how to make TextView selectable under api 11

Question

I need to have a text that will be shown to the user, and it will be possible to select a part of it and copy it to the clipboard. But without the keyboard open. I know that on api 11 and newer i can just use

text.setTextIsSelectable (true);

But what is the solution to lower OS versions?

Answer 1

Use ContextMenu and CLIPBOARD_SERVICE:

private TextView mTextView;

protected final void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
...
registerForContextMenu(mTextView);
}

@Override
public void onCreateContextMenu(ContextMenu menu, View view, ContextMenu.ContextMenuInfo menuInfo) {
        TextView textView = (TextView) view;
        menu.setHeaderTitle(textView.getText()).add(0, 0, 0, R.string.menu_copy_to_clipboard);
}

@Override
public boolean onContextItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
    ((ClipboardManager) getSystemService(CLIPBOARD_SERVICE)).setText(mTextView.getText());
    return true;
}

Answer 2

After a long and time consuming search, I can't find a component that can select text in textview for android API level <=11. I have written this component that may be of help to you : new Selectable TextView in android 3 (API <=11) component