LinearLayout dividers are not showing

Question

I am working on an android project and I have a LinearLayout which contains 2 horizontal buttons using borderless button style.

I am trying to show dividers in between each button but they are not showing up but I can't see any reason why not. Below is the XML layout:

<LinearLayout android:id="@+id/call_log_select_host_button_group"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:divider="#ffffff"
        android:showDividers="middle"
        android:dividerPadding="22dp">
        <Button android:id="@+id/call_log_select_btnCancel"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:text="Cancel"
            style="?android:attr/borderlessButtonStyle" />
        <Button android:id="@+id/call_log_select_btnBlock"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:text="Block"
            style="?android:attr/borderlessButtonStyle" />
    </LinearLayout>

Thanks for any help you can provide.

A silly question but what color is your background? – codeMagic May 28 '13 at 22:16 — codeMagic, May 28 '13 at 22:16
It the Theme.Holo.Dialog which is a dark background – Boardy May 28 '13 at 22:17 — Boardy, May 28 '13 at 22:17
dont forget the infuriating **SHOWDIVIDERS** item !!!!!! – Fattie Dec 13 '16 at 14:53 — Fattie, Dec 13 '16 at 14:53

Blackbelt · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-21T13:08:50.853

Create a file mydivider.xml inside res/drawable and put the following shape

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <size android:width="1dip" />
    <solid android:color="#ffffff" />
</shape>

add the shape as divider for your layout

<LinearLayout android:id="@+id/call_log_select_host_button_group"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:divider="@drawable/mydivider"
        android:showDividers="middle"
        android:dividerPadding="22dp">
        <Button android:id="@+id/call_log_select_btnCancel"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:text="Cancel"
            style="?android:attr/borderlessButtonStyle" />
        <Button android:id="@+id/call_log_select_btnBlock"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:text="Block"
            style="?android:attr/borderlessButtonStyle" />
    </LinearLayout>

or as workaround:

<LinearLayout android:id="@+id/call_log_select_host_button_group"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:divider="@drawable/mydivider"
        android:showDividers="middle"
        android:dividerPadding="22dp">
        <Button android:id="@+id/call_log_select_btnCancel"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:text="Cancel"
            style="?android:attr/borderlessButtonStyle" />

         <View    android:layout_width="1dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:background="#ffffff" />

        <Button android:id="@+id/call_log_select_btnBlock"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:text="Block"
            style="?android:attr/borderlessButtonStyle" />
    </LinearLayout>

@BasavarajHampali but you can use the LinearLayoutICS in the support library, as shown here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22547897/how-to-add-dividers-to-linearlayoutics/ — android developer, Mar 21 '14 at 10:23
it does not work for my app targeting Android 4.4.2 with min API 11 — ericn, May 08 '14 at 09:06
Instead of writing your own mydivider.xml file, you can also reference one from the current theme, i.e. android:divider="?android:attr/dividerHorizontal" or android:divider="?android:attr/dividerVertical" - works on API 11 and above. — Nicolai Buch-Andersen, Mar 31 '15 at 16:24
@NicolaiBuch-Andersen's answer shall be the best. it works on Android 4.4.3 (i didn't test others) — John Pang, Apr 04 '15 at 20:10

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 02 '13 at 19:22

10

Try replacing android:divider="#ffffff" with android:divider="@android:color/white". My suspicion is that divider has to be a Drawable, and hard-coding the color may not treat it like a Drawable, but referencing it might.

answered Jun 02 '13 at 19:22

Jason Robinson

31,005
19
77
131

1

You're right. Switched from color to drawable and voila! Working. Accepted answer has great example – mente Oct 25 '13 at 15:14

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 28 '13 at 22:15

0

You should add android:layout_width="fill_parent" and android:layout_height="fill_parent" in your LinearLayout. That way it will show ;)

answered May 28 '13 at 22:15

Wannabe

727
1
6
21

Doing that breaks the layout as the content above the button group doesn't show only the buttons at the top of the activity and the dividers still didn't show – Boardy May 28 '13 at 22:18
and adding a `android:weightSum=""` in your LinearLayout? Will that solve your problem? – Wannabe May 28 '13 at 22:21
I've tried setting weightSum to 2 as explained in http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7452741/what-is-androidweightsum-in-android-and-how-does-it-work but it still shows the button group at the top taking the top with the content that's supposed to be above the buttons not showing and the dividers aren't showing – Boardy May 28 '13 at 22:26
`style="?android:attr/borderlessButtonStyle"` is only implemented in Android 4.0 if I'm correct. Do you have it set to android 4.0+? EDIT: it's implemented in API level 11 – Wannabe May 28 '13 at 22:32
I'm targetting Jelly Bean, the button borderless attribute is working as expected its just the dividers which aren't – Boardy May 28 '13 at 22:36

LinearLayout dividers are not showing

3 Answers3