Context c: Refers to the current class object where ArrayAdapter is being instantiated.There are 3 parameters used to instantiate an ArrayAdapter(we have used an ArrayAdapter in our example): ArrayAdapter adapter = new ArrayAdapter(this, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item, days) Thus, you need to tell the Adapter how to display the data by specifying a layout for the drop down. There will be an Adapter(ArrayAdapter etc) to take data from data source, create a view of it and then pass it to the AdapterView i.e.

String days = Ī data source can be a list, an array, a JSON data or data coming from a database. There should be a data source that will be used to display the data in the spinner. If you want to display a list of data then use a list view. If you want to select only one value from a set of options then you should use a Spinner. Therefore, a Spinner and ListView differs in the way they appear and in their usage too. The list items are automatically inserted to the list using an Adapter that pulls content from a data source such as an array or database table and converts each dataitem into a view that is placed in the list. ListView, on the other hand, is a view group that displays a list of scrollable items. When you touch(tap on) the spinner, it displays a dropdown menu with all other available values(options), from which the user can select a new one. Spinners provide a quick way to select one value from a given set of values and in the default state, a spinner only shows the currently selected value. We can create a Spinner, by adding the following code to our layout XML file: What's the difference between Spinner and ListView?īoth ListView and Spinner looks very similar. It creates a menu with multiple options where a user can select any one option. So let's start by understanding what is a Spinner?Ī Spinner is a type of view that hold items in form of a dropdown menu available for user selection. In this tutorial we are going to learn and explore about Spinner in Android. Android SDK Manager & required Packages.

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