Invisible components still take up space

Question

So, I have this one activity that looks like this:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/I70b2.jpg

As you can see, it has a button, a list and a button.

If certain conditions are met, I want to hide both buttons just show the list, but as you can see in the next image, the buttons are still taking up space:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/6dSha.jpg

So my question, what can I do to enlarge the list to take that space out?

Here is my layout for the buttons and the list:

<?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" >

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/findSelected"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:onClick="registrarAsistencia"
        android:text="Registrar Asistencia" />

    <ListView
        android:id="@+id/listaAlumnos"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="376dp"
        android:layout_weight="2.29" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/btnChecarBoxes"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:onClick="seleccionarTodosNinguno"
        android:text="Seleccionar / Deseleccionar todo" />
</LinearLayout>

And here it is the layout for the list's contents:

<?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="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

  <LinearLayout
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="match_parent"
      android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
      android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
      android:orientation="vertical" >

      <TextView
          android:id="@+id/rowTextView"
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
          android:layout_height="match_parent"
          android:padding="10dp"
          android:textSize="16sp" 
          android:textStyle="bold"/>

      <TextView
          android:id="@+id/rowTextView2"
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
          android:layout_height="match_parent"
          android:padding="10dp"
          android:textSize="16sp" 
          android:textStyle="italic"/>

  </LinearLayout>

  <CheckBox
      android:id="@+id/CheckBox01"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="match_parent"
      android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
      android:layout_centerVertical="true"
      android:focusable="false"
      android:padding="10dp" />
</RelativeLayout>

score 79 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 10 '13 at 00:20

79

Do not make the buttons View.INVISIBLE. Make the buttons View.GONE. There are three visibility states:

visible (normal)
invisible (pixels not drawn, but still takes up space)
gone (not included in rendering)

answered Sep 10 '13 at 00:20

CommonsWare

986,068
189
2,389
2,491

This worked like a charm. Thank you very much for the fast answer! – Moko Sep 10 '13 at 00:30

Amirouche Zeggagh · Answer 2 · 2018-04-25T07:52:04.460

3

In the java code

yourView.setVisibility(View.GONE);

and in the XML code

android:visibility="gone"

Thier are 3 state

visible: normal
invisible : takes space and invisible
gone : no space and no visibility

edited Apr 25 '18 at 07:52

answered Apr 23 '18 at 19:27

Amirouche Zeggagh

3,428
1
25
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score 1 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

1

Use

android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1"

In addition to @CommonsWare's answer

You should use a layout that fits well in all screen sizes. If you give you layout a fixed height like android:layout_height="376dp" it will look good only on the device (or emulator) you're testing on. What you have to do is to make sure that your listview takes up all (and only) the space left by your buttons.

Check out this article and this answer to better understand layout weights.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

Community

1
1

answered Sep 10 '13 at 00:24

Androiderson

16,865
6
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Im really a beginner with Android, so, mind explaining why 0dp and 1 instead of match_parent and/or wrap_content?. Thanks in advance. – Moko Sep 10 '13 at 00:38
@Moko I've just updated my answer with more information. I hope it helps. – Androiderson Sep 10 '13 at 01:02
Got it, will take a look at those. Thanks for the answer! – Moko Sep 10 '13 at 01:09

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 22 '17 at 07:33

0

for hiding your widget

   yourEditText.setVisibility(View.GONE)

for visbility of your widget

   yourEditText.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE)

answered Jul 22 '17 at 07:33

Gokul Sreenivasan

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13

Invisible components still take up space

4 Answers4