In Android Studio, can layout xml files be grouped into folders?
Able to do it with the java files by creating different packages/folders, can the layout files be similarly grouped/organized?
Looking for ease of organization in my workflow when i have a ton of xml files to work with.
No, the files have to be in predefined folders.
Here is a link to more information on available folder names:
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html
Actually, they can!
Although the steps are a bit too many, it is indeed possible to group your xml files in folders. Just follow the following steps:
Switch to Project view; you can now see all your project folders and sub-folders properly.
Backup all your layout files; at this stage you'll find them all under android/app/src/main/res/layout.
Delete the entire layout directory (android/app/src/main/res/layout). Remember to properly backup all your layout files before this step.
Right click the res directory and select "New" and then select "Directory".
Give it a name; remember the name must be entirely lowercase. Your new directory will now appear under the res folder. Let's call this directory layouts for instance.
Right click your new directory (layouts) and select "New" and then select "Directory". This way, we are creating a new sub-directory. We can give it any name we want, just remmber it must be completely lowercase.
You can repeat step 6 as many times as you want and keep creating sub-directories.
VERY IMPORTANT! Right click any of the sub-directories and select "New" and then select "Directory". YOU MUST NAME THIS DIRECTORY layout.
Repeat this for all sub-directories.
Move all the backed-up xml files (in step 2) to the layout directory of the folder you want to put them in.
Add the code below to your build.gradle (app) file:
sourceSets {
main {
res.srcDirs =
[
'src/main/res/layouts/layout_for_fragment',
'src/main/res/layouts',
'src/main/res'
]
}
}
Replace layouts with your sub-directory name and add as many sub-directories as are available.
Sync project with gradle files
And that's it.. Pretty herculean but it can come in handy anytime. You may want to visit this link for more clarification.
I hope this helps.. Merry coding!
Related
I inherited the values folder structure shown below.
For over an hour I've Googled and looked and pulled down menus in Android Studio 1.2.2 and tried creating files and folders but nothing I have done lets me add, for instance, dimens.xml (sw720dp).
I deleted dimens.xml (sw720dp - landscape) because landscape didn't suit my needs.
What steps did whoever created the folder structure take in order to get dimens.xml (sw600dp) to appear in the structure?
What steps do I need to take to get a dimens.xml file with the sw<N>dp file naming convention? How do I get dimens.xml (sw720dp) where it belongs?
You can ignore the rest of this. I'm just showing that I've TRIED stuff, none of which works right.
Am I supposed to right-click values or dimens.xml (2)? What then?
Here's what I did and it didn't do as I need:
I also tried:
EDIT
I also tried copying the sw600dp file. No luck:
IT CAN'T BE THIS HARD.
What steps do I need to take to get a dimens.xml file with the swdp file naming convention?
First, you will probably be happier with life if you change the drop-down above your project tree from "Android" to "Project", which shows you an actual filesystem view of your project.
To add a resource directory from within Android Studio:
Right-click over res/
Choose New > "Android resource directory" from the context menu to bring up the New Resource Directory dialog:
Choose your resource type in the "Resource type" drop-down (in this case, values)
Click on your desired qualifier (in this case, "Smallest screen width") in the "Available qualifiers" list.
Click the >> button
In the field that appears, fill in your numeric value (in this case, 600)
Click OK to close the dialog and create the directory
To add dimens.xml to that directory, right-click over the newly-created directory and choose New > "Values resource file" from the context menu.
I have had MANY failures trying to do stuff OUTSIDE Android Studio, but this time I got away with it:
I will now see how #Commonsware says I could have done it.
EDIT
And as always, #Commonsware bailed me out with good advice (I have no idea when or why or how I lost the File structure "tab" along the left margin).
Here's what I now see, and (I was right:) it's NOT hard to see what to do ONCE YOU SEE THIS:
And, following his advice, I get to here and am ready to create the dimens.xml file that goes inside:
I am trying to create a new folder inside the /res directory
I added a new directory
The folder does not appear in the /res folder even though it exists in the finder
Case and point I tried adding the folder again and I got a message telling me it exists.
If you can suggest what I can do to fix this I'd love it!
(And yes I have restarted the program as well as my computer)
Turns out there is a selector at the top which, by default, is set to show Android. If you flick the toggle down to 'Packages' you can see your own packages.
In Android Studio you can add new directories by right clicking the resource folder in the Android view. (Don't get confused by the New Directory option.)
For example, if you want a new layout resource file and folder then right click layout and choose New > Layout resource file.
If you want a new layout-sw600dp for the activity_main.xml file then choose Smallest Screen Width from the list and click the >> button. Fill in the file name and width and click ok.
Android Studio will automatically create the layout-sw600dp directory and in the Android view you will have both layout files conveniently displayed next to each other.
It is a similar process for adding other resource directories and files (see my other example).
Clicking at TAB Android in top, select the perspective Project Files. Then u can see all folders of project.
Android 4.0
The Android view by default seems to conceal the duplicated resource type directories in the side panel.
If you want to view the duplicate resource type directories i.e. drawable for two different languages,
switch the view from "Android" to "Packages" or "Project" or "Project Files"
Browse the actual folder structure in windows and you'll see the folder. Put the same resource file found in the normal drawable folder into this new directory. Then when you go back into Android Studio you'll now see 2 files under the NORMAL \res\drawable structure. Make sure you don't look for a subfolder in Android Studio called "drawable-sw600dp" because you won't find it other than in windows explorer. What you will find in Android Studio (after you copy the resource file) is a new resource file along with your original called "jenny-web.png (sw600dp)" or something similar. This same principle resolves the same error when working with other resources like layouts.
For Android Studio 3.0, those who are following https://developer.android.com/training/basics/supporting-devices/languages.html and have encountered the same issue as the one stated in this question, you can also do the following aside from the above answers which are helpful.
Right click to the target folder (i.e. res folder) > New
Choose Android Resource File
Specify the file name, and in the Directory name field put the folder name you want to create or the existing folder you want to put the resource file.
After hitting OK, in the Project files dropdown, you will see the correct strucutre.
And in the Android dropdown, you will see it as part of the strings.xml under values folder.
This worked best for me. What I did was I right-clicked the 'app' directory and chose 'New' >> 'Android Resource File'. After that I filled in the File Name with 'strings'. Chose 'XML' as my resource type and my Directory Name was 'values-b+za+ZA'.
This created everything as I wanted it to, however, values-b+za+ZA, still didn't show in the Android view but it shows in the Package view. (The views you choose from the top dropdown.)
The difference this time is that in the Package view I can still see my new 'strings.xml' file and in the Android view I van also see the new 'strings.xml' file.
I guess android studio doesn't show custom directories in the Android view but creates like some kind of link to the true directory when working with it. I am not familiar with Android Studio at all but this did work for me. If there are more professional answers please feel free to correct me.
You most probably have the file named in Uppercase, Android Studio does not recognize file names in Uppercase, I had made this mistake a while back.
As the developer doc states:
be sure the Project window is open (select View > Tool Windows > Project)
and the Android view is selected from the drop-down list at the top of that window.
You will then be able to see all relevant project files (including new ones) in a more efficient way.
Hope it helps someone.
This is odd but in my case i had to many underscores delimiters.
When i renamed yt_search_view (2 delimiters) to yt_searchview (1 delimiter), it appear in project view where it should be. It is probably a bug. My version is Android Studio 3.2.
Also, i notice that if i add a value folder to the layout folder, it also fix the issue.
Example:
layout_control_x
--layout
----top_panel.xml
--values <--adding this empty folder fixed the problem
For complete information on how to add sub folder layouts check this.
I have many projects that have an identical activity which include identical drawable resources. In each project I have duplicated the src java file, the layout xml file and the drawable images.
Ideally I'd like to be able to have one set of these and somehow share them to the other projects. Shared folders appear to be the way to go but after setting them up I cannot figure how to reference the linked files.
Lets say, to keeps things simple, I have two projects, a Source project which contains the java code file, the layout file, and a drawable folder containing all the images I require.
The second project lets call it Destination.
In Destination I create the linked folder called "linked" to the drawable folder in Source which is then viewable in explorer. In my layout xml, how can I reference the "linked" folder and then the individual images for the SRC of imageviews?
Would it also be possible to link my identical activities java source and xml files in the same manner?
If there is another or better way to accomplish this I'd be grateful for some pointers.
thanks
I think you should package your common code and resources into a library and then use this library inside all yours projects.
What you want to do is to add a folder to your project build path.
Here's how I do it in Eclipse:
Right click on the project in the Project Explorer
Properties > Java Build Path > Source > Link Source > Choose the folder
Hope this helps (:
I have an application and putting all of the layouts inside of the res/layout folder is getting pretty large and hard to manage. I would like to have folders for all the layouts. I have read that there cannot be subdirectories inside the layout folder but that there could be in the assets folder. So my question is, how do I access a file and set it as my view from a file in the assets directory? Something like the following
int assetId = getAssets().open("main.xml");
setContentView(assetId)
Would the above code work? How would I set that xml file for my view?
Thanks.
You can achieve this by using a custom script and having it run before the build executes. Android seems to ignore anything in layout subdirectories, so you can safely put your files into them. The following ruby script (written for Linux, but easily convertible to other platforms) will then delete everything that's not a directory in res/layout/ and copy every file from the subdirs into res/layout/:
#!/usr/bin/ruby
require "fileutils"
def collect_files(directory)
FileUtils.cd(directory)
FileUtils.rm(Dir.entries(directory).reject{|x| File.directory?(x)}) #Remove all layout files in base dir
files_to_copy=Dir.glob("**/*").reject{|x| File.directory?(x)}
files_to_copy.each{|x| print "Copying #{x} to #{directory}\n"}
FileUtils.cp(files_to_copy, directory) #Copy all files in subdir into base dir
end
if ARGV[0]!=nil && File.directory?(ARGV[0])
xml_dir=ARGV[0]
layout_dir="#{xml_dir}/layout"
collect_files(layout_dir)
else
puts("Must specify a valid directory!")
end
Be warned that the above script is not robust, and will actually delete any layout files not in a subdirectory. You can always remove the deletion step if you like, but then any files you remove from the subdirectories will remain in the main directory for subsequent builds.
If you're running Eclipse, you can then configure an external tool, which you can add to your builders later. Just open up Run -> External Tools -> External Tools Configurations, and create a new tool under 'Programs'. Here a screenie of my settings:
Note: The working directory is a red herring, and won't be used. You'll need to specify the location where you drop the script, not the one shown here
Now you can add the tool to the builders for your project. Select your project and open up Project -> Properties. Now Select the 'Builders' item and click 'Import'. You should see your tool there if you defined it successfully. It needs to run before the rest of the build process, so make sure to move it up to the top of the list. Here's what it should look like when you're done:
Now you just move layout files into subdirectories (but watch out for name collisions, remember the files will all end up in the same directory for the build!) and build your project. You'll see them magically appear in the root of /res/layout/ when you do this and your app should then build normally.
Caveat Scriptor: If you're specifying multiple layouts, or anything else which uses more than just the /res/layout/ directory, you'll need to extend this script or add the tool multiple times for the different directories to handle it. I don't personally use this technique, and so haven't seen where it falls down, but have performed a test with a basic android Hello World app with a couple of layouts in some subdirectories.
Also, my script will break if used with paths containing spaces!
The short answer: it can't be done in that way.
The main reasons:
In the res/layout folder all .xml files are precompiled, so Android can use them as resources. In assets folder all files remain intact, so the app can read them as regular files. (In your code example you get InputStream, not resource ID).
Android automatically manages layouts located in the res/layout folder, searching the best matched to current screen resolution, orientation, locale, etc.
layoutinflator might help you
look here
What does LayoutInflater in Android do?
I don't think this is a good idea, and probably just doesn't work. What would the framework do if it thought it needed an hdpi version of your layout, for example?
You might try to go after the root cause of your layout proliferation:
Could you develop better naming conventions for your layouts?
Could you refactor certain layouts so that more components can reuse the same layouts?
Are you manually handling orientations instead of relying on -portrait and -landscape?
When I create a subfolder in the layout folder, and drag an xml file to it, the generated R file doesn't seem to show the subfolder. a) is there a way to change that b) is the file and file structure still picked up by SVN and c) so, if I do it that way, can I still just refer to the object using layout?
When I create a subfolder in the
layout folder, and drag an xml file to
it, the generated R file doesn't seem
to show the subfolder
That is because that is not supported by Android. You cannot have subfolders of resources.
PHP_Jedi's advice, though, is good (e.g., svn:ignore).
Its all automatic.
a )The generated R class only contains static integers for each item in your layout.
b) What is picked up by svn is all up to you, but I usally put the gen folder to svn:ignore
c) if you put the gen folder and the R.java into svn you could get problems since a old version of the file can be checked in/out of the respository. This will happen if you are part of a team. So, put svn:ignore on the gen folder.