Develop Reference

TextView cutting off content

I have a TextView within a ScrollView all wrapped in a LinearLayout and the end of the TextView is getting cutoff (multiple lines).
This is the XML:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:baselineAligned="false">
<ScrollView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv_description"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="8dp"
android:text=""
android:textSize="10dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:layout_gravity="fill_vertical" />
</ScrollView>
</LinearLayout>
The TextView is cutting off regardless of whether the pane scrolls or not and it's driving me mad! Any help?!

<ScrollView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">//try this
if this doesnt solve the problem then:-
also you can try using ScrollView as a parent view.No need of that Linear layout if it just contains a single child(TextView)

Update. I 'fixed' the issue by changing the type of the fragment to work as a RecyclerFragment. Which when the fragment is added to the rest of the structure stops the cut-off!
I've inherited this app mid-development and the hand-over was...finish this app and fix the bugs, so I am finding my way through wearing a blindfold!
Thanks anyway!

Setting maximum height on RecyclerView

I have a dialog fragment that contains linear layout that involves a titleText above a RecyclerView, and at the very bottom, there's a button below the recyclerView.
Since a recyclerView expands or collapses based on the number of items the adapter sets, the button sometimes gets truncated and no longer appears to be on screen, since the recyclerView just covers the entire screen.
My question is, is there a way to set the maximum height of the recyclerView without ever hiding the button underneath. I also don't want to just give the view a random height just in case the recyclerView contains no items, and it would just be a blank section.
Please let me know if you've ever run into this issue, and how you resolved this. Thanks!

UPDATED
You can achieve this easily using layout weights. Here's an example:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical">
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="Title"
android:textSize="21sp"/>
<android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:paddingBottom="30dp">
</android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView>
</LinearLayout>
<Button
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:text="Submit"/>
</FrameLayout>
The Title and RecyclerView will wrap content according to contents and button will always take up bottom place.

I suggest using RelativeLayout as it handles the positioning of views for cases like yours, so that you can actually focus on main design.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<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">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/title"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:text="Some title" />
<android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
android:id="#+id/recyclerView"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_below="#+id/title"
android:layout_above="#+id/button"/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/button"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:gravity="center"/>
</RelativeLayout>
Above XML code is the skeleton code for what you need. you can add margins and dimensions to control the spacing. But in any case (until you provide negative margins) your views will never overlap each other.
Main trick of using RelativeLayout is the ability to use XML tags like
android:layout_below or android:layout_above or android:layout_start
or android:layout_end which perfectly aligns your view the way you
want.

How can I create a multiline, multicolumn list item layout?

I am creating a messaging app and am currently working on the inbox. I'm using a RecyclerView to display the list of conversations and would like each list item to look like this:
Leftmost is the contact image at 90dp x 90dp
The first row has two columns--the contact name and the date. The date should not be a fixed size as I currently have it, but fit at most DD/MM/YYYY (can be smaller in the case of something like "Sunday") and should be anchored to the right margin. The contact(s) should expand as necessary to fill any space up to the date.
The second row contains as much text of the last message as will fit.
I was going to use layout_weight but that doesn't work in a RelativeLayout (and doesn't allow the contact names to elongate in the case of a shorter date) and LinearLayout doesn't let me use layout_toEndOf. I'm a newbie at Android development so I'm not sure if one of those is the "right" answer.
What's the proper way of accomplishing the layout I'm looking for?
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/conversation_info"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:padding="#dimen/activity_horizontal_margin">
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/conversation_image_layout"
android:layout_width="90dp"
android:layout_height="90dp">
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/conversation_contact_image"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" />
</RelativeLayout>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/conversation_contact_name"
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginTop="#dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:gravity="center_vertical"
android:textSize="#dimen/conversations_contact_font_size"
android:layout_toEndOf="#id/conversation_image_layout" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/conversation_date"
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_toEndOf="#id/conversation_contact_name"
android:gravity="right"
android:paddingRight="#dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:textSize="#dimen/conversations_date_font_size" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/conversation_snippet"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#id/conversation_contact_name"
android:textSize="#dimen/conversations_snippet_font_size"
android:layout_toRightOf="#id/conversation_image_layout" />
</RelativeLayout>
</LinearLayout>
This is what a list item currently looks like (I haven't loaded contact images yet). It's fine for the most part (though my layout code is probably incredibly bloated so I'd appreciate if anyone could point out ways to make it more concise) but notice how the date isn't on the same level as the contact name and wraps:

One of the textView in question has the MarginTop attribute, and the other one doesn't. Either remove it on both or add it to both:
<TextView
android:id="#+id/conversation_contact_name"
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginTop="#dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:gravity="center_vertical"
android:textSize="#dimen/conversations_contact_font_size"
android:layout_toEndOf="#id/conversation_image_layout" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/conversation_date"
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_toEndOf="#id/conversation_contact_name"
android:gravity="right"
android:layout_marginTop="#dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:paddingRight="#dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:textSize="#dimen/conversations_date_font_size" />
Also, I'd recommend that you use Linear Layouts with nested Linear Layouts and weights, for better performance on different screens and devices. This may all fall apart if you run it on a different device. Don't trust me, try it :)

After it became clear to me that some of the layout parameters didn't mean what I thought they did, I spent some more time looking at my choices.
It is not recommended to nest LinearLayouts/use layout_weight within a list item, as the number of views created increases rapidly as more items are added. I managed to minify my code and keep it in a single RelativeLayout with the following code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/conversation_info"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="#dimen/activity_horizontal_margin">
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/conversation_contact_image"
android:layout_width="64dp"
android:layout_height="64dp"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/conversation_contact_name"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textSize="#dimen/conversations_contact_font_size"
android:layout_toEndOf="#id/conversation_contact_image"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/conversation_date"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentEnd="true"
android:layout_alignBaseline="#id/conversation_contact_name"
android:textSize="#dimen/conversations_date_font_size"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/conversation_snippet"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#id/conversation_contact_name"
android:textSize="#dimen/conversations_snippet_font_size"
android:layout_toEndOf="#id/conversation_contact_image"/>
</RelativeLayout>
Notable changes:
No nested tags - It was unnecessary to group the first line in its own layout
Used layout_alignBaseline - #Vucko pointed out that I was using marginTop on the contact name but not the date. Even after removing it, the two were still misaligned. android:gravity had no effect and it turns out none of these actually affect the text inside the layout
Used layout_alignParentEnd to fix the date issue. I've realized that in my case, a layout component usually only needs to reference one other in order to properly align itself relative to the rest of the layout.

Android: ListView pushes out everything else below it

In my app, there is a tabbed activity with three fragments. The first fragment has a form to create a new task, the second fragment has the list of all the saved tasks, and the third fragment will show the comments on a task when selected from the list in the second fragment. The third fragment is also supposed to act like a chat activity which posts comments when you type them in and tap the send button. The XML layout of this third fragment is as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout 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:background="#android:color/darker_gray"
android:orientation="vertical"
tools:context="com.example.ishita.assigntasks.CommentsFragment">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/frag_task_details"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#dd55ff"
android:padding="10dp" />
<ListView
android:id="#+id/frag_comment_list"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:transcriptMode="normal" />
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:background="#android:color/white">
<EditText
android:id="#+id/frag_msg_edit"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:inputType="textMultiLine"
android:layout_weight="1" />
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/frag_send_btn"
style="?android:attr/buttonStyleSmall"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="0"
android:background="#android:color/background_light"
android:contentDescription="#string/send_btn"
android:src="#android:drawable/ic_menu_send" />
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
As you can see, there is a TextView and a ListView and below that is another LinearLayout. Here is how it should look (the purple bar is the TextView):
And here is how it actually looks:
The TextView shows up above the ListView, but the LinearLayout does not. It is there, though. If I do android:layout_marginBottom="20dp" on the outermost LinearLayout, it does show up, but the ActionBar scrolls up and overlaps with the notification bar so that the title on the ActionBar and the notifications on the notification bar are both visible simultaneously and neither is legible.
I searched a lot and this seemed a common issue, but none of the solutions helped me. Believe me, I tried everything I could find. I tried wrapping the whole thing in a FrameLayout, using a RelativeLayout in place of the outermost LinearLayout, using two LinearLayouts--one to wrap the TextView and the ListView and the other to wrap the EditText and the ImageButton, etc., but nothing was able to show the bottom LinearLayout below the ListView. I even tried to set focus on the EditText when the fragment launches so that the keyboard would show and I can type, but even that doesn't help.
Note: On the other hand, if I use the exact same layout on an activity, the bottom LinearLayout displays exactly as it should.
I am unable to find the bug. Please help!

It looks like your toolbar pushes fragment layout down without decreasing its height. I have no idea why this happens (there are no root layout code here).
As a workaround you can set fragments layout bottom margin to ?attr/actionBarSize

As you have given layout_weight 1 in listview layout, so it occupies the whole space available. In order to get rid of you have to give some static height or use layout_weight in right manner
<ListView
android:id="#+id/frag_comment_list"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="500dp"
android:transcriptMode="normal" />
or try like this
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout 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:background="#android:color/darker_gray"
android:orientation="vertical"
tools:context="com.example.ishita.assigntasks.CommentsFragment">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/frag_task_details"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#dd55ff"
android:padding="10dp" />
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:background="#android:color/white">
<ListView
android:id="#+id/frag_comment_list"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:transcriptMode="normal" />
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:background="#android:color/white">
<EditText
android:id="#+id/frag_msg_edit"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:inputType="textMultiLine"
android:layout_weight="1" />
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/frag_send_btn"
style="?android:attr/buttonStyleSmall"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="0"
android:background="#android:color/background_light"
android:contentDescription="#string/send_btn"
android:src="#android:drawable/ic_menu_send" />
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>

All,
Thank you for all your responses. I found a workaround by trial and error now and thought I should post the answer for others who face the same issue. I set android:layout_marginBottom="50dp" on the inner LinearLayout (the one wrapping the comments bar--EditText and ImageButton). Somehow, this sets the layout correctly and the fragment functions properly in both Lollipop and Jellybean OS's. I haven't tested on other OS versions.

First of all you should read this, what is layout_weight and how it works.
You assigned layout_weight to ListView as 1, it means it covers whole height. just change it to 0.7 or any proportion you want (less than 1) will solve the problem.
<ListView
android:id="#+id/frag_comment_list"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="0.7"
android:transcriptMode="normal" />

Layout issue with Android Studio

Recently picking up android development, I have hit a snag in the road. I'm having trouble positioning my layouts. Screenshots are as follows:
I'm trying to input either another layout type/list view in the upper section of the screen, without disrupting the button/text box at the bottom, though.. When extending this layout. I hit the following snag:
The entire contents of the original frame shift when the box of the new layout is extended, I've tried modifying:
android:layout_gravity="top">
and other layout attributes such as weight, margin, height/width.. This always hits the same problem.
My XML for this view is:
<LinearLayout 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:orientation="horizontal" >
<FrameLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="483dp"
android:layout_weight="1.06"
android:layout_gravity="top">
</FrameLayout>
<EditText android:id="#+id/edit_message"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:hint="#string/edit_message"
android:layout_gravity="bottom" />
<Button
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/button_send"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:onClick="SendMessageButton"
/>
</LinearLayout>
Though, i'm some-what stuck on how to make the correct changes & any response to this question would be greatly appreciated!

At the moment, all your child views live inside a single horizontally-oriented LinearLayout. LinearLayouts always arrange views sequentially, as you are experiencing.
There are a couple different ways to achieve the layout you are looking for. I'm going to suggest one that uses nested LinearLayouts (an outer one to stack things vertically, and then a nested one to arrange the EditText and Button horizontally), but you could also consider using a RelativeLayout for this.
Updated layout:
<LinearLayout
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:orientation="vertical">
<FrameLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1" />
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<EditText
android:id="#+id/edit_message"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:hint="#string/edit_message" />
<Button
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/button_send"
android:onClick="SendMessageButton" />
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
Note that a LinearLayout is oriented horizontally by default; I have explicitly included the attribute here to make the structure more clear.

The reason, your button and editText is appearing far from the frame layout and not near the corner is the parent layout orientation is Horizontal.
Change it to Vertical.
Now, if you need your button and editText to be arranged in the same line, it should be mentioned as described in samgak answer.
However, i would like to suggest the following.
Using framelayout might create bad user experience across different screen sizes in android.
If the parent layout in Linear, if the screen size is x and all your components added if the height it takes is x-20, then the theme you set for parent layout would not cover the entire screen. Therefore, it is recommended to use RelativeLayout and for the button and editText, use the layout_alignParentBottom = true attribute.
If needed, i can share the code sample for this. Added Vertical Scroll to the layout.
<ScrollView 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"
>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<FrameLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="483dp"
android:layout_gravity="top">
</FrameLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<EditText android:id="#+id/edit_message"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:hint="Edit Message"
android:layout_gravity="bottom" />
<Button
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Send"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:onClick="SendMessageButton"
/>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>