Develop Reference

Android UI: "Smart" centering?

So I have a UI element (a single line of text) that I want horizontally centered with respect to the overall device -- unless/until it collides with other UI elements in the given view group / layout. At that point I'd like it to be either centered in the space remaining or pegged as close to being centered overall as possible without colliding. [When there's finally not enough space, then I want to use ellipses.]
Is there any way to achieve this using just standard Android layouts?
I'm currently achieving this via code that adjusts layout constraints when the view group's width changes, the text changes, or related UI elements become visible/invisible. It works fine, but I can't help thinking that some layout should just do this for me.

You can use a weighted horizontal LinearLayout like this:
<LinearLayout
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<TextView
android:gravity="center_horizontal"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="i am centered"
android:ellipsize="end"
/>
<Button
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="another widget"/>
.
.
.
</LinearLayout>
The TextView with width 0dp and weight 1 will use the remaining horizontal space.
You can add additional widgets to the LinearLayout, and the TextView will always take the remaining space.
For example, if you change the Visibility of the Button to GONE, you'll see the TextView will expand to use the whole width. Similarly, if you programmatically add new widgets to the LinearLayout, the available space for the TextView will adjust.
You can further add ellipsize options to control what happens when the text does not fit in the TextView size.

Fill Parent on Horizontal List Row with Margin

Okay so I have a horizontal Relative Layout on a ListView and I want a margin between the different Rows on the ListView but I have one problem. I have a button that is being pushed to the far right and I want the click zone to be as big as possible. If there was no margin on the root element of relative layout I would be fine and my button would take up the entire height of the row. But the problem is because there is margin there is an opportunity for the user to click above and below the button where the margin is to trigger the OnItemClick event which isn't the desired functionality of the button which could get frustrating at times.
Example:
<RelativeLayout android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
android:layout_marginBottom="10dp"
android:layout_marginLeft="5dp">
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/list_button"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:src="#drawable/btn"
android:background="#android:drawable/list_selector_background" />
</RelativeLayout>
Any help would be greatly appreciated obviously its possible I just can't see it sadly.

One way around this is to wrap the ImageButton in a transparent layoutview (relative, linear, frame - depending on your needs) that does take up the whole space (i.e. android:layout_width and android:layout_height are fill_parent). Then add the same click handler to the outer layout as you do for the button.

Layout troubles

I am having a spot of bother with a fairly simple layout. Here it is:
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/id1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:maxLines="1"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/id2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceSmall"/>
</LinearLayout>
3 Questions:
How do I center vertical both TextViews (or perhaps better said, the text within those views) within the parent LinearLayout? The left view is vertically centered OK, but the right one (because it has a smaller font) is not. It seems to be centered vertically at the top. I obviously tried playing with layout_gravity of the second view but that makes no difference whatsoever. The only way I can solve it is to wrap the second TextView in a LinearLayout with its layout height parameter set to match_parent (but is this the correct way of doing this?)
Similarly, I want the View on the left horizontally centered on the left, and the View on the right horizontally centered on the right. Currently the right View is placed immediatly next to the left one. The only way I can solve this is by adding something like this inbetween the two text views:
<TextView
android:layout_width="0dip"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="">
basically acting as a spacer which decreases in size depending on the legth of the text in both TextViews
I want the text in the left View to be truncated if the combined text of the Views does not fit horizontally. No wrapping onto a new line. Currently the text in the left View simply "pushes" the right one out of the parent. No idea how to achieve that (apart from adding android:maxLines="1" to stop the text from wrapping). I have tried android:ellipsize="end" but that does not seem to have any effect.

Best way is to use Relative layout , but still if you want to do the same thing in Linear layout than do some changes in your xml file
-First is set Linear layout hight as match parent :
<LinearLayout android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="horizonatal">
-Second for making the views visible at centre vertical do
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
same property android:layout_gravity = "center_horizontal" , you have to add in second text view also.
It will make your both text view appear at centre vertical but one next to other.
To make the second view appear on right I think you can add
android:layout_marginLeft="xx dp"
put some value in place of xx.
For your third question about truncating your text, you should give some size to your TextView not wrap content..Like android:layout_width ="25dp"
and then use android:ellipsize="end".
I guess you will get that..Actually I am in hurry,time to leave the office.

Android horizontal LinearLayout with wrapped text in TextView

I've observed a behavior with layout_weight that I can't explain. The following is a trivial example:
<?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:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
android:text="This is a very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string."
android:layout_weight="1"
/>
<View
android:layout_width="32dp"
android:layout_height="32dp"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
android:background="#ffffffff"
/>
</LinearLayout>
In a QVGA display, the TextView wraps the text. The white square is displayed to the right of the text.
However, if I remove android:layout_weight="1" from the TextView, the TextView now takes up the entire display width. The white square is no longer displayed.
Why would layout_weight in the TextView affect whether or not the white square is displayed? Shouldn't the View with the white background always be assigned 32dpx32dp first? (It makes no difference if the view were any other types - ImageView or TextView).
The problem I was working on is that I want the white square to always be displayed to the right of the TextView (whether or not the text is wrapped), but I don't want any empty space between the TextView and the white square. (If I add android:layout_weight="1" to the TextView, then there is a gap if the text is not wrapped.)
Any help would be appreciated!

To answer my question #1: One thing I learned by looking at the source for LinearLayout: Not only does layout_weight assign unused space to a child, it also shrinks a child with layout_weight if the child extends beyond the bounds of the LinearLayout. That explains why a TextView with wrapped text is shrunk in my layout.
As for the answer to my question #2, I think you meant android:toRigthOf instead of android:layout_alignRight. Using a RelativeLayout instead of a LinearLayout doesn't change the layout behavior. The tricky part is placing a view immediately to the right of a TextView, without gaps, whether or not the text is wrapped. Setting a maxWidth would limit the TextView's width, but that solution doesn't scale across portrait/landscape and different display dimensions.
Solution - Looks like Dyarish's solution is the best available. My layout problem exists regardless of the layout you use. The key is to set a maxWidth for the TextView so that it doesn't take up the all of the horizontal space in the layout. Because hardcoding a android:maxWidth value in the TextView doesn't scale across different displays, setting the maxWidth at runtime, as Dyarish suggested, is a good solution.

Hopefully this is what you are looking for.
First off, here is a great resource I found for Creating UI's.
layout_weight - Specifies how much of the extra space in the layout to be allocated to the View.
If you want to ensure that the white square is always to the right of the textview, you can use a Relative View, and add the parameter to the view. android:layout_alignRight="+id#yourTextViewID". This should always make the box appear right beside the textView area. You should probably also add something like android:maxWidth="250px" This will ensure that you don't push the white box completely out of the screen.
Here is a code sample:
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:maxWidth="250px"
android:id="#+id/TextForWhiteBox"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center|left"
android:text="This is a very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string."
/>
<View android:background="#ffffffff" android:layout_width="32dp" android:layout_height="32dp" android:id="#+id/view1" android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/TextForWhiteBox"></View>
</RelativeLayout>
You could also add to the View:
android:layout_alignTop="#+id/TextForWhiteBox" android:layout_alignBottom="#+id/TextForWhiteBox"
to make the white box the same size as the TextView.

Firstly I've tested the code from my other answer and it does exactly what you've described you've wanted. (unless I'm misunderstanding what you are asking for). You definitely do not want to use the android:layout_alignRight which is not what is in the code sample. That would simply keep the box on the right hand of the screen and not be affected by the textview at all. This sample uses android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/TextForWhiteBox" which is possible due to it being a relative layout. Since the Relative Layout allows you to place objects in relation to others. That line will always place the box just to the right of the textview with no gaps.
As for the screen orientation changes:
When the orientation changes it creates a new instance of the view.
Here is a simple solution.
//Add to oncreate in your Activity
private TextView textStatus;
textStatus = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.TextForWhiteBox);
// This get's the width of your display.
DisplayMetrics displaymetrics = new DisplayMetrics();
getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay().getMetrics(displaymetrics);
int width = displaymetrics.widthPixels;
// Now you know the screen orientation, and it's width. So just set the maxwidth of the text view to match the display width - the pixels of your white box.
textStatus.setMaxWidth(width - 32); // 32 is here because you already know the size of the white box. More logic is needed to dynamically get this value, because you would need to wait for the activity to be fully created.
}
Here is the main.xml I used:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
>
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:id="#+id/TextForWhiteBox"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center|left"
android:text="This is a very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string."
/>
<View android:background="#ffffffff" android:layout_width="32px" android:layout_height="32px" android:id="#+id/view1" android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/TextForWhiteBox"></View>
</RelativeLayout>
You might need some additional logic to keep screen values.
This code has been tested, you should be able to literally copy and paste this to work as you asked.
Also depending on your logic you could use something like this to return the screen orientation.
int orient = getResources().getConfiguration().orientation;
Hope this helps!
If this helped you, please click the accepted button. =) Cheers!

Android - TextView height issue according to content (text)

I have a RelativeLayout whose layout_height is set to "wrap_content" and inside that I have a TextView whose text is set at runtime. I have set android:layout_height="wrap_content" to my TextView, but it doesn't seems to change the height of the Textview even if the content is larger than 1 line.
It only takes the height of single line and displays 1 line, and all the remaining lines appears to be marquee vertically which is seen when I drag it manually...
So plz anyone can help me out.

<TextView
android:id="#+id/someId"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:ellipsize="none"
android:layout_weight="1"
/>