Android: how to change the color of the datepicker divider?
Solution 1
Unfortunately, this is not a trivial task.
DatePickers
use widgets NumberPicker
and CalendarView
internally. For instance, the image you have posted is using 3 NumberPickers
. And the dividers you are talking about come from NumberPicker's attribute: selectionDivider
. The problem is that this attribute is not public, and neither is numberPickerStyle
, through which, this attribute is set.
I recently back-ported CalendarView and NumberPicker to API 8, mostly for fun. Since the code is readily available(look up android.widget.NumberPicker
and others in android's source), all this task takes is time, and some digging through android's source-code. Examples:
-
Easy ==> You'll have to change the private variable from View class to their accessor methods
mLeft (protected variable in View class) ==> getLeft() (public accessor method)
The most time-consuming task was restoring the Accessibility methods.
In any case, if you do decide on writing custom implementation of DatePicker, you'll have to write them for NumberPicker and CalendarView (optionally) as well.
Easier way:
Backported DatePicker is available as a library here: Android-DatePicker. As mentioned above, you'll be using backported CalendarView and NumberPicker in conjunction with this DatePicker.
What you need to change:
Use {library-numberpicker} / res / drawable-xxxx / np_numberpicker_selection_divider.9.png
as a template, and change the 'bluish' color to green (I used pixlr). You can either save it with the same name, if you want to be done with the blue divider altogether, or use a different name and make changes in {library-numberpicker} / res / values / themes.xml
.
The changes required in themes.xml
if you choose a different name:
<style name="NPWidget.Holo.NumberPicker" parent="NPWidget.NumberPicker">
....
<item name="selectionDivider">@drawable/new_nine_path_drawable_name</item>
....
</style>
And that's it.
Output using the libraries:
Edit:
Does the
android:divider
refer to the divider in the datepicker, and how could I use it to change color?
The attribute divider
actually comes from LinearLayout
. NumberPicker
inherits this attribute as NumberPicker extends LinearLayout
. But this divider
serves a different purpose. The drawable passed to this attribute is placed between child views of LinearLayout
.
The attribute android:showDividers
is used to change the placement of this divider, possible values being:
- none: No dividers shown
- beginning: Divider is shown before the first child view
- middle: Divider is shown after each child view, not not after the last child view
- end: Divider is shown after the last child view
The attribute android:dividerPadding
is self-explanatory.
Even though NumberPicker inherits this attribute, it does not use it. This is evident from your own research & trials: I tried a multitude of combinations of the two, but I don't seem to get it to work.
To see the divider attribute in action:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:divider="@android:drawable/ic_media_play"
android:showDividers="middle" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Hello" />
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="World," />
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Again" />
</LinearLayout>
Hack-ish workaround using java reflection:
This answer here gave me the idea. I hate using refection in general, mostly for reasons listed in this answer: Link. Although I'm listing it here for completeness sake, I suggest you don't use it.
public class CDP extends android.widget.DatePicker {
public CDP(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
super(context, attrs);
Class<?> internalRID = null;
try {
internalRID = Class.forName("com.android.internal.R$id");
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
Field month = null;
try {
month = internalRID.getField("month");
} catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
NumberPicker npMonth = null;
try {
npMonth = (NumberPicker) findViewById(month.getInt(null));
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
Field day = null;
try {
day = internalRID.getField("day");
} catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
NumberPicker npDay = null;
try {
npDay = (NumberPicker) findViewById(day.getInt(null));
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
Field year = null;
try {
year = internalRID.getField("year");
} catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
NumberPicker npYear = null;
try {
npYear = (NumberPicker) findViewById(year.getInt(null));
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
Class<?> numberPickerClass = null;
try {
numberPickerClass = Class.forName("android.widget.NumberPicker");
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
Field selectionDivider = null;
try {
selectionDivider = numberPickerClass.getDeclaredField("mSelectionDivider");
} catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
try {
selectionDivider.setAccessible(true);
selectionDivider.set(npMonth, getResources().getDrawable(
R.drawable.np_numberpicker_selection_divider_green));
selectionDivider.set(npDay, getResources().getDrawable(
R.drawable.np_numberpicker_selection_divider_green));
selectionDivider.set(npYear, getResources().getDrawable(
R.drawable.np_numberpicker_selection_divider_green));
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (NotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
What we do here:
- Extend DatePicker
- If you open
date_picker.xml
insdk/platforms/android-xx/res/layout
, you'll see that the three NumberPickers have idsmonth
,day
,year
. We accessandroid.internal.R.id
to get resource ids for these NumberPickers. - We create three NumberPicker objects using these ids with
findViewById(int)
method. - Then, access and retrieve the Field
mSelectionDivider
using relection. - Set the field to accessible (as its declared final), set its value using
Field#set(Object, Object)
method. The first argument is the Object that we perform this operation on. Second argument is the Object that we want to set.
The drawable I have used can be downloaded from: here.
Solution 2
I think the simplest solution is probably to use styles.
Just put this in your styles.xml document
<!-- changes the default colours for EditTexts, including non-text elements (also works with the DatePicker -->
<style name="appCompatStyle" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light">
<item name="colorControlNormal">@color/lightPrimaryText</item>
<item name="colorControlActivated">@color/colorAccent</item>
<item name="android:editTextStyle">@style/editTextStyle</item>
</style>
<!-- changes the default text colour for the EditTexts -->
<style name="editTextStyle" parent="android:style/Widget.EditText">
<item name="android:textColor">@color/lightPrimaryText</item>
</style>
and put these attributes in your layout XML
android:theme="@style/appCompatStyle"
and customize it however you like.
Solution 3
Setting a theme to DatePicker
layout and adding colorControlNormal
to it works for me.
In your layout's xml add a DatePicker
applying a theme as shown below -
<DatePicker xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:theme="@style/NumberPickerStyle"
android:datePickerMode="spinner"
android:calendarViewShown="false"
android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"/>
and then define the NumberPickerStyle
in styles.xml
specifying colorControlNormal
like this -
<style name="NumberPickerStyle">
<item name="colorControlNormal">@color/colorAccent</item>
</style>
Solution 4
Change color divider in DatePickerDialog with android:datePickerMode="spinner" => Set android:theme for DatePicker
DatePicker Xml:
<DatePicker
android:id="@+id/datePicker"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:calendarViewShown="false"
android:theme="@style/MyAppTheme.DatePicker"
android:datePickerMode="spinner" />
MyAppTheme Xml:
<style name="MyAppTheme.DatePicker" parent="AppTheme">
<item name="colorControlNormal"> ?colorAccent </item>
</style>
Solution 5
There is one library they have custmize time and date picker. In that you can change color of divider following way
timePicker.setSelectionDivider(new ColorDrawable(0xffff0000));
timePicker.setSelectionDividerHeight(2);
Edit Another library I have also used that is also good one in that you can customize using following way in thems.xml
<style name="NPWidget.Holo.NumberPicker" parent="NPWidget.NumberPicker">
<item name="solidColor">@android:color/transparent</item>
<item name="selectionDivider">@color/div_color</item>
<item name="selectionDividerHeight">0.3dip</item>
<item name="internalLayout">@layout/number_picker_with_selector_wheel</item>
<item name="internalMinWidth">64dip</item>
<item name="internalMaxHeight">140dip</item>
<item name="virtualButtonPressedDrawable">@drawable/item_background_holo_dark</item>
</style>
kramer65
Updated on July 22, 2022Comments
-
kramer65 almost 2 years
I've got a datepicker in my Android app, but now I want to change the color of the blue dividers into green (see the image below this text). There are some other discussions on Stackoverflow that talk about the same, but none of them gives an answer which leads to a solution.
So I went looking myself and found there is actually an android:datePickerStyle and there is also an android:divider. I don't know however, whether the divider is actually referring to the divider in the datepicker at all. I tried a multitude of combinations of the two, but I don't seem to get it to work. So my first question: Does the android:divider refer to the divider in the datepicker, and how could I use it to change color?
So another option is supposedly to create a fully new custom datepicker. If that enables me to just change the color of the divider I'm down for it. So I had a look at some of the tutorials on creating a custom datepicker, but none of them seem to define the color of the dividers. The dividers are simply not listed in the xml files or in the java files.
It would be great if there would be some kind of boilerplate code to recreate the datepicker as it currently displays, including the code that sets the color of the dividers. Hopefully that would enable me to copy it and simply change the color setting of the divider somewhere. So my second question: Would anybody know any boilerplate code which simply implements the datepicker as it is now (including a definition of the dividers)?
-
Justin Muller about 10 yearsPotential simplification:
npMonth = (NumberPicker) findViewById(Resources.getSystem().getIdentifier("month", "id", "android"));
? -
flexdroid almost 10 years@Vikram how did you manage to get the upper and bottom date text grey in color ? all text color are black in color for me using TimePicker
-
Vikram almost 10 years@flexdroid I didn't have to make the text color grey. From looking at the source code,
NumberPicker
uses the following parameter:TOP_AND_BOTTOM_FADING_EDGE_STRENGTH = 0.9f
. For lack of a better word, this value is thealpha
applied to specific portions of aView
using overridden methodsgetTopFadingEdgeStrength()
andgetBottomFadingEdgeStrength()
. And the specific portions that get this alpha applied are determined inNumberPicker#initializeFadingEdges()
. -
Vikram almost 10 years@flexdroid Since you are not seeing this effect, check
net.simonvt.numberpicker.NumberPicker.java
and confirm thatTOP_AND_BOTTOM_FADING_EDGE_STRENGTH
is indeed set to0.9f
. You can also try changing this value to something dramatic like0.1f
. In this case, the top and bottom textviews should be hardly visible. -
flexdroid almost 10 years@Vikram
TOP_AND_BOTTOM_FADING_EDGE_STRENGTH
are set to0.9f
even after changing the value also i am not able to see the effect. -
flexdroid almost 10 yearsI found that the fading edge is visible in device like nexus 4 with kitkat 4.4, but not in samsung note 2 with 4.3 what could be wrong ?
-
Vikram almost 10 years@flexdroid Could be that Samsung changed this behavior. Vendors often do such things. Not much you can do about. Perhaps you should look into the newer (and in my opinion, more intuitive) date and time pickers that are part of the stock alarm clock app on nexus 4. There's a library implementation for those.
-
kittu88 over 9 years@Vikram please take a look at stackoverflow.com/questions/27544613/…
-
amity about 8 years@Vikram, Please add note of setting CDP into xml file or call it As an new DatePicker.
-
streamride almost 8 yearsOn Android 4.3 and 4.4 not working, in android 5 and above - works great
-
Francisco Romero over 7 years
android:datePickerDialogTheme
is for API >=21 -
mitsest almost 7 yearsThis does not change the dividers' color for API 21
-
Adel Nizamuddin over 6 yearsthe library crashes with weird exceptions
-
Rajesh Nasit over 6 yearsCustomTimePicker one you can customize 100% your own way. I use it and working charm
-
Jack' almost 4 yearsI have exactly the same code and it's not working. It is still black. However I am not using DatePicker in a Dialog. It's just a view that I'm displaying in my dialog, I don't know if this changes anything.