Develop Reference

Get the second quarter of layout's heigth

I have some difficulties with designing my app. My screen should contain toolbar and some edit fields. these fields should be places in the upper part of the screen under the toolbar. In the end it should look like this (sorry for quality of the image):
For this I decided to break the screen height into four equals parts and to pose my edit fields in the second quarter. I tried to use the following code to acchieve this, but it doesn't help: all the smaller relative layouts take all the screen.
I also tried:
to substitute the parent Relative layout with Linear layout
to replace "fill_parent" with "wrap_content".
After these actions the smaller layouts simply disappear.
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:baselineAligned="false" >
<include android:id = "#+id/toolbarLogo" layout="#layout/toolbar_logo"></include>
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="0.25"
/>
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="0.25"
>
<EditText
.../>
<EditText
...
/>
<Button
.../>
</RelativeLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="0.5"
/>
</RelativeLayout>
Could you help me please with this problem?

Change your root layout to be a LinearLayout and ensure that the orientation is set to vertical. Change the layout_width of the children to be 1. See code below for an 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="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#f00"/>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#0f0"/>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#00f"/>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#f0f"/>
</LinearLayout>

Try It.. Set
android:layout_weight="1"
for each LinearLayout and
set
android:weightSum="4"
for Parent LinearLayout and
Like This Example..
<?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">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:weightSum="4">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#0ff"/>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#ff2"/>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#01a"/>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#101"/>
</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

You can use google library PercentRelativeLayout with this library you can set width, height and margin of your views by procentege which is great because in all screen they look the same and of course it is not hard to code it. Here example:
<android.support.percent.PercentRelativeLayout
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">
<ImageView
app:layout_widthPercent="50%"
app:layout_heightPercent="50%"
app:layout_marginTopPercent="25%"
app:layout_marginLeftPercent="25%"/>
</android.support.percent.PercentRelativeLayout>
you must add this line in your build.gradle
dependencies {
compile 'com.android.support:percent:23.2.0'
}
Official documentation by Google https://developer.android.com/reference/android/support/percent/PercentRelativeLayout.html
And for your case should look maybe like this:
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/firstLayout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
app:layout_heightPercent="10%"
/>
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/secondLayout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_below="#+id/firstLayout"
android:orientation="vertical"
app:layout_heightPercent="40%">
<EditText
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="60dp"/>
<EditText
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="60dp"/>
<Button
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="60dp"/>
</LinearLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_below="#+id/secondLayout"
app:layout_heightPercent="30%"
/>
</android.support.percent.PercentRelativeLayout>
Hope this helps.

Background image for a button in android

I am trying to add a background image for a button and it is working, but not as I expected.
1st picture (without background)
2nd picture (with background)
I would like the background to cover only the button. In other words, the image should have the same form as the 2 buttons from above (I'm talking about the round corners and a bit smaller size).
Here is the xml of the layout:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
app:layout_behavior="#string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior"
tools:showIn="#layout/activity_main" tools:context=".MainActivity"
android:orientation="vertical">
<LinearLayout android:layout_weight="1" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:layout_width="fill_parent">
<Button
android:onClick="playerStats"
android:text="#string/plStats"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
/>
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout android:layout_weight="1" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:layout_width="fill_parent">
<Button
android:text="#string/comp"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
/>
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout android:layout_weight="1" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:layout_width="fill_parent">
<Button
android:background="#drawable/calendar"
android:text="#string/calendar"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
/>
</LinearLayout>

its easy to do that
you should use ImageButton and remove those Buttons for example
<ImageButton
android:src="#drawable/calendar"
android:text="#string/calendar"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
/>
also if you want to remove the background of that button you can use :
android:background="#null"

Replace your layout with these layout...It can be helpfil for you
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
app:layout_behavior="#string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior"
tools:showIn="#layout/activity_main" tools:context=".MainActivity"
android:orientation="vertical">
<LinearLayout android:layout_weight="1" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:layout_width="match_parent">
<Button
android:onClick="playerStats"
android:text="#string/plStats"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
/>
</LinearLayout>
<View ////I HAVE ADDED VIEW WHICH IS TRASNPARENT TO SEPRATE THE BUTTONS
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="10dp"
android:background="#android:color/transparent" >
</View>
<LinearLayout android:layout_weight="1" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:layout_width="match_parent">
<Button
android:text="#string/comp"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
/>
</LinearLayout>
<View ////I HAVE ADDED VIEW WHICH IS TRASNPARENT TO SEPRATE THE BUTTONS
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="10dp"
android:background="#android:color/transparent" >
</View>
<LinearLayout android:layout_weight="1" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:layout_width="match_parent">
<Button
android:background="#drawable/calendar"
android:text="#string/calendar"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
/>
</LinearLayout>
<View ////I HAVE ADDED VIEW WHICH IS TRASNPARENT TO SEPRATE THE BUTTONS
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="10dp"
android:background="#android:color/transparent" >
</View>

The simplest solution is: You need to edit your image background (make it a little smaller and have corner) - it can be done easily by using Photoshop
Than use 9-patch tool for make 9-patch image (9-patch images can automatically resize to accommodate the contents of the view and the size of the screen)

The "without background" button is actually displaying it default background, so setting new background will override that corner-rounded-gray thing...
Check this question.
I recommend using ImageButton with android:src instead.

How to make this layout in Android XML

I am novice in Android trying to make this layout:
Simply what I want to achieve:
The red container should take as much space as it needs but not as much that green container have to be shrinked. If there are too many items, red container will be scrollable. Green container is also always centered in orange one if there is space for it (if not it is actually still centered).
I don't know how to do it at all :( . Here is my try:
The problem is that I want to always maintain height of green container (minHeight does not work I can't understand why) and make the green container centered in orange one. I have problem with Scenario 2 (as you can see in the picture), this code works good in first scenario.
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical">
<ScrollView
android:id="#+id/red_container"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#android:color/holo_red_dark"
android:scrollbarAlwaysDrawVerticalTrack="true">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical">
<!-- Items are here -->
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/orange_container"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#android:color/holo_orange_dark"
android:gravity="center"
android:orientation="vertical">
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/green_container"
android:layout_width="100dp"
android:background="#android:color/holo_green_dark"
android:layout_height="50dp"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<!-- My content -->
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
Edit: minHeight does not help:
Edit: image for user Illegal Argument:

Try setting property android:minHeight = "(whatever)dp" to orangeContainer. This worked for me in others "similiar" cases.
:)

Is this what you are looking for:
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" >
<ScrollView
android:id="#+id/scrollView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_above="#+id/list_items"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:background="#android:color/background_dark" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical" >
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/list_items"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:background="#android:color/darker_gray"
android:gravity="center"
android:minHeight="200dp"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="TextView" />
</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>
Snapshot in ecllipse:

Android two latyout horizantally

i want to put two layouts horizantally, small layout on the right and the big on on the left
i tried like this
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:background="#000000" >
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="10dip"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:background="#ffffff" >
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
but still get the small one on the right, what should i do?

A LinearLayout displays its children in the order in which you add them: top to bottom = left to right, for a horizontal view and top to bottom for a vertical view. Change the order of the views in the XML and they will change on the screen.

Sorry to see your comment lately. But try this:
pseudo code(Untested):
<?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:weightsum = "10"
>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="7"
android:background="#ffffff"
>
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_weight="3"
android:background="#000000"
>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
You don't need to put orientation horizontal as it supports by default. Even there is no problem if you keep it as the other answerer said.

Try this :
<?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="horizontal" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#000000" >
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="20dip"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#ffffff" >
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
Reference :
The use of layout_weight with Android layouts
Thanks.

linear layouts not spacing correctly

Hey im having trouble with these linear layouts in android xml. initially i did them in a relative layout and it worked fine, but after some research i discovered that relative layouts inside of a scrollview doesnt work supposedly. so now after much tweaking my imageview shows up but has a huge margin above and below it and my textview doesnt even show up aside from being where its supposed to in the graphics editor but blank.
so whats wrong? should i even be using a linear layout?
this is roughly what its supposed to look like http://www.mediafire.com/view/?z945tz2vrb2x46t
and this is what it looks like after Abdul and Ralgha's help as well as setting the base linear layout's height to wrap content http://www.mediafire.com/view/?px17q2z3yyeo8az
Thanks
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<ScrollView
android:id="#+id/scrollView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/LinearLayout1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/today"
android:src="#string/today"
android:textSize="30dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
/>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/image1"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:src="#drawable/weeklylist_blocks"
/>
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>
</LinearLayout>
`![screwed up layout][1]

Don't worry about weight right now, leave it removed. In your TextView, change "android:src" to "android:text" (without the quotes naturally). If that alone doesn't solve it, remove the textSize line and see what happens. If that works, then you can start playing with sizes (and weights if needed).
Also, textSize should be given in sp rather than dp. sp is for text, dp is for everything else, though that's not what is causing your problem.
<ScrollView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:id="#+id/scrollView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/LinearLayout1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical"
>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/today"
android:textSize="30sp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:text="#string/today"
/>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/image1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:src="#drawable/weeklylist_blocks"
/>
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>

android:layout_weight="1"
might be the cause of your problems

Its works like charm, Use the following coding to achieve your thing:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:gravity="center_vertical"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<ScrollView
android:id="#+id/scrollView1"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
android:fillViewport="true" >
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/LinearLayout1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/today"
android:src="#string/today"
android:textSize="30sp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:text="#string/today"
/>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/image1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:contentDescription="#string/nissan"
android:src="#drawable/weeklylist_blocks" />
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>
</LinearLayout>