Android Spinner (Drop Down List) Example

1. List of Items in Spinner

Open “res/values/strings.xml” file, define the list of items that will display in Spinner (dropdown list).

File : res/values/strings.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
 
    <string name="app_name">MyAndroidApp</string>
    <string name="country_prompt">Choose a country</string>
 
    <string-array name="country_arrays">
        <item>Malaysia</item>
        <item>United States</item>
        <item>Indonesia</item>
        <item>France</item>
        <item>Italy</item>
        <item>Singapore</item>
        <item>New Zealand</item>
        <item>India</item>
    </string-array>
 
</resources>

2. Spinner (DropDown List)

Open “res/layout/main.xml” file, add two spinner components and a button.

1. In “spinner1″, the “android:entries” represents the selection items in spinner.
2. In “spinner2″, the selection items will be defined in code later.

File : res/layout/main.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="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >
 
    <Spinner
        android:id="@+id/spinner1"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:entries="@array/country_arrays"
        android:prompt="@string/country_prompt" />
 
    <Spinner
        android:id="@+id/spinner2"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
 
    <Button
        android:id="@+id/btnSubmit"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Submit" />
 
</LinearLayout>

3. Code Code

Read the code and also code’s comment, it should be self-explanatory.

File : MyAndroidAppActivity.java

package com.mkyong.android;
 
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.Spinner;
import android.widget.Toast;
 
public class MyAndroidAppActivity extends Activity {
 
  private Spinner spinner1, spinner2;
  private Button btnSubmit;
 
  @Override
  public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
 super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
 setContentView(R.layout.main);
 
 addItemsOnSpinner2();
 addListenerOnButton();
 addListenerOnSpinnerItemSelection();
  }
 
  // add items into spinner dynamically
  public void addItemsOnSpinner2() {
 
 spinner2 = (Spinner) findViewById(R.id.spinner2);
 List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
 list.add("list 1");
 list.add("list 2");
 list.add("list 3");
 ArrayAdapter<String> dataAdapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this,
  android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item, list);
 dataAdapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item);
 spinner2.setAdapter(dataAdapter);
  }
 
  public void addListenerOnSpinnerItemSelection() {
 spinner1 = (Spinner) findViewById(R.id.spinner1);
 spinner1.setOnItemSelectedListener(new CustomOnItemSelectedListener());
  }
 
  // get the selected dropdown list value
  public void addListenerOnButton() {
 
 spinner1 = (Spinner) findViewById(R.id.spinner1);
 spinner2 = (Spinner) findViewById(R.id.spinner2);
 btnSubmit = (Button) findViewById(R.id.btnSubmit);
 
 btnSubmit.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
 
   @Override
   public void onClick(View v) {
 
     Toast.makeText(MyAndroidAppActivity.this,
  "OnClickListener : " + 
                "\nSpinner 1 : "+ String.valueOf(spinner1.getSelectedItem()) + 
                "\nSpinner 2 : "+ String.valueOf(spinner2.getSelectedItem()),
   Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
   }
 
 });
  }
}

File : CustomOnItemSelectedListener.java

package com.mkyong.android;
 
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.AdapterView;
import android.widget.AdapterView.OnItemSelectedListener;
import android.widget.Toast;
 
public class CustomOnItemSelectedListener implements OnItemSelectedListener {
 
  public void onItemSelected(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int pos,long id) {
 Toast.makeText(parent.getContext(), 
  "OnItemSelectedListener : " + parent.getItemAtPosition(pos).toString(),
  Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
  }
 
  @Override
  public void onNothingSelected(AdapterView<?> arg0) {
 // TODO Auto-generated method stub
  }
 
}