Message Composer

MessageComposerView is a UI component for sending messages and attachments to channels.

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It supports the following features:

  • Attachments
  • Slash Commands
  • Typing events
  • Editing messages
  • Threads
  • Mentions
  • Replies

Let’s see how to integrate the new MessageComposerView in your UI.

Usage

To use MessageComposerView, include it in your XML layout.

<io.getstream.chat.android.ui.feature.messages.composer.MessageComposerView
    android:id="@+id/messageComposerView"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

The recommended way of setting up MessageComposerView is by binding it to the MessageComposerViewModel. This will make it fully functional by setting up any necessary listeners and data handling.

// Create MessageComposerViewModel for a given channel
val factory = MessageListViewModelFactory(cid = "messaging:123")
val messageComposerViewModel: MessageComposerViewModel by viewModels { factory }

// Bind MessageComposerViewModel with MessageComposerView
messageComposerViewModel.bindView(
    // Required
    messageComposerView, 
    viewLifecycleOwner,
    // Optional (you can set your custom listeners here)
    sendMessageButtonClickListener = {
        // Handle send button click
    },
    textInputChangeListener = { text ->
        // Handle input text change
    },
    //... 
    // other listeners
)

Because it doesn’t make sense to use the MessageComposerView as a standalone component, you also need to integrate it with the MessageListView:

<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

    <io.getstream.chat.android.ui.feature.messages.list.MessageListView
        android:id="@+id/messageListView"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toTopOf="@+id/messageComposerView"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />

    <io.getstream.chat.android.ui.feature.messages.composer.MessageComposerView
        android:id="@+id/messageComposerView"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent" />

</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

// Create ViewModels for MessageComposerView and MessageListView
val factory = MessageListViewModelFactory(cid = "messaging:123")
val messageComposerViewModel: MessageComposerViewModel by viewModels { factory }
val messageListViewModel: MessageListViewModel by viewModels { factory }

// Bind MessageComposerViewModel with MessageComposerView
messageComposerViewModel.bindView(messageComposerView, viewLifecycleOwner)

// Bind MessageListViewModel with MessageListView
messageListViewModel.bindView(messageListView, viewLifecycleOwner)

// Integrate MessageComposerView with MessageListView
messageListViewModel.mode.observe(viewLifecycleOwner) { mode ->
    when (mode) {
        is MessageMode.MessageThread -> {
            messageComposerViewModel.setMessageMode(MessageMode.MessageThread(mode.parentMessage))
        }
        is MessageMode.Normal -> {
            messageComposerViewModel.leaveThread()
        }
    }
}
messageListView.setMessageReplyHandler { _, message ->
    messageComposerViewModel.performMessageAction(Reply(message))
}
messageListView.setMessageEditHandler { message ->
    messageComposerViewModel.performMessageAction(Edit(message))
}

In the snippet above, you initialize the message composer and integrate it with the MessageListView by passing actions from the message list to the composer.

This will produce a fully working solution, as shown in the image below.

Whole Screen

Handling Actions

To handle actions supported by the MessageComposerView you can set the corresponding listeners:

messageComposerView.sendMessageButtonClickListener = {
    // Handle send button click
}
messageComposerView.textInputChangeListener = { text ->
    // Handle input text change
}
messageComposerView.attachmentSelectionListener = { attachments ->
    // Handle attachment selection
}
messageComposerView.attachmentRemovalListener = { attachment ->
    // Handle attachment removal
}
messageComposerView.mentionSelectionListener = { user ->
    // Handle mention selection
}
messageComposerView.commandSelectionListener = { command ->
    // Handle command selection
}
messageComposerView.alsoSendToChannelSelectionListener = { checked ->
    // Handle "also send to channel" checkbox selection
}
messageComposerView.dismissActionClickListener = {
    // Handle dismiss action button click
}
messageComposerView.commandsButtonClickListener = {
    // Handle commands button click
}
messageComposerView.dismissSuggestionsListener = {
    // Handle when suggestions popup is dismissed
}
messageComposerView.audioRecordButtonLockListener = {
    // Handle audio record button lock
}

messageComposerView.audioRecordButtonHoldListener = {
    // Handle audio record button hold
}

messageComposerView.audioRecordButtonCancelListener = {
    // Handle audio record button cancel
}

messageComposerView.audioRecordButtonReleaseListener = {
    // Handle audio record button release
}

messageComposerView.audioDeleteButtonClickListener = {
    // Handle audio delete button click
}

messageComposerView.audioStopButtonClickListener = {
    // Handle audio stop button click
}

messageComposerView.audioPlaybackButtonClickListener = {
    // Handle audio playback button click
}

messageComposerView.audioCompleteButtonClickListener = {
    // Handle audio complete button click
}

messageComposerView.audioSliderDragStartListener = { progress ->
    // Handle audio slider drag start
}

messageComposerView.audioSliderDragStopListener = { progress ->
    // Handle audio slider drag stop
}
messageComposerView.attachmentsButtonClickListener = {
    // Handle attachments button click
}

If you don’t set your custom listeners, the default listeners from the MessageComposerViewModel::bindView method will be used:

messageComposerView.sendMessageButtonClickListener = {
    messageComposerViewModel.sendMessage()
}
messageComposerView.textInputChangeListener = { text ->
    messageComposerViewModel.setMessageInput(text)
}
messageComposerView.attachmentSelectionListener = { attachments ->
    messageComposerViewModel.addSelectedAttachments(attachments)
}
messageComposerView.attachmentRemovalListener = { attachment ->
    messageComposerViewModel.removeSelectedAttachment(attachment)
}
messageComposerView.mentionSelectionListener = { user ->
    messageComposerViewModel.selectMention(user)
}
messageComposerView.commandSelectionListener = { command ->
    messageComposerViewModel.selectCommand(command)
}
messageComposerView.alsoSendToChannelSelectionListener = { checked ->
    messageComposerViewModel.setAlsoSendToChannel(checked)
}
messageComposerView.dismissActionClickListener = {
    messageComposerViewModel.dismissMessageActions()
}
messageComposerView.commandsButtonClickListener = {
    messageComposerViewModel.toggleCommandsVisibility()
}
messageComposerView.dismissSuggestionsListener = {
    messageComposerViewModel.dismissSuggestionsPopup()
}
messageComposerView.attachmentsButtonClickListener = {
    // Handle attachments button click
}

Now let’s see how to customize the view.

Customization

MessageComposerView can be customized:

  • Using XML Attributes
  • Using style Transformations
  • By overriding content Views

Using XML Attributes

The styling of the View can be configured by styled attributes. You can change the color of the message input, the fonts, visibility of various components and so on. The full list of available attributes can be found here.

Here’s an example of setting a custom attribute:

<io.getstream.chat.android.ui.feature.messages.composer.MessageComposerView
    android:id="@+id/messageComposerView"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    app:streamUiMessageComposerMessageInputTextColor="#005AFF" />

This produces the following styling:

Custom Attribute

Different configurations can be used to achieve the desired appearance of MessageComposerView. If you don’t need to change the View’s appearance at runtime, using styled attributes should be enough. However, if you want to customize it at runtime, then you can use MessageComposerViewStyle as described in the next section.

Using Style Transformations

You can use TransformStyle to apply global style transformations to all MessageComposerView instances. For example, you can create a messageComposerStyleTransformer like this one to change the input text color:

TransformStyle.messageComposerStyleTransformer = StyleTransformer { viewStyle ->
    viewStyle.copy(
        messageInputTextStyle = viewStyle.messageInputTextStyle.copy(
            color = ContextCompat.getColor(context, R.color.stream_ui_accent_red)
        )
    )
}

The transformer should be set before the View is rendered to make sure that the new style was applied.

Overriding Content Views

With the new MessageComposerView you can replace certain parts of the layout with custom content views. There are several parts available for customization.

  • Leading content: Represents the left part with integration buttons.
  • Center content: Represents the center part with the text input.
  • Trailing content: Represents the right part with the send button.
  • Header content: Represents the top part with the action mode title.
  • Footer content: Represents the bottom part with the “also send to channel” checkbox.
  • Command suggestions content: Represents the content inside the command suggestions popup.
  • Mention suggestions content: Represents the content inside the mention suggestions popup.

The available methods with the default content view implementations are listed below:

messageComposerView.setLeadingContent(
    DefaultMessageComposerLeadingContent(context).also {
        it.attachmentsButtonClickListener = { messageComposerView.attachmentsButtonClickListener() }
        it.commandsButtonClickListener = { messageComposerView.commandsButtonClickListener() }
    }
)
messageComposerView.setCenterContent(
    DefaultMessageComposerCenterContent(context).also {
        it.textInputChangeListener = { text -> messageComposerView.textInputChangeListener(text) }
        it.attachmentRemovalListener = { attachment -> messageComposerView.attachmentRemovalListener(attachment) }
    }
)
messageComposerView.setTrailingContent(
    DefaultMessageComposerTrailingContent(context).also {
        it.sendMessageButtonClickListener = { messageComposerView.sendMessageButtonClickListener() }
    }
)
messageComposerView.setHeaderContent(
    DefaultMessageComposerHeaderContent(context).also {
        it.dismissActionClickListener = { messageComposerView.dismissActionClickListener() }
    }
)
messageComposerView.setFooterContent(
    DefaultMessageComposerFooterContent(context).also {
        it.alsoSendToChannelSelectionListener = { checked -> messageComposerView.alsoSendToChannelSelectionListener(checked) }
    }
)
messageComposerView.setCommandSuggestionsContent(
    DefaultMessageComposerCommandSuggestionsContent(context).also {
        it.commandSelectionListener = { command -> messageComposerView.commandSelectionListener(command) }
    }
)
messageComposerView.setMentionSuggestionsContent(
    DefaultMessageComposerMentionSuggestionsContent(context).also {
        it.mentionSelectionListener = { user -> messageComposerView.mentionSelectionListener(user) }
    }
)

To create a custom content view you need to create an Android View that implements the MessageComposerContent interface:

class CustomMessageComposerLeadingContent : FrameLayout, MessageComposerContent {

    constructor(context: Context) : this(context, null)

    constructor(context: Context, attrs: AttributeSet?) : this(context, attrs, 0)

    constructor(context: Context, attrs: AttributeSet?, defStyleAttr: Int) : super(
        context,
        attrs,
        defStyleAttr
    )

    override fun attachContext(messageComposerContext: MessageComposerContext) {
        // Access the style if necessary
        val style = messageComposerContext.style
    }

    override fun renderState(state: MessageComposerState) {
        // Render the state of the component
    }
}

Notice that you need to implement 2 methods from the MessageComposerContent interface:

  • attachContext() Called only once when the View has been attached to the hierarchy.
  • renderState() Invoked when the state has changed and the UI needs to be updated accordingly.

Finally, you need to pass the created content view to the MessageComposerView:

messageComposerView.setLeadingContent(CustomMessageComposerLeadingContent(context))

Here is an example of how the leading content can be customized to show a date picker button:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ImageView
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/datePickerButton"
    android:layout_width="24dp"
    android:layout_height="24dp"
    android:layout_marginHorizontal="8dp"
    android:layout_marginVertical="16dp"
    android:src="@drawable/ic_calendar" />

class CustomMessageComposerLeadingContent : FrameLayout, MessageComposerContent {

    private lateinit var binding: CustomMessageComposerLeadingContentBinding

    var datePickerButtonClickListener: () -> Unit = {}

    constructor(context: Context) : this(context, null)

    constructor(context: Context, attrs: AttributeSet?) : this(context, attrs, 0)

    constructor(context: Context, attrs: AttributeSet?, defStyleAttr: Int) : super(
        context,
        attrs,
        defStyleAttr
    ) {
        binding = CustomMessageComposerLeadingContentBinding.inflate(LayoutInflater.from(context), this, true)
        binding.datePickerButton.setOnClickListener { datePickerButtonClickListener() }
    }

    override fun attachContext(messageComposerContext: MessageComposerContext) {
        // Access the style if necessary
        val style = messageComposerContext.style
    }

    override fun renderState(state: MessageComposerState) {
        // Render the state of the component
    }
}

val leadingContent =  CustomMessageComposerLeadingContent(context).also {
    it.datePickerButtonClickListener = {
        // Create an instance of a date picker dialog
        val datePickerDialog = MaterialDatePicker.Builder
            .datePicker()
            .build()

        datePickerDialog.addOnPositiveButtonClickListener {
            // Handle date selection
        }

        // Show the date picker dialog
        datePickerDialog.show(supportFragmentManager, null)
    }
}

messageComposerView.setLeadingContent(leadingContent)

In the example above, we inflated a simple layout with a single date picker button and defined a listener to handle clicks on the button.

Message Composer
Message Composer

Date selection is not handled in this example for the sake of being concise. If you want to learn how to send a message with the selected date, consider reading the detailed guide on Custom Attachments.

It is possible to change the search method in the mention list. The UserLookupHandler is responsible for searching users when the user types @ in the message input. The default class: DefaultUserLookupHandler removes diacritics and uses the levenstein distance to include similar words in the results.

val cid = "messaging:123"
val chatClient = ChatClient.instance()
val defaultUserLookupHandler = DefaultUserLookupHandler(chatClient, cid)

val factory = MessageListViewModelFactory(
    context = appContext, cid = cid, userLookupHandler = defaultUserLookupHandler
)
val messageComposerViewModel: MessageComposerViewModel by viewModels { factory }

Custom User Lookup Handler

You can create your own implementation of UserLookupHandler to change the search method.

val cid = "messaging:123"
// Implement your custom user lookup
val customUserLookupHandler = UserLookupHandler { query ->
    queryMembers(query)
}

// Create MessageComposerViewModel for a given channel
val factory = MessageListViewModelFactory(
    context = requireContext(),
    cid = cid,
    userLookupHandler = customUserLookupHandler
)
val viewModel: MessageComposerViewModel by viewModels { factory }

// Bind MessageComposerViewModel with MessageComposerView
viewModel.bindView(messageComposerView, viewLifecycleOwner)

Transliteration

You can add transliteration to DefaultUserLookupHandler by setting the desired id for transliteration inside DefaultUserQueryFilter and passing it to DefaultUserLookupHandler constructor.

DefaultStreamTransliterator only supports transliteration prior to API 29 (Android Q) and it will not apply transliteration for APIs smaller than this.

val cid = "messaging:123"
val transliterator = DefaultStreamTransliterator(transliterationId = "Cyrl-Latn")
DefaultUserLookupHandler(
    chatClient = chatClient,
    channelCid = cid,
    localFilter = DefaultUserQueryFilter(transliterator = transliterator),
)

You can also use your own implementation of StreamTransliterator to add support for lowers APIs. An interesting library is ICU4J

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