I need to generate a dynamic custom view in my application.
I need a custom view that is formed by an image button and 2 text views, above and bellow the button. There should also be an onClick listener on the image button, that will call a function when pressed.
By dynamic I mean those views will be created on demand, there should be a "dummy" structure from which I should be able to create as many custom views as I need.
How can I do that?
Just create the layout for your view with an xml and then use the layout inflater:
LayoutInflater inflater = (LayoutInflater) context
.getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
View yourView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.view_layout, parent, false);
To access it's components then you use:
ImageButton imageButton = (ImageButton) yourView.findViewById(R.id.button);
You can start by creating a custom view class MyCustomView that extends the View class. Create a separate XML layout (the dummy structure) for the custom view and inflate it into the custom view constructor,
LayoutInflater inflater = (LayoutInflater) context.getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
inflater.inflate(R.layout.my_custom_view_layout, this, true);
You can add any listeners to the Button views that will make part of this compound view class. Take a look at this link for further understanding: http://www.vogella.com/tutorials/AndroidCustomViews/article.html
At the end, just treat this object as just a view and you place it on the interface wherever you want.
I just started playing with the new support library with ActionBar support. I'm trying to implement a bar that looks basically identical to the Ice Cream Sandwich layout on the edit contact screen. I understand I probably need to implement a custom view something similar to this - How to display custom view in ActionBar?. What I don't understand is exactly what that view is, and the best way to implement it.
Here's the screenshot of what I want in my actionbar:
Is that just a view with an image and some text, or a styled button, or something totally different? It has some state pressed properties.
Thanks for the help.
You can try using a custom view, by adding the following code when you want the button to appear :
// Inflate the view from XML file
LayoutInflater inflator = (LayoutInflater) this .getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
View v = inflator.inflate(R.layout.search, null);
// Tell the view to occupy the whole actionBar view (MATCH_PARENT)
LayoutParams layout = new LayoutParams(LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT);
getActionBar().setCustomView(v, layout);
Is there a way to render a view on top of the action bar? I want to create a small tip box that will point the user to an item in the action bar. I know that a Toast with a set view will be rendered above the action bar. Does anyone know how to do this with a view?
I have attempted using FrameLayout with layout_gravity="top" and inflating a view and then adding it to the running activity's layout.
I appreciate you in advance.
Edit:
Here is an image of what I was thinking:
Edit:
Perhaps some more detail is needed. I am looking for a way, or to find out if it is even possible to add a view to the view hierarchy of the activity so that it is rendered last.
Similar to CSS, I want a higher z-index order for this particular view ( the blue floating box in the image), such that it would be rendered on top of the Action Bar region in the activity. The view is in no way associated with Action Bar, it is simply drawn on top of it.
I was trying to achieve something else but I needed a solution similar to this. I needed to draw an opaque layer covering the whole screen, even the action bar--sort of like a dialog. I did so this way:
ViewGroup vg = (ViewGroup)(getWindow().getDecorView().getRootView());
vg.addView(myNewView, params);
this can be used to draw anything anywhere on the screen.
UPDATE: You really shouldn't be using ActionBar anymore, you wouldn't have this issue in the first place if you were using Toolbar like Android recommends. Toolbar would go inside your activity xml like a regular view and you can can do whatever you want to it. And its fully backwards compatible.
https://developer.android.com/training/appbar/setting-up
After struggling with it myself quite some time, here's the solution (tested it - working good):
The general steps are:
Create a wrapper view
Detach the screen view children, place the wrapper, and attach the children
Inflate the content to the children
Controling the wrapper will help you control exactly the action bar and the content below it all together.
Now, using the wrapper, you can add "brothers" to the actionbar/main area. That brother is exactly what you described in your image.
Let's see some code.
First, create a method to help create a wrapper view. the wrapper will be placed between the entire screen and the content of your app. being a ViewGroup you can later on fully control it's content.
private ViewGroup setContentViewWithWrapper(int resContent) {
ViewGroup decorView = (ViewGroup) this.getWindow().getDecorView();
ViewGroup decorChild = (ViewGroup) decorView.getChildAt(0);
// Removing decorChild, we'll add it back soon
decorView.removeAllViews();
ViewGroup wrapperView = new FrameLayout(this);
// You should set some ID, if you'll want to reference this wrapper in that manner later
//
// The ID, such as "R.id.ACTIVITY_LAYOUT_WRAPPER" can be set at a resource file, such as:
// <resources xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
// <item type="id" name="ACTIVITY_LAYOUT_WRAPPER"/>
// </resources>
//
wrapperView.setId(R.id.ACTIVITY_LAYOUT_WRAPPER);
// Now we are rebuilding the DecorView, but this time we
// have our wrapper view to stand between the real content and the decor
decorView.addView(wrapperView, LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT);
wrapperView.addView(decorChild, decorChild.getLayoutParams());
LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(getActivityLayout(),
(ViewGroup)((LinearLayout)wrapperView.getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(1), true);
return wrapperView;
}
Now, interfere with the regular Activity creation, and instead of using setContentView, use the method we've created.
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
// DON'T CALL `setContentView`,
// we are replacing that line with this code:
ViewGroup wrapperView = setContentViewWithWrapper(R.layout.activity_layout);
// Now, because the wrapper view contains the entire screen (including the notification bar
// which is above the ActionBar) I think you'll find it useful to know the exact Y where the
// action bar is located.
// You can use something like that:
ViewGroup actionBar = (ViewGroup)((LinearLayout)wrapperView.getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(0);
int topOffset = actionBar.getTop();
// Now, if you'll want to add a view:
// 1. Create new view
// 2. Set padding top - use "topOffset"
// 3. Add the view to "wrapperView"
// 4. The view should be set at front. if not - try calling to "bringToFront()"
}
That's about it.
Notes
I've used Android's hierarchy-viewer to understand what's the right hierarchy. (didn't guess those 0 and 1 indexes)
If you are using some kind of a menu drawer in your activity, you might have to configure it a little bit different since drawers are already creating that wrapper for you
I've learned a lot by looking at this great library
EDIT: Refer to #CristopherOyarzúnAltamirano Answer for further support on newer Android versions
Good luck!
There is a much simpler way to achieve this. ActionBar holds its layout in the class ActionBarContainer which simply inherits from FrameLayout. So in order to display something over the ActionBar you need to grab a reference to the ActionBarContainer and add your own custom View into it. Here is the code
int abContainerViewID = getResources().getIdentifier("action_bar_container", "id", "android");
FrameLayout actionBarContainer = (FrameLayout)findViewById(abContainerViewID);
LayoutInflater myinflater = getLayoutInflater();
View customView = myinflater.inflate(R.layout.yourCustomeViewLayout, null);
actionBarContainer.addView(customView);
I found this workaround based on #Sean answer:
//This is for Jelly, ICS, Honeycomb
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB && Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR2){
LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(resContent, (ViewGroup)((LinearLayout)wrapperView.getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(1), true);}
//This is for KitKat and Jelly 4.3
else if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR2){
LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(resContent, (ViewGroup) (((ViewGroup) wrapperView.getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(0)), true);}
//This is for Ginger
else{
LayoutInflater.from(this).inflate(resContent, (ViewGroup) ((LinearLayout)((FrameLayout) wrapperView.getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(0)).getChildAt(1), true);}
I found a much simpler way to do this.
I just applied android:translationZ="10dp" to the view which I need to be covering the action bar.
I chose 10dp but it can actually be anything you want as long as it is superior to the actionbar's elevation
<ImageView
android:layout_width="100dp"
android:layout_height="100dp"
android:translationZ="10dp"
android:src="#drawable/potatoe" />
Also, don't worry about Android studio's following warning :
"translationZ can't be used with API<21".
It will be ignored, but you don't really care because the toolbar shouldn't cover your view with APIs inferior to 21.
Try using ActionBar.setCustomView(). That's the only way to change the appearance of that area of the screen. You can't stick a View into the area "above" the ActionBar, because that area is basically controlled by the system. On the other hand, you can provide your own layout for it.
If you explain in more detail what you're trying to do, respondents might have some better design ideas.
https://github.com/michaelye/EasyDialogDemo
see the demo above,it may help you
dialog.setLocation(new location[])//point in screen
you could set the location[] yourself.
Use the android:actionLayout in your menu.xml file.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<item android:id="#+id/menu_id"
android:title="#string/menu_string_to_show"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_menu_icon_name"
android:showAsAction="always"
android:actionLayout="#layout/action_button_foo" /></menu>
Then create your action_button_foo.xml layout:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><TextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:gravity="center"
android:text="#string/menu_string_to_show"
android:drawableLeft="#drawable/ic_menu_icon_name"
android:background="#drawable/bg_btn_action_bar"
android:clickable="true" />
To handle click do the following:
#Overridepublic boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.my_menu, menu);
final MenuItem item = menu.findItem(R.id.menu_id);
item.getActionView().setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
#Override
public void onClick(View v) {
onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
});
return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);}
That's if :)
(Reference: http://www.vogella.com/articles/AndroidActionBar/article.html)Custom Views in the ActionBar
You can also add a custom View to the ActionBar. For this you use the setCustomView method for the ActionView class. You also have to enable the display of custom views via the setDisplayOptions() method by passing in the ActionBar.DISPLAY_SHOW_CUSTOM flag.
For example you can define a layout file which contains a EditText element.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<EditText xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/searchfield"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:inputType="textFilter" >
This layout can be assigned to the ActionBar via the following code. The example code allow attaches a listener to the custom view.
package com.vogella.android.actionbar.customviews;
import android.app.ActionBar;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.KeyEvent;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.TextView.OnEditorActionListener;
import android.widget.Toast;
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
ActionBar actionBar = getActionBar();
// add the custom view to the action bar
actionBar.setCustomView(R.layout.actionbar_view);
EditText search = (EditText) actionBar.getCustomView().findViewById(R.id.searchfield);
search.setOnEditorActionListener(new OnEditorActionListener() {
#Override
public boolean onEditorAction(TextView v, int actionId,
KeyEvent event) {
Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, "Search triggered",
Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
return false;
}
});
actionBar.setDisplayOptions(ActionBar.DISPLAY_SHOW_CUSTOM
| ActionBar.DISPLAY_SHOW_HOME);
}
}
The explanations here are all too long:
Wrap your main layout file into a top level ViewGroup (e.g. wrap a CoordinatorLayout into a FrameLayout), then inject or declare the view in the new top level layout out. The view will appear above the action bar.
I'm trying to implement a custom dialog in a PreferenceActivity that still has the Android-generic positive/neutral/negative buttons in the dialog, i.e. a custom AlertDialog. The way to go seems to be described in the bottom example of this article: Dialogs on Android developer pages .
However, I can't find a way to get the root for a PreferenceActivity for doing this:
View layout = inflater.inflate(R.layout.custom_dialog,
(ViewGroup) findViewById(R.id.??????));
Does anyone know how to do this?
Try this to get rootview of any view
View layout = inflater.inflate(R.layout.custom_dialog,null);
View view = layout.getRootView();
I have a complex empty view in a layout, with an icon, text, button, etc.
It is easy to select a view within my layout.xml to use when the listview is empty, similar to
getListView().setEmptyView(findViewById(R.id.empty));
This code sets the empty view works just fine when it resides in the layout.xml file.
Now I want to refactor this view into its own empty.xml layout file, and have coded it similar to the following:
// Setup the empty layout.xml
LayoutInflater vi = (LayoutInflater) this.getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
View vlEmpty = vi.inflate(R.layout.empty, null);
// Find the empty layout view
vEmpty = vlEmpty.findViewById(R.id.llEmpty);
vEmpty.setOnClickListener(ocl);
// Find the ListView
vListView = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.lvWords);
vListView.setEmptyView(vEmpty);
The problem is that the details within llEmpty never show up; The exact same layout and view works withing the main layout, just not refactored into its own xml file.
Has anyone got something like this to work?
You might need to pass the proper context to the inflater:
vListView = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.lvWords);
View vlEmpty = vi.inflate(R.layout.empty, (ViewGroup)vListView.getParent());
which (should) make them both live in the same root view. It may be sufficient to just pass the root view of the parent activity.
Let me know if that works.
I doubt that setEmptyView() automatically makes the supplied View a child of any container in your activity.
Personally, I'd just use the <include> element rather than inflating it separately. But, if you really want to inflate it separately, the answer that Femi posted while I was writing this may work, depending on what the ListView's parent is.