findViewById to return array of Views

Question

I have the same View inflated (from XML) multiple times. When I call findViewById(R.id.my_layout).setVisibility(View.GONE) I want to apply it on all such views.

How do I do that?

Answer 1

There isn't a version of findViewById() that returns all matches; it just returns the first one. You have a few options:

1. Give them different ids so that you can find them all.

2. When you inflate them, store the reference in an ArrayList, like this:

   ArrayList<View> mViews = new ArrayList<View>();
   

   Then when you inflate:

   LayoutInflater inflater = getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
   mViews.add(inflater.inflate(R.layout.your_layout, root));
   

   Then when you want to hide them:

   for (View v : mViews) { v.setVisibility(View.GONE); }
   

3. Depending on what you're doing with these Views, the parent layout may have a way of accessing them. E.g., if you're putting them in a ListView or some such. If you know the parent element you can iterate through the children:

   ViewGroup parent = getParentSomehow();
   for (int i = 0; i < parent.getChildCount(); ++i) {
       View v = parent.getChildAt(i);
       if (v.getId() == R.id.my_layout) {
           v.setVisibility(View.GONE);
       }
   }
   

If the above options don't work for you, please elaborate on why you're doing this.