Develop Reference

dimension folder for different screen sizes [duplicate]

I am creating different values folders in my app (values, values-ldpi, values-mdpi, values-hdpi, values-xhdpi, values-nodpi, values-w360dp-mdpi). But some devices that belong same category. But having different screen sizes. But I see give font size according to device densities in this the answer provided by #PankajSharma suggest to create folders like-
res/values/dimens.xml
res/values-small/dimens.xml
res/values-normal/dimens.xml
res/values-xlarge/dimens.xml
I want to know what is the difference b/w my way and the other way? I think the answer provided by #PankajSharma is easy. I also want to know which way is better?

The approach you are using is a valid approach, but a little outdated. From HoneyComb, there is a new way to fix all of this. Your resources folder should now look like this:
Please refer to the link I have posted and familiarize yourself with Smallest Width concept.
Hope this helps :)
EDIT: Adding to this post, try to establish some kind of standardization in your dimens.xml, something like this:
Doing this makes it easier to maintain code, plus it reduces the number of dimen folders. Normally rather than having values-hdpi, values-xhdpi, etc. files like values-sw480dp-xhdpi might have more values to adjust, but then again all of this is contextual.

Create a Single layout for default screens 4.7 inch (hdpi) in layout folder and dimensions in values folder. This is your Superset.
Now let say you want your layouts for 7inch devices. Create values-sw600dp folder for 7inch in Portrait orientation
Now lets say you want your layouts for 10 inch devices Create values-dw720dp folder
NOTE :- For landscape just add "-land" in front of folder names.
Now lets say you have new devices such as Xperia SP (4.7' and XHDPI) and Nexus 5(5" and XXHDPI).
For these, you can create values-xhdpi and values-xxhdpi folders and similary add -land for landscape orientation..
I hope you got the point of how to create folders..
Now your superset is defined in values folder. Most of the dimensions will be used from here only. Now run your app in other devices. Whatever mismatch is occuring just add that specific dimension in their respective values folder
To check from which folder your layouts, images are used, use my trick.
Create five same strings and put in it all the values folders like this :-
Default Screen
Screen 4.7
XHDPI Screen
MDPI Screen
Create five drawable folders, most of them will be already there : - drawable-hdpi, drawable-mdpi, drawable-xhdpi, drawable-xxhdpi, drawable-xxxhdpi
Put the screenshots below in their respective folder under the same name
This is how my res folder looks like and i am supporting all the devices from 4.7 screen and above :-

where to put drawable image for specific screen size

I have an imageview that is like this
<ImageView
android:layout_width = "wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:src = "#drawable/myimage"/>
the image file "myimage.png" is in all the 4 drawable folders for different densities. The view looks good on phone. If I display it on tablet (say 10inch) then the image "looks" too small because there is so much space.
I know I can create layout for it for large screen size, but where do I place the image file with the bigger size? This way the image file can be picked based on not only density but also screen size
Thank you

You should use the sw notation.
For example:
layout/activity_with_photo.xml
layout-sw600dp/activity_with_photo.xml // that's a 7 inch tablet
layout-sw720dp/activity_with_photo.xml // that's a nexus 9 and up
and then the bigger images for those layout
// here a 7 inch tabled with all the densities
layout-mdpi-sw600dp/photo.png
layout-hdpi-sw600dp/photo.png
layout-xdpi-sw600dp/photo.png
layout-xxdpi-sw600dp/photo.png
// here a nexus 9 n up with all densities
layout-mdpi-sw720dp/photo.png
layout-hdpi-sw720dp/photo.png
layout-xdpi-sw270dp/photo.png
layout-xxdpi-sw720dp/photo.png
alternatively, if you're doing appropriate scaling of those resources during runtime, you could add to a no-dpi folder
layout-nodpi-sw600dp/photo.png
layout-nodpi-sw270dp/photo.png
but, if you're using only one, be aware of this here: Bitmap too large to be uploaded into a texture

Simple Steps: -
If you are using stock icons. Go to this site https://material.io/icons/ . Select and download the icon with a size of 48dp.
Extract the zip file and select all the folders under android and copy them into the res folder of your project. That's it.

Screen-size specific resources are denoted by small, medium, large and xlarge. So you need a drawable-small and/or layout-small folder etc.
Source: https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html
EDIT: SCREEN SIZE FOLDERS ARE DEPRECATED since Android 3.2. Please use the density folders

a tricky way is set scaleType of imageView to fitcenter and set constant width and height to your imageview. it will scale up your icon to specified width and height
<ImageView
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="200dp"
android:scaleType="fitCenter"
android:src="#drawable/my_photo"/>

Same DPI but different inch size

I know the Internet is overwhelmed with questions about DPI px inches and so on.
But after several hours of googling my situation doesnt seem to happen to anyone else!
I have 2 devices custom build with android studio which are both mdpi.
BUT one device is 3.65inch and the other device is an 10.1 inch.
I have created a folder with 2 images 250x125 with the dpi set to 160 dpi
If normally I would declare my 2 images in my XML with dp units instead of pixels...I would suppose on both screens the result should be the same right ?
Well it seems the images keep remaining the same size and don't look # how many inch the device is
So to set things clear:
What do I have to change at my resources or my code so that my layout scales identical for different Inch sizes ?
This is my GOOD layout for my mdpi 10.1 tablet :
This is my BAD layout for my mdpi 3.65 device
How can I make it so that even on the 3.65 inch screen the buttons will scale to the same PROPORTIONS as the 10.1. Not the inches...not the pixels...the proportions....
This is my XML File
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:gravity="center">
<Button
android:id="#+id/buttonEnglish"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#drawable/english"
android:layout_marginBottom="5sp"
android:layout_marginLeft="5sp"
android:layout_marginRight="2sp"
android:layout_marginTop="0sp" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/buttonNederlands"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#drawable/nederlands"
android:layout_marginBottom="5sp"
android:layout_marginLeft="20sp"
android:layout_marginRight="5sp"
android:layout_marginTop="0sp"
/>
</LinearLayout>
I'm desperate...
Thanx in advance

This might help explain the problem you are facing...
You have an image that is 250x125 - that is 250 pixels wide by 125 pixels in height.
You have specified 160 dpi - which means that 1 inch = 160 pixels.
So, both screens are doing what you ask and displaying the 250 pixels across 1.5625 inches. On the large screen it looks "proportionally" correct. On the 3.65" screen the button takes up more than half the screen - just like you asked it to.
If you want the smaller screen to look like the larger screen, then you have three options:
adjust the size of the image and provide 2 image assets (or more for a wider variety of screens). This is why you can have resource folders for mdpi, hdpi, xhdpi, etc. You adjust the pixels in the image to accommodate the screen size.
You use a "weighted" LinearLayout that adjusts the size of the space provided based on the available screen space. For this type of layout you should not worry about performance.
Do runtime scaling of the image based on screen size - use DisplayMetrics to get the size and density of the screen and adjust your image to fit the screen appropriately.
The last option is the most flexible in many ways, because if you end up with a screen that is either very large or very small, you can make adjustments to do things like move buttons or text to another place on the screen (above or below other content). But for your specific problem, any of them will suffice.

There is no need of Designing two xml layout.
You can use Dimension for margin and padding according to device.
You are giving static value for margin.
Use dimen.xml in value folder each device.
Following code in your layout.xml will work for you.
android:layout_marginLeft="#dimen/margin_button"
Value folder name for dimen.xml:
values-mdpi
values-hdpi
values-xhdpi
values-xxhdpi
values-sw600dp
create dimen.xml in each values folder.
and in dimen.xml you have to define value for margin in all values folder but value of that property is different according to device size like this:
values-mdpi
<dimen name="margin_button">20dp</dimen>
values-hdpi
<dimen name="margin_button">23dp</dimen>
like wise in all values folders.

Thanx everyone for the answers. Due to answer from #Iacs I discovered that I had to made changes to my folder structure.
I have completely overlooked the fact that in the /res folder there can be more directories then just the standard "layout" directory. You can create other directories with these names : layout-large, layout-xlarge, layout-small, and so on...
In these folders you can paste your layout.xml and adjust the values...
This is how things look now in my android studio
note the layout folder structure:
And now ofcourse my 2 devices with both the same DPI but different screen size are showing my buttons the way I want them to be showned!

Android devices with different height takes same layout folder

I have a Micromax AQ5000 with Screen Resolution- 1280*720 pixels and Motorola Moto G XT1033 with resolution 720 x 1280 pixels.I have a layout folder named layout-sw360dp which I designed for devices like Samsung s4,s3,Micromax canvas etc but this Motorola device is also using the same layout and this creates the images displayed as distorted in it.
How can I create a folder for the small device(Moto g) I tried layout-xhdpi but it doesn't work how can I name layout with height and width.

Well you are right in some sense android should take layout dependent on different densities but some mobile do not fall under specific density. Therefore android will pick up default layout from layout directory.
to support multiple screen resolution provide different layout for different screen sizes, you can make following directories in res directory like this
layout-hdpi
layout-mdpi
layout-xhdpi
layout-xxhdpi
layout-w320dp-h408dp
layout-w480dp-h800dp
layout-w480dp-h854dp
layout-w720dp-h1280dp
layout-w1080dp-h1920dp
when you provide layout in all this directories you will give multiple screen support for different sizes as well
layout-w1440dp-h2560dp
Use "dip" instead they will help you in debugging your layout as they will try to keep a coherent size to multiple screen resolutions,
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/avtar_animation_11"
android:layout_width="45dip"
android:layout_height="45dip"
android:src="#drawable/avtar011"/>
while supporting multiple screen when you give "dp" to dimensions, Actually android expects you to provide different values for different screen resolution. Lets say below is your imagview dimensions make few folders in res folder in your android project like these below
values-hdpi, values-mdpi, values-ldpi, values-xhdpi, values-xxhdpi
and in them make a dimens.xml file each of them and write
<dimen name="image_view_width">28dp</dimen>
<dimen name="image_view_height">28dp</dimen>
now that i have mentioned "dp" here instead of dip android wants me to keep track for different dimensions for different screen resolution, So i will change the image_view_width and image_view_height values are in separate values folders where dimens.xml is located. Make sure your dp values change as per your screen resolution you want your view to fit in.
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/avtar_animation_11"
android:layout_width="#dimen/image_view_width"
android:layout_height="#dimen/image_view_height"
android:src="#drawable/avtar011"/>
hard part is over now android will pick one of dimens.xml values depending on which screen your app is running, Voila now your layout rocks

Handling different resolutions within the same configuration group

I have a normal-hdpi-480x800 layout, which includes buttons and similar graphics. I mostly use RelativeLayout, since it's recommended for better performance, and position my elements from the upper left bound relatively to each other. According to screens_support.html this group might also include 600x1024 resolution devices. So, when I test the application on LG L9 (540x960), which also falls into normal-xhdpi, it looks horrible - it seems there's no difference between using pixels and dp. Here's an example of code:
<Button
android:id="#+id/fb_post_btn"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginLeft="#dimen/share_fb_m_l"
android:layout_marginTop="#dimen/share_fb_m_t"
android:background="#drawable/fb_btn" />
Any help ? What I might be doing wrong ?
Thanks.

Just specify different dimensions in folders values-ldpdi, values-mdpi, values-hdpi, values-xhdpi if you need more control over button sizes according to screen density. Like this:
<resources>
<dimen name="share_fb_m_l">47dp</dimen>
<dimen name="share_fb_m_t">57dp</dimen>
</resources>
Update: You can get more control over this:
Specify multiple different images for different screen resolutions and densities. To do so read supporting multiple screens. If you need even more precision in image scaling and quality you can use the fundamental size of screen attribute which is swdp - you can specify the smallest width of the screen where your image should be used. This is a qualifier name for a resource folder.
Place your dimensions in these folders values-sw540dp, values-sw540dp, values-sw600dp - these should serve as subfolders for more control.