Develop Reference

Making the Button's align_parentBottom = "true" when other view's height is not Zero

First the title may look senseless but I don't know how I describe my problem well in the title.
I have a Relative layout which has 2 buttons (Past games and Upcoming Games) and 2 listviews. Whenever a button is pressed the associated listview is collapsed (height will be zero) if it is already expanded or the reverse will happen. ( i used this solution)
Problem:
Everything is fine when I run it on a 5-inch screen phone. Please see the following picture:
[![][2]][2]
But if I run it on a 10-inch tablet it looks like this:
[![][3]][3]
The same will happen when it will run on less than 5-inch phone.
My questions
Do I need to make another layout for the tablet? like in the layout-large folder?
or I can use some event(s) in Jave file that dynamically set the buttons align parent bottom property when the listview is not collapsed.
or it can be fixed in my current XML
Below is the code for that part I am asking for help
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
android:orientation="vertical">
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<Button
android:id="#+id/btnPastGames"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="30dp"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
android:layout_marginStart="15dp"
android:background="#color/YellowColor"
android:text="Past Games"
android:textAllCaps="false"
android:textSize="15sp" />
<ListView
android:id="#+id/lvPastGames"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="255dp"
android:layout_below="#+id/btnPastGames"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_marginLeft="17dp"
android:layout_marginStart="17dp"
android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
android:divider="#null" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/btnUpcommigGames"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="30dp"
android:layout_below="#+id/lvPastGames"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
android:layout_marginStart="15dp"
android:background="#color/YellowColor"
android:text="Up Coming Games"
android:textAllCaps="false"
android:textSize="15sp" />
<ListView
android:id="#+id/lvUpcomingGames"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="255dp"
android:layout_below="#+id/btnUpcommigGames"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_marginLeft="17dp"
android:layout_marginStart="17dp"
android:divider="#null" />
</RelativeLayout>
</LinearLayout>
If you guys can give me some advice on making the user interface that will run on all screen sizes and densities I will be very thankful
Thanks to anyone who will help me

You are trying to workaround functionality of ExpandableListView. Look at the following page:
http://www.androidhive.info/2013/07/android-expandable-list-view-tutorial/

Soft Keyboard redraw performance issue

I'm having a strange problem with certain phones with different keyboards to that of Google/Samsung that I was wondering if anyone had encountered and had a solution for.
The problem I'm encountering is this: If I use the stock google or Samsung galaxy's keyboard, my layout (below) performs fine, is snappy and there are no lags whatsoever. I tested this on many devices (Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S5, Nexus 5, 6 and 7). If I run this on an HTC or an LG phone on the other hand with their default keyboard, the layout has a visible lag when users enter text.
After lots of debugging and performance measurements, I found out that the problem is with the suggestion bar. For the default Samsung/Google keyboards, the suggestion bar is always present (shown below) but for the HTC/LG phones, the suggestion bar only becomes visible once the user types something which causes a re-render of the layout. This re-render in turn causes noticeable lag when the user starts typing. I've tried many, many solutions found here on SO such as wrapping my layouts in LinearLayout and fixing their widths (by specifying weights) and fixing heights of other controls, etc (all visible in the layout file below) in order to remove the burden of measuring the layout measurements but none of them have removed this lag.
My question is, how would I fix this problem? Is there a way to force ALL keyboards to always show this suggestion bar regardless of the fact that there may or may not be any text entered by the user? It's not really an option for me to force my users to choose a specific keyboard or else they face considerable lag.
My layout is a simple layout with a horizontal scroll view and two edit texts:
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="#string/editText_topic"
android:textSize="#dimen/txt_description_font_size" />
<HorizontalScrollView
android:id="#+id/layout_topics"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="#dimen/gallery_height"
android:layout_marginLeft="6dp"
android:layout_marginRight="6dp"
android:layout_marginTop="2dp"
android:background="#drawable/rectangle_error_background"
android:paddingLeft="6dp"
android:paddingRight="6dp" >
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/gallery_topic"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:animateLayoutChanges="true"
android:orientation="horizontal" />
</HorizontalScrollView>
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/layout_title_text"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_marginTop="8dp" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/txt_title_length"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:textSize="#dimen/length_text_font_size" >
</TextView>
</RelativeLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<EditText
android:id="#+id/txt_title"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="#dimen/txt_input_height"
android:layout_gravity="fill_horizontal|fill_vertical"
android:layout_marginLeft="5dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:hint="#string/editText_title_hint"
android:inputType="textFilter|textCapSentences" >
<requestFocus
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" />
</EditText>
</LinearLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/layout_description_text"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_marginTop="8dp" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/txt_description_length"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:textSize="#dimen/length_text_font_size" >
</TextView>
</RelativeLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<EditText
android:id="#+id/txt_content"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="top|left"
android:layout_marginLeft="5dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:gravity="top"
android:hint="#string/editText_description_hint"
android:inputType="textAutoCorrect|textCapSentences|textMultiLine"
android:scrollbars="vertical" >
</EditText>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
The activity in manifest is this:
<activity
android:name="MyActivity"
android:icon="#drawable/whatever"
android:label="#string/empty"
android:parentActivityName="ParentActivity"
android:theme="#style/MyTheme"
android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustResize|stateVisible" >
</activity>
Update:
I've noticed WhatsApp always shows this suggestion bar on the keyboards even though the EditText's input is empty (user has not yet entered a value). Does anyone know how that's done?
Many thanks in advance.

There is no way to force it. That's something that has to be done on the keyboard side, as the keyboard decides when to show the candidatesView. In fact this performance issue is a reason why on several of the keyboards I worked on we didn't use the Android built in candidatesView functionality and rolled our own.

The following settings will hide the suggestion bar. However, I do not know a setting to force it to show.
android:inputType="textNoSuggestions"
android:inputType="textFilter"

Android ListView items: image and text too small

I'm working on a ListView where each item has an image and some text. On my older phone, HTC Evo 4G, things came up exactly as expected. Image is nicely sized and text looks fine. Then I loaded the same app on my new phone, HTC One, and the images are so tiny they are useless. I know the HTC One has a significantly higher resolution, but I cannot figure out how to make each item in the ListView larger.
I'm not sure what to post, but I think the layout xml files are the issue.
Here's activity_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"
android:orientation="vertical">
<LinearLayout android:id="#+id/LinearLayout01"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:gravity="center_horizontal"
android:layout_marginTop="2dip" android:background="#669900">
<!--
Use layout_weight to stretch the EditText and compress the button.
To avoid text wrap, the editable text is forced to occupy only one
line
-->
<EditText android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:typeface="normal"
android:layout_weight="1" android:lines="1" android:ellipsize="middle"
android:hint="#string/hint" android:id="#+id/search_key" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:maxLines="1"></EditText>
<ImageButton android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:src="#drawable/ic_menu_search" android:adjustViewBounds="true"
android:layout_weight="0" android:id="#+id/btn_ok" android:layout_height="wrap_content"></ImageButton>
</LinearLayout>
<TextView android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:id="#+id/tweet_header"
android:gravity="right" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:paddingRight="4dp"
android:background="#99cc33" android:textColor="#000000" android:textSize="21dp"></TextView>
<ListView android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:id="#+id/tweet_list"></ListView>
</LinearLayout>
And the ListView is made up of this item.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/itemImage"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
android:scaleType="fitCenter"
android:src="#drawable/ic_launcher" />
<TextView
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:id="#+id/created_at"
android:text="now"
android:textSize="10sp"
android:layout_below="#id/itemImage"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:textStyle="italic"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"></TextView>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/itemURL"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:text="itemURL"
android:visibility="invisible" />
</RelativeLayout>
So the app does this: It taps ebay for car data and presents the search results as line 1 with a picture, line 2 with the ebay item title. A hidden value is the URL so users can tap the ListView line and launch a web browser.

Looks like the wrap_content setting for the ImageView's layout_width and layout_height are the issue. When I switched that to numerical values, suddenly I saw it change size. Finally setting it to 100dp made the images viewable.
As an aside, I had a terrible time with ADS and the emulator. It consistently failed to re-load my updated app. Often complaining about the Package Manager and suggesting the some process was running. I little idea what was running and how to fix it. When I switched to loading the app straight to the phone, then it worked fine.
So, I think now I need to create a system that is proportional, and takes in to consideration the displaying devices resolution.

Problem is the Relative Layout width being wrap_content. Try changing that to match parent. then you would not have to go thru this ordeal

android setrotation issue on fragment

I am having a problem running a simple setRotation on a linear layout that houses a fragment.
Running on a galaxy S3 and ticking disable hardware overlays in developer options makes everything work really smoothly, without it, it causes only portions of the view to be displayed in a haphazard patch type display when in landscape.
The reason i am rotating the view and adjusting its layout parameters is because there is a list that i need to have visible with the items the user has selected even during screen rotation.
the view is displayed above a camera surface.
The xml layout of the view:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/occasionsOptionsLinearLayout"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
android:gravity="top"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center_vertical" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/whatOccasionTextView"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="0.7"
android:gravity="left"
android:padding="8dp"
android:text="#string/whatstheoccasion"
android:textColor="#color/Black"
android:textSize="#dimen/textMedium" />
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/occasionTitleImage"
android:layout_width="60dp"
android:layout_height="60dp"
android:layout_margin="2dp"
android:layout_weight="0.3"
android:padding="2dp"
android:src="#drawable/mood" />
</LinearLayout>
<ScrollView
android:id="#+id/occasionscrollView"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:fillViewport="true" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="1" >
<fragment
android:id="#+id/occasion_fragment"
android:name="com.myapp.record.Occasions"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
/>
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/occasionaOptionsClose"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="55dp"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
android:gravity="center_vertical"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/occasionsOptionsCloseAction"
android:layout_width="30dp"
android:layout_height="30dp"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:src="#drawable/close" />
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
and the call to rotate the view:
occasionsIncluder = (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.occasionIncluder);
occasionsIncluder.setRotation(rotateToValue);
rotateToValue is a simple call to the screen orientation value in degrees.
my question is why would disabling hardware overlays cause it to actually work better, i thought this option was to make things run smoother anyway?

Q: why would disabling hardware overlays cause it to actually work better?
A: I want to direct you to the official android documentation on Hardware Acceleration.
It says:
Because of the increased resources required to enable hardware acceleration, your app will consume more RAM.
If your application uses only standard views and Drawables, turning it on globally should not cause any adverse drawing effects. However, because hardware acceleration is not supported for all of the 2D drawing operations, turning it on might affect some of your applications that use custom views or drawing calls. Problems usually manifest themselves as invisible elements, exceptions, orwrongly rendered pixels.
To remedy this, Android gives you the option to enable or disable hardware acceleration at the following levels:
Application
Activity
Window
View
Hope this helps you understand the cause.For more, you can read through the link.

setWillNotDraw() was the culprit

Can't support multiple screen resolution

I'm struggling to finish my Android app, but I'm having some problems with the UI. My problem is very basic, I've developed the UI using the default AVD when using AVD manager in Eclipse (HVGA, with a density of 160 dpi), and when I execute the app I see it as I designed, but if I change the target device (i.e. WVGA or QVGA) all the components in the layout are in a different position than the original. As far as I saw in the recommendations for support multiple screens, I should not use AbsoluteLayouts, in fact I'm using RelativeLayouts, I'm not using "px" for the dimensions (or positions), just "wrap_content" or "fill_parent", and in case I need an specific position I'm using "dp" (tested too with "sp"), also I've scaled the images for ldpi (0.75x), and still have the issue (not a particular screen, the hole app) ...so, my question is, is there any other UI tip that I'm missing?.
I'm putting a sample code and the results that I observe when testing it with a HVGA AVD (bigger image) and with a QVGA AVD. As you can see, the position of the yellow/green squares is different, as well as the size of the last row of images.
PS: I'm using a TabLayout also, so the background is loaded through code (tabHost.setBackgroundDrawable(getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.background1)))
Any help will be appreciated.
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:id="#+id/row1"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_marginTop="140dp"
>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/btn1"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:clickable="true"
android:onClick="method1"
android:src="#drawable/button1"
/>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/btn2"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:clickable="true"
android:onClick="method1"
android:src="#drawable/button2"
/>
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_below="#id/row1"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/btn3"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:clickable="true"
android:onClick="method1"
android:src="#drawable/button3"
/>
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/btn4"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:clickable="true"
android:onClick="method1"
android:src="#drawable/button4"
/>
</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

Your layout looks fine to me, except for having that white box title on the background as it will make more difficult to put things in their position. Also, RelativeLayout does not have orientation but that is ignored.
In the bigger screenshot it looks like there is more space between the white box and the top of the screen. What it does not make sense to me is the different size in the second row. Are you 100% sure you are loading the correct images in the smaller screenshot?

You need to create different layout for diff. resolution i.e for large screen use layout-large folder..
I hope this link help to you.

Did you follow the steps given on the developer site to make ur app to support multiple screens?