We Keep Coding

Merging Multiple TextViews onto a Bitmap - should i use canvas?

I have found that you can add or merge textviews onto a bitmap. I have 4 textviews that I would like to merge onto the top of the image.
Here is a screenshot of what I would like to achieve (although at the minute this is textviews at the top separate to the image):
the image is below the textviews. Image header in top right is for what image No it is
So what I am trying to do is once I click the send button it "prints" or merges these Textviews onto the image bitmap below so that I can then save or send the image(with the textviews in it) as one file to my server/device.
So far I have used Canvas.draw() method although it seems to overwrite each other and I am trying to keep the same layout as the screenshot.
Can anyone help?

Try this...
<?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"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
>
<ImageView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_above="#+id/bottomLayID"
/>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:orientation="vertical"
>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:weightSum="2"
android:padding="8dp"
>
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Detail work order"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:gravity="center"
android:layout_weight="0.5"
/>
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Image"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:gravity="center"
android:layout_weight="1.5"
/>
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:weightSum="2"
android:padding="8dp"
>
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:gravity="center"
android:layout_weight="0.5"
/>
<TextView
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:gravity="center"
android:layout_weight="1.5"
/>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/bottomLayID"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
>
<Button
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Open Camera"/>
<Button
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Send Image"
android:background="#99d72e"/>
</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>
Give background as transparent color and border to textviews.
You can set bitmap to imageview by
ImageView mImg;
mImg = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.(your xml img id));
mImg.setImageBitmap(img);

ViewFlipper with text below

I have the following xml layout :
<?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:weightSum="1"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<ViewFlipper
android:id="#+id/viewFlipper1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="150dp" >
</ViewFlipper>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="TextView" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/textView2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="TextView" />
</LinearLayout>
In my java class I'm loading online images in the ViewFlipper and I'm starting an animation. The point is I also want the two TextViews to be animated along with the ViewFlipper (slide left), on condition that they still below the ViewFlipper.
Any help please ?

How to achieve evenly spaced layout

My current layout looks the following:
MY XML layout looks like:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tvLetter"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_margin="5dp"
android:layout_weight="3"
android:text=""
android:gravity="center"
android:textSize="#dimen/letter_size"
android:textColor="#FFFFFF"
android:background="#drawable/bd" />
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_margin="5dp"
android:layout_weight="1" >
<Button
android:id="#+id/colorButton"
android:layout_width="#dimen/btn_action"
android:layout_height="#dimen/btn_action"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:background ="#drawable/colors"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/soundButton"
android:layout_width="#dimen/btn_action"
android:layout_height="#dimen/btn_action"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:background="#drawable/sound" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/eraserButton"
android:layout_width="#dimen/btn_action"
android:layout_height="#dimen/btn_action"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:background="#drawable/eraser" />
</RelativeLayout>
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_margin="5dp"
android:layout_weight="2" >
<ImageView
android:id="#+id/ivIcon"
android:layout_width="#dimen/letter_icon"
android:layout_height="#dimen/letter_icon"
android:scaleType="fitXY"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:background="#drawable/zebra" />
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/actionHolder"
android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/ivIcon"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<Button
android:id="#+id/wordSound"
android:layout_width="#dimen/btn_action"
android:layout_height="#dimen/btn_action"
android:background="#drawable/sound" />
</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>
</LinearLayout>
My #dimen/letter_icon is being used for different sizes based on the screen size. I am trying to make it compatible with both phone and tablet (different size screen). How do I achieve the following in my layout:
Let's say the ZEBRA text is inside a textview and the sound is in a button.
I am thinking the bottom ImageView has to be inside another layout, linearleayout maybe? and take up 3/4 of the space of the screen width.

Put your ZEBRA and SPEAKER buttons in vertical LinearLayout. Set buttons' height to match_parent and layout_weight to 1 and you should have what you want
and if you want to distribute width among your buttons' container and ImageView, set them width to match_parent and play with layout_weight there.

Putting a menu bar on the bottom of the screen while using ExpandableListView

I figured out how to get the menu bar on top of the screen. It stays in position while I move around the main menu I created using expandableListView. However, I would like the menu bar to be on the bottom of the screen instead of the top. I played around with relativeView and got the bar on the bottom, however, the main menu disappears.
Here is my main xml file
<?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/buttons"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<Button
android:id="#+id/buttonbefore"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="50"
android:text="back" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/buttonnext"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="50"
android:text="Next" />
</LinearLayout>
<ExpandableListView
android:id="#+id/android:list"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#+id/android:empty"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:text="#string/main_no_items" />
Then I used this for java to get it to appear in my program.
LinearLayout bottomMenu = (LinearLayout)findViewById(R.id.buttons);
I tried playing around with the gravity and it did nothing. I can add more code from my program if you think it will help.

I'm assuming your buttons LinearLayout is the 'menu bar' you're referring to?
You can actually accomplish what you're looking for using either a RelativeLayout or a LinearLayout.
LinearLayout:
<?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:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<ExpandableListView
android:id="#android:id/list"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#android:id/empty"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:text="#string/main_no_items" />
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/buttons"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_gravity="bottom"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<Button
android:id="#+id/buttonbefore"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="back" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/buttonnext"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="Next" />
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
The buttons are bottom-aligned by setting the gravity, while the list is told to take up all other available space by giving it a weight of '1' and setting a height of '0dp'. That will cause it to stretch as much as possible without pushing the buttons off-screen.
RelativeLayout:
<?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" >
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_above="#+id/buttons"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<ExpandableListView
android:id="#android:id/list"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" />
<TextView
android:id="#android:id/empty"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:text="#string/main_no_items" />
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:id="#+id/buttons"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<Button
android:id="#+id/buttonbefore"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="back" />
<Button
android:id="#+id/buttonnext"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="Next" />
</LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>
The buttons are bottom-aligned by setting the alignment on the parent. The list is told to fill all height, but stay 'above' the buttons.
On a general note: in order for this to work, I'm pretty sure that the list and empty views need to be combined together in their own layout.

The way to align the buttons to the bottom is to change your top level LinearLayout into a RelativeLayout. Then you can add the attribute android:layout_alignParentBottom="true" to your LinearLayout #+id/buttons, which holds your two buttons.

android: image in icon not showing

I'm trying to place a banner at the top of a listview, one that stays there when the list scrolls down. The layout I currently have actually show what I want in the preview but when I run it in the emulator the only thing that appears is the list.
The XML is:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical" android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent">
<ImageView android:src="#drawable/edinburghcrest"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:id="#+id/EdUniCrest" android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"></ImageView>
<TextView android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:id="#+id/banner"
android:text="Hotels Nearby" android:textColor="#FFFFFF"
android:gravity="center" android:textSize="20dp" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true" android:layout_toRightOf="#+id/EdUniCrest"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true" android:layout_alignBottom="#+id/EdUniCrest"
android:background="#25476C"></TextView>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:background="#color/listcolor" android:orientation="vertical" android:layout_marginTop="50dp">
<ListView android:id="#android:id/list" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
</ListView>
<TextView android:id="#android:id/empty" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:text="#string/no_lunchs" />
</LinearLayout>
Anyway, I can't see why it isn't working. Does anyone have any idea what it might be?
Thanks.

The RelativeLayout here just makes it confusing. You can achieve this simply with a couple of LinearLayouts. Wrap your banner in a horizontal layout with a height=wrap_content and set you ListView to height=fill_parent. The list will then fill all available space. The List will scroll independently of the rest of the page.
Something like below should work:
<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:orientation="horizontal" android:id="#+id/bannerBar"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<ImageView android:src="#drawable/edinburghcrest"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:id="#+id/EdUniCrest"/>
<TextView android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:id="#+id/banner"
android:text="Hotels Nearby" android:textColor="#FFFFFF"
android:gravity="center" android:textSize="20dp" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:background="#25476C"/>
</LinearLayout>
<ListView android:id="#android:id/list" android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"/>
<TextView android:id="#android:id/empty" android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:text="#string/no_lunchs" />
</LinearLayout>

What if you wrapped your RelativeLayout in a ScrollView, and since a ScrollView can only have one child, put the banner above it?