Develop Reference

Android whole screen gets dimmer or lighter depending on its child view's background

I have been facing a strange problem with layout. The problem is that the main layout have a background i.e. gray color (#DCDCDC). It consists of a child which is ScrollView with vertical LinearLayout. It contains 2 views: one is TextView with black background and next is google map.
Now the problem is: when the TextView becomes visible it is ok. But when ScrollView is scrolled to make the map visible whole screen gets dimmer which is not desirable from the consistency point of view.
And the surprising thing is that the problem is only in case of 4.x versions of Android.
Following is the layout:
<?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:background="#color/grey"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:padding="5dp" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
android:layout_marginBottom="10dp"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp" >
<Button
android:id="#+id/back"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="left|center_vertical"
android:background="#drawable/_btn_back"
android:onClick="clickHandler"
android:paddingLeft="15dp"
android:paddingRight="10dp"
android:text="#string/terms_and_condition_terug"
android:textColor="#color/white"
android:textStyle="normal" />
<TextView
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1" />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/logo"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical|center_horizontal" />
<TextView
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1" />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/info"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="right|center_vertical"
android:layout_marginRight="10dp"
android:clickable="true"
android:onClick="clickHandler"
android:src="#drawable/_info" />
</LinearLayout>
<ScrollView
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="700dp"
android:background="#drawable/itemlistbackground" />
<com.readystatesoftware.maps.TapControlledMapView
android:id="#+id/mapview"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="700dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:apiKey="#string/mapApiKey"
android:clickable="true" />
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>
</LinearLayout>
And following is the screenshot when the TextView is visible
and following screenshot was taken when map was visible
If you look carefully at those screen second image is dimmer than the first which is not desired. I don't want the dimmer screen while showing map in it. Please help me out.

I cut out pieces of the grey border to compare them next to each other, they look the same to me. There is also a gradient in the first screenshot which gives it a glossier feel as well.

Android button text moves

Ive got the problem that, when i click one of the buttons shown in xml below, the text on the button jumps down one line. So if the button is 1 line, no text is shown. If the button is 2 lines, only the first line is shown, in the buttom of the button.
Nothing in the onClick method changes the layout.
Heres the 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"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:id="#+id/layout_main">
<ScrollView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent">
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
.. a few other layouts and controls that works fine
<TableLayout
android:id="#+id/tableLayout276"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" >
<TableRow
android:id="#+id/TableRow10"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="left"
android:gravity="center"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<Button
android:id="#+id/BtnRet"
android:layout_width="120dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Ret"
android:gravity="center"
android:textSize="18dp" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/BtnVisningsType"
android:layout_width="120dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Decimaltal"
android:gravity="center"
android:textSize="18dp" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/BtnFunktioner"
android:layout_width="120dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Funktioner"
android:gravity="center"
android:textSize="18dp" />
</TableRow>
</TableLayout>
.. a few other layouts and controls that works fine
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>
</LinearLayout>
Now, if i change the layout_width on the buttons to wrap_content, it all works fine (got the idea from When changing textview, the text on a button below the textview moves down. Help! ) - except the buttons now obviusly dont have the same width, and it looks messy.
Does anyone have any idea why this happens, and how i can both keep the text, and decide the size of the buttons?

This adds complexity to the layout but might be a solution.
Add a LinearLayout to your table row and use weights to control precise layout of your buttons. Something like this:
<TableRow
android:id="#+id/TableRow10"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="left"
android:gravity="center"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<LinearLayout android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:weightSum="3"
android:orientation="horizantal"/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/BtnRet"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Ret"
android:gravity="center"
android:textSize="18dp" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/BtnVisningsType"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Decimaltal"
android:gravity="center"
android:textSize="18dp" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/BtnFunktioner"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Funktioner"
android:gravity="center"
android:textSize="18dp" />
</LinearLayout>
</TableRow>
Caveats:
Might give a performance hit
Typed from memory, please excuse any typos
Not tested
use padding/margin to adjust precise sizing
A RelativeLayout might also work.

Android Development - Graphical Layout looks different from actual XML

Alright so I quickly created an XML file with the following contents:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<ScrollView
android:id="#+id/scrollView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="Text View 1"
android:textSize="30dp" />
<ListView
android:id="#+id/listView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
>
</ListView>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView2"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="Text View 2"
android:textSize="30dp" />
<ListView
android:id="#+id/listView2"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
>
</ListView>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView3"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="Text View 3"
android:textSize="30dp" />
<ListView
android:id="#+id/listView3"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
>
</ListView>
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>
</LinearLayout>
And the question is, is that why does it look so much different when I click on the "Graphical Layout" tab? What I imagined the graphical layout to look like would basically be 3 labels right under each other (this is because I set everything to wrap content, and because there are no items inside either of the ListViews, so I'd think that it wouldn't even be visible). But anyway, the graphical layout shows it to be:
I'm not sure if that's correct or not, and if I run it will it look like I imagine it to look? I basically want (everything inside 1 ScrollView) 3 TextView's, and 1 ListView immediately following each TextView. So the layout will look like this:
ScrollView
TextView
ListView
TextView
ListView
TextView
ListView
End of ScrollView
Something exactly like the layout shown above. Could someone please tell me what is wrong within my XML file for all the other labels not be showing on it?
Note: When I click on the components on the side, it seems that a few things are shifting. (When I tried clicking on the TextView2 (to try to search for the blue bounds box) it seemed like the TextView1 label got pushed down a bit, and the second TextView was still not visible. If anyone could please help me achieve the layout that I want, it would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: take a look at this approach.
<?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="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<ScrollView
android:id="#+id/scrollView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="Text View 1"
android:textSize="30dp" />
</ScrollView>
<ScrollView
android:id="#+id/scrollView2"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#id/scrollView1">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView2"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="Text View 2"
android:textSize="30dp" />
</ScrollView>
<ScrollView
android:id="#+id/scrollView3"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#id/scrollView2" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView3"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="Text View 3"
android:textSize="30dp" />
</ScrollView>
</RelativeLayout>
As for the ListView you should not put a ListView inside a ScrollView. Here is an explanation of why you should not put a ListView inside a ScrollView: Listview inside ScrollView

Layout: bottom bar + scrollview over it that start from top

I can't find a solution for that. I managed to solve the problem of NOT overlapping the scrollview with my button+textview at the bottom, but I still can't manage to have the scrollview starting from the top of the screen rather than from just above my button.
Note that even the bottom linearlayout (button+textview) isn't exactly what I wanted. I can't find a way to have everything positioned correctly.
Eclipse is not helping either, since the text view of the xml keeps changing under my mouse, making it extremely annoying. I had to open an external editor to edit it.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/RelativeLayout1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:gravity="center|top" >
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/LinearLayout2"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/text_phrase"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Large Text"
android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceLarge" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/button1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="right"
android:text="#string/play" />
</LinearLayout>
<ScrollView
android:id="#+id/scrollView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_above="#+id/LinearLayout2"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_marginBottom="18dp" >
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/layout_player_checkboxes"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="top"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<CheckBox
android:id="#+id/checkBox1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="CheckBox" />
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>

if you add android:layout_alignParentTop="true" and android:layout_weight="1" to your scrollview while leaving the rest of what you have already, it should start at the top and fill the screen below until it comes to linearlayout2. (Same applies if you decide to switch to a listview as rajesh.adhi suggested)
Oh, you seem to be missing a </RelativeLayout> there too.

Button in relative layout not affected by setting layout margins

A custom Dialog box with a RelativeLayout contains a Button widget that won't change its margins, regardless of direction. Here's the xml:
<?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="horizontal" android:background="#99000000">
<TextView android:id="#+id/dialogtitle" android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="Some text" />
<TextView android:id="#+id/dialogtext" android:layout_width="300dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:textSize="15dp"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true" android:layout_below="#id/dialogtitle"
android:paddingLeft="8dp" />
<Button android:id="#+id/dialogbuttoninfo" android:layout_width="80dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="Doesn't care about margins"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true" android:layout_marginLeft="128dp" />
</RelativeLayout>
Padding works but only moves the text inside the button. Any suggestions?

This seems crappy but have you tried putting it all in a LinearLayout instead? or perhaps removing android:orientation="horizontal". I dont think RelativeLayout cares about orientation from what I've seen. Also I think, but might be wrong, that if you do a LinearLayout then you won't need to have android:layout_alignParentLeft="true" in there either.
After cleaning it up a bit (sorry but its so hard to read when its compressed as it was in the question) you also didn't state where the last TextView , dialogbuttoninfo was supposed to be relative to everything else, I think you have to do that for Relative layouts to behave properly, I've had some squirrely things happen.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:background="#99000000">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/dialogtitle"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Some text" />
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<TextView
android:id="#+id/dialogtext"
android:layout_width="300dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textSize="15dp"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:paddingLeft="8dp" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/dialogbuttoninfo"
android:layout_width="80dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Doesn't care about margins"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_marginLeft="128dp" />
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>

You may need to align the left of the button against something before the margin has real meaning.