Formatting TextView text using values/strings.xml, HTML and CSS

Question

I am trying to format a TextView with lots of text to look better, and since I feel this is very easy with HTML and CSS I thought I'd give it a go. And since having it in values/strings.xml lets you localize, I found this to be the best option. Now, I manage to get HTML in a string fine with:

<![CDATA[ <html code here> ]]>

But if I try for example:

<![CDATA[
    <html>
    <head>
    <body>
    <style type=\"text/css\">
        p {
        display: block;
        border-bottom: 1px solid #31B6E7; }
    </style>
    </head>
    ...
    etc
]]>

It will just paste the CSS code as plain text, is it not possible to format using CSS this way or does anyone have a good tip for me here?

Thanks for any help on this one.

themightyjon · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-04 00:12:42Z

6

I think you're perhaps expecting a little much from the TextView, or rather, from the Html.fromHtml method, since that is what turns the HTML into a Spannable that you can use with the TextView. It's quite basic. Here's what it supports:

http://commonsware.com/blog/Android/2010/05/26/html-tags-supported-by-textview.html

answered Oct 4, 2012 at 0:12

themightyjon

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1 Comment

Fumler Over a year ago

Thanks for more clarification and the link.

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:25:03Z

5

You have to tell the TextView that it is receiving HTML. I think you can find you answer here. That goes for HTML. CSS is not supported - you have to do it via your layout XML...

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:25

CommunityBot

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answered Oct 4, 2012 at 0:05

Christian Orth

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1 Comment

Fumler Over a year ago

CSS is not supported, bah, that sucks, thanks for the confirmation!

Trebor Rude · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-09 01:51:43Z

1

You could use android.webkit.WebView.loadData() to render the HTML + CSS, instead of a TextView.

answered Jul 9, 2014 at 1:51

Trebor Rude

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