Live Templates in Android Studio: From Built-In to Custom Shortcuts

Android Studio's Live Templates feature significant accelerates coding by providing predefined code blocks triggered by simple keywords or suffixes. This article covers built-in templates and demonstrates how to create custom ones tailored to your workflow.

Understanding Live Templates

Live Templates are shorthand strings that expand into common code structures. They are configured under Settings → Editor → Live Templates. There are two activation modes:

• Full keyword type: Type a keyword and press Enter (e.g., loge expands to Log.e(TAG, "");).
• Postfix type: Type an object, a dot, then a keyword and press Enter (e.g., view.notnull expands to a null check).

Essential Built-In Full Keyword Templates

• fbc — Expands to findViewById with proper cast:

  private Button button;
  button = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button);
  

• const — Defines an integer constant: private static final int CONST_NAME = 0;
• key — Defines a String constant: private static final String KEY_NAME = "";
• psf — Creates public static final field.
• fori — Generates a standard for loop over an index variable.
• sout — Expands to System.out.println();.
• ifn — Creates a null check if (variable == null) { }.
• inn — Creates a not-null check if (variable != null) { }.
• gone — Sets visibility to GONE: view.setVisibility(View.GONE);.
• rouiT — Wraps code in a runOnUiThread block:

  runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
      @Override
      public void run() {
          // code
      }
  });
  

• Sfmt — Quickly formats a string using String.format().
• ViewConstructors — Generates all three constructors for a custom View class.

Essential Built-In Postfix Templates

Apply these after an expression (object, variable, etc.):

• .notnull / .null — Surrounds with null check.
• .var — Declares a local variable initialized with the expression.
• .field — Creates a class-level field initialized with the expression.
• .for — Generates an enhanced for-each loop.
• .fori — Generates a standard for loop over an array or list.
• .forr — Generates a reverse for loop.
• .return — Returns the expression.
• .cast — Casts the expression to a type.
• .try — Wraps the expreession in a try-catch block.
• .format — Wraps the string expression in String.format().
• .switch — Creates a switch statement using the expression.

Creating Custom Live Templates

Custom templates save time on repetitive patterns. First, create a new group (e.g., MyTemplates) under Live Templates.

1. Singleton Pattern

• Abbreviation: sin
• Description: Generates a thread-safe singleton.
• Template text:

  private static final $CLASS$ ourInstance = new $CLASS$();
  
  public static $CLASS$ getInstance() {
      return ourInstance;
  }
  
  private $CLASS$() {}
  

• Edit variables: Set variable $CLASS$ with expression className().

2. Activity Click Listener

• Abbreviation: click
• Template text:

  public void onClick(View view) {
      switch (view.getId()) {
          case R.id.$resId$:
              $content$;
              break;
          default:
              break;
      }
  }
  

• Edit variables: Define $resId$ (no expression, just a placeholder) and $content$ (no expression).

3. Location-Aware Log

• Abbreviation: dl

• Template text:

  Log.e("$class$", "$method$($class$.java:$line$)" + $content$);
  

• Edit variables:

  • $class$ — expression: className()
  • $method$ — expression: methodName()
  • $line$ — expression: lineNumber()
  • $content$ — no expression

  The logcat output becomes clickable because it contains the pattern (ClassName.java:lineNumber). If additional lines are added later, the line number becomes inaccurate. Consider using a logging utility like ELog for robust tracking.

4. Switch Statement Skeleton

• Abbreviation: sw
• Template text:

  switch ($content$) {
      case $value$:
          $code$;
          break;
      default:
          break;
  }
  

• Edit variables: $content$, $value$, $code$ are plain placeholders.

5. Non-Empty String Check

• Abbreviation: nes
• Template text:

  TextUtils.isEmpty($content$)
  

Configuring Variable Expressions

When editing variables for a custom template, you can use predefined expressions:

The Skip if defined checkbox makes the cursor skip that variable if a default value is already set, moving directly to the next editable field.

For the complete list of expressions, refer to the IntelliJ documentation.

Custom templates can be exported and shared; the author's collection is available on GitHub.