Develop Reference

Background image in TextView showing up transparent

I have a circle png that I put as a background image in a TextView. However, the image shows up transparent even when I tried setting the alpha level to "1". Is there something wrong I did in my XML code?
<TextView
android:id="#+id/timeline_text_details_img"
android:layout_width="55dp"
android:layout_height="55dp"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:layout_marginTop="25dp"
android:background="#drawable/circle"
android:gravity="center"
android:textColor="#fff"
android:textSize="14dp"
android:alpha="1"
android:textStyle="bold" />
The circle png I want needs to be thick white like how it originally is
but instead it looks like this when I run it

You can simply create a shape circle.xml and place it in drawable.
<shape
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:shape="oval">
<stroke
android:width="2dp"
android:color="#android:color/white"
/>
<solid
android:color="#000000"/>
</shape>
You can change the color scheme as you like.

How to make the Borders of a custom button in android

I want to achieve something like this :
I want to make the button transparent Which I have successfully done, now tell me how can I show the line on the upper border of the button and between the two button. How can I handle this. my xml of button is simply goes like this
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/buttons"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:gravity="center"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:weightSum="2">
<Button
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text=" Send Message"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:textColor="#ff4444"/>
<Button
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Cancel"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:textColor="#ff4444"/>
</LinearLayout>
So How can I achieve the borders like this as shown in picture below.
pardon me , for the small size picture as I have this only single image to clear my question .

If you would like to add separator line, please add this:
<View
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="1dp"
android:background="#android:color/darker_gray"/>
I would use realitveLayout instad of LinearLayout, so you can set the position of the separators more quickly. You are going to have 2 separators, one is the horizontal, with layout_width="match_parent" and one between the elements.
Android draw a Horizontal line between views
Android Drawing Separator/Divider Line in Layout?
You can define your own shape and add to the Button, as background:
use it as R.drawable.myshape:
place it to res/drawable/myshape.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:shape="rectangle">
<gradient android:startColor="#FFFEEE"
android:endColor="#00FFFF"
android:angle="270" />
<corners android:radius="5dp" />
<stroke android:width="7px" android:color="#EE0FF0" />
</shape>
if you would like to be transparent as well, try this:
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:innerRadius="0dp"
android:shape="ring"
android:thicknessRatio="1.4"
android:useLevel="false" >
<solid android:color="#android:color/transparent" />
<stroke
android:width="4dp"
android:color="#android:color/darker_gray" />
</shape>

How do I avoid double borders between lists?

I am using a list view in which I have an xml referencing drawable/list as follows:
<layer-list xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
//For the borders
<item>
<shape android:shape="rectangle">
<solid android:color="#color/white" />
<corners android:radius="0dp" />
</shape>
</item>
//For the background color of cells
<item android:top="1px"
android:left="0dp"
android:right="0dp"
android:bottom="1px">
<shape android:shape="rectangle">
<solid android:color="#262626" />
<corners android:radius="0dp" />
</shape>
</item>
</layer-list>
The above code is basically used to define the borders and the background color of cells. However, I want to be able to use line for the borders instead of rectangle so that the bottom border of one rectangle doesnt leave a 1 dp gap between the top border of another rectangle below it.
Please refer the image below:
As you can see from the image, the rectangular bottom border below BOK.L is a little off showing a gap between the top rectangular border of GOOG.OQ Is there a way to fix this such that both the borders either overlap on top of each other and no such double line gap appears or is there a way I can define a line shape such that it is defined above and below all the cells in the pic without a gap?
Any clue?
Thanks!
Justin
The xml file referencing the same (drawable/list) is as follows :
<?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"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:background="#drawable/list"
android:padding="4dp"
>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/symbol"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:paddingTop="2dp"
android:paddingLeft="8dp"
android:textColor="#color/search_autosuggest_header_text"
foo:customFont="Roboto-Bold.ttf"
android:singleLine="true"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#+id/last_container"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:gravity="left"
android:textSize="14sp"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/name"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:paddingLeft="8dp"
foo:customFont="Roboto-Regular.ttf"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_below="#id/symbol"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#+id/last_container"
android:paddingBottom="4dp"
android:textColor="#color/search_autosuggest_item_subtitle"
android:singleLine="true"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:textSize="11sp" />
<FrameLayout
android:id="#+id/last_container"
android:layout_width="87dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_margin="1dp"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#+id/net_change_container" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/last_back"
style="#style/TextView.ListsTextView"
android:layout_width="87dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="3dp" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/last"
style="#style/TextView.ListsTextView"
android:layout_width="87dp"
android:textSize="12sp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
</FrameLayout>
<FrameLayout
android:id="#+id/net_change_container"
android:layout_width="80dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_margin="1dp"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#+id/percent_change_container" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/net_change_back"
style="#style/TextView.ListsTextView"
android:layout_width="80dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="3dp" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/net_change"
style="#style/TextView.ListsTextView"
android:layout_width="80dp"
android:textSize="12sp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
</FrameLayout>
<FrameLayout
android:id="#+id/percent_change_container"
android:layout_width="65dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_margin="1dp" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/percent_change_back"
style="#style/TextView.ListsTextView"
android:layout_width="65dp"
android:textSize="14sp"
foo:customFont="Roboto-Regular.ttf"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:padding="3dp" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/percent_change"
style="#style/TextView.ListsTextView"
android:layout_width="65dp"
android:textSize="12sp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>
</FrameLayout>
</RelativeLayout>
Also,#jboi with with your fix the screen that I get is:

In order to not have double selectors(and in proper positions like also at the top, at the bottom) you have two cases that you need to tackle, the top element(which needs the selector at the top and bottom) plus every other row which needs the selector only at the bottom(the top will be covered by the selector of the previous element). This has to be done in code, in your adapter(if you were using a simple table you could have just made one drawable for the top element and one for the other elements):
remove the properties like android:top, android:bottom etc from the layer-list(as you'll be setting those in code)
in the getView() method of the adapter retrieve the background of the row view(which will be a LayerDrawable)
based on the position you have(mainly 0 vs any oher position) use the LayerDrawable.setLayerInset() method and set the inset for the layer with index 1(if that is your complete drawable): top and bottom for the first element, top(with a value of 0) and bottom for every other position

You could play with ListView params android:divider and android:dividerHeight, to set a line separator of the color and height you want.

The reason for having two lines is, that the background (second layer) lets shine thru the white part on both ends, at the bottom and the top. Therefore every list entry gets a white line on top and on bottom. As list items have a small distance between each other you see two lines.
Two things you need to do
For each item, let only one (top or bottom) shine thru. Therefore you get only one line per item. The drawable XML for an item:
<layer-list xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item>
<shape android:shape="rectangle">
<solid android:color="#color/white" />
<corners android:radius="0dp" />
</shape>
</item>
<item android:top="1dp"
android:left="0dp"
android:right="0dp"
android:bottom="0dp">
<shape android:shape="rectangle">
<solid android:color="#262626" />
<corners android:radius="0dp" />
</shape>
</item>
</layer-list>
For the whole list, you need the drawable that shows the one missing line. The drawable XML for this looks nearly the same. Just bottom and top is exchanged:
<layer-list xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item>
<shape android:shape="rectangle">
<solid android:color="#color/white" />
<corners android:radius="0dp" />
</shape>
</item>
<item android:top="0dp"
android:left="0dp"
android:right="0dp"
android:bottom="1dp">
<shape android:shape="rectangle">
<solid android:color="#262626" />
<corners android:radius="0dp" />
</shape>
</item>
</layer-list>

Buttons spacing

I'm trying to set the margin of the buttons to 0, (so no spacing between the buttons).
Basically, I want my buttons to look something like that(with the following style and colors):
Any idea how can I accomplish this kind of task? I do not want to create a 9 patch image by myself (since I don't have any knowledge doing that).

In this specific case, you can do this task easily with XMLs.
This is how you can achieve it in two steps:
Step 1
Create 3 shapes in drawable folder:
First shape is for the left button: shape_button_left.xml. This shape has radial left corners and gradient background.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<stroke
android:width="1dp"
android:color="#BFBFBF" >
</stroke>
<corners
android:bottomLeftRadius="10dp"
android:topLeftRadius="10dp" >
</corners>
<gradient android:startColor="#D2D2D2" android:endColor="#F2F2F2" android:angle="90"/>
</shape>
Second shape is for the center button: shape_button_center.xml. This shape doesn't define anything for corners and also has gradient background.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<stroke
android:width="1dp"
android:color="#BFBFBF" >
</stroke>
<gradient android:startColor="#D2D2D2" android:endColor="#F2F2F2" android:angle="90"/>
</shape>
Third shape is for the right button: shape_button_right.xml. This shape has radial right corners and gradient background.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<stroke
android:width="1dp"
android:color="#BFBFBF" >
</stroke>
<corners
android:bottomRightRadius="10dp"
android:topRightRadius="10dp" >
</corners>
<gradient android:startColor="#D2D2D2" android:endColor="#F2F2F2" android:angle="90"/>
</shape>
Step 2
Now, we can use these shapes in simple views to get the effect of buttons.
In your layout XML add the next code:
<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:gravity="center" >
<!-- Button Left -->
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/button_left"
android:layout_width="100dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#drawable/shape_button_left"
android:gravity="center"
android:padding="10dp" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Left"
android:textColor="#333333"
android:textSize="20sp" />
</LinearLayout>
<!-- End Button Left -->
<!-- Button Center -->
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/button_center"
android:layout_width="100dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#drawable/shape_button_center"
android:gravity="center"
android:padding="10dp" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Center"
android:textColor="#333333"
android:textSize="20sp" />
</LinearLayout>
<!-- End Button Center -->
<!-- Button Right -->
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/button_right"
android:layout_width="100dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#drawable/shape_button_right"
android:gravity="center"
android:padding="10dp" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Right"
android:textColor="#333333"
android:textSize="20sp" />
</LinearLayout>
<!-- End Button Right -->
</LinearLayout>
That's it
Now, you can add onClick listener in your code to LinearLayouts and work with it like a button.
Testing this code on my mobile gives next result:

Any idea how can I accomplish this kind of task? I do not want to create a 9 patch image by myself (since I don't have any knowledge doing that).
I'm afraid you may not have much choice. The inherent spacing found in between each button is a result of extra transparent pixels built directly into the existing 9-patch backgrounds that the framework uses. To replace this behavior you must set the background of the buttons to a different Drawable that doesn't include this inherent spacing.
Another option would be for you that could be done in code is to create XML drawable shapes to use for each background. You can create an individual shape that has corner radii, a fill gradient, and a stroke just like your image. You can read more about creating XML Drawables in the docs.

Android shape background

Is it possible to draw a shape in xml, and use a png as the background to that shape? I already have the shape (it's a square with rounded corners), and i would like to put a background to that square.

Yes you can use any shape file as background for any view. This sample create rounded background with white color and black border around the shape.
Sample :
rounded_corner.xml
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:shape="rectangle" >
<corners
android:bottomLeftRadius="10dp"
android:bottomRightRadius="10dp"
android:topLeftRadius="10dp"
android:topRightRadius="10dp" />
<stroke
android:width="0.5dp"
android:color="#color/color_grey" />
<solid android:color="#color/color_white" />
</shape>
u can use this as,
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
android:background="#drawable/rounded_corner"
android:orientation="vertical" >

//try this way this will help you
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#drawable/rounded_corner"
android:padding="2dp"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<ImageView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#drawable/yourdrawable />
</LinearLayout>