Develop Reference

Separate image from AppCompatTextView

I have a Linear Layout with a list of six horizontal button in column. Each Button is defined as a AppCompactTextView since I need to place two images on it, as you can see in the following image:
What I need to do is separate the drawableStartCompat image (the one on the left) from the AppCompactTextView, without changing its position. I would like to keep it separated from the button. How can do it? I was thinking to wrap it with the button in a View but I do not know how to manage it. This is the code of one of the six element of the list:
<androidx.appcompat.widget.AppCompatTextView
android:id="#+id/view_top_up_button"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:text="#string/placeholder"
android:textColor="#color/black"
app:drawableEndCompat="#drawable/ic_arrow_right_small_black"
app:drawableStartCompat="#drawable/ic_menu_charge" />

You can wrap the Imageview & TextView into any viewgroup you like & create one view like this, which gives you flexibility to maintain margin postion etc for your view:
<?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:gravity="center"
android:orientation="vertical">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center_vertical"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/leftImage"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginStart="8dp"
android:src="#drawable/ic_android" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tvTitle"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginStart="32dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:padding="8dp"
android:text="Boost"
android:textSize="16sp"
android:textStyle="bold" />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/rightImage"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginEnd="8dp"
android:src="#drawable/ic_arrow_right" />
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
Output:
You can even go ahead & create a custom/compound view out of your layout.

Create custom button out of horizontal LinearLayout, which contains ImageView, Button and perhaps another ImageView for the image on the right.

Is there a better way to align the text in different buttons in Android?

It is my firs time that I try to design a good UI instead of debugging apps, so I am new to this type of stuff.
I have three buttons under each other and the text should be aligned correctly. So that the "F" of Favorites starts at the same horizontal point as the "E" of Equalizer.
The way I did it, is not satisfying. I worked with paddingEnd and just tried out until it looked almost equal on the horizontal axis.
One other idea was to make the gravity center_vertical|left and instead use drawablePadding. This did not work because the width of the buttons is defined as match_parent. But also when I change the buttons to android:layout_width="wrap_content" and remove android:paddingStart and android:paddingEnd for testing, it does not work.
I got these info out of android:drawableLeft margin and/or padding
There should be a way to make it "easy" to fulfill the design I require. Has someone an idea what I am making wrong and has a solution for me?
The code of the xml layout file and a screenshot of the result are attached.
If something else is required to solve this question, then just ask me straight away.
Screenshot of the buttons
<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">
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/menu"
android:layout_width="300dp"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:background="#drawable/border"
android:paddingEnd="0.3dip"
app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent">
<Button
android:id="#+id/favButton"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="80dp"
android:insetTop="1dp"
android:insetBottom="1dp"
android:paddingStart="50dp"
android:paddingEnd="15dp"
android:background="#drawable/rectangle"
android:drawableLeft="#drawable/ic_bxs_heart"
android:text="#string/favorites"
android:textColor="#000000"
android:textSize="16sp"/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/eqzButton"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="80dp"
android:insetTop="1dp"
android:insetBottom="1dp"
android:paddingStart="50dp"
android:background="#drawable/rectangle"
android:drawableLeft="#drawable/ic_equalizer"
android:text="#string/equalizer"
android:textColor="#000000"
android:textSize="16sp"/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/settingsButton"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="80dp"
android:insetTop="1dp"
android:insetBottom="1dp"
android:paddingStart="50dp"
android:paddingEnd="27dp"
android:background="#drawable/rectangle"
android:drawableLeft="#drawable/ic_settings"
android:text="#string/settings"
android:textColor="#000000"
android:textSize="16sp"/>
</LinearLayout>
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

How to make view at the end of textview even if the textview is so long?

I have this layout, where I have text view and an icon next to it.
However, the text is dynamically changing, so sometime it will be too long which push the icon out of the screen.
I tried to add weight to the text but it makes the icon on the right side of the screen which I don't want, I just want it right after the text even if the text go to the next line.
There is my code:
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:id="#+id/Text"
android:layout_marginLeft="25dp"
android:text="llllll"
/>
<android.support.v7.widget.AppCompatImageButton
android:id="#+id/icon"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginRight="10dp"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:src="#drawable/ic_arrow_drop_down_black_24dp" />
</LinearLayout>
any idea :(?

You can use ConstraintLayout to handle this.
<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="wrap_content">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:layout_constraintHorizontal_bias="0"
app:layout_constraintHorizontal_chainStyle="packed"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
app:layout_constraintRight_toLeftOf="#+id/image"
app:layout_constraintWidth_default="wrap"/>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/image"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:layout_constraintLeft_toRightOf="#+id/text"
app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent" />
</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>

Just simply add one property line in textview "android:maxWidth" like below :
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:id="#+id/Text"
android:layout_marginLeft="25dp"
android:text="llllll"
android:maxWidth="100dp" //it can be your specific size
/>
<android.support.v7.widget.AppCompatImageButton
android:id="#+id/icon"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginRight="10dp"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:src="#drawable/ic_arrow_drop_down_black_24dp" />
</LinearLayout>

You could use <img> tags in the HTML
to know how to do that see this qution (is-it-possible-to-display-inline-images-from-html-in-an-android-textview)

Put the text view inside a relative layout with match parent as width and height wrap content.
Set text view to the same dimensions ie march parent as width and height as wrap content.
Have the image button in the same relative layout and use alignParentEnd as true. You'll see it always add the end of your text view.
If you choose to do this, set some maxEms and ellipsize end so that the text does not overlap the button. You'll get the value by testing it yourself, depends on the text size usually.
Since you want it as a button I'm suggesting this. If you want it just be an icon with no use, you should look into drawableEnd property of the text view.

How to dynamically add a TextView/ImageView to a ListView item in Android

I am creating a chatting app in Android.
I was able to create the normal text chat list view with the following as the list item 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="wrap_content" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/chat_msg_view"
android:layout_width="250dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/msg_send_time"
android:layout_width="250dp"
android:layout_height="20dp"
android:layout_below="#+id/chat_msg_view"
android:layout_margin="2dp"
android:paddingTop="2dp"
android:textColor="#android:color/holo_blue_dark" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/msg_status"
android:layout_width="250dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#+id/msg_send_time"
android:layout_margin="2dp"
android:paddingTop="2dp"
android:textColor="#android:color/holo_blue_dark" />
</RelativeLayout>
But now i am trying to send images as well via chat. So now i need to replace the first TextView in the above layout to ImageView if content being sent is IMAGE.
What is a good approach to do this.

There are lots of approaches you can use. If you are using a list view adapter you can use itemType to change the entire list item layout (good if you are changing the entire layout, but can be a bit complicated) or you can place an image view at the same location in your layout as the text view and show or hide which ever one you are using. I.E. If showing image, show the image view and hide the text view, if you are showing the text view, show the text and hide the image. Then you don't need to insert/remove views at run time, which is a little more complicated.
Your layout might look a bit like 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" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/chat_msg_view"
android:layout_width="250dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"/>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/chat_image_view"
android:layout_width="250dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:visibility="gone"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/msg_send_time"
android:layout_width="250dp"
android:layout_height="20dp"
android:layout_below="#+id/chat_msg_view"
android:layout_margin="2dp"
android:paddingTop="2dp"
android:textColor="#android:color/holo_blue_dark" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/msg_status"
android:layout_width="250dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#+id/msg_send_time"
android:layout_margin="2dp"
android:paddingTop="2dp"
android:textColor="#android:color/holo_blue_dark" />
</RelativeLayout>
Notice how chat_image_view is also aligned to parent left.. it will be on top of the text view, but it has visibility "gone" so you wont see it.
Hope this helps, good luck.

How to achieve this kind of layout in Android

I'm new to Android development and I'm trying to achieve a layout for my app that is capable of handling different screen resolutions/ratios.
I've been reading a lot of the documentation and questions on this site to try to understand the basics and concepts.
First I went through:
developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html
And questions like:
stackoverflow.com/questions/6403619/how-to-support-all-the-different-resolutions-of-android-products
I've got a pretty basic idea on how to handle things out. But still, its pretty difficult for a starter to get going, and I found myself stucked trying to achieve the solution I came up with.
I designed my app to a target resolution of 480x800, and set it up to always show in portrait mode.
This is how it looks like and how I understand it should work (I used Waldo for the sake of example haha):
(sorry for the link, I need 10 rep to post images)
http://i.imgur.com/KXTAXir.jpg
My root Layout is a LinearLayout, wich contains 3 other Layouts being A and C set up to a weight of 0.8 while B is at 8.4. This is all fine, but the contents of B are set up to DP units at the moment just to be able to test.
B consists of a frame Layout who has 3 other Layouts inside, where 2 of them are working fine, and shown only when needed. The problem is that I need B to be able to adapt based on the contents of it first child: a LinearLayout wich contains 2 ImageView and 1 ProgressBar. I need that those ImageView always keep their ratio.
Here is an example of how it should work:
http://i.imgur.com/cH7fUze.jpg
Imagine those 4 are real screens, wich vary in ratio and size. So my app should only adapt B (from my first image) to keep the images original ratio.
Here is the layout code:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#color/darkgray"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="0.8"
android:background="#666666" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/level_text_name"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:text="LEVEL"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceSmall" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/level_text_score"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:text="SCORE"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/level_text_clock"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:text="01:59"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceSmall" />
</RelativeLayout>
<FrameLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="8.4" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/imageView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="200dp"
android:adjustViewBounds="true" />
<ProgressBar
android:id="#+id/progressBar1"
style="?android:attr/progressBarStyleHorizontal"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:max="1000"
android:progress="0" />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/imageView2"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="200dp"
android:adjustViewBounds="true" />
</LinearLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/pauseMask"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#000000"
android:visibility="gone" >
</RelativeLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/gameoverMask"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#FFFFFF"
android:visibility="gone" >
</RelativeLayout>
</FrameLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="0.8"
android:background="#666666" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/level_text_status"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:text="0/0"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/button1"
style="?android:attr/buttonStyleSmall"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:text="Button"
android:onClick="useHint" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/button2"
style="?android:attr/buttonStyleSmall"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#+id/button1"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:text="Button"
android:onClick="toggleSound" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/button3"
style="?android:attr/buttonStyleSmall"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#+id/button2"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:text="Button"
android:onClick="togglePause" />
</RelativeLayout>
The last thing that stays unclear to me is how to handle the text and button sizes. Should I set them in DPs? How do I get them to scale accordingly like it can be seen on the bottom of my second picture.
Thank you for your help, I also want this to serve as an example to others that are having trouble to understand how to handle this kind of scenarios.

I'm not sure, if I got your question right.
However, you can specify different layouts for different screen sizes and orientations, as described here: http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html
Just give the respective suffix in the name of your layout XML file.

I ended up creating a custom View for my images. The view calculates the space thats left on its parent, scales the images manually and then resizes itself to the same size of the resulting image.
To resize the progress bar to have the same width as the images, I used a custom listener that gets triggered when my custom views get resized. Then I resize the progressbar to match their width.
With this I achieved what I wanted, a layout that will work perfectly in all screen sizes.