I wanna create a group of image views as below, and I can update background images. I wonder whether I should create 7 image-views on the layout or I should create each image view programmatically, like creating a list? Thanks.
I'd say it depends on the data. Will you always have 7 or could you have less, or maybe even more? Do you need to display 7 or can it depend on the screen width? Do they need to be a certain size or can they shrink to fit on narrower screens?
If it's guaranteed to be always exactly 7 and you're happy for them to scale to fit the screen then I'd use an XML layout but if it can vary then I'd render it programatically using a horizontal RecyclerView to show as many as possible on the screen and allow the user to scroll through them.
Related
I am trying to build a row of images. I want the number of images to increase based on screen width. For example, in portrait mode there may be 3 images present, but in landscape there would be five.
I have tried using a GridView, but I am having trouble stopping it from being populated after the first row has been filled (it goes to the next row). Is there an alternative view I should be using or is a GridView the right approach?
If you only want 1 row, then use a LinearLayout. If it needs to scroll, embed it in a HorizontalScrollView.
If you aren't scrolling you can then inflate and add each image, depending on available space.
You could make it more complex by creating custom classes, etc.
You can also try the Two-Way GridView (I've used it - it works great)
How to make grid-view horizontally scrollable in android
I have found a suggestion based off of this. Once a max width has been exceeded on the LinearLayout, simply stop adding to it!
I'm an Android newbie. I have an app whose main screen uses an ExpandableListView with only 5 rows. Is it possible to stretch these rows so that they fill the whole screen? Currently only half the screen is occupied and there is a large empty space.
I have tried match_parent, wrap_content for the list's vertical height but nothing helps. Please assist.
Changing the height attribute on the list does not help because it only tells the listview how much screen space it may occupy.
The individual items your list is displaying are not affected by this, as they will still follow their own layout rules on how to use available space in the listview.
To solve your issue, you might want to look into extending BaseExpandableListAdapter. You can define a custom layout for the listview items, in your case you'd probably just make the item views a bit bigger so they take up more space. You'll find detailed tutorials on how to do this all over the net.
However, using this approach (with a static list size of 5 items), you'll eventually run into the same issue again on devices with larger screens. Your custom list may now look like you want it to on a 4" smartphone, but have a large empty area on a 10" tablet device.
Depending on what purpose you are using the list for, you might want to rethink your UI design approach.
I am attempting to make an 8x8 matrix of coloured squares on a black background in a layout that is limited to portrait only. I need the squares to all be equal in size, and the overall matrix to be 60% of the screen's width and of equal height. I also need to control the colour of each square dynamically as a result of my code, call it a pattern setting code if you will. Here is an example of what I need the final product to look like:
Screen example
I have been researching different ways of doing this and was hoping for some advice on the best approach. Here are some ideas I had:
1) Use GridLayout (not GridView) and set the background of each cell to the required colour. This shouldn't be difficult to control with java, but how do I enforce the correct dimensions? Would I need to fill each grid cell with something of a certain size, or can I use layout_weight attributes to control the dimensions?
2) Use a combination of RelativeLayout and LinearLayout with ImageView and display locally saved images of coloured squares. Can I use layout_weight to control the size of these images, and if these images were too small would they be stretched to fill their required dimensions? (I'm thinking of larger tablet screens.)
What I really need from someone is some sample code to implement a very simple version of what I need (for example one square in the centre of the screen that I can colour-control dynamically). Obviously I can then expand it to my specific requirements. If more details or code are required I will happily post them.
Perhaps you could just create a custom View object, and render the appropriate bitmap in the onDraw method? Seems like overkill to use layout objects, unless you're planning to do more than just render squares of colour?
Edit: Alternatively, I once used the info in the following posting to programmatically build a layout grid. It's not exactly what you need (it generates as many horizontal 'cells' as are necessary), but should make for insightful reading on manipulating layout dimensions:
Line-breaking widget layout for Android
I am working on an app which should display several same size images on the screen. But it should only display only so much images as possible without offering scrolling.
E.g. On a "big" tablet it could display 10x10 Imageviews (screen is large, so there is much space for pictures)
On a "big" phone there might be enough space to display 6x6 ImageViews, so it should only display a 6x6 array of images.
On a small phone there is propably only space for 4x4 ImageViews, so it should only display this.
How can I make this in Android? I know about "layout-large", ... but if i make a special fixed xml-layout for a "large" device, it would not fit all devices correct. E.g. a Galaxy Nexus is a "normal" device and so is a Nexus One, but there would be at least be space for one or two more imageview rows on a Galaxy Nexus than on a Nexus One. So do I have to measure in code somehow how big the resolution is and display some TableRows accordingly? Or is there a special way how I can manage this?
you can query the properties of the screen of the device such as size, density etc. Once you know the size you can choose the layout to use.
Take a look at this stackoverflow post. Android: how to get screen dimensions
You should use a GridView to manage this.
GridView Android Developers
Edit: And indeed as Tomasz Gawel said: notice the GridView's android:numColumns="auto_fit" xml attribute
Edit: since you don't want it to be scrollable, you can just get the screensize, divide it by the size of your items, and put in only as much items as you want to display in the gridview.
The gridview will only scroll when it has more items than it can display.
getResources().getDisplayMetrics().widthPixels and heightPixels
I am developing one application, right now i am on designing phase. i design one screen
on the 3.7WVGA(Nexus One) screen in eclipse using Linear Layout. but when i test it on 2.7
my some icon are go outside of the screen. my question is that which layout is suitable for all screen whether i design it in 3.7 inch or run it on 2.7.
Please give me a suggestion.
Thanks in Advance.
1st i design it in 3.7 and second in 2.7.
Don't ever, ever, ever design a screen for Android based on an actual screen size. You will always screw yourself up because there are a hundred different screens out there. What looks good on one phone will look like crap on another. That being said, here are some tips:
Use RelativeLayout to lay your button contents out. Once you understand the model it's much easier than you suspect and it will make it easy to automatically scale things.
Only use actual pixel sizes for things that "float". You never want to specify the width of something and try to fill the width of the screen.
Include multiple resolutions of your images. Let the system pick the right resolution for you.
A table/grid layout will make things easier for you on the overall design.
Big panels of buttons are played out. There are other UI options at your disposal (menu buttons, swiping left and right through screens, etc.). When users see a field of buttons it looks like the app was slapped together.
For that kind of layout use GridView if you want it scrollable, or a simple RelativeLayout if you want all the elements to scale depending on the size of the screen (use toRightOf, toLeftOf, above, below and weight to achieve that)
You need to consider the guide provided by android
Multiple Screen Support
What you will do is to provide all screens icon regarding different screens and you can also specify layouts for different screens, for example you want to provide drawables and layout for multiple screens, you will provide resources in that specific folder + below suffix.
Screens for layouts for drawables
ldpi layout-small drawable-ldpi
mdpi layout drawable-mdpi
hdpi layout-large drawable-hdpi
xhdpi layout-xlarge drawable-xhdpi
This topic will be more relavent to your need.
The following are the view groups in android. you can use any of these as per your requirement. But in your case You can use GridView
View Groups in android
FrameLayout Layout that acts as a view frame to display a single
object.
Gallery A horizontal scrolling display of images, from a bound
list.
GridView Displays a scrolling grid of m columns and n rows.
LinearLayout A layout that organizes its children into a single
horizontal or vertical row. It creates a scrollbar if the length of
the window exceeds the length of the screen.
ListView Displays a scrolling single column list.
RelativeLayout Enables you to specify the location of child objects
relative to each other (child A to the left of child B) or to the
parent (aligned to the top of the parent).
ScrollView A vertically scrolling column of elements.
Spinner Displays a single item at a time from a bound list, inside
a one-row textbox. Rather like a one-row listbox that can scroll either horizontally or vertically.
SurfaceView Provides direct access to a dedicated drawing surface.
It can hold child views layered on top of the surface, but is intended for applications that need to draw pixels, rather than using widgets.
TabHost Provides a tab selection list that monitors clicks and
enables theapplication to change the screen whenever a tab is clicked.
TableLayout A tabular layout with an arbitrary number of rows and
columns, each cell holding the widget of your choice. The rows
resize to fit the largest column. The cell borders are not visible.
ViewFlipper A list that displays one item at a time, inside a
one-row textbox. It can be set to swap items at timed intervals,
like a slide show.
ViewSwitcher Same as ViewFlipper.
I have the same problem but i found a very simple solution is use dp and sp instead px. You may read this:
What is the difference between "px", "dp", "dip" and "sp" on Android?
And you may create icons with different resolution and put it in suitble folder.
create a table layout and every row contains a vertical linear layout put all buttons inside and provides weight to each button according to need,at the last put this table layout to ScrollView that is suitable for all android devices
I created a tool that allows you to scale/adjust your layouts for tablets and small screen devices and made a blog post about it here: http://onemanmobile.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-to-scale-your-android-layouts-to.html
Basically, defining your layouts in dp units for one size is not enough if you want your app to fit on all devices and tablets, since there's four different "density-buckets". This tool will allow your layouts to be converted into fitting these density buckets.
It also explains in further detail how to make more flexible layouts for all resolutions.