Develop Reference

Android: Problems with adjusting view size in an ImageButton

I'm trying something that should be simple, an imageButton and some text that says something about it. My problem is, the view of the imageButton is bigger than the image itself. I'm certain that the actual image is not like this (I've tried with several images and the result is the same). By searching online, the solution I've found is to insert the attribute "adjustViewBounds". That seemed reasonable but it didn't work. Here I leave my code and an image of how the result looks.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center|top">
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/imageButton"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:adjustViewBounds="true"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:scaleType="fitXY"
android:scaleX="0.2"
android:scaleY="0.2"
android:src="#drawable/icon1"
android:padding="0dp"/>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="DEFAULT!"
android:textSize="20sp"
/>
</LinearLayout>
image

The problem is using scaleX and scaleY to adjust the size. The button changes it's visible size, but the rest of the layout acts as if it were the original full scale.
I'd suggest using a different method of defining the size, for example:
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/imageButton"
android:layout_width="48dp"
android:layout_height="48dp"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:scaleType="fitXY"
android:src="#drawable/icon1"
android:padding="0dp"/>

Trying to get transparent bg for Cardview

I have set both the CardView's background and FrameLayout's to transparent yet the result is still a white color bg.
Is this some default behavior? What should I change to my xml layout file for having a transparent bg ?
Layout file :
<android.support.v7.widget.CardView
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:card_view="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
card_view:cardBackgroundColor="#android:color/transparent"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_margin="10dp">
<FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="140dp"
tools:layout_gravity="center">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/dayID"
android:textColor="#color/link_text_material_light"
android:textSize="26dp"
android:layout_marginLeft="20dp"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/monthID"
android:textColor="#color/link_text_material_light"
android:layout_marginLeft="60dp"
android:textSize="26dp"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/splashID"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textColor="#color/link_text_material_light"
android:textSize="26dp"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:gravity="center"
android:padding="20dp"
tools:text="Hero text" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/sunbathMinsID"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textColor="#color/link_text_material_light"
android:textSize="26dp"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:gravity="center"
android:padding="20dp"
tools:text="Hero text" />
</FrameLayout>
</android.support.v7.widget.CardView>

A transparent background can be obtained for any number of views within your XML.
This is a decent explanation for an imageview.
Set transparent background of an imageview on Android
Cardviews are a lot the same but have a little different attribute and are explained very well with the "app:cardBackgroundColor= "#android:color/transparent""
See this post for that type of attribute.
Transparent background on CardView - Android
Setting your cardView and the subsequent FrameLayout both to transparent will definitely get the job done and make both views transparent. However, the activity will always have a solid background. The Activity only doesn't have a solid background when you set a resource as the background and the views placed within that Activity will show the current background if they are set to transparent as seen in the links above.
Therefore, even though you have set your "views" to transparent, the Activity will always need a color or image to show the in background. Meaning that, yes you will still have a white background behind your cardView, unless you change that color.

How to get a semi transparent image on top of another image to hold text in android (screenshot provided)

I have an image using an image view, towards the bottom of the image I want a semi transparent view (black in color) which will hold some text view in it. Something like this
I have got the text over the image, but now I am stuck on getting the black background sort of view. I tried
<TextView
android:background="#color/lightGrey"
android:text="Swiss Chalet - Play for a chance to win free app!"/>
however it only gives a grey background to the text.
Anyone knows how can I achieve this?

Try something like this in your background
android:background="#80000000"
You can find more info on setting transparency here

In your xml, use
android:alpha=".4"
This will set the alpha value of the view. Alpha is the transparency. You can adjust to increase or decrease transparency.
Without knowing how you implemented your layout, this is a shot in the dark, but it might be helpful.
<TextView
android:id="#+id/your_id_name"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="Your text"
android:background:"#color/your_color"/>

In your colors.xml file (or wherever you're defining the color "lightGrey"), you can specify the alpha channel by adding two digits to the front of the hex code of the color (in the format AARRGGBB).
So for example, if your lightGrey colour is #555555, listing it as
<color name="lightGrey">#CC55555</color>
instead will give the color as 20% transparent and 80% opaque. 00 represents full opacity (0% transparency) and FF would correspond to 100% transparency (invisible). Hope this helps!

You could do it like this,
<FrameLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<FrameLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:alpha="0.4"
android:background="#android:color/black"/>
<TextView
android:background="#color/lightGrey"
android:text="Swiss Chalet - Play for a chance to win free app!"/>
</FrameLayout>

Try this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/icmsLrnArtListItem"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#android:color/white"
android:layout_margin="3dp"
android:padding="5dp" >
<FrameLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginBottom="5dp" >
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/icmsImageThumb"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="180dp"
android:src="#drawable/ic_launcher"
android:scaleType="fitXY" />
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="top"
android:background="#android:color/darker_gray"
android:textColor="#android:color/black"
android:text="Image Top text"
android:gravity="center"
android:textStyle="bold" />
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:background="#android:color/darker_gray"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:maxLines="2"
android:text="Image Bottom text"
android:textColor="#android:color/black"
android:shadowColor="#FFFFFF"
android:gravity="center"
android:shadowDx="2"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:shadowDy="2"
android:shadowRadius="2" />
</FrameLayout>
</LinearLayout>

Android ImageButton with gradient AND transparent image background[Image included]

Id like to achieve the effect seen in the image ive provided below.....possible?
I know how to do a gradient and I know how to set a imagebuttons src/bg to a drawable but i have nooooooo idea where to even start with pulling off both at the same time.

It's actually incredibly simple. To avoid overdraw by layering a bunch of views, just add a ColorFilter to your ImageView:
imageView.setColorFilter(Color.parseColor("#994dace3"), PorterDuff.Mode.SRC_OVER);
No added overdraw, and you can set whatever color you want, and experiment with different PorterDuff blending modes.
Example:

I know how to do a gradient and I know how to set a imagebuttons
src/bg to a drawable but i have nooooooo idea where to even start with
pulling off both at the same time
I think what you are referring to as being a gradient is actually a color with transparency value set. From what I can tell, you are looking for something like this:
You can achieve this using the following layout:
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" >
<ImageButton
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#drawable/the_picture"
android:src="#color/transparent_color" />
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="Message!" />
</RelativeLayout>
The RelativeLayout is used to position the TextView over the ImageButton. The Picture is set as the background. The src is set to a color(any color) with a transparency value between 00(completely transparent) and ff (completely opaque). In the image above, I have used a transparency of 70. So, say you pick Green(#00ff00), add transparent value to it: #7000ff00 and add it to res/values/colors.xml. You can also use it directly as I have done below.
Here's the complete xml code for the activity in the pic above:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<ImageView
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#drawable/original" />
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1" >
<ImageButton
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#drawable/original"
android:src="#7000ff00" />
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_marginTop="20dp"
android:text="Optional Message!"
android:gravity="center"
android:textColor="#android:color/white"
android:textSize="25sp" />
</RelativeLayout>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
You can set a custom font to the TextView(as in the picture you've provided) in code.

Cannot set Font size as TextView's height

In my app I set one TextView and I noticed that there were some spaces above and below the text, as in the image below.
But my expected result is this :-
I Googled lots and found this answer link, but nothing happens.
Updated :
<TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textSize="50dp"
android:background="#484848"
android:textColor="#fff"
android:text="A"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"/>
This is the tag I used for displaying text.
Updated :
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:id="#+id/rl"
tools:context=".MainActivity" >
<TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textSize="50dp"
android:background="#484848"
android:textColor="#fff"
android:text="A"
android:paddingTop="0dp"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"/>
</RelativeLayout>
Updated Image :

Actually, its a padding of 9-patch backgrounds drawable which is by default for Android TextView background. And you are just set color to it #484848. So you don't have any solution for it.
As per my concern use the same size of height (android:layout_height) for your TextView as same as your TextSize (android:textSize="50dip") of your TextView. (instead of android:layout_height="wrap_content")
Try with below code:
<TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="50dip"
android:layout_marginTop="-5dip"
android:textSize="50dip"
android:background="#484848"
android:textColor="#fff"
android:text="A"
android:includeFontPadding="false"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"/>
I also added some margin in negative. android:layout_marginTop="-5dip"
Hope this will help you a little bit.

android:layout_height="wrap_content" only works at certain times, for example, when you setHeight(), setWidth(), setText(), setMinHeight(), .... These methods will request the layout to wrap the content again.
But setTextSize() doesn't request the layout.
To trigger wrap_content to work again, you can call setMinHeight(0).