Comparing text in EditText

Question

My code:

final EditText et1 = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.et1); et1.setOnFocusChangeListener(new OnFocusChangeListener(){ @Override public void onFocusChange(View v, boolean hasFocus) { if ( hasFocus ) { et1.setTextColor(0xFF000000); if ( et1.getText().equals("Email") ) { et1.setText(""); } } else { et1.setTextColor(0xFF7F7F7F); if ( et1.getText().equals("") ) { et1.setText("Email"); } } } });

et1 has "Email" in it by default. When the user clicks on it, I want it to clear. The OnFocusChangeListener works fine as the color changes, but the text does not change, i.e. the

if ( et1.getText().equals("Email") )

doesn't fire. Nor does the equals(""), after I clear the et.

What am I doing wrong?

Clearly, the string you're comparing to is neither "Email" nor "". Print it to Log and check what it actually is. — evilcandybag
– evilcandybag, Commented Dec 19, 2011 at 20:58
et1.getText() is obviously not returning "Email". The compiler is not broken, break out your debugger and see exactly what it is returning. EDIT: Ninja'd by an evil bag of candy... — Ed Swangren
– Ed Swangren, Commented Dec 19, 2011 at 20:59
See best solution here stackoverflow.com/questions/6567527/… — Zar E Ahmer
– Zar E Ahmer, Commented Jul 14, 2014 at 9:25

zmbq · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-19 20:58:47Z

9

Try comparing et1.getText().toString().equals("Email") instead.

answered Dec 19, 2011 at 20:58

zmbq

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2 Comments

Roger Travis Over a year ago

It worked! Thanks! But strange, I always thought getText() does return a string. :)

zmbq Over a year ago

It doesn't, it returns an EditText or something similar. I really dislike Java (I know, that's an Android issue, but had Java had operator overloading, all this wouldn't have mattered one bit)

dotancohen · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-19 20:59:03Z

1

Print out et1.getText() to see what it contains. It might not be what you think it is.

answered Dec 19, 2011 at 20:59

dotancohen

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1 Comment

dotancohen Over a year ago

Why the downvote? Printing out variables is exactly the first step in debugging.

Joe · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-19 21:00:59Z

Would android:hint work for you? It basically is doing exactly what you are trying to do, but it is built in.

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