : TextInputLayout(context, attrs, defStyleAttr) {

    override fun setErrorEnabled(enabled: Boolean) {
        super.setErrorEnabled(enabled)
        if (!enabled) return
        centerMiniText(com.google.android.material.R.id.textinput_error)
    }

    override fun setHelperTextEnabled(enabled: Boolean) {
        super.setHelperTextEnabled(enabled)
        if (!enabled) return
        centerMiniText(com.google.android.material.R.id.textinput_helper_text)
    }

    private fun centerMiniText(textViewId: Int) {
        try {
            changeTextAlignment(textViewId, View.TEXT_ALIGNMENT_CENTER)
        } catch (e: Exception) {
            e.printStackTrace()
        }
    }

    @Suppress("SameParameterValue")
    private fun changeTextAlignment(textViewId: Int, alignment: Int) {
        findViewById<TextView>(textViewId)?.textAlignment = alignment
    }

}

Edmonds