how to create a helper screen in android

Question

I want to get an helper screen over main activity for user to guide how to use the app.

This is my main activity.

Output: This is how I want to show helper screen to user.

This is my main_activity.xml file consists this code.

<?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"
    android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin">


    <Button
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Button"
        android:id="@+id/button"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentStart="true" />
</RelativeLayout>

This is my mainactivity java class file consist of this code.

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);//Menu Resource, Menu
        return true;
    }
    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        switch (item.getItemId()) {
            case R.id.clipboard:
                Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(),"Text Copied",Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                return true;
            default:
                return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
        }
    }
}

This is the main_menu.xml file looks like this.

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <item
        android:id="@+id/clipboard"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_content_copy_white_48dp"
        android:orderInCategory="100"
        android:title="Clip Board"
        app:showAsAction="always" />

</menu>

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10216937/how-do-i-create-a-help-overlay-like-you-see-in-a-few-android-apps-and-ics — David, Aug 30 '16 at 06:37

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 30 '16 at 06:43

I have done some modifications in your code.

Here is the activity_main.xml look's like

<?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="eflair.helperscreentutorial.MainActivity">


    <Button
        android:id="@+id/newButton"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentStart="true"
        android:text="New Button" />

    <FrameLayout
        android:id="@+id/fullScreenLayout"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" />
</RelativeLayout>

Here is the MainActivity.java look's like

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    private FrameLayout fullScreenLayout;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        fullScreenLayout = (FrameLayout) findViewById(R.id.fullScreenLayout);

        final RelativeLayout layout = new RelativeLayout(this);         // Dynamically creating layout
        layout.setLayoutParams(new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(ViewGroup.LayoutParams
                .MATCH_PARENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT));
        layout.setBackgroundColor(Color.DKGRAY);                        // Setting bgcolor to the layout
        layout.setAlpha(0.5f);                                          // Setting opacity to the layout
        layout.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.helperscreen);          // Adding image to layout
        layout.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                fullScreenLayout.removeView(layout);                    // On clicking the image layout will be removed
            }
        });
        fullScreenLayout.addView(layout);                               // Adding view to the layout

    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        switch (item.getItemId()) {
            case R.id.cb:
                Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Text Copied", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                return true;
            default:
                return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
        }
    }
}

You need to create image like this, that i'm using in this example.

And here is the output.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 30 '16 at 06:40

You can do this in two following ways:
1. By making the dialogs with positioning of elements (views) as per requirement and showing the dialog as help tutorial screen.
2. By making the help screen images for all resolution devices and use them as help screen.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 30 '16 at 06:32

0

You can use external libraries, such as this one. There are plenty others.

answered Aug 30 '16 at 06:32

Dejan

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how to create a helper screen in android

3 Answers3