Develop Reference

Android - Button Keeps overlapping Editext

I'm making an android app in which there's an activity having an EditText on the top and three Buttons at the bottom. I've set android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustResize" in my manifest to activity so that it gets re-sized automatically when the virtual keyboard is being used. But, as I type in a long sentence in the EditText, it's size increases and it goes beneath the Buttons. I want the EditText to expand only upto the free space between the 3 Buttons and the ActionBar.
Here's what's happening -
Here's the XML code of the activity -
<RelativeLayout 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:background="#eaeaea"
tools:context=".AddNoteEditor" >
<EditText
android:id="#+id/noteEditor"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:background="#drawable/card"
android:ems="10"
android:hint="#string/nn"
android:inputType="textMultiLine"
android:padding="12.5dp"
android:singleLine="true"
android:textSize="19dp" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/button1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:onClick="onClickAddNote"
android:text="#string/ok"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true" />
<ToggleButton
android:id="#+id/highlighter"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignBaseline="#+id/button1"
android:layout_alignBottom="#+id/button1"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#+id/button2"
android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/button1"
android:text="#string/hglt"
android:textOff="Highlighting Off"
android:textOn="Highlighting On" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/button2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:onClick="onClickDiscardNote"
android:text="#string/cancel"
android:layout_alignTop="#+id/highlighter"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true" />
</RelativeLayout>
Thanks in Advance.

The problem is with the Relative Layout, in which EditText fills up the entire available space (in this layout) when text is long enough. As a result it fills also the space that is under those buttons.
You have basically two solutions.
Add a bottom margin to your EditText that will be equal in size to the height of a button.
Use Linear Layout(s) instead of Relative Layout (one Linear Layout to replace the Relative Layout - a vertical one, and another Linear Layout - horizontal - to place those buttons side by side).

maybe you must try your EditText as scrollable:
for horizontal scroll:
<EditText
android:scrollHorizontally="true"
../>
for vertical scroll:
<EditText
android:scrollbars = "vertical"
../>

Button size and padding within RelativeLayout

I'm attempting to create a a Heading + button similar to the Google Music App, e.g. where there is a "Songs" Header on the Left and then on the right there is a Button with the text "X more"..
I've using a RelativeLayout for the TextView and Button
My problem is that the button is taking up the size of the layout that contains the text the height is all wrong and the padding doesn't seem to do anything.
<ScrollView
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical" >
[REMOVED for clarity]
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#color/list_foreground"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="10dp"
android:text="#string/photos"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/photo_button"
style="?android:attr/buttonStyleSmall"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:background="#color/actionbar_background"
android:padding="10dp"
android:text="test" />
</RelativeLayout>
What am I doing wrong here?

RelativeLayouts are designed to have children in the layout "relative" to each other. In other words, if you want the Button to the right of the Textview, you need to tell it.
Because you are aligning relative to the parent LEFT / RIGHT, it appears that things are "kind of" working.
You may be better off with a LinearLayout, depending on your needs. LinearLayouts use "orientation" not RelativeLayouts.
You should look over some tutorials (like this one: http://mobile.tutsplus.com/tutorials/android/android-layout/) but ultimately you will probably put your button in first and then your text view so that the textview content will wrap appropriately.

To get the same effect as the Music App I ended up using a RelativeLayout but instead of a Button I'm using another TextView, this is giving the impression it's a button but it gives me more scope to format the background etc. I think just setup a OnClickListener in the code
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:id="#+id/photo_title">
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_marginLeft="10dp"
android:text="#string/photos"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceLarge" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/more_photo_text"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:layout_marginRight="10dp"
android:background="#color/actionbar_background"
android:paddingLeft="5dp"
android:paddingRight="5dp"
android:text="10 MORE"
android:textColor="#color/button_text"
android:textSize="12sp" />
</RelativeLayout>

Create 4 ImageButtons at bottom of the layout

I am trying to display 4 ImageButtons at the bottom of the layout. I am able to get only 3 ImageButtons. The fourth ImageButton is not visible. and here is my code for that.
I am using Relative Layout for to display the application.
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/Button1"
android:layout_weight="1.0"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:longClickable="true"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="75sp"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:src="#drawable/imagebutton2"/>
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/Button2"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/Button1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="75sp"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:src="#drawable/imagebutton1"
android:layout_weight="1.0"
android:layout_marginLeft="2dp"
android:longClickable="true"/>
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/Button3"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/Button2"
android:layout_height="75sp"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1.0"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:src="#drawable/imagebutton1"
android:layout_marginLeft="2dp"
android:longClickable="true"/>
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/Button4"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:layout_height="75sp"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1.0"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:src="#drawable/imagebutton1"
android:layout_marginLeft="2dp"
android:longClickable="true"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"/>

Put it in a LinearLayout with weights and align this LinearLayout tot he bottom of the parent like this:
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" >
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/ib1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1" />
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/ib2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1" />
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/ib3"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1" />
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/ib4"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1" />
</LinearLayout>
Note that this method will decrease the performance somewhat.

First you need to remove this from your ImageButton attributes if you want to keep using RelativeLayout as their parent layout:
android:layout_weight="1.0"
It is used in LinearLayout, Lint should be giving you a warning about it (invalid layout param in RelativeLayout).
If you want your 4 buttons to show in the bottom of the screen you need to include
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
in all 4 ImageButtons, I tried the xml you provide and only the 1st button is showing in the bottom.
And last but not least, if you want your button to have the same size to have some design consistency, I would suggest putting them in a horizontal LinearLayout with
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
and configure the ImageButtons with
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1.0"
then include that LinearLayout in your RelativeLayout.
Another thing : since you're using
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
for your ImageButtons, you need to make sure the image is not too wide, otherwise some of your buttons might not be shown on screen because the first one(s) is taking too much space, leaving the last one(s) to the right of your screen.
On a side note, I hope you're not trying to make a iOS-style lower tab bar, this is frowned upon in Android, more info here ...
Have a good one !

Like some people say, in the last button, you don't have android:layout_toRightOf = "#id/Button3" so it's going to be in the top of the layout.
Other way to do this that I usually do is:
android:layout_toRightOf = "#id/Button1"
android:layout_alignbottom = #id/Button1"
It's going to align with the bottom of the button1. I do this because sometimes this button isn't align with the other one, depends of the layout.

At the last ImageButton you don't have:
android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/Button3"
You will need this if you want it to be at the bottom.
I would also suggest that you remove some of your code:
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:layout_weight="1.0"
This only works in FrameLayout or LinearLayout.
If you want to know for sure every ImageButton is at the bottom of the screen use what you used for the first button:
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"

Center multiple items in a RelativeLayout without putting them in a container?

I have a RelativeLayout containing a pair of side-by-side buttons, which I want to be centered within the layout. I could just put the buttons in a LinearLayout and center that in the RelativeLayout, but I want to keep my xml as clean as possible.
Here's what I tried, this just puts the "apply" button in the center and the "undo" button to the left of it:
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginTop="15sp">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/instructions"
android:text="#string/instructions"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginBottom="15sp"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/apply"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:text="#string/apply"
android:textSize="20sp"
android:layout_below="#id/instructions"
/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/undo"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:text="#string/undo"
android:textSize="20sp"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#id/apply"
android:layout_below="#id/instructions"
/>
</RelativeLayout>

android:gravity will align the content inside the view or layout it is used on.
android:layout_gravity will align the view or layout inside of his parent.
So adding
android:gravity="center"
to your RelativeLayout should do the trick...
Like this:
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:layout_marginTop="15sp">
</RelativeLayout>

Here is an extension of BrainCrash's answer. It is a non nested option that groups and centers all three horizontally and vertically. In addition, it takes the top TextView and centers it horizontally across both buttons. If desired, you can then center the text within the TextView with android:gravity="center". I also removed the margins, added color, and set the RelativeLayout height to fill_parent to highlight the layout. Tested on API 11.
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:gravity="center"
android:background="#android:color/black"
>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/instructions"
android:text="TEST"
android:textSize="20sp"
android:background="#android:color/darker_gray"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_alignLeft="#+id/undo"
android:layout_alignRight="#+id/apply"
android:gravity="center"
/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/apply"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:text="APPLY"
android:textSize="20sp"
android:layout_below="#id/instructions"
/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/undo"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:text="UNDO"
android:textSize="20sp"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#id/apply"
android:layout_below="#id/instructions"
/>
</RelativeLayout>

android:layout_gravity="center"
will almost give what you're looking for.

Here is a combination of the above answer's that solved my specific situation:
Centering two separate labels within a layout that also includes a button in the left most position of the same layout (button, label, label, from left to right, where the labels are centered relative to the layout containing all three views - that is, the button doesn't push the labels off center).
I solved this by nesting two RelativeLayout's, where the outer most layout included the
Button and an Inner-RelativeLayout.
The Inner-RelativeLayout contained the two text labels (TextView's).
Here is a snippet that provides the details of how the centering and other layout stuff was done:
see: RelativeLayout Gravity not applied? and
Gravity and layout_gravity on Android
for the difference's between gravity and layout_gravity.
Tweak the paddingLeft on the btn_button1 Button to see that the TextView's do not move.
(My apologies to havexz for the downvotes. I was too hasty in thinking that just b/c your suggestions didn't solve the exact question being ask, that they do help to solve very similar situations (the answer here solves a very specific situation, and only the combination of all these answer's solved my problem. I tried upvoting, but it won't let me unless I edit the answer's, which I don't want to do.)
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/rl_outer"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="50dip"
android:background="#FF0000FF">
<Button
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/btn_button1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:background="#FF00FF00"
android:text="<"
android:textSize="20sp"
android:paddingLeft="40dip"/>
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/rl_inner"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:background="#FFFF00FF"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:gravity="center">
<TextView
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/tv_text1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:background="#FF505050"
android:textSize="20sp"
android:textColor="#FFFFFFFF"
android:text="Complaint #"
android:gravity="center"/>
<TextView
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/tv_text2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:background="#FF505050"
android:textSize="20sp"
android:textColor="#FFFFFFFF"
android:layout_toRightOf="#id/tv_text1"
android:gravity="center"/>
</RelativeLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

LinearLayout is a good option. Other than that there are options like create an invisible view and center that and then align left button to the left it and right on the right of it. BUT those are just work arounds.

Centering a TextView while keeping it to the right of a button?

I'm pretty sure I've done this before, but I've forgotten how.
Here's the problem:
I've got a button and a textview, and I want the textview to be centered, while the button is on the left side.
No problem? Just put them in a relativelayout, make the textview centerinparent, and the button alignparentleft.
But now I'm going to dynamically change the text, so it can potentially be written on top of the button! I'll just add toRightOf="#id/button" on the textview. No, now it's no longer centered.
I wish I could provide a screenshot, but it seems the computer is out of memory and can't do that.
Here's some code: http://pastebin.com/3N70Vjre (Since I can't paste xml...?)
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/header"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true">
<Button
android:id="#+id/leftbutton"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:text="text!"
/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/toptext"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textColor="#android:color/white"
android:layout_toRightOf="#id/leftbutton"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:textSize="16sp"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:text="Text!"
android:singleLine="true"
/>
</RelativeLayout>

Try this (unfortunately I'm at work so can't jump into Eclipse to get you some code) -
Change the layout_width of the TextView to fill_parent.
Set the gravity of the TextView to center (so the text centers inside the TextView)
Set the layout_weight of the Button to 1 and the layout_weight of the TextView to 2. Note that you may have to fudge with these numbers to get the layout you're looking for.
This should center the text of the TextView after the Button, though it will not center the TextView itself. You can accomplish that by replacing the TextView with a container (Linear/Relative Layout) and doing the same method as above on the Layout instead of the TextView. You would then put your TextView inside the container and set the container's gravity to "center".
Hope this helps point you in the right direction :)

You can try this (pseudo-code):
<RelativeLayout>
<Button>
<LinearLayout toLeftOf="toptext" type="horizontal">
<TextView gravity="center">
</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>
You might have to have the LinearLayout as width="fill_parent". Not sure if that will work nor not. You can subsequently try some of the things listed here: http://thinkandroid.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/how-to-position-views-properly-in-layouts/

Try declaring the TextView first, then aligning the button to the left of the text view. Keep in mind you may run into issues if the TextView becomes too wide.
EDIT: I see, so you're trying to do something sort of like the iPhone's header with back/next buttons (similar anyway). Try this modification. I still believe you're going to run into issues if the TextView gets large enough to hit the Button, though.
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/header"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/toptext"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textColor="#android:color/white"
android:layout_alignParentCenter="true"
android:textSize="16sp"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:text="Text!"
android:singleLine="true"
/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/leftbutton"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:text="text!"
/>
</RelativeLayout>
Try this FrameLayout instead. This may do more what you're expecting:
<FrameLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/toptext"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:textColor="#android:color/white"
android:textSize="16sp"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:text="Text!"
android:singleLine="true"
/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/leftbutton"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Text!"
/>
</FrameLayout>