Develop Reference

Left view will take up all the space in a horizontal LinearLayout

I have two TextView (tv1 and tv2), and I want tv2 to be on the right of tv1, like this:
short text
or
long text
(Sorry I can't embed images because I don't have enough reputation : (
So I make a layout like this:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="*" />
</LinearLayout>
If the text of tv1 is within one line, everything is perfect. But if the text is more than one line, tv1 will take all the space:
tv1 take all the space
I think it may be because of Android lays out views in the order in which they appear in the layout file, so I change the root view from LinearLayour to ConstraintLayout and make tv2 first:
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="*"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toRightOf="#+id/tv1"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#+id/tv1"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
This still doesn't work. I know I can use setLayoutParams to set tv1's width programmatically, but is there any other way besides programming?

At last I managed to make it by using padding:
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context=".MainActivity">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:paddingRight="12sp"
android:text="HelloWorld"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv2"
android:layout_width="12sp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="*"
app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="#id/tv1"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#id/tv1" />
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
The point is using tv2's right-to-right constraint for tv1, and setting a fixed size width of tv2 and padding-right size of tv1. So tv2 overlays on top (and inside) of tv1.

Try this its works for me. You have to set layout_width="0dp" and layout_weight="1" in both TextView.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv1"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:textSize="20dp"
android:text="hello world ********** welcome"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv2"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:textSize="20dp"
android:text="hello world ********** welcome" />
</LinearLayout>

Finally found a perfect way to archive this:
Change LinearLayout to TableLayout + TableRow
Use the shrinkColumns attribute of TableLayout to specify the zero-based index of the columns to shrink. I set it to 0 because I want tv1 to be shrinkable so that it will not take up all the space
<TableLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<TableRow
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="*" />
</TableRow>
</TableLayout>

TextView does not stick to the right

I want to set the TextView stick to right top.
My code is:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context="Test.test.MainActivity">
<FrameLayout
android:id="#+id/fragmentContainer"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_marginTop="42dp"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="42dp"
android:layout_marginRight="0dp"
android:text="#string/Title1"
android:textSize="30dp" />
</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>
I try to set the TextView:
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_marginRight="0dp"
android:layout_marginTop="0dp"
But nothing work, the TextView stay in the left top.
Someone have idea for solution?
UPDATE:
How to stick left TextViewto another TextView that stick to the right parent?
I try set the wight and nothing..
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="0"
android:layout_height="42dp"
app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
android:text="#string/Title1"
android:textSize="30dp" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:layout_height="42dp"
app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
android:text="#string/Title2"
android:textSize="30dp" />
I want textView2 will be stick to left textView1.
Find solution to update
I just set in textview2
app:layout_constraintBaseline_toBaselineOf="#+id/textView1"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toStartOf="#+id/textView1"
Thanks,
Tal

In Constraint Layout, set the right constraint of the TextView to right of the parent layout to align it to right
Add following constraint to your TextView
app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
like this
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textViewHowMuchSigned"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="42dp"
app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
android:text="#string/Title"
android:textSize="30dp" />

Relative Layout, align center of parent and right of view with no overlap

I am trying to align a TextView to be centered in a relative layout but also to the right of an ImageView. I would like it to look like this.
[-(image)-----some text here------------]
I'm able to do this with the code below, but if the text becomes too long it overlaps the image.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:paddingTop="#dimen/small_padding"
android:paddingBottom="#dimen/small_padding"
android:background="#color/White">
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/navMenu"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:src="#drawable/home_icon"
android:layout_marginEnd="#dimen/small_padding"
android:contentDescription="#string/abc_search_hint"
android:layout_alignParentStart="true" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/actionBarTitle"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/profile"
android:textSize="24sp"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:textColor="#color/Black"
android:maxLines="1"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:contentDescription="#string/title_activity_connect"
android:layout_centerInParent="true" />
</RelativeLayout>
I have tried aligning the TextView to the right of the ImageView but it stops centering in parent if I do that. Any help is appreciated

You could try something like this. I used a radio group instead of a linear layout for this but it should still work. Have a the linear layout horizontal as you already do and then make the layout gravity center then just put the image first then the text view
<RadioGroup
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:paddingTop="20dp">
<RadioButton
android:id="#+id/radio_student"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/checkbox_student"
android:onClick="onRadioButtonClicked"
android:layout_marginEnd="30dp"
android:layout_marginRight="30dp"/>
<RadioButton
android:id="#+id/radio_teacher"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/checkbox_teacher"
android:onClick="onRadioButtonClicked"
android:layout_marginStart="30dp"
android:layout_marginLeft="30dp"/>
</RadioGroup>
EDIT:
I don't know if the margin attributes for the buttons I have work on text views but padding left on the text might work

try this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:paddingTop="#dimen/small_padding"
android:paddingBottom="#dimen/small_padding"
android:background="#color/White">
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/navMenu"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:src="#drawable/home_icon"
android:layout_marginEnd="#dimen/small_padding"
android:contentDescription="#string/abc_search_hint"
android:layout_alignParentStart="`enter code here`true" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/actionBarTitle"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/profile"
android:textSize="24sp"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:textColor="#color/Black"
android:maxLines="1"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:contentDescription="#string/title_activity_connect"
android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/navMenu"
android:alignParentRight="true"
android:gravity="center" />
</RelativeLayout>

You could (and should, for performance sake), use a compound drawable for the TextView (and get rid of the ImageView)
You want the image to stay on the Left part of the TextView, so use android:drawableLeft:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:paddingTop="#dimen/small_padding"
android:paddingBottom="#dimen/small_padding"
android:background="#color/White"
>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/actionBarTitle"
android:drawableLeft="#drawable/home_icon"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/profile"
android:textSize="24sp"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:textColor="#color/Black"
android:maxLines="1"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:contentDescription="#string/title_activity_connect"
android:centerInParent="true"
android:gravity="center"
/>
</RelativeLayout>

RelativeLayout: align View centered horizontal or vertical relative to other view

Is it possible to align a view in XML in a RelativeLayout centered horizontal or vertical according another already existing view.
For example: lets say there is something like this:
The second text view should be displayed centered below the first text view:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_marginLeft="72dp"
android:text="dynamic text" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/second"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#id/textView"
android:layout_marginLeft="43dp" <!-- Is there a rule to center it? -->
android:text="centered below text 1" />
</RelativeLayout>
Is is possible to implement something like that in XML? Is there a rule that i have missed yet? I do not want to calculate the position programmatically

I have a much better solution than the accepted one. NO EXTRA NESTING! You can do this by combining two attributes on the smaller view. if you are centering horizontally you can use both align_start & align_end to the bigger view. Make sure the text gravity is centered btw "android:gravity="center". For Vertical alignment use both align_top & align_bottom. below is the modified implementation of your layout.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:paddingLeft="43dp" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignStart="#+id/second"
android:layout_alignEnd="#+id/second"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="dynamic text" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/second"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#id/textView"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="centered below text 1" />
</RelativeLayout>
No need for unnecessary nesting like the accepted answer.

Use a separate parent layout for those views and add it in your main layout(can contain other things if you have)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:gravity="center"
android:layout_marginLeft = "30dp">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="dynamic text" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/second"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="centered below text 1" />
</LinearLayout>
...
...
other veiws go here
...
</RelativeLayout>

Use the followings which suits you
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"

Correct solution is to use ConstraintLayout
I tried to align a textview horizontally below a button in a RelativeLayout but it was not possible as align_bottom and layout_below didn't play well together. Finally i picked up constraintLayout and tried the same logic and it worked like a charm. here is the code below.
<android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:clipChildren="false"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<Button
android:id="#+id/episode_recording_header_stop"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#mipmap/ic_launcher"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintVertical_bias="0.399" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/button_selected_text"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_margin="8dp"
android:textAlignment="center"
android:textColor="#android:color/black"
android:textSize="12sp"
android:text="text which is exactly center aligned w.r.t the Button above"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="#+id/episode_recording_header_stop"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#+id/episode_recording_header_stop"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#+id/episode_recording_header_stop"
/>
</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>
The final output is attached below

Do this->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:text="dynamic text" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/second"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#+id/textView"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" <!-- Is there a rule to center it? -->
android:text="centered below text 1" />
</RelativeLayout>

I found the solution:
Wrap the content into another RelativeLayout and then you can place this LayoutWrapper wherever you want:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_marginLeft="58dp"
android:layout_marginTop="58dp" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:text="dynamic text" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/second"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#+id/textView"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:text="centered below text 1" />
</RelativeLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

If you need to use RelativeLayout please don't use the nested layouts as far as possible. Today we have many other efficient cases to solve your task. But with use of the old faithful RelativeLayout the better way is to use attributes android:layout_alignTop, android:layout_alignBottom and android:gravity. For example, you would like to align TextView according to EditText vertically.
<RelativeLayout ...>
...
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv1"
...
android:gravity="center"
android:layout_alignTop="#+id/edt1"
android:layout_alignBottom="#id/edt1"/>
<EditText
android:id="#+id/edt1"
...
android:layout_toRightOf="#id/tv1"/>
</RelativeLayout>
In the same way you can use android:layout_alignLeft, android:layout_alignRight and android:gravity or android:layout_alignStart, android:layout_alignEnd and android:gravity horizontally.

layout_gravity not working

Why my TextView doesn't go right?
Update: Well, now I don't just need to set TextView to the right. Now it is very interesting why layout_gravity doesn't work as expected, namely - set the View to the position inside it parent container.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:minHeight="?android:attr/listPreferredItemHeight"
style="#style/activated_item"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<CheckBox
android:id="#+id/star"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:layout_marginLeft="8dp"
style="?android:attr/starStyle"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/title"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
android:layout_marginLeft="8dp"
android:layout_gravity="right" //////// HERE I AM
android:textStyle="bold"
android:textColor="#color/item_text_color"/>
</LinearLayout>

Try to use gravity instead of layout_gravity.

I have found 2 solutions to that:
Set android:orientation="vertical".
Use FrameLayout instead of LinearLayout as the parent for your text/checkbox widgets. It is not primary usage of FrameLayout but that advice is also noted in Android documentation:
... You can, however, add multiple children to a
FrameLayout and control their position within the FrameLayout by
assigning gravity to each child, using the android:layout_gravity
attribute.

Because you set orientation to horizontal, which means you cannot manually change horizontal position of your child views.

try this...
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:minHeight="?android:attr/listPreferredItemHeight"
style="#style/activated_item"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<CheckBox
android:id="#+id/star"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:layout_marginLeft="8dp"
style="?android:attr/starStyle"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/title"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
android:layout_marginLeft="40dp"
android:gravity="right" //////// HERE I AM
android:textStyle="bold"
android:textColor="#color/item_text_color"/>

you could use weight also try this one
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:minHeight="?android:attr/listPreferredItemHeight"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<CheckBox
android:id="#+id/star"
style="?android:attr/starStyle"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:layout_marginLeft="8dp"
android:layout_weight="1" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/title"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:layout_marginLeft="8dp"
android:text="TEST"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
android:textStyle="bold" />
</LinearLayout>
the gravity is just to center the text ,what makes it go right is the weight