Why can't I use fill_parent on EditText's width in my XML file?

Question

When I use fill_parent on the width of my EditText, the autofill of AndroidStudio shows it crossed out. If I still try using it it messes up the positioning of the EditText by throwing it out of the screen. I just want to have a simple text field and next to it an input text field which occupies the remaining of the screen.

Here is the code:

<RelativeLayout 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:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
tools:context="com.kristmiha.registrationtest.MainActivity">

<TextView
    android:id="@+id/headline1"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
    android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:text="@string/hello"
    android:textSize="32sp" />


<TextView
    android:id="@+id/headline2"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
    android:layout_below="@+id/headline1"
    android:text="@string/register_here"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:textSize="24sp" />

<TextView
    android:id="@+id/tvFirstName"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="First Name"
    android:layout_below="@+id/headline2"
    android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
    android:layout_alignParentStart="true"
    android:layout_marginTop="20dp" />

<EditText
    android:id="@+id/etFirstName"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignBaseline="@+id/tvFirstName"
    android:layout_toRightOf="@+id/tvFirstName"
    android:layout_toEndOf="@+id/tvFirstName" />

EDIT: Here is the position of the text field:

Can you show us the layout which you want to implement? Any rough figure or anything? — Dhaval, May 18 '16 at 15:52
I am trying to follow this tutorial, want the same layout he has: [link](https://youtu.be/dGyWkDqmjIA?t=2h8m12s) — user3484582, May 18 '16 at 15:54

Vishwesh Jainkuniya · Answer 1 · 2016-05-18T16:05:42.383

try this

<TextView
    android:id="@+id/headline1"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
    android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:text="Hellow world!!"
    android:textSize="32sp" />


<TextView
    android:id="@+id/headline2"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
    android:layout_below="@+id/headline1"
    android:text="Register Here"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:textSize="24sp" />


<LinearLayout
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_below="@+id/headline2"
    android:layout_marginTop="20dp">


    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/tvFirstName"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="First Name"
         />

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/etFirstName"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginStart="4dp"
        android:layout_marginLeft="4dp"
         />

</LinearLayout>

In relative layout

 <TextView
            android:id="@+id/tvFirstName"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="First Name"
            android:layout_below="@+id/headline2"
            android:layout_marginTop="20dp"
            android:layout_alignBottom="@+id/etFirstName"
            android:gravity="center"
             />

        <EditText
            android:id="@+id/etFirstName"
            android:layout_width="fill_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginStart="4dp"
            android:layout_marginLeft="4dp"
            android:layout_below="@+id/headline2"
            android:layout_toRightOf="@+id/tvFirstName"
            android:layout_toEndOf="@+id/tvFirstName"

            android:layout_marginTop="20dp"
             />

Thank you, but can this same thing be done with a `RelativeLayout`? — user3484582, May 18 '16 at 15:55
Your code works great. The problem seems to be `alignBaseLine`, as soon as I do that it messes up the positioning. Any idea why it isn't working properly? Just try to understand why my code isn't working. — user3484582, May 18 '16 at 16:17
@user3484582 If you got think this answer helped you then you can mark this as the Best answer for this question, then it will be easier for other user to find answer of this problem. — Vishwesh Jainkuniya, May 18 '16 at 16:22

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered May 18 '16 at 16:01

You should try this. With some modification you can achieve what you want.

<?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">


    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
        android:text="Medium Text"
        android:id="@+id/textView"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" />

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
        android:text="Medium Text"
        android:id="@+id/textView2"
        android:layout_below="@+id/textView"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" />

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
        android:text="Medium Text"
        android:id="@+id/textView3"
        android:layout_alignBottom="@+id/editText2"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentStart="true" />

    <EditText
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:id="@+id/editText2"
        android:layout_below="@+id/textView2"
        android:layout_toRightOf="@+id/textView3"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:layout_alignParentEnd="true" />

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
        android:text="Medium Text"
        android:id="@+id/textView4"
        android:layout_alignBottom="@+id/editText3"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentStart="true" />

    <EditText
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:id="@+id/editText3"
        android:layout_below="@+id/textView3"
        android:layout_toRightOf="@+id/textView4"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:layout_alignParentEnd="true" />
</RelativeLayout>

Yes, thank you. Any idea though why `match_parent` behaves like that and doesn't work as intended? — user3484582, May 18 '16 at 16:06
We can achieve same with match_parent as well. Just we need to modify above code. — Dhaval, May 18 '16 at 16:07

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:24

fill_parent value is deprecated use match_parent

Here you can see more and here more

Special value for the height or width requested by a View. FILL_PARENT means that the view wants to be as big as its parent, minus the parent's padding, if any. This value is deprecated starting in API Level 8 and replaced by MATCH_PARENT.

For your problem : you should use this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
    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"
    tools:context="test.com.temp.MainActivity">

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="label"
        android:id="@+id/labelOne"
        android:layout_alignBaseline="@+id/input"
        />
    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/input"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_toRightOf="@+id/labelOne"
        android:layout_toEndOf="@+id/labelOne"
        />
</RelativeLayout>

This is the same. `fill_parent` is deprecated and will be removed in newer versions of android. — xAqweRx, May 18 '16 at 15:51
Yes, my problem persists though. See my original post, I added an image. It positions my EditText box out of screen. — user3484582, May 18 '16 at 15:52
Yes, that works great. As soon as I add `alignBaseLine` it messes up the positioning. It seems `match_parent` and `alignBaseLine` don't work together. — user3484582, May 18 '16 at 16:28

Why can't I use fill_parent on EditText's width in my XML file?

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