Develop Reference

Why my TextView under an ImageView is not showing

I am writing an Android game. In the level selection activity's layout file, I want to layout the levels' buttons (They are actually ImageViews) like this:
x x x
x x x
And each level button has a TextView, with that level's name as the text, below it (Let's call these two views together as a "level choice"). I used a lot of LinearLayouts to do this. Here is the code for a level choice:
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:gravity="center_horizontal"
android:layout_weight="1">
<ImageView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:src="#drawable/angles"/>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/angles_level"
android:textSize="#dimen/level_text_size"/>
</LinearLayout>
As you can see, the two views' height and width are all wrap_content. But when I look at the designer, the text view doesn't show up.When I select the text view in the component tree, it shows where the text view is:
P.S. The picture isn't showing all six levels because I haven't made them yet.
As you can see, the text view is right at the bottom! When I select the ImageView, it shows that it is occupying all the space of its parent!
I don't know why this is happening, my image is certainly a square! Can you explain why this is happening and how do I fix it?
If you need my whole layout code, feel free to tell me in the comments.

For me, the best solution is to position and size it properly by code (where you have total control) instead of xml.
Anyway, i think your problem can be solved by setting ImageViews ScaleType
imageView1.setScaleType(ScaleType.FIT_START);
By XML:
android:scaleType="fit_start"
Hope this helps.

I use background color for textview when I'm studying the layout.
If you use wrap content in both dimension for TextView, that is invisible since you did not write any text inside it. wrap content means that the view take the minimum space. And no text means 0px; try to set ImageView and TextView with layout_weight 1 and layout_height 0dp. In this way both view take half of space of parent layout

Because right now, your LinearLayout doesn't know how to distribute the ratio of its children. And in fact, your imageview's wrap content already
consumes the whole space.
So, LinearLayout says "Sorry TextView, you have no space left".
Use layout_weight to both of the children.
I guess you want to have your picture twice the size of your text.
2:1
That is,
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:gravity="center_horizontal"
android:layout_weight="1">
<ImageView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight=2
android:src="#drawable/angles"/>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight=1
android:text="#string/angles_level"
android:textSize="#dimen/level_text_size"/>
</LinearLayout>

I just realized that I posted a question about ImageViews leaving out too much whitespace:
LinearLayout leaving out too much white space. Why?
I think this is the same as that problem. So I tried setting adjustViewBounds to true in the xml. And it works! Now the image view look like this:
<ImageView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:adjustViewBounds="true"
android:src="#drawable/parallel_lines"/>

You can use relative layout
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center_horizontal">
<ImageView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:src="#drawable/angles"/>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/angles_level"
android:textSize="#dimen/level_text_size"/>
</RelativeLayout>
or simple you can set background of textview to that image by putting this
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center_horizontal"
>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/angles_level"
android:background="#drawable/angles"
android:textSize="#dimen/level_text_size"/>

Nearly-wrapping TextView is clipping ImageView in LinearLayout

I have a horizontal LinearLayout set to wrap_content. Inside is a vertical LinearLayout containing a single TextView that allows multiple lines (also wrap_content) and an ImageButton (wrap_content). Several of the components have margins and padding so things space out nicely.
When the text in the TextView is short, everything is fine. When the text wraps to multiple lines, still fine. When the text is almost long enough to wrap, the ImageButton gets clipped horizontally - its left and right sides are lopped off. If I pull out the margins and padding it works, but of course it doesn't look good.
My guess is that the layout system is calculating the text width without taking into account some of the margins and padding. Then it's laying things out, and there's less total space than that first pass at the TextView thought, so it's clipping the second item in the layout and honoring the calculated TextView width. But that is just a guess.
Short of writing my own layout, any ideas?
EDIT
Here's a screen shot from hierarchy viewer, showing where the ImageButton is clipped and with the relevant XML highlighted. The ImageButton's bounds are consistent with what I'm seeing: 27dp wide, whereas the circle image itself is actually 36dp wide, and the ImageButton has 4dp padding specified on each side.
Again, I had to choose that text carefully: any shorter and the button is fine; longer and it would wrap, and the button's fine again.
EDIT
And, here's my XML:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/messageBubble"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:minHeight="#dimen/message_bubble_min_height"
android:layout_alignTop="#id/avatar"
android:layout_alignLeft="#id/avatar"
android:layout_marginTop="#dimen/message_bubble_margin_top"
android:layout_marginLeft="#dimen/message_bubble_inset"
android:layout_marginRight="#dimen/message_inbound_padding_inside"
android:paddingLeft="#dimen/message_bubble_padding_outside"
android:paddingRight="#dimen/message_bubble_padding_inside"
android:paddingTop="#dimen/message_bubble_padding_v"
android:paddingBottom="#dimen/message_bubble_padding_v"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/contentContainer"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="left"
android:orientation="vertical">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/messageBody"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginLeft="#dimen/message_body_margin_outside"
android:layout_marginRight="#dimen/message_body_margin_inside"
android:layout_marginTop="#dimen/message_body_margin_v"
android:layout_marginBottom="#dimen/message_body_margin_v"
android:gravity="left"
android:autoLink="all"
android:textSize="17dp" />
</LinearLayout>
<include layout="#layout/view_message_action_btn" />
</LinearLayout>
And the included view_message_action_btn:
<ImageButton xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/actionButton"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#null"
android:src="#drawable/action_btn"
android:paddingLeft="#dimen/message_action_btn_padding_h"
android:paddingRight="#dimen/message_action_btn_padding_h" />

Icon with text inside - how to define in layout?

I want to have a TextView (to show a count) hovering over an icon in the ActionBar. What I did was have a RelativeLayout, set a background to it, then put that TextView in that layout and screw with the margin until it fits, but that is broken as soon as the text length varies.
Setting a background on the TextView isn't great either because I can't position the text in relation to the icon.
Here's my XML:
<?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:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_gravity="fill_horizontal" >
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:background="#drawable/cart" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="0"
android:layout_marginTop="5dp" android:layout_marginLeft="43dp"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium" />
</RelativeLayout> </RelativeLayout>
and here is a screenshot to show you what I mean:
Is there a stress-free way, a library perhaps, that lets me set a TextView over a Drawable so that the TextView is always centered/ positioned?

Setting a background on the TextView isn't great either because I can't position the text in relation to the icon.
Actually you can position your text relative to your icon. You need to separate the cart icon and the number badge icon as separate images, and lay them out individually. I had to do this myself not too long ago, and I did it with a RelativeLayout, with an ImageView of the cart icon and a TextView for the numbers with a 9-patch "badge" as the background.
The trick is to align your number TextView to the left and bottom of your cart icon ImageView, and then use the left and bottom margins to push your number badge to the top and right of your cart icon. This way, the number badge is always anchored based on your cart icon.
Also, set the gravity of your TextView to center, so as the numbers grow wider, the relative position of the text is about the same. Lastly, use padding on your TextView to control how much gap there is between the edge of the number and the edge of your "badge" 9-patch.
Here's a snippet of my implementation (I've redacted some of this):
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/cartButton"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" >
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/cartIconImageView"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:src="#drawable/ic_menu_cart" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/cartBadge"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignBottom="#+id/cartIconImageView"
android:layout_alignLeft="#+id/cartIconImageView"
android:layout_marginBottom="10dp"
android:layout_marginLeft="9dp"
android:background="#drawable/state_list_cart_badge"
android:gravity="center"
android:includeFontPadding="false"
android:lines="1"
android:paddingLeft="8dp"
android:paddingRight="8dp"
android:text="7" />
</RelativeLayout>
And this is what it looks like:

Use a FrameLayout. It's always called useless but if you ask me it's perfect to lay out one View on top of another.
Quote:
Child views are drawn in a stack, with the most recently added child on top. The size of the FrameLayout is the size of its largest child (plus padding), visible or not (if the FrameLayout's parent permits). Views that are GONE are used for sizing only if setConsiderGoneChildrenWhenMeasuring() is set to true.

I would just use a TextView, and set a 9 patch as the background:
You might have to play around with it (I just whipped this up in a minute or two), but something like the very bottom right in the image is what you want. It will be a lot more consistent than dealing with two views.

LinearLayout should fill minimum space

I have this layout:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:gravity="left">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Some text" />
</LinearLayout>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="TextView"/>
</LinearLayout>
But if in first text view (that in LinearLayout) is a lot of text, second text view goes off the screen. This can be solved by setting android:layout_weigh="1" to linear layout. But in this case linear layout will fill all space, and I need that linear layout fill minimum space when in it short text, and not hiding second text view when in linear layout a lot of text.

If the first textview occupies too much horizontal space, the second textview is rendered outside the screen...
To avoid rendering the second textview outside the screen, you need to limit the horizontal size of the first textview. You could give the first textview an android:layout_width with a fixed numeric value. You could set android:singleLine to false. You could set android:maxWidth to an appropriate value. (I haven't tried these solutions, but they should work).
Alternatively, you may consider using a single textview instead of two in a row.

A solution is to put your first TextView in a ScrollView, and put your second TextView in a fixed footer which will never be hidden (this can be done with a RelativeLayout).
If you have too much text in your first TextView then you will be able to scroll it while still showing the second TextView.

About LinearLayout and how controls resize

Today I have been playing a bit with the LinearLayout and have been suprised with the results:
<?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="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Big Text"
android:gravity="center_vertical|center_horizontal"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceLarge" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView2"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:text="Medium Text"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/button1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:text="Button"
/>
</LinearLayout>
This is a simple layout with a text view header, then a text view that I want it to cover all parent (but the space occupied by the bottom button) and a button that is placed at the botton side with the layout_gravity="bottom".
This produces a layout where header is shown correctly, center text view covers all remaining free space and the button does not appear. Why is this? Shouldn't the center text view just calculate its size taking into account the bottom button size?.

Use layout_weight="1" in your center TextView.

Always remember thumb rule
If you are using linear layout with vertical orientation as soon as it finds the control
with
android:layout_height="match_parent"
The layout will ignore all the controls present below it.
Hope this help
Vipul

In place of this
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
use 'wrap_content' like this
android:layout_width="wrap_content"/"fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"/"fill_parent"

Shouldn't the center text view just calculate its size taking into account the bottom button size?.
No, because you tell the second TextView to match its parent's height, thus FILL_PARENT and hence it will fill up all remaining space, leaving none for the last TextView.
(...) and a button that is placed at the botton side with the layout_gravity="bottom".
Unfortunately, that's not how a LinearLayout works. If you set the orientation to vertical, basically only the left and right gravities will have effect. Vice versa, with the (default) horizontal orientation, only top and bottom work. The orientation determines in which direction the View children are dynamically positioned in order, which implies you cannot manually change the 'position' in that direction.
Now, to get the desired effect, you can give the second TextView a height of 0dp and a weight of 1, resulting in it dynamically filling up all remaining space without pushing the third TextView off the bottom. Alternatively, you can use a RelativeLayout, with which you can directly set the position, and simply instruct the middle TextView to sit below the first, but above the last.