Manually set width of spinner dropdown list in android

Question

Is it possible to set the width of a spinner dropdown list in code? I have a spinner populated with integers, and it does not look good with the list expanding to full width. Can I set the width to wrap the content somehow?

Spinner hSpinner = (Spinner) timerView.findViewById(R.id.timer_hour_spinner);
ArrayList<Integer> hList = new ArrayList<Integer>(21);

for (int i = 0; i <= 20; i++) { hList.add(i); }

ArrayAdapter hAdapter = new ArrayAdapter(RemindMe.this, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item, hList);
hAdapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item);

hSpinner.setAdapter(hAdapter);

Thanks!

Linus

Answer 1

You can change the width of anything in code by adjusting its LayoutParams. The details of that varies by container (LinearLayout vs. RelativeLayout vs. ...).

However, I'm confused why you want to change the width "in code". Why not just set the width to be wrap_content in the layout XML?

Answer 2

Just use:

setDropDownWidth(desiredWidth);

Answer 3

It is straightforward to control the spinner dropdown appearance. Try this:

//Step 1. create the drop down list
static List<String> special_Spinner_Display_List = new ArrayList<String>();  
// add your values to the list...(this is best done using a for loop)
special_Spinner_Display_List.add(item1);
special_Spinner_Display_List.add(item2);  //etc., etc.

//Step 2. build the spinner
ArrayAdapter arrayAdapter_special = new ArrayAdapter(this, 
      R.layout.your_special_spinner, special_Spinner_Display_List);
arrayAdapter_special.setDropDownViewResource(R.layout.special_spinner_dropdown);
specialSpinner.setAdapter(arrayAdapter_special);

//Step 3. create an XML layout file called special_spinner_dropdown where you can 
//style to your heart's content.  Here's an example:

<TextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="@+id/SpinnerDropdown"
style="?android:attr/spinnerDropDownItemStyle"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="60dp"
android:background="#D5ECED"
android:ellipsize="marquee"
android:singleLine="true"
android:textSize="24sp" 
android:textStyle="bold"
android:textColor="@color/black" />

That's it. Lemme know how it works!

Answer 4

Set dropdown width in xml file of spinner using the tag

android:dropDownWidth="@dimen/desired_width"

Explaination :

mDropDownWidth = pa.getLayoutDimension(R.styleable.Spinner_dropDownWidth,
        ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);

this field is used for dropdown width when spinner item is initialized in Spinner class

for programatically changing spinner dropdown width above api level 16, use

mSpinner.setDropDownWidth(size_in_pixel);