Android: put element below another element and align at bottom of screen

Question

I am trying to define a layout where an ImageView is aligned at the bottom of the screen and also under a GridView, to avoid overlapping.

This however results in the ImageView being set just under the GridView but not aligned with the bottom of the screen.

Can this be solved using a different kind of Layout?

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:background="@drawable/background"
    android:orientation="vertical">

    <RelativeLayout 
        android:id="@+id/gs_top_text_container"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:paddingBottom="30dp">

        <RelativeLayout 
            android:id="@+id/gs_top_sub_container"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
            android:paddingBottom="30dp">

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/text_l"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"/>

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/text_t"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_alignParentRight="true"/>

        </RelativeLayout>

        <RelativeLayout 
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_below="@id/gs_top_sub_container"
            android:layout_centerHorizontal="true">

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/text1"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>

            <TextView
                android:id="@+id/text2"
                android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_toRightOf="@id/text1"/>

        </RelativeLayout>



    </RelativeLayout>



    <GridView
        android:id="@+id/gs_grid_view"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/gs_top_text_container"
        android:descendantFocusability="blocksDescendants"
        android:horizontalSpacing="2dp"
        android:verticalSpacing="2dp"
        android:numColumns="3"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:paddingBottom="10dp"
        android:paddingTop="10dp" />


    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/gs_bottom_logo"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/gs_grid_view"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:adjustViewBounds="true"
        android:maxWidth="200dp"
        android:paddingLeft="20dp"
        android:paddingRight="20dp"/>

</RelativeLayout>

Phantômaxx · Accepted Answer · 2014-06-03T09:32:54.803

This is how I would do that:

1 - Put the ImageView on the Bottom
2 - Put the GridView ABOVE it.

<!-- First anchor this View to the bottom -->
<ImageView
    android:id="@+id/gs_bottom_logo"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
    android:adjustViewBounds="true"
    android:maxWidth="200dp"
    android:paddingLeft="20dp"
    android:paddingRight="20dp"
/>
<!-- Then put this View ABOVE the ImageView -->
<GridView
    android:id="@+id/gs_grid_view"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_below="@id/gs_top_text_container"
    android:layout_above="@id/gs_bottom_logo"
    android:descendantFocusability="blocksDescendants"
    android:horizontalSpacing="2dp"
    android:verticalSpacing="2dp"
    android:numColumns="3"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:paddingBottom="10dp"
    android:paddingTop="10dp"
/>

This way I used the relativity of elements in a RelativeLayout

[EDIT]

Just for fun... I optimized your WHOLE LAYOUT.
Please note how the same design is achieved by using many layouts less.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:background="@drawable/background"
    >
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/text_l"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:paddingBottom="30dp"
    />
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/text_t"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:paddingBottom="30dp"
    />
    <!--
        This container is (unfortunately) still needed, to make these two
        textViews horizontally centered... :(
    -->
    <RelativeLayout
        android:id="@+id/rlCentering"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/text_l"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
        android:paddingBottom="30dp"
        >
        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/text1"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        />
        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/text2"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_toRightOf="@id/text1"
        />
    </RelativeLayout>

    <!-- First, anchor this View to the bottom -->
    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/gs_bottom_logo"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:adjustViewBounds="true"
        android:maxWidth="200dp"
        android:paddingLeft="20dp"
        android:paddingRight="20dp"
    />
    <!-- Then put this View ABOVE the ImageView -->
    <GridView
        android:id="@+id/gs_grid_view"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/rlCentering"
        android:layout_above="@id/gs_bottom_logo"
        android:descendantFocusability="blocksDescendants"
        android:horizontalSpacing="2dp"
        android:verticalSpacing="2dp"
        android:numColumns="3"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:paddingBottom="10dp"
        android:paddingTop="10dp"
    />
</RelativeLayout>

And this is what I got in the Graphical Editor (I put some images I had and some texts to identify the TextViews):

enter image description here

Although I didn't have time to test it, looks good. Thanks. Just try not being so rude next time you write a comment. — liarspocker, Jun 03 '14 at 10:48
Was it rude? Sorry for that. I just wanted you to focus on practical vs best practices. After all, sometimes teachers shout. But they just want you to learn from your mistakes. Please, make a treasure of that - simplify as much as you can, flatten your designs as much as possible. And get the best results in performances without sacrifying the look. ;) - You may notice I **HAD TO** keep an inner RelativeLayout, just to horizontally center those 2 TextViews (you might maybe find a better alternative to eliminate the need for that container). — Phantômaxx, Jun 03 '14 at 10:53
Just tried the code and it's perfect. The grid occupies all available space now, which looks a lot better. By the way, do you know how I can set up the GridView so that the items are evenly distributed? Right now, I end up with a lot of whitespace at the bottom when setting `android:stretchMode="spacingWidthUniform"`. Thanks — liarspocker, Jun 03 '14 at 17:36
I'm glad you followed my advice and that it worked perfectly ;). Maybe this post http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7705330/gridview-and-excess-space-padding answers your new question? — Phantômaxx, Jun 03 '14 at 17:56
Didn't work. I think I'll try to set the item sizes programatically — liarspocker, Jun 03 '14 at 17:59
This answer might be interesting, as well: http://stackoverflow.com/a/5874292/2649012 - hard to tell, when I don't know which is **exactly** your goal (a picture might help). Does `a lot of space at the bottom` refer to the grid or to each of its items? — Phantômaxx, Jun 03 '14 at 18:14
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/55008/discussion-between-liarspocker-and-der-golem). — liarspocker, Jun 03 '14 at 18:15

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 02 '14 at 20:37

3

Solved it by putting the ImageView in a RelativeLayout, setting the layout_below item in the RelativeLayout and the alignParentBottom item of ImageView:

<RelativeLayout 
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:layout_below="@id/gs_grid_view">
<ImageView
    android:id="@+id/gs_bottom_logo"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
    android:adjustViewBounds="true"
    android:maxWidth="200dp"
    android:paddingLeft="20dp"
    android:paddingRight="20dp"/>
</RelativeLayout>

answered Jun 02 '14 at 20:37

liarspocker

2,434
3
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Bad practice yes, but practical. I don't see your suggestion of an alternative way to fix it. – liarspocker Jun 03 '14 at 07:29
I'll show you a cleaner alternative. PRACTICAL is not always the BEST choice. – Phantômaxx Jun 03 '14 at 10:42

Android: put element below another element and align at bottom of screen

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