Develop Reference

Creating ListView results in odd behaviour

I am trying to create a listView in my app. Such that only part of the screen will be used for the listView, and the other part will be used as permanent information. I get strange output, the listView instead of showing the required string, shows the permanent information.
Here is my code:
activity_main.xml
<!-- Start of the permanent information -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
tools:context="com.example.mti_student.kol_mila.MainActivity">
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/header_image_id"
android:layout_width="100dp"
android:layout_height="90dp"
android:layout_marginBottom="0dp"
android:src="#drawable/logo"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"/>
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/search_panel_id"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#id/header_image_id"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layoutDirection="rtl">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text_view_id"
android:layout_width="200dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:textAlignment="center"
android:text="Title"
android:layout_marginBottom="5dp"/>
<SearchView
android:id="#+id/search_view_id"
android:layout_width="250dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:queryHint="Search"
android:iconifiedByDefault="false"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:queryBackground="#color/colorWhite"
android:background="#color/colorPrimary" />
</LinearLayout>
<!-- End of permanent information -->
<!-- This where I want my list view to appear -->
<FrameLayout
android:id="#+id/fragment_layout_id"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_below="#id/search_panel_id"
android:background="#color/colorBeige"
android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<ListView android:id="#+id/list_view"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_width="fill_parent">
</ListView>
</FrameLayout>
</RelativeLayout>
</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>
MainActivity.java
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
private List<String> filePaths = new ArrayList<>();
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
copyFromAssets();//Stores the information to filePaths
ListView lv = findViewById(R.id.list_view);
ArrayList<HashMap<String,String>> arrayList=new ArrayList<>();
for (int i=0;i<filePaths.size() ;i++)
{
HashMap<String,String> hashMap=new HashMap<>();//create a hashmap to store the data in key value pair
hashMap.put("file_name",filePaths.get(i));
arrayList.add(hashMap);//add the hashmap into arrayList
}
String[] from={"name"};
int[] to={R.id.topic_id};
SimpleAdapter simpleAdapter=new SimpleAdapter(this,arrayList,R.layout.activity_main,from,to);
lv.setAdapter(simpleAdapter);
}

You're using your main activity layout as the layout for each of the items rendered by the SimpleAdapter - see the third parameter of the constructor. Instead, provide the layout which contains the TextView with id topic_id, as per your setup prior to instantiating the SimpleAdapter.

Maybe it could be because you are using the same resource as your main activity to display the information in your list view
activity:
SetContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
you should use your own view for the list view to inflate
SimpleAdapter simpleAdapter=new simpleAdapter(this,arrayList,*R.layout.row*,from,to)

Resize layout to get into other layout

I created a menuView.xml layout to be in all of the layouts of my activity. This layout has one column on each border and a title bar like this:
ComposeView http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/2121/d6zp.png
I insert this layout in the other layouts this way:
<!-- Show menu -->
<com.example.MenuView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
But if one of the layouts has full screen view, part of this view gets covered by the MenuView, so...
How could I tell to this view to adapt its size to the blank space inside the MenuView to not get covered by it?
UPDATE -- full XML included
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:background="#drawable/degradado">
<!-- Show menu -->
<com.example.MenuView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" />
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/Left_layout"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" >
//Here go buttons, views, etc...
</RelativeLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/Right_layout"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" >
//Here go buttons, views, etc...
</RelativeLayout>
What happens here is that these 2 Relative layouts get covered by the MenuView (The darkest gre borders and the top black bar), and the ideal way would be that these 2 layouts get fitted to the blank space (the clearest gray).
I can solve this setting margin sizes to the Relative layouts to fit inside of it, but i know this is not the best way to do it, so I don't know if there is another way.

I think the best way to solve your issue is with inheritance.
If you define an Activity that can be used as a template for all your fleshed out Activitys to add their content to.
I don't know what you custom menu is 'made of' but as a simple example:
Create a basic Activity with code:
public class ActivityWithMenu extends Activity
{
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_with_menu_layout);
}
}
and xml:
<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"
tools:context=".ActivityWithMenu" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="20dip"
android:background="#ff000000"
android:textColor="#ffffffff"
android:text="Main Menu Title Bar"
android:id="#+id/mainmenutitle" />
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="20dip"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_below="#+id/mainmenutitle"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:background="#ff999999"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:id="#+id/lefthandmenu" />
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="20dip"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_below="#+id/mainmenutitle"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:background="#ff999999"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:id="#+id/righthandmenu" />
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_toLeftOf="#+id/righthandmenu"
android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/lefthandmenu"
android:layout_below="#+id/mainmenutitle"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:id="#+id/activitycontent"
/>
</RelativeLayout>
Then create your xml for a specific Activity, in this case a simple 'Hello World' layout:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ScrollView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:scrollbars="vertical" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#ff00ff00"
android:text="Hello World!"
/>
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>
But now when you write the code for this Activity, extend 'ActivityWithMenu' instead of the Activity class direct and inflate this xml layout as follows:
public class Activity1 extends ActivityWithMenu
{
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN,
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
LinearLayout ll = (LinearLayout)findViewById(R.id.activitycontent);
ScrollView sv = (ScrollView)this.getLayoutInflater().inflate(R.layout.activity1_layout, ll, false);
ll.addView(sv);
}
}
I have added the code for making the Activity fullscreen here instead of in the parent ActivityWithMenu class assuming that you wouldn't want them all displayed that way but you could move it into the parent class if appropriate.
Hope this helps.

Android List Below Toggle Buttons

I have a list that is intended to be below toggle buttons. The list grabs data from a server and then parses them. My XML is as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<ToggleButton
android:id="#+id/toggle_button1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:textOff="Apps"
android:textOn="Apps" />
<ToggleButton
android:id="#+id/toggle_button2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_toRightOf="#id/toggle_button1"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:textOff="VMs"
android:textOn="VMs" />
<ToggleButton
android:id="#+id/toggle_button3"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_toRightOf="#id/toggle_button2"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:textOff="Groups"
android:textOn="Groups" />
<ListView
android:id="#+id/mylist"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#id/toggle_button1" />
</RelativeLayout>
Code for the actual fragment:
public class ProblemFragment extends SherlockListFragment
{
private SeparatedListAdapter list;
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
this.getSherlockActivity().setContentView(R.layout.problem_layout);
list = new SeparatedListAdapter(this.getSherlockActivity(), new Layout(R.layout.separated_list_adapter_two_text, R.id.two_text_title, R.id.two_text_desc));
ToggleButton b1 = (ToggleButton) this.getSherlockActivity().findViewById(R.id.toggle_button1);
ToggleButton b2 = (ToggleButton) this.getSherlockActivity().findViewById(R.id.toggle_button2);
ToggleButton b3 = (ToggleButton) this.getSherlockActivity().findViewById(R.id.toggle_button3);
setListAdapter(list);
refresh();
}
public void refresh()
{
list = new SeparatedListAdapter(this.getSherlockActivity(), new Layout(R.layout.separated_list_adapter_two_text, R.id.two_text_title, R.id.two_text_desc));
refreshStats();
}
public void refreshStats()
{
//Omitted parsing code
list.addSection(new String("Hello world!!"));
setListAdapter(list);
}
}
However, when I use setListAdapter(list), the buttons are overwritten. They are visible before the app retrieves the data and parses it, but they are overwritten after I call setListAdapter. How can i fix this?

First, remove
android:orientation="horizontal"
from your root layout. RelativeLayout doesn't have an orientation property. Also, weight is for child elements of a LinearLayout and when you use it then you should assign the width of each child view to 0dp for horizontal orientation and height="0dp" for vertical orientation.
Then wrap your ToggleButtons in a LinearLayout, vertical or horizontal orientation, and give it the property
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
then give your ListView the property
android:layout_below="#id/idOfLinearLayout"
So it may look something like
<?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:id="#+id/toggleLL"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true">
<ToggleButton
android:id="#+id/toggle_button1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textOff="Apps"
android:textOn="Apps" />
<ToggleButton
android:id="#+id/toggle_button2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textOff="VMs"
android:textOn="VMs" />
<ToggleButton
android:id="#+id/toggle_button3"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textOff="Groups"
android:textOn="Groups" />
</LinearLayout>
<ListView
android:id="#+id/mylist"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#id/toggleLL" />
</RelativeLayout>
I also removed the RelativeLayout properties from the ToggleButtons since they are now wrapped in a LinearLayout. And you had a circular view error there with assigning the second ToggleButton to the right of itself which may have been a copy/paste error. Hope this helps.
Note that the default orientation for a LinearLayout is horizontal so leaving that property out will give you that effect.

Oh! I can not test your XML but I think that you need scrollbars! If the list is filled with a lot of entries, it can became bigger that the screen, making the buttons disappear because they are pushed up by the list. Try to add a scroll to the whole layout.
Something like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<ScrollView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<!-- Original layout here -->
</ScrollView>
</LinearLayout>
Of course, if you just put only one layout inside the scrollview, there is no need for the outer layout:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ScrollView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<!-- Original layout here -->
</ScrollView>

Customizing ListView via XML Problem

I have a simple ListActivity that uses a ListAdapter that I'd like to customize the ListView for. Here is my onCreate, where I specify to use a View rather than using the default ListView generated by setListAdapter():
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
// set the listview, empty listview
setContentView(R.layout.main);
getListView().setEmptyView(findViewById(android.R.id.empty));
// set the list properties
getListView().setOnCreateContextMenuListener(this);
.
.
.
<code snipped>
.
.
.
setListAdapter(adapter);
}
You can see that I am setting the emptyView as well. Here is the XML file main.xml:
<?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">
<ListView
android:id="#id/android:list"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:fadingEdge="vertical"
android:dividerHeight="5dp" />
<TextView
android:id="#android:id/empty"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:gravity="center"
android:singleLine="false"
android:text="#string/message_empty_list" />
</LinearLayout>
My problem is that the ListView, while applying the dividerHeight correctly, is ignoring the :fadingEdge directive when it is in the XML; however, if I set the fadingEdge programatically, it works, i.e.:
getListView().setVerticalFadingEdgeEnabled(true);
Any ideas why the listview would be ignoring the fadingEdge specifically? Am I doing something incorrectly that could be leading to this behavior?
Thanks!

android:id="#id/android:list"
should be
android:id="#iandroid:id/list"
I'm not even sure why that compiles.
This is how you should be using custom xml for listactivities.
<FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent">
<ListView
android:id="#android:id/list"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#android:id/empty"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:text="No data found"
android:gravity="center"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium" />
</FrameLayout>

Showing empty view when ListView is empty

For some reason the empty view, a TextView in this case, always appears even when the ListView is not empty. I thought the ListView would automatically detect when to show the empty view.
<RelativeLayout android:id="#+id/LinearLayoutAR"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_width="fill_parent">
<ListView android:id="#+id/ARListView"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"></ListView>
<ProgressBar android:id="#+id/arProgressBar"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"></ProgressBar>
<!-- Here is the view to show if the list is emtpy -->
<TextView android:id="#id/android:empty"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:text="No Results" />
</RelativeLayout>
How can I hook up the empty view properly?

When you extend FragmentActivity or Activity and not ListActivity, you'll want to take a look at:
ListView.setEmptyView()

It should be like this:
<TextView android:id="#android:id/empty"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:text="No Results" />
Note the id attribute.

As appsthatmatter says, in the layout something like:
<ListView android:id="#+id/listView" ... />
<TextView android:id="#+id/emptyElement" ... />
and in the linked Activity:
this.listView = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.listView);
this.listView.setEmptyView(findViewById(R.id.emptyElement));
Does also work with a GridView...

I tried all the above solutions.I came up solving the issue.Here I am posting the full solution.
The xml file:
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/header_main_page_clist1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_margin="20dp"
android:paddingBottom="10dp"
android:background="#ffffff" >
<ListView
android:id="#+id/lv_msglist"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:divider="#color/divider_color"
android:dividerHeight="1dp" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/emptyElement"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:text="NO MESSAGES AVAILABLE!"
android:textColor="#525252"
android:textSize="19.0sp"
android:visibility="gone" />
</RelativeLayout>
The textView ("#+id/emptyElement") is the placeholder for the empty listview.
Here is the code for java page:
lvmessage=(ListView)findViewById(R.id.lv_msglist);
lvmessage.setAdapter(adapter);
lvmessage.setEmptyView(findViewById(R.id.emptyElement));
Remember to place the emptyView after binding the adapter to listview.Mine was not working for first time and after I moved the setEmptyView after the setAdapter it is now working.
Output:

I highly recommend you to use ViewStubs like this
<FrameLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1" >
<ListView
android:id="#android:id/list"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" />
<ViewStub
android:id="#android:id/empty"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:layout="#layout/empty" />
</FrameLayout>
See the full example from Cyril Mottier

<ListView android:id="#+id/listView" ... />
<TextView android:id="#+id/empty" ... />
and in the linked Activity:
this.listView = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.listView);
this.listView.setEmptyView(findViewById(R.id.empty));
This works clearly with FragmentActivity if you are using the support library. Tested this by building for API 17 i.e. 4.2.2 image.

Activity code, its important to extend ListActivity.
package com.example.mylistactivity;
import android.app.ListActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import com.example.mylistactivity.R;
// It's important to extend ListActivity rather than Activity
public class MyListActivity extends ListActivity {
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.mylist);
// shows list view
String[] values = new String[] { "foo", "bar" };
// shows empty view
values = new String[] { };
setListAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String>(
this,
android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1,
android.R.id.text1,
values));
}
}
Layout xml, the id in both views are important.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent">
<!-- the android:id is important -->
<ListView
android:id="#android:id/list"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"/>
<!-- the android:id is important -->
<TextView
android:id="#android:id/empty"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:text="i am empty"/>
</LinearLayout>

Just to add that you don't really need to create new IDs, something like the following will work.
In the layout:
<ListView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:id="#android:id/list"/>
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:id="#android:id/empty"
android:text="Empty"/>
Then in the activity:
ListView listView = (ListView) findViewById(android.R.id.list);
listView.setEmptyView(findViewById(android.R.id.empty));

I had this problem. I had to make my class extend ListActivity rather than Activity, and rename my list in the XML to android:id="#android:id/list"

A programmatically solution will be:
TextView textView = new TextView(context);
textView.setId(android.R.id.empty);
textView.setLayoutParams(new ViewGroup.LayoutParams(ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT));
textView.setText("No result found");
listView.setEmptyView(textView);

First check the list contains some values:
if (list.isEmpty()) {
listview.setVisibility(View.GONE);
}
If it is then OK, otherwise use:
else {
listview.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
}