How can I do something, 0.5 second after text changed in my EditText?

Question

I am filtering my list using an EditText. I want to filter the list 0.5 second after user has finished typing in EditText. I used the afterTextChanged event of TextWatcher for this purpose. But this event rises for each character changes in EditText.

What should I do?

Answer 1

editText.addTextChangedListener(
    new TextWatcher() {
        @Override public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before, int count) { }
        @Override public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int count, int after) { }

        private Timer timer=new Timer();
        private final long DELAY = 1000; // milliseconds

        @Override
        public void afterTextChanged(final Editable s) {
            timer.cancel();
            timer = new Timer();
            timer.schedule(
                new TimerTask() {
                    @Override
                    public void run() {
                        // TODO: do what you need here (refresh list)
                        // you will probably need to use runOnUiThread(Runnable action) for some specific actions (e.g. manipulating views)
                    }
                }, 
                DELAY
            );
        }
    }
);

The trick is in canceling and re-scheduling Timer each time, when text in EditText gets changed. Good luck!

UPDATE For those interested in how long to set the delay, see this post.