Develop Reference

Dynamic view height in constraint layout with chain style packed/spread

It has been quite some time since I used XML layout for Android. I am struggling with what seems to be very simple thing, yet I cannot find a quick solution.
I have a constraintLayout with an image, title, description and a button:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<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=".FirstFragment">
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/image_cover"
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="300dp"
android:layout_marginStart="10dp"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
android:background="#android:color/holo_red_dark"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/title"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginHorizontal="5dp"
android:textColor="#color/black"
android:textSize="24sp"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#id/image_cover"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#id/image_cover"
tools:text="Title" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/description"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/title"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#id/title"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toTopOf="#id/button"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="#id/title"
app:layout_constraintVertical_bias="0.0"
app:layout_constraintVertical_chainStyle="spread_inside"
android:text="#string/some_very_long_text"/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/button"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/description"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#id/image_cover"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#id/title"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:padding="0dp"
android:layout_margin="0dp"
android:background="#color/black"
android:text="Button"
android:layout_height="36dp"/>
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
I want to achieve the following result when the description is short:
Description is aligned to bottom of the title and button aligned to bottom of the image
The following result when description is long:
the button is pushed down/aligned to bottom of the description
I tried to create a chain with either packed (and vertical bias) or spread-inside, however I am only able to achieve either result 1 or 2 and not both.
The idea to do it in XML only, not in Java/Kotlin code.

Since you specify that the button is 39dp in height, you can set a Space widget 39dp from the bottom of the description using a bottom margin. Now set a barrier with a direction = bottom to the Space widget and the description. Now the barrier will float between the bottom of the Space widget and the bottom of the description and will alight on whichever is lower.
Now you can set the top of the button to the bottom of the Barrier and the button will float. The XML is below.
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context=".FirstFragment">
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/image_cover"
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="300dp"
android:layout_marginStart="10dp"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
android:background="#android:color/holo_red_dark"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/title"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginHorizontal="5dp"
android:textColor="#color/black"
android:textSize="24sp"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#id/image_cover"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#id/image_cover"
tools:text="Title" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/description"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/some_very_long_text"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toTopOf="#id/button"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="#id/title"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#id/title"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/title"
app:layout_constraintVertical_bias="0.0"
app:layout_constraintVertical_chainStyle="spread_inside" />
<Space
android:id="#+id/space"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginBottom="36dp"
android:padding="0dp"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#id/image_cover"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#id/title" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/button"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="36dp"
android:layout_margin="0dp"
android:background="#color/black"
android:padding="0dp"
android:text="Button"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#id/title"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/barrier" />
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.Barrier
android:id="#+id/barrier"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:barrierDirection="bottom"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="description,space" />
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
If you don't explicitly know the height of the button, you can create an invisible clone of the button with the same constraints and use the invisible button for the barrier.
Here is another version that also works, but I am not sure why. It doesn't use a Space.
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context=".FirstFragment">
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/image_cover"
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="300dp"
android:layout_marginStart="10dp"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
android:background="#android:color/holo_red_dark"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/title"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginHorizontal="5dp"
android:text="Title"
android:textColor="#color/black"
android:textSize="24sp"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#id/image_cover"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#id/image_cover" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/description"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/some_very_long_text1"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toTopOf="#id/button"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="#id/title"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#id/title"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/title"
app:layout_constraintVertical_bias="0.0"/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/button"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="36dp"
android:layout_margin="0dp"
android:background="#color/black"
android:padding="0dp"
android:text="Button"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#id/barrier"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#id/title" />
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.Barrier
android:id="#+id/barrier"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:barrierDirection="bottom"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="image_cover,description" />
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
Update: I was curious about the last layout above. Although it works, I wouldn't use it and I have come to the conclusion that it is a bug since the barrier is located below the button but should be immediately below either the description or the image cover. I am using "androidx.constraintlayout:constraintlayout:2.1.4".
More: I no longer think that this is a bug but a reasonable resolution to a, seemingly, impossible condition: The barrier is positioned to the bottom of the TextView and ImageView. The button's bottom is constrained to the barrier while the TextView's bottom is constrained to top of the button. If the barrier is positioned immediately below its referenced views then the wrap_content height of the TextView cannot be honored since the button will intrude into the TextView height (For the long text.)
What is pictured above could be a compromise. The barrier is still below its referenced views, although much farther below, and all constraints and layout sizes can be honored.
It's hard to tell if this is intentional or not or if it will continue to be the case going forward. I believe that the Space solution is the better solution.

Android. ConstraintLayout: TextView is not constraint, margin not working

I am trying to use constraint flow. I need to arrange the TextView one after another on the screen.
Here is my code:
<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"
android:orientation="vertical">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[AAAAAAAA]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[BBBBBBBB]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text3"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[CCCCCCCC]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text4"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[DDDDDDDD]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text5"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[EEEEEEEE]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text6"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<androidx.constraintlayout.helper.widget.Flow
android:id="#+id/flow1"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="10dp"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="text1,text2,text3,text4,text5,text6"
app:flow_horizontalBias="0"
app:flow_horizontalGap="10dp"
app:flow_horizontalStyle="packed"
android:layout_marginEnd="20dp"
app:flow_verticalBias="0"
app:flow_wrapMode="chain"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
app:layout_goneMarginEnd="20dp" />
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
Everything works well except for the last TextView. Since the text is very long, some of the text goes off the screen (See the picture below). I am trying to set margin, but it doesn't work.
I added TextView in xml for clarity. I need to add them dynamically at runtime, so I can't set the width of my TextView to match_parent, because I don't know if the content will fit within the screen.
Please help me. I need a margin on the right, regardless of the length of the text in the TextView.
Note: TextViews can also be added dynamically. I need add TextView at runtime. Therefore, I cannot set the width of the TextView to match_parent in runtime, because I don’t know if the text can fit within the width of the screen or not.
Here is my code to add View programatically:
private fun addViews() {
val list = generateChipButtons()
list.forEach { button ->
val view = LayoutInflater.from(baseContext).inflate(R.layout.chip_view, constraintContainer, false).apply {
id = View.generateViewId()
this.findViewById<TextView>(R.id.tvChipText).text = button.text
}
constraintContainer.addView(view)
flowView.addView(view)
}
}

Set 0dp at width and add a contrast to set the size ratio for width. The code above is shown with wrap_content, with the width exceeding the text size.
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text6"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent" />

Use match_parent for TextView text6. Try below code
<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"
android:orientation="vertical">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[AAAAAAAA]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[BBBBBBBB]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text3"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[CCCCCCCC]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text4"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[DDDDDDDD]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text5"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[EEEEEEEE]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text6"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />
<androidx.constraintlayout.helper.widget.Flow
android:id="#+id/flow1"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="10dp"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="text1,text2,text3,text4,text5,text6"
app:flow_horizontalBias="0"
app:flow_horizontalGap="10dp"
app:flow_horizontalStyle="packed"
app:flow_verticalBias="0"
app:flow_wrapMode="chain"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
app:layout_goneMarginEnd="20dp" />
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

Just set the width match_parent of textView #+id/text6
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text6"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="[FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFaslkfjadflskjflasdkjfsdlajkfasdlfjkasdlfjkaslkdfjasdflkjasdfasdlfjksdafFFFFsdflkfdaslkfjsdafkljsdlafkjdasfljk]"
tools:ignore="MissingConstraints" />

i Have similar issue i just set to match parent and margin working fine code snippet
<androidx.appcompat.widget.AppCompatTextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginHorizontal="#dimen/_20sdp"
android:layout_marginBottom="#dimen/_22sdp"
android:fontFamily="#font/font_muli"
android:text="#string/welcome_msg"
android:textColor="#color/white"
android:textSize="#dimen/_11sdp"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toTopOf="#+id/btn_login"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="#+id/btn_login"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#+id/btn_login" />
Where btn_login is MaterialButton.

how can I align textview in Constrainlayout

I am developing news app but I am not able to align textview so that
it is overlapping around imageview how can I show it properly
I am developing news app but I am not able to align textview so that
it is overlapping around imageview how can I show it properly
below my xml
<android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#color/colorWhite"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
android:layout_width="match_parent"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
<android.support.constraint.Guideline
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:orientation="vertical"
app:layout_constraintGuide_percent="0.55"
android:id="#+id/guideline"/>
<ImageView
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="0dp"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#id/guideline"
app:layout_constraintDimensionRatio="16:9"
android:layout_margin="16dp"
android:id="#+id/articleImage"/>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
android:id="#+id/articleAuthor"
android:layout_marginStart="25dp"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
android:text="Placeholder"
android:layout_marginLeft="25dp" />
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/articleAuthor"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#id/articleAuthor"
android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
android:maxLines="2"
android:text="Secondary"
android:id="#+id/articleTitle"/>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/articleTitle"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#id/articleAuthor"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
android:layout_marginBottom="10dp"
android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
android:text="Tertiary"
android:id="#+id/articleTime"/>
<ImageButton
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#id/articleTime"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#id/articleTime"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#id/articleTime"
android:layout_marginStart="15dp"
android:id="#+id/articleShare"
android:background="#color/colorWhite"
android:src="#drawable/ic_share"
android:layout_marginLeft="15dp" />
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/articleFavorite"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#id/articleShare"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#id/articleShare"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#id/articleShare"
android:layout_marginStart="15dp"
android:background="#color/colorWhite"
android:src="#drawable/ic_bookmark"
android:layout_marginLeft="15dp" />
</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>
below current screenshot of app
below screenshot which I want to achieve
screenshot I want

Add this attribute to both your articleAuthor and articleTitle TextViews:
app:layout_constraintEnd_toStartOf="#id/guideline"
Additionally, set the layout_width attribute to 0dp (i.e. "match constraints") for both of these same views:
android:layout_width="0dp"
This will cause the TextViews to be exactly as wide as the space between the left edge of the parent and the right edge of the guideline. For text that is shorter than this width, you'll get one line of left-justified text. For text that is longer than this width, you'll get multiple lines of left-justified text that wrap before the ImageView.

How to align buttons next to text that should flow on 2 lines?

So I want to have a title with 2 buttons next to it. These buttons should stick to the left next to the text, and when the text becomes too long, it should flow on 2 lines.
I was able to replicate this by giving the textView a maxwidth, but this causes the textview to take that maxwidth, even if it reflows on 2 lines. Therefore my buttons don't align next to the text anymore.
Like this:
How can I make my textView take the width it needs, not the one I tell it to use as maxWidth?

Here comes the perfectly working answer using ConstraintLayout (as I love this layout).
This is the code.
<android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:id="#+id/text"
android:layout_marginTop="25dp"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
android:maxWidth="300dp">
<TextView
android:layout_width = "wrap_content"
android:layout_height = "wrap_content"
android:maxWidth="300dp"
android:text="Some layout is going to be created and whatever I do it won't cross the limit."
android:textSize="30sp"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
android:layout_marginEnd="10dp"
android:layout_marginStart="10dp"/>
</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>
<ImageView
android:layout_height="40dp"
android:background="#365987"
android:layout_width="40dp"
android:layout_marginStart="5dp"
android:id="#+id/image"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toRightOf="#+id/text"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#+id/text"/>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/image1"
android:layout_height="40dp"
android:background="#e85f11"
android:layout_width="60dp"
android:layout_marginStart="5dp"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#+id/image"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toRightOf="#+id/image"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#+id/image"/>
</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>
Outputs:
Whatever the text is, it will not cross the maxwidth. And with less width than maxwidth, it's width will be wrap_content.

<?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="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv_male"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
android:text="Male:"
android:textColor="#111111"
android:textSize="12dp" />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/iv_male"
android:layout_width="#dimen/_42sdp"
android:layout_height="#dimen/_42sdp"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
android:gravity="center_vertical"
android:padding="10dp"
android:src="#drawable/block_user" />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/iv_female"
android:layout_width="#dimen/_42sdp"
android:layout_height="#dimen/_42sdp"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
android:gravity="center_vertical"
android:padding="10dp"
android:src="#drawable/blocked_user" />
</LinearLayout>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tv_detail"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="This is something Demo Content"
android:layout_marginLeft="#dimen/_15sdp"
android:textColor="#111111"
android:textSize="12dp" />
</LinearLayout>
So you can just add content below the linear layout complete
I Hope it Helps you and you will get your solution.

Try this code
<?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:descendantFocusability="blocksDescendants"
android:orientation="vertical">
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center_vertical"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/zero"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:maxLines="2"
android:paddingEnd="100dp"
android:text="Simple textdfddfdf dfdfdfdfdf dfdf Sample Text Sample Text" />
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/one"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignEnd="#+id/zero"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<ImageView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:src="#mipmap/ic_launcher" />
<ImageView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:src="#mipmap/ic_launcher" />
</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>
</LinearLayout>
Here, You have to pass android:paddingEnd="100dp". This you can manage from dimens.xml
I hope. This will help full

You should use ConstraintLayout
compile 'com.android.support.constraint:constraint-layout:1.0.2'
Let's take an instance of that Planner part of the image.
<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:id="#+id/constraintLayout"
<!-- Other attributes -->
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text"
android:layout_width = "xxxdp"
android:layout_height = "xxxdp"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#+id/constraintLayout"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="#+id/constraintLayout"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#+id/constraintLayout"
<!-- Other attributes --> />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/image1"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#+id/text"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toRightOf="#+id/text"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#+id/text"
<!-- Other attributes --> />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/image1"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#+id/text"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toRightOf="#+id/image1"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#+id/image1"
<!-- Other attributes --> />
Definition of Attributes used.
layout_constraintTop_toTopOf — Align the top of the desired view to the top of another.
layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf — Align the bottom of the desired view to the bottom of another.
layout_constraintLeft_toRightOf — Align the left of the desired view to the right of another.

ConstraintLayout, when constraint dependent view is gone, the layout view behave weirdly

I'm using ConstraintLayout where I will show as below
I would like to hide First (using gone), and which the view I expect to be as below (where ElasticBody will stretch over to use up the original First view space as well.
However, when I actual set First to gone, my view turn out to be as below (all image as from Android Studio Design view). My Elastic Body is missing as well, and the height expanded weirdly.
My layout code as below
<android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="16dp">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/txt_first"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#0ff"
android:text="First"
android:visibility="gone"
android:textSize="26sp"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toStartOf="#+id/txt_body"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/txt_body"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:background="#f0f"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Elastic Body"
android:textSize="26sp"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toStartOf="#+id/txt_tail"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#+id/txt_first"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/txt_tail"
android:background="#ff0"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Tail"
android:textSize="26sp"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#+id/txt_body"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>
(Note, if you remove the gone, you'll get the first image view).
Why is this so? How could I fix it where when my First is gone, I could the Elastic Body stretch out correctly?
p/s: I know how to do it in LinearLayout and RelativeLayout... but wonder if this is a limitation on ConstraintLayout?

Try following.
Set the first view's left and top constraints to "parent". After that:
set the txt_body textview width to "0dp"
set the left constraint to the first view's right side
set the right constraint to the tail view's left side.
So, whenever you set the first view's visibility to "gone", the body view will be stretched like how you want it.
<android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="16dp">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/txt_first"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#0ff"
android:text="First"
android:textSize="26sp"
android:visibility="gone"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toStartOf="#+id/txt_body"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/txt_body"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:background="#f0f"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Elastic Body"
android:textSize="26sp"
app:layout_constraintRight_toLeftOf="#+id/txt_tail"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toRightOf="#+id/txt_first"
/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/txt_tail"
android:background="#ff0"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Tail"
android:textSize="26sp"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent" />
</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>
Update
If you want to do using barrier then also you can do it.
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="16dp">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/txt_first"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#0ff"
android:text="First"
android:textSize="26sp"
android:visibility="gone"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toStartOf="#+id/barrier"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/txt_body"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#f0f"
android:text="Elastic Body"
android:textSize="26sp"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#+id/barrier"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toStartOf="#+id/txt_tail"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/txt_tail"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#ff0"
android:text="Tail"
android:textSize="26sp"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.Barrier
android:id="#+id/barrier"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:barrierDirection="start"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="txt_body,txt_first" />
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.Barrier
android:id="#+id/barrier1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:barrierDirection="end"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="txt_body,txt_tail" />
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

Say, you want to have a picture like this:
Here you have indents between the title and "Nice work", between "Nice work" and time, also horizontal indent to "Opinions". They are centered vertically.
"Opinions" is attached to the star, so that can be multilined and stay centered. I show results for 2 variants: in the first row opinions are multilined, while in the next row it is a single line. In columns you can see 4 variants of showing/hiding 2 labels.
A more simple and preferrable way is to wrap both labels into LinearLayout and insert it into parent ConstraintLayout. Then you can set vertical gravity, show or hide labels, hide the LinearLayout itself.
If you don't want to have nested layouts, use Barriers and Groups. It is a difficult task that can waste many hours. A key is having additional Views for aligning. Here I have 2 hiding labels ("Nice work" and "Opinions"), and I have to add 2 views (spaces).
The height of the right space is equal to the height of the star (14dp).
To simplify hiding several views, I joined them into groups.
You can see horizontal dotted lines - they are Barriers. I align them on tops and bottoms of the most big views (barrier_2 is similar):
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.Barrier
android:id="#+id/barrier_1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:barrierDirection="top"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="left_text,opinion" />
Vertical aligning is based on these 2 additional Spaces (see marginTop="10dp"):
<Space
android:id="#+id/left_text_space"
android:layout_width="25dp"
android:layout_height="10dp"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#id/left_text"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/title" />
It is difficult to cover all situations, so see the following layout:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:paddingLeft="15dp"
android:paddingTop="5dp"
android:paddingRight="15dp"
android:paddingBottom="5dp">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/title"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:lineSpacingExtra="4sp"
android:lines="1"
android:paddingBottom="5dp"
android:text="«Title text»"
android:textColor="#333333"
android:textSize="15sp"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.Barrier
android:id="#+id/barrier_1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:barrierDirection="top"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="left_text,opinion" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/left_text"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#112233"
android:paddingLeft="5dp"
android:paddingTop="4dp"
android:paddingRight="5dp"
android:paddingBottom="4dp"
android:text="Nice work"
android:textColor="#ffffff"
android:textSize="13sp"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#id/barrier_2"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#id/title"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#id/left_text_space" />
<Space
android:id="#+id/left_text_space"
android:layout_width="25dp"
android:layout_height="10dp"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#id/left_text"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/title" />
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.Group
android:id="#+id/left_text_group"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:visibility="visible"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="left_text,left_text_space" />
<Space
android:id="#+id/opinion_space"
android:layout_width="1dp"
android:layout_height="14dp"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="#id/left_text_space"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/title" />
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.Barrier
android:id="#+id/barrier_2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:barrierDirection="bottom"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="left_text,opinion" />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/opinion_icon"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
android:contentDescription="#null"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#id/barrier_2"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#id/left_text_space"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#id/opinion_space"
app:srcCompat="#drawable/ic_filled_rate_star" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/opinion"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginStart="5dp"
android:layout_marginLeft="5dp"
android:lineSpacingExtra="1sp"
android:text="1. Opinion 1.\n2. Opinion 2.\n3. Opinion 3.\n4. Opinion 4."
android:textColor="#1122aa"
android:textSize="12sp"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="#id/opinion_icon"
app:layout_constraintHorizontal_weight="1"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#id/opinion_icon"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#id/opinion_icon" />
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.Group
android:id="#+id/opinion_group"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:visibility="visible"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="opinion_icon,opinion,opinion_space" />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/time_icon"
android:layout_width="15dp"
android:layout_height="15dp"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
android:layout_marginTop="8dp"
android:contentDescription="#null"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/barrier_2"
app:srcCompat="#drawable/ic_time" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/time"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginStart="7dp"
android:layout_marginLeft="7dp"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:lineSpacingExtra="1sp"
android:lines="2"
android:paddingBottom="7dp"
android:text="17:00"
android:textColor="#9e9e9e"
android:textSize="11sp"
app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintHorizontal_weight="1"
app:layout_constraintStart_toEndOf="#id/time_icon"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="#id/time_icon" />
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
Then in your activity you can show/hide labels. Hide Groups, not views inside, because strangely inside a Group views are always visible.
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
setContentView(R.layout.main_activity)
left_text_group.visibility = View.GONE
opinion_group.visibility = View.VISIBLE
}

An answer has already been given linking to Barriers. I will provide an example of how I've actually implemented it:
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView1"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
android:text="Some text"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView2"
app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="#id/textView1"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
android:text="Some other text"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.Barrier
android:id="#+id/barrier1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
app:barrierDirection="bottom"
app:constraint_referenced_ids="textView1,textView2" />
This example shows 2 TextViews either of which can be gone. The Views are on stacked from top to bottom, so barrierDirection is set to bottom. Should you need another direction, just change that line accordingly.
Setting any of the 2 TextViews to gone, will result in the Barrier shifting to the bottom of the other, and if we set both to gone, it'll just shift up to the element that textView1's top constraint was referencing, in this case, the parent.
Note: If your textView1's top constraint is something else, i.e. it's below another element, the barrier will end up there if both views are set to gone.