Contact Bubble EditText

I am trying to create contact bubbles in the MultiAutoCompleteTextView similiar to how it is implemented in the Google+ app. Below is a screen shot:

![Google+ Compose Post Screenshot][1] [1]: http://i.stack.imgur.com/clY7U.png

.

I have tried to extend the DynamicDrawableSpan class in order to get a spannable drawable in the background of a span of text

public class BubbleSpan extends DynamicDrawableSpan {
  private Context c;

  public BubbleSpan(Context context) {
    super();
    c = context;
  }

  @Override
  public Drawable getDrawable() {
    Resources res = c.getResources();
    Drawable d = res.getDrawable(R.drawable.oval);
    d.setBounds(0, 0, 100, 20);
    return d;
  }
}

Where my oval.xml drawable is defined as so:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:shape="rectangle">
  <solid android:color="#352765"/>
  <padding android:left="7dp" android:top="7dp"
    android:right="7dp" android:bottom="7dp" />
  <corners android:radius="6dp" />
</shape>

In my Activity class that has the MulitAutoCompleteTextView, I set the bubble span like so:

final Editable e = tv.getEditableText();
final SpannableStringBuilder sb = new SpannableStringBuilder();
sb.append("some sample text");
sb.setSpan(new BubbleSpan(getApplicationContext()), 0, 6, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
e.append(sb); 

However, instead of the oval shape displaying behind the first 6 characters in the string, the characters are not visible and there is no oval drawable in the background.

If i change the BubbleSpan's getDrawable() method to use a .png instead of a shape drawable:

public Drawable getDrawable() {
  Resources res = c.getResources();
  Drawable d = res.getDrawable(android.R.drawable.bottom_bar);
  d.setBounds(0, 0, 100, 20);
  return d;
}

Then the .png will show up but the characters in the string that are a part of the span will not show up. How can I make it so that the characters in the span are displayed in the foreground, meanwhile a custom shape drawable gets displayed in the background?

I attempted to also use an ImageSpan instead of subclassing DynamicDrawableSpan but was unsuccessful.

Thanks @chrish for all the help. So here is how i did it:

final SpannableStringBuilder sb = new SpannableStringBuilder();
TextView tv = createContactTextView(contactName);
BitmapDrawable bd = (BitmapDrawable) convertViewToDrawable(tv);
bd.setBounds(0, 0, bd.getIntrinsicWidth(),bd.getIntrinsicHeight());

sb.append(contactName + ",");
sb.setSpan(new ImageSpan(bd), sb.length()-(contactName.length()+1), sb.length()-1,Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
to_input.setText(sb);

public TextView createContactTextView(String text){
  //creating textview dynamically
  TextView tv = new TextView(this);
  tv.setText(text);
  tv.setTextSize(20);
  tv.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.oval);
  tv.setCompoundDrawablesWithIntrinsicBounds(0, 0, R.drawable.ic_clear_search_api_holo_light, 0);
  return tv;
}

public static Object convertViewToDrawable(View view) {
  int spec = MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(0, MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED);
  view.measure(spec, spec);
  view.layout(0, 0, view.getMeasuredWidth(), view.getMeasuredHeight());
  Bitmap b = Bitmap.createBitmap(view.getMeasuredWidth(), view.getMeasuredHeight(),
            Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888);
  Canvas c = new Canvas(b);
  c.translate(-view.getScrollX(), -view.getScrollY());
  view.draw(c);
  view.setDrawingCacheEnabled(true);
  Bitmap cacheBmp = view.getDrawingCache();
  Bitmap viewBmp = cacheBmp.copy(Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888, true);
  view.destroyDrawingCache();
  return new BitmapDrawable(viewBmp);

}

Here is a complete Solution for you

//creating textview dynamicalyy
TextView textView=new TextView(context);
textview.setText("Lauren amos");
textview.setbackgroundResource(r.color.urovalshape);
textView.setCompoundDrawablesWithIntrinsicBounds(0, 0, R.drawable.icon_cross, 0);


BitmapDrawable dd = (BitmapDrawable) SmsUtil.getDrawableFromTExtView(textView);
edittext.settext(addSmily(dd));

//convert image to spannableString
public SpannableStringBuilder addSmily(Drawable dd) {
 dd.setBounds(0, 0, dd.getIntrinsicWidth(),dd.getIntrinsicHeight());
SpannableStringBuilder builder = new SpannableStringBuilder();
builder.append(":-)");
builder.setSpan(new ImageSpan(dd), builder.length() - ":-)".length(),builder.length(),Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);

return builder;
}

  //convert view to drawable
  public static Object getDrawableFromTExtView(View view) {

	int spec = MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(0, MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED);
	view.measure(spec, spec);
	view.layout(0, 0, view.getMeasuredWidth(), view.getMeasuredHeight());
	Bitmap b = Bitmap.createBitmap(view.getWidth(), view.getHeight(),
			Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888);
	Canvas c = new Canvas(b);
	c.translate(-view.getScrollX(), -view.getScrollY());
	view.draw(c);
	view.setDrawingCacheEnabled(true);
	Bitmap cacheBmp = view.getDrawingCache();
	Bitmap viewBmp = cacheBmp.copy(Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888, true);
	view.destroyDrawingCache();
	return new BitmapDrawable(viewBmp);

}

Here is the complete project file ,if any of you want to use Spannble

I got a library which does what you're looking for with :

• Default or fully customizable (you can even use your own layout)
• Multiline support
• Click listener

Have a look here

Here a quickstart :

Add ChipView to your layout or create it programmatically :

<com.plumillonforge.android.chipview.ChipView
    android:id="@+id/chipview"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

Init it with a list of data which extend abstract Chip and a click listener (if you want) :

List<Chip> chipList = new ArrayList<>();
chipList.add(new Tag("Lorem"));
chipList.add(new Tag("Ipsum dolor"));
chipList.add(new Tag("Sit amet"));
chipList.add(new Tag("Consectetur"));
chipList.add(new Tag("adipiscing elit"));
ChipView chipDefault = (ChipView) findViewById(R.id.chipview);
chipDefault.setChipList(chipList);
chipDefault.setOnChipClickListener(new OnChipClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onChipClick(Chip chip) {
            // Action here !
        }
    });

Default ChipView is rendered like this :

But you can customise as you like from overall to Chip level :

This isn't a MultiAutocomplete but you can manage to mimic it (I'm actually using it like that)