# Titanium.UI.TextField

The attributed hint text by the textField. If set, avoid setting common attributes in textField, such as hintText, color and font, as unexpected behaviors may result.

This has no effect when used with hintType Ti.UI.HINT_TYPE_ANIMATED.

Prior to Release 3.6.0, assign this property an object from the <Titanium.UI.iOS.AttributedString> class.

Since Appcelerator CLI 4.1.0 (Alloy 1.7.0), for Alloy, you can use an <AttributedHintText> element inside a <TextField> element and set the text property as node text:

<Alloy>
  <Window>
      <TextField>
        <AttributedHintText>
            Alloy is great!
        </AttributedHintText>
      </TextField>
  </Window>
</Alloy>

Then set attributes in the TSS file:

"AttributedString" : {
  attributes: [
    {
      type: Ti.UI.ATTRIBUTE_FOREGROUND_COLOR,
      value: 'red',
      range: [0, 5]
    },
    {
      type: Ti.UI.ATTRIBUTE_UNDERLINES_STYLE,
      value: Ti.UI.ATTRIBUTE_UNDERLINE_STYLE_SINGLE,
      range: [9, 5]
    }
  ]
}

The underlying attributed string drawn by the textField. If set, avoid setting common attributes in TextField, such as value, color and font, as unexpected behaviors may result.

For Alloy, you can use an <AttributedString> element inside a <TextField> element and set the text property as node text:

<Alloy>
  <Window>
      <TextField>
        <AttributedString>
            Alloy is great!
        </AttributedString>
      </TextField>
  </Window>
</Alloy>

Then set attributes in the TSS file:

"AttributedString" : {
  attributes: [
    {
      type: Ti.UI.ATTRIBUTE_FOREGROUND_COLOR,
      value: 'red',
      range: [0, 5]
    },
    {
      type: Ti.UI.ATTRIBUTE_UNDERLINES_STYLE,
      value: Ti.UI.ATTRIBUTE_UNDERLINE_STYLE_SINGLE,
      range: [9, 5]
    }
  ]
}

Set to true to enable automatic spelling correction. On iOS 9+, this can be used to disable QuickType suggestions.

If this property is not explicitly defined, it behaves as though it were set to true.

On iOS, the returned default value is false, and on Android, the returned default value is undefined, but all behave as if the value is true.

This sets the hint or content type to aid the autofill feature of iOS and Android to function.

Multiple autolink values can be combined with a bitwise OR. For example:

textField.autoLink = Ti.UI.AUTOLINK_MAP_ADDRESSES | Ti.UI.AUTOLINK_PHONE_NUMBERS;

The Android-specific LINKIFY legacy constants are defined in Titanium.UI.Android.

On Android, this is a creation-only property and cannot be changed dynamically.

For information about color values, see the "Colors" section of Titanium.UI.

When set false, the "copy" and "cut" options will not appear in the context menu. The Command+C and Command+X keyboard shortcuts will be ignored as well.

If passwordMask is set true, then copy support is always disabled, even if you set this property true.

If true, the return key is disabled when this text field is empty, and automatically enabled as soon as the user types any text in the field.

On Android, if true, return event will not fire. Clicking on the return key will do nothing, but the key itself won't be disabled.

Switch between a fullscreen keyboard in landscape mode (default) or a non-fullscreen keyboard which will leave some space to display UI elements.

Hint text is hidden when the user enters text into this text field.

Use the backslash and letter n line feed character combination, ie \n, to force a new line.

Use unicode characters, such as those included in (but not limited to) the Unicode List of Useful Symbols section of wikipedia, to insert special characters and symbols.

Sets the color of the hintText. Please not that this can be overriden by the attributedHintText which provides an advanced configuration to style hint texts.

This has no effect when used with hintType Ti.UI.HINT_TYPE_ANIMATED. Instead a theme must be used that defines the android:textColorHint attribute.

Android Note: The hint text color in Android is determined by the theme of the application. By default, a Titanium app uses a Dark theme. When you create the background to be white, the hint text color would also be white, hence not visible to the user. To change this, you can edit the tiapp.xml file with another theme. Example as follows:

<android xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <manifest>
        <application android:theme="@style/Theme.MaterialComponents.Light.Bridge"/>
    </manifest>
</android>

Another way to change the hint text color is to use this property and specify a color.

Only one of hintText or hinttextid should be specified.

Setting this to HINT_TYPE_ANIMATED will use the animated TextInputLayout on Android.

When asking for a specific kind of user input, such as a phone number or email address, you should always specify the input type that is accepted. This overrides any changes to the keyboard done by the property keyboardType.

In Alloy, you can use a <KeyboardToolbar> element inside a <TextField> element to create a KeyboardToolbar.

<Alloy>
    <TextField id="textfield" platform="ios" hintText="Tap here...">
        <!-- Nested properties -->
        <KeyboardToolbar >
            <Toolbar >
                <Items >
                    <Button>button 1</Button>
                    <FlexSpace />
                    <Button>button 2</Button>
                </Items>
            </Toolbar>
        </KeyboardToolbar>
    </TextField>
</Alloy>

For information about color values, see the "Colors" section of Titanium.UI.

When asking for a specific kind of user input, such as a phone number or email address, you should always specify the appropriate keyboard type.

Set the width and height properties of the button or else it does not display in the text field.

Using an object other than a Titanium.UI.Button may have unpredictable results.

In Alloy you can use a <LeftButton> element inside the <TextField> element.

<Alloy>
    <Window>
        <!-- iOS TextField properties -->
        <TextField id="textfield" platform="ios">
            <LeftButton>
                <Button onClick="sayHi">Say Hi</Button>
            </LeftButton>
            <RightButton>
                <Button onClick="doAlert">Do Alert</Button>
            </RightButton>
        </TextField>
    </Window>
</Alloy>

Any attempt to input text beyond this length (including pasting a string larger than maxLength) will not edit the field's contents. A value of -1 indicates unlimited length.

Set to true to hide entered characters.

Note: on iOS, passwordMask must be specified when this text field is created.

This property is used to communicate requirements for passwords for your service to ensure iOS can generate compatible passwords for users. It only works when passwordMask is true. You do not need to use this property if the passwords that iOS generates are already compatible with your service. You can learn more about the purpose of and syntax for these rules on the Password Rules documentation guide.

Set the width and height properties of the button or else it does not display in the text field.

Using an object other than a Titanium.UI.Button may have unpredictable results. In Alloy you can use a <RightButton> element inside the <TextField> element.

<Alloy>
    <Window>
        <!-- iOS TextField properties -->
        <TextField id="textfield" platform="ios">
            <LeftButton>
                <Button onClick="sayHi">Say Hi</Button>
            </LeftButton>
            <RightButton>
                <Button onClick="doAlert">Do Alert</Button>
            </RightButton>
        </TextField>
    </Window>
</Alloy>

The sayHi and doAlert methods are defined in the Alloy controller.

This property is useful to track the current cursor position of the text field. On iOS this property can only be used when the text field has focus. Accessing this property when text field does not have focus will return an undefined value.

This method will return null on android and undefined on iOS if the view has not yet been attached to the window.

Use the backslash and letter n line feed character combination, ie \n, to force a new line.

Use unicode characters, such as those included in (but not limited to) the Unicode List of Useful Symbols section of wikipedia, to insert special characters and symbols.