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Overview

MessageComposer is a Component that enables users to write and send a variety of messages, including text, image, video, and custom messages. Features such as Live Reaction, Attachments, and Message Editing are also supported by it.

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Usage

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Integration

The following code snippet illustrates how you can directly incorporate the MessageComposer component into your layout.xml file. 
<com.cometchat.chatuikit.messagecomposer.CometChatMessageComposer
                android:id="@+id/composer"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
The MessageComposer is responsible for managing runtime permissions. To ensure the ActivityResultLauncher is properly initialized, its object should be created in the the onCreate state of an activity. To ensure that the composer is loaded within the fragment, it is important to make sure that the fragment is loaded in the onCreate state of the activity.

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Actions

Actions dictate how a component functions. They are divided into two types: Predefined and User-defined. You can override either type, allowing you to tailor the behavior of the component to fit your specific needs.
setOnSendButtonClick
The OnSendButtonClick event gets activated when the send message button is clicked. It has a predefined function of sending messages entered in the composer EditText. However, you can overide this action with the following code snippet. 
    messageComposer.setOnSendButtonClick(new CometChatMessageComposer.SendButtonClick() {
        @Override
        public void onClick(Context context, BaseMessage baseMessage) {
            Toast.makeText(context, "OnSendButtonClicked ..", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        }
    });
setOnError
This action doesn’t change the behavior of the component but rather listens for any errors that occur in the MessageList component.
YourActivity.java
messageComposer.setOnError(new OnError() {
    @Override
    public void onError(Context context, CometChatException e) {
        //Your Exception Handling code.
    }
});
setOnTextChangedListener
Function triggered whenever the message input’s text value changes, enabling dynamic text handling.
YourActivity.java
messageComposer.setOnTextChangedListener(new CometChatTextWatcher() {
            @Override
            public void onTextChanged(CharSequence charSequence, int start, int before, int count) {

            }

            @Override
            public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int count, int after) {

            }

            @Override
            public void afterTextChanged(Editable editable) {

            }
        });

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Filters

MessageComposer component does not have any available filters.

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Events

Events are emitted by a Component. By using event you can extend existing functionality. Being global events, they can be applied in Multiple Locations and are capable of being Added or Removed. The MessageComposer Component does not emit any events of its own.

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Customization

To fit your app’s design requirements, you can customize the appearance of the MessageComposer component. We provide exposed methods that allow you to modify the experience and behavior according to your specific needs.

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Style

Using Style you can customize the look and feel of the component in your app, These parameters typically control elements such as the color, size, shape, and fonts used within the component. 
<!-- active send button drawable -->
<vector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:width="32dp"
    android:height="32dp"
    android:viewportWidth="32"
    android:viewportHeight="32">
    <path
        android:fillColor="#F76808"
        android:pathData="M16,0L16,0A16,16 0,0 1,32 16L32,16A16,16 0,0 1,16 32L16,32A16,16 0,0 1,0 16L0,16A16,16 0,0 1,16 0z" />
    <group>
        <clip-path android:pathData="M4,4h24v24h-24z" />
        <path
            android:fillColor="?attr/cometchatColorWhite"
            android:pathData="M10.767,22.723C10.465,22.843 10.178,22.818 9.907,22.646C9.636,22.474 9.5,22.223 9.5,21.894V17.673L16.423,16L9.5,14.327V10.106C9.5,9.777 9.636,9.526 9.907,9.354C10.178,9.182 10.465,9.157 10.767,9.277L24.723,15.161C25.095,15.328 25.281,15.608 25.281,16.002C25.281,16.395 25.095,16.674 24.723,16.838L10.767,22.723Z" />
    </group>
</vector>

    <!-- themes.xml -->
    <style name="CustomMessageComposerStyle" parent="CometChatMessageComposerStyle">
        <item name="cometchatMessageComposerAttachmentIconTint">#F76808</item>
        <item name="cometchatMessageComposerVoiceRecordingIconTint">#F76808</item>
        <item name="cometchatMessageComposerActiveStickerIconTint">#F76808</item>
        <item name="cometchatMessageComposerInactiveStickerIconTint">#F76808</item>
        <item name="cometchatMessageComposerAIIconTint">#F76808</item>
        <item name="cometchatMessageComposerActiveSendButtonDrawable">
            @drawable/active_send_button
        </item>
    </style>

cometChatMessageComposer.setStyle(R.style.CustomMessageComposerStyle);
To know more such attributes, visit the attributes file.

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Functionality

These are a set of small functional customizations that allow you to fine-tune the overall experience of the component. With these, you can change text, set custom icons, and toggle the visibility of UI elements. Below is a list of customizations along with corresponding code snippets
PropertyDescriptionCode
UserUsed to pass user object of which header specific details will be shown.setUser(user)
GroupUsed to pass group object of which header specific details will be shown.setGroup(Group)
disableTypingEventsUsed to disable/enable typing events , default false.disableTypingEvents(boolean)
disableSoundForMessagesUsed to toggle sound for outgoing messages.disableSoundForMessages(boolean)
setInitialComposerTextUsed to set predefined text.setInitialComposerText("Your_Text")
setMaxLineMaximum lines allowed to increase in the input field.setMaxLine(int)
setAuxiliaryButtonAlignmentcontrols position auxiliary button view , can be left or right . default right.setAuxiliaryButtonAlignment(AuxiliaryButtonsAlignment)
setDisableMentionsSets whether mentions in text should be disabled. Processes the text formatters If there are text formatters available and the disableMentions flag is set to true, it removes any formatters that are instances of CometChatMentionsFormatter..setDisableMentions(true);
setCustomSoundForMessagesUsed to give custom sounds to outgoing messages.setCustomSoundForMessages(String)
setAttachmentButtonVisibilityHides the attachment button in the composer.setAttachmentButtonVisibility(View.VISIBLE)
setStickersButtonVisibilityHides the stickers button in the composer.setStickersButtonVisibility(View.GONE)
setSendButtonVisibilityHides the send button in the composer.setSendButtonVisibility(View.VISIBLE)
setCameraAttachmentOptionVisibilityControls whether camera attachments are allowed.setCameraAttachmentOptionVisibility(View.VISIBLE)
setImageAttachmentOptionVisibilityControls whether image attachments are allowed.setImageAttachmentOptionVisibility(View.VISIBLE)
setVideoAttachmentOptionVisibilityControls whether video attachments are allowed.setVideoAttachmentOptionVisibility(View.VISIBLE)
setAudioAttachmentOptionVisibilityControls whether audio attachments are allowed.setAudioAttachmentOptionVisibility(View.VISIBLE)
setFileAttachmentOptionVisibilityControls whether file attachments are allowed.setFileAttachmentOptionVisibility(View.VISIBLE)
setPollAttachmentOptionVisibilityControls whether polls can be shared.setPollAttachmentOptionVisibility(View.VISIBLE)
setCollaborativeDocumentOptionVisibilityControls whether collaborative documents can be shared.setCollaborativeDocumentOptionVisibility(View.VISIBLE)
setCollaborativeWhiteboardOptionVisibilityControls whether collaborative whiteboards can be shared.setCollaborativeWhiteboardOptionVisibility(View.VISIBLE)

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Advanced

For advanced-level customization, you can set custom views to the component. This lets you tailor each aspect of the component to fit your exact needs and application aesthetics. You can create and define your views, layouts, and UI elements and then incorporate those into the component.

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setTextFormatters

Assigns the list of text formatters. If the provided list is not null, it sets the list. Otherwise, it assigns the default text formatters retrieved from the data source. To configure the existing Mentions look and feel check out CometChatMentionsFormatter Example
themes.xml

<style name="CustomMessageComposerMentionsStyle" parent="CometChatMessageComposerMentionsStyle">
    <item name="cometchatMentionTextAppearance">?attr/cometchatTextAppearanceBodyRegular</item>
    <item name="cometchatMentionTextColor">#000000</item>
    <item name="cometchatMentionBackgroundColor">#000000</item>
    <item name="cometchatSelfMentionTextColor">#30A46C</item>
    <item name="cometchatSelfMentionTextAppearance">?attr/cometchatTextAppearanceBodyRegular</item>
    <item name="cometchatSelfMentionBackgroundColor">#30A46C</item>
</style>

// Initialize CometChatMentionsFormatter
CometChatMentionsFormatter mentionFormatter = new CometChatMentionsFormatter(context);

// set style to customize composer mention text
mentionFormatter.setMessageComposerMentionTextStyle(context, R.style.CustomMessageComposerMentionsStyle);

// This can be passed as an array of formatter in CometChatMessageComposer by using setTextFormatters method.
List<CometChatTextFormatter> textFormatters = new ArrayList<>();
textFormatters.add(mentionFormatter);
messageComposer.setTextFormatters(textFormatters);

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setAttachmentOptions

By using setAttachmentOptions(), you can set a list of custom MessageComposerActions for the MessageComposer Component. This will override the existing list of MessageComposerActions. 
cometChatMessageComposer.setAttachmentOptions()
Example
In this example, we are overriding the existing MessageComposerActions List with Capture Photo, Go Live & Payments actions. 

    List<CometChatMessageComposerAction> actionList = new ArrayList<>();

        CometChatMessageComposerAction action1 = new CometChatMessageComposerAction();
        action1.setTitle("Custom Option 1");
        action1.setIcon(R.drawable.ic_cp_1);
        action1.setOnClick(new OnClick() {
            @Override
            public void onClick() {
                Toast.makeText(context, "Custom Option 1 !!!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        });
        actionList.add(action1);

        CometChatMessageComposerAction action2 = new CometChatMessageComposerAction();
        action2.setTitle("Custom Option 2");
        action2.setIcon(R.drawable.ic_cp_2);
        action2.setOnClick(new OnClick() {
            @Override
            public void onClick() {
                Toast.makeText(context, "Custom Option 2 !!!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        });
        actionList.add(action2);

        CometChatMessageComposerAction action3 = new CometChatMessageComposerAction();
        action3.setTitle("Custom Option 3");
        action3.setIcon(R.drawable.ic_cp_3);
        action3.setOnClick(new OnClick() {
            @Override
            public void onClick() {
                Toast.makeText(context, "Custom Option 3 !!!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        });
        actionList.add(action3);

        CometChatMessageComposerAction action4 = new CometChatMessageComposerAction();
        action4.setTitle("Custom Option 4");
        action4.setIcon(R.drawable.ic_cp_4);
        action4.setOnClick(new OnClick() {
            @Override
            public void onClick() {
                Toast.makeText(context, "Custom Option 4 !!!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        });
        actionList.add(action4);

    cometChatMessageComposer.setAttachmentOptions(actionList);

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setAuxiliaryButtonView

You can insert a custom view into the MessageComposer component to add additional functionality using the following method. 
 cometChatMessageComposer.setAuxiliaryButtonView()
Please note that the MessageComposer Component utilizes the AuxiliaryButton to provide sticker functionality. Overriding the AuxiliaryButton will subsequently replace the sticker functionality. Example
In this example, we’ll be adding a custom SOS button with click functionality. You’ll first need to create a layout file and then inflate it inside the .setAuxiliaryButtonView() function. 
ImageView imageView = new ImageView(this);
imageView.setImageResource(R.drawable.save_icon);
LinearLayout linearLayout = new LinearLayout(this);
linearLayout.setOrientation(LinearLayout.HORIZONTAL);
// code to get default auxiliary buttons
View view = CometChatUIKit
            .getDataSource()
            .getAuxiliaryOption(this,
                                user,
                                group,
                                binding.messageComposer.getComposerViewModel().getIdMap(),
                                binding.messageComposer.getAdditionParameter());

linearLayout.addView(view);
inearLayout.addView(imageView);
cometChatMessageComposer.setAuxiliaryButtonView(linearLayout);

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setSendButtonView

You can set a custom view in place of the already existing send button view. Using the following method. 
    cometChatMessageComposer.setSendButtonView(view);
Example
drawable/custom_send_button.xml
<vector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:width="32dp"
    android:height="32dp"
    android:viewportWidth="32"
    android:viewportHeight="32">
  <path
      android:pathData="M4,0L28,0A4,4 0,0 1,32 4L32,28A4,4 0,0 1,28 32L4,32A4,4 0,0 1,0 28L0,4A4,4 0,0 1,4 0z"
      android:fillColor="#EDEAFA"/>
  <path
      android:pathData="M16.977,24.922C16.612,24.922 16.349,24.792 16.188,24.531C16.026,24.271 15.888,23.945 15.773,23.555L14.531,19.43C14.458,19.169 14.432,18.961 14.453,18.805C14.474,18.643 14.56,18.482 14.711,18.32L22.688,9.719C22.734,9.672 22.758,9.62 22.758,9.563C22.758,9.505 22.737,9.458 22.695,9.422C22.654,9.385 22.604,9.367 22.547,9.367C22.495,9.362 22.445,9.383 22.398,9.43L13.828,17.438C13.656,17.594 13.49,17.682 13.328,17.703C13.167,17.719 12.961,17.688 12.711,17.609L8.492,16.328C8.117,16.213 7.807,16.078 7.563,15.922C7.318,15.76 7.195,15.5 7.195,15.141C7.195,14.859 7.307,14.617 7.531,14.414C7.755,14.211 8.031,14.047 8.359,13.922L21.797,8.773C21.979,8.706 22.148,8.654 22.305,8.617C22.466,8.576 22.612,8.555 22.742,8.555C22.997,8.555 23.198,8.628 23.344,8.773C23.49,8.919 23.563,9.12 23.563,9.375C23.563,9.51 23.542,9.656 23.5,9.813C23.463,9.969 23.412,10.138 23.344,10.32L18.227,23.688C18.081,24.063 17.906,24.362 17.703,24.586C17.5,24.81 17.258,24.922 16.977,24.922Z"
      android:fillColor="#6852D6"/>
</vector>

        ImageView imageView = new ImageView(this);
        imageView.setImageResource(R.drawable.custom_send_button);
        imageView.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View view) {
                Toast.makeText(YourActivity.this, "Custom Send Button Clicked !!!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        });
        cometChatMessageComposer.setSendButtonView(imageView);

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HeaderView

You can set custom headerView to the MessageComposer component using the following method 
cometChatMessageComposer.setHeaderView(view);
Example
In the following example, we’re going to apply a mock smart reply view to the MessageComposer Component using the .setHeaderView() method.
custom_header_layout
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout 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="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="horizontal">

    <com.google.android.material.card.MaterialCardView
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginStart="@dimen/cometchat_10dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="@dimen/cometchat_margin_1"
        android:layout_marginEnd="@dimen/cometchat_10dp"
        android:layout_marginBottom="@dimen/cometchat_margin_1"
        android:elevation="0dp"
        app:cardBackgroundColor="#EDEAFA"
        app:cardCornerRadius="@dimen/cometchat_10dp"
        app:cardElevation="0dp">

        <LinearLayout
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginStart="@dimen/cometchat_padding_3"
            android:layout_marginTop="@dimen/cometchat_padding_1"
            android:layout_marginEnd="@dimen/cometchat_padding_3"
            android:layout_marginBottom="@dimen/cometchat_padding_1"
            android:gravity="center_vertical"
            android:orientation="horizontal">

            <ImageView
                android:layout_width="20dp"
                android:layout_height="@dimen/cometchat_20dp"
                android:src="@drawable/ic_calls"
                app:tint="?attr/cometchatPrimaryColor" />

            <TextView
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_marginStart="@dimen/cometchat_margin_1"
                android:text="Notes"
                android:textAppearance="?attr/cometchatTextAppearanceBodyRegular"
                android:textColor="?attr/cometchatTextColorPrimary" />
        </LinearLayout>
    </com.google.android.material.card.MaterialCardView>

</LinearLayout>

View view = getLayoutInflater().inflate(R.layout.custom_header_layout, null);
cometChatMessageComposer.setHeaderView(view);