Condtional Statement in XML Layout Files - android

I am making an Android application in which every member has up to 5 children, thus I need to show children dynamically. However, I can't apply conditions on XML layouts.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

On your xml code you can make your layouts
android:visibility="gone"
to have them not showing and in you mainActivity (java code) you make them show up using
LayoutView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
// or
LayoutView.setVisibility(View.GONE); //depending on the case
I normally make my layouts to have other layouts horizontally or vertically with buttons textviews etc. (child fields) show or disappear at a button click event.

That is what java code is for. You create xml layouts for activities and widgets and then you manipulate them in Java.

Related

Complete layout programmatically by choosing from different XML files

I have two activities with almost identical layouts. Only the buttons at the bottom are different.
The empty space at the top is an empty EditText that is supposed to show the amount of the expense and is filled in at runtime. Same goes for the empty TextView for the date.
I know it is possible to leave the buttons out of the XML file and fill them in programmatically. But I like the ease of changing an XML file.
Hence my question: Is it possible to choose from two additional XML files at runtime in order to add the buttons?
I imagine that "placeholder views" exist, which can be inflated with a chosen XML layout.
A ViewStub would be a good candidate for this scenario. You can specify the XML which should be inflated at runtime, then inflate it.
ViewStub vs = (ViewStub) findViewById(R.id.my_viewstub);
vs.setLayoutResource(R.layout.my_layout);
vs.inflate();
You can create three buttons in the xml file. And Which you don't want to show, you can invisible it.

Using on Activity in Android to draw multiple UI's

I would like to know if it is wise/possible to have one activity that displays multiple different UI elements dynamically in a single layout?
So I want to have a single activity that loads a blank layout and then from code I add various UI elements such as buttons, text views etc. Then when a button is pressed, for that layout to clear and then from code draw the next set of UI elements on that same layout and so on and so forth?
Or would it be better to have multiple xml layout files and just inflate them each time I want to use a different layout, so then not create them from code?
Hope that makes sense.
Thanks,
Wihan
You should look into Fragments.
Activities are not intended to do what you would like them to do.
Instead you use one Activity and add a Fragment(s). Those Fragments can then be dynamically switched via code.
Take a tour => http://developer.android.com/guide/components/fragments.html
Yes this is very much possible. But Android xml layouts give a very easy way to use and manage different views. You could add views to ViewGroup and clear the ViewGroup.
I would also suggest using Fragments . This could be dynamically added and replaced.

Using Layout - Android

I have a layout, but I need put more views (Buttons, EditText, etc), but how you know, the layout of the ADT is a bit small and I can't to set more views or know where is it, Somebody know How can I set more of these?
Thank you
Android isn't like iOS how you can just position elements with drag & drop.
RelativeLayout will position elements relative to each other and LinearLayout will lay out elements sequentially in a linear fashion, either vertically or horizontally. Both methods are better executed by actually writing the View XML yourself.
I suggest reading this: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/declaring-layout.html
If you want to actually see what you are adding to your layout without messing with the XML you could maybe change the device that the renderer is using to preview your layout.
I don't know what IDE you're using but in Eclipse and Android Studio you can change the device that your layout preview is rendered on. That way you can see what you're adding as you add it.
Then just make sure to put everything in a scroll view so users can access all the views and widgets you've put in that layout for your activity or fragment or dialog or whatever else it is.

Android: How to change layout in code

I have basic knowledge of layouts and so far in my applications I always had one static layout for each Activity. Now Im trying to create a single Activity with a basic framework (Title, some buttons) and a Layout I need to change after clicking a specified button.
Example:
I have a Title bar, a Linear Layout under it and 3 buttons under it. After clicking one of the 3 buttons I change the title text and the button appearance. But I also need to change my Linear Layout between Title bar and buttons. I didnt know how to do this exactly, so I made it Linear Layout in my main.xml, but after clicking one button, I actualy need it to be a Table Layout (or a List View), after clicking another button I need it to be a Relative layout. I hope you get the picture. In all cases I need to add some elements into it (table rows, some views etc.)
My question is, what is the best way to acomplish this? Thanks!

Android: Dynamically vary number of buttons in a custom View

I am learning Android by implementing a clone of Mastermind. I want to break up the screen (or View) into three parts: the board with the users guesses so far and feedback, a series of control buttons, and a series of buttons to pick the color of the next peg.
My instinct is to do this is a modular way. The layout files uses nested LinearLayouts (I know not the most efficient thing to do, but this is an educational experience.)
The "board" is a custom View where I do a lot of drawing with a Canvas. The buttons on the bottom are declared in the layout file. Notice the orange strip to the right?
Right now that is another custom View. I want to add a variable number of buttons to that custom View based on the number of colors the player can choose from. A button press would select the color for the next peg in the player's guess. (There are 3 versions of the game, easy, medium, and hard each with a different number of colors.)
So, how do I add a variable number of buttons to the custom View I am creating? Or am I approaching this in the wrong way? Should I use a prebuilt layout? If so, which one and how could I dynamically change the number of buttons in the layout?
Thanks for any help. Cheers!
You can do this in two ways:
Using a predefined layout and setting initially the property
"visibility" of all the buttons to "gone", then programatically you
can set the "visibility" of the buttons you need to "visible". The
"gone" property makes the button invisible and also not consumes
space in the layout.
Adding dinamically buttons to the main layout, first you will have to
create or "inflate" them.
The second options is more powerful, but also more difficult if you are learning.

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