How to color code individual rows in ListView as is done in MESSAGING app?

Question

How can I color code individual rows in a ListView exactly like it is done in the native MESSAGING app? I do NOT want to simply do alternating rows, but I want to copy the format used in the MESSAGING app, where message rows have a different background color based on the username of the message.

FYI: I am currently extending SimpleAdapter and overriding getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) . In this method I am trying to calculate setting the background color based on the position as compared to a list of 'positions to highlight' that I am maintaining each time I update the list, but so far this is only working the first time the list is updated.

In class that overrides SimpleAdapter:

@Override
public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
  View view = super.getView(position, convertView, parent);  

  if(highlightPositions.contains(new Integer(position))){
      view.setBackgroundColor(highlightColor);        
  }
  else{
      view.setBackgroundColor(normalColor);      
  }   
  return view;
}

Thank you for any guidance you can offer!

Answer 1

I think you need to call notifyDataSetChanged() on your ListAdapter. This forces the list to refresh, calling your overridden getView() method.

Answer 2

Thanks for the help. Actually, the code I listed does in fact work. The problem turned out to be a small mistake in my keeping track of the list positions to highlight in the highlightPositions list. Once I corrected that, and in fact highlightPositions list did indeed contain the correct positions to highlight, then it worked properly.