Develop Reference

Android ListView width keeps changing

Firstly, I am new to android so if I have missed something basic I apologise.
I have a page which has two ListViews side by side, both with varying amounts of content. I also have a TextView above the ListViews and another TextView below the listviews. These text view boxes change based on items selected in either of the two ListViews.
These two ListViews sit side by side, taking up half of the screen each, while a Textview sits directly above and directly below, both centred to the page. An image is shown below.
This is the page looking normal on load.
The problem is when I select an item from either list. I have a feeling I am missing some XML properties, but I am not sure which properties or if this is even the case. When an item is selected, let's say from the ListView on the right, the TextView at the bottom is updated with text taken from an array. The ListView also decides to change the width and I am not sure why this is.... I don't want the ListView to change width. I want it to remain taking up half of the page and half of the page only.
This is the page after an item from the right ListView has been selected.
I would also like to keep things in RelativeLayout. I also believe it is only an XML issue and not to do with the adapter or any other code so I will not include that for now. I can include it if required.
Any help would be great. Thanks in advance.
content_titles.xml my activity xml file
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
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=".TitlesActivity">
<ListView
android:id="#+id/unlocked_titles_list"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:longClickable="true"
android:layout_below="#+id/current_title"
android:layout_alignEnd="#+id/requirements"
android:layout_marginEnd="26dp"
android:layout_above="#+id/requirements">
</ListView>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/current_title"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginTop="65dp"
android:text="Current Title: Novice"
android:textSize="24sp"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"/>
<ListView
android:id="#+id/locked_titles_list"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_alignStart="#+id/requirements"
android:layout_marginStart="28dp"
android:layout_above="#+id/requirements"
android:layout_below="#+id/current_title"/>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/requirements"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginBottom="34dp"
android:text="temp"
android:textAlignment="center"
android:textSize="24sp"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"/>
</RelativeLayout>
activity_listview.xml used as the individual rows of the ListViews
<TextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/label"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:padding="10dip"
android:textSize="16dip"
android:textStyle="bold" >
</TextView>

The problems with layout could be caused by ScrollView to be the wrapper
I stumbled upon some note in http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/ExpandableListView.html
"...Note: You cannot use the value wrap_content for the android:layout_height attribute of a ExpandableListView in XML if the parent's size is also not strictly specified (for example, if the parent were ScrollView you could not specify wrap_content since it also can be any length. However, you can use wrap_content if the ExpandableListView parent has a specific size, such as 100 pixels."
I removed wrapping ScrollView and linear layout started working properly. Now its only to understand how to wrap the stuff to ScrollView. God help me
But anyway this is really weird behavior. I think that fill_parent is not really correct wording. When using heirarchyviewer tool I always see WRAP_CONTENT and MATCH_PARENT values for layout_width and leayout_height. So probably fill_parent is actually means match_parent which puts me in cognitive dissonance.

You have your layout_width properties set to wrap_content. This means that they could change as the data changes. I would recommend putting your ListViews in a LinearLayout with orientation:horizontal and set the amount of space that each element takes up with layout_weight. Here is a relevant SO question What does android:layout_weight mean?

Fill Parent on Horizontal List Row with Margin

Okay so I have a horizontal Relative Layout on a ListView and I want a margin between the different Rows on the ListView but I have one problem. I have a button that is being pushed to the far right and I want the click zone to be as big as possible. If there was no margin on the root element of relative layout I would be fine and my button would take up the entire height of the row. But the problem is because there is margin there is an opportunity for the user to click above and below the button where the margin is to trigger the OnItemClick event which isn't the desired functionality of the button which could get frustrating at times.
Example:
<RelativeLayout android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
android:layout_marginBottom="10dp"
android:layout_marginLeft="5dp">
<ImageButton
android:id="#+id/list_button"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:src="#drawable/btn"
android:background="#android:drawable/list_selector_background" />
</RelativeLayout>
Any help would be greatly appreciated obviously its possible I just can't see it sadly.

One way around this is to wrap the ImageButton in a transparent layoutview (relative, linear, frame - depending on your needs) that does take up the whole space (i.e. android:layout_width and android:layout_height are fill_parent). Then add the same click handler to the outer layout as you do for the button.

How to place fixed button below listview?

Is there any way to have a button directly below a listview, so that as the listview grows, the button moves down BUT the button is never pushed off screen. IE, once the listview has outgrown the screen, the button is still always visible, and the listview is scrollable.
I have managed to make the button ALWAYS at the bottom of the screen, but i want it to sit up directly below the listview while the listview is smaller than the screen.
I have tried using various arrangements of relative and linear layouts and using the weight property, and things that seem like they should work simply don't, so it might be worth checking any answers before posting.
CLARIFICATION:
To phrase it in a different way: I want a button to sit below a listview, moving down as it grows, but i dont want the button to be pushed offscreen

This previous post does exactly what you want to do. What it does basically is that it keeps the button at the bottom of the list at all times. But when the list grows out of the screen area, its height gets limited by the weight parameter.
This way, the list's bottom edge is just above the button's LinearLayout and you get the same behavior that you were looking for.

If You Want to show this button in the end of list item. Then use this code
final Button btnAddMore = new Button(this);
btnAddMore.setText(R.string.art_btn_moreIssues);
exArticlesList = (ExpandableListView) this.findViewById(R.id.art_list_exlist);
exArticlesList.addFooterView(btnAddMore);
OR If you show button in your layout end then use this code.
<RelativeLayout
android:id="#+id/relativeLayout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<ListView
android:id="#+id/listView"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_above="#+id/btn_New" >
</ListView>
<Button
android:id="#+id/btn_New"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:layout_marginBottom="20dp"
android:text="#string/New"
android:width="170dp"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" />
</RelativeLayout>

Android Linear Layout gives me headache

I've got the following xml file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/linearLayout1"
android:background="#android:color/transparent"
android:layout_marginTop="0px"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:weightSum="1"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<Button android:id="#+id/info" android:text="Info" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="bottom"></Button>
<Button android:id="#+id/town" android:text="Town" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="bottom"></Button>
<Button android:id="#+id/unit" android:text="Unit" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="bottom"></Button>
<Button android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="EndTurn" android:id="#+id/endturn" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="bottom"></Button>
</LinearLayout>
which provides the following result: http://i42.tinypic.com/otdkb4.png
Now I've got some questions about this:
The top and bottom padding, how to get rid of it?
I tried RelativeLayout, multiple layouts within each other, padding, margin, changing height nothing seem to affect it in any way.
Is there a way to get the layout transparent? android:background seems to be the wrong one.
Between the third and the fifth button is a bit more space (where the fourth button should be). I catch it the in the program and set it to invisible.
unitButton.setVisibility(INVISIBLE);
unitButton.setWidth(0);
Now the space between the two buttons is more than double of the normal range (between 1 and 2) Any idea on this? - Altough this is a minor problem
Thanks in advance.

1: Is the layout presented in a Dialog? If so, that'll give you some headaches. To get more control you should either create your own custom Dialog extension (as some dialog layout values are hardcoded), or display your layout in another way (a new activity on top, or using a framelayout perhaps)?
2: To get a layout transparent, simply don't give it a background-attribute. (Though, if you really are using a dialog, the dialog box is not transparent, and it is that which you see. You can also set it to be transparent by setting background to "#00000000" (which is what you do).
3: A View with visibility as "invisible" is still measured, that means both its width/height as well as its margins and padding is displayed as empty space in your layout. Setting the visibility to "gone" instead will not measure it, and you won't need the setWidth(0) either. (You can still display it later by setting it back to "visible")
Edit: removing the unused "weightSum" attribute might also be a good idea, as the view is now expecting its children to have a total weight of something other than 0.

android : Dynamic layout?

Im trying to have a searchbox on the top of my list view. But I want this searchbox to disapear sometimes and the listview to resize to regain space. Is there a way I can do that without reloading another and different layout ???
is there a way to add and remove a component from the current view ?I have been playing with setvisibility but it doesnt resize anything.
Please, if you know, give code example ! :)

I did this with a layout like this
<RelativeLayout android:id="#+id/editFrame"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_below="#id/imageAttachments"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
>
<EditText android:id="#+id/editText"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
></EditText>
</RelativeLayout>
<ListView android:id="#+id/ListView01"
android:layout_below="#id/editFrame"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
></ListView>
Then, in the code, do the following:
findViewById(R.id.editText).setVisibility(View.GONE);
to free up the space, or
findViewById(R.id.editText).setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
to show the search box.
Instead of the EditText, one can as well use any other single control or a layout for a combination of controls.
Setting its visibility to GONE will make the surrounding editFrame layout (can as well be a FrameLayout) shrink to zero size and reclaim the space for the ListView (which is set to be layout directly below the editFrame layout).