Horizontal RecyclerView with dynamic item’s Height

Question

I’m trying to implement a RecyclerView with horizontal scrolling, so I’m using this a LinearLayoutManager with horizontal orientation. The problem is that I’m populating the RecyclerView using 2 different types of items, with different heights. This is the layout I’m using for the item:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<FrameLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginEnd="10dp">

<LinearLayout
    android:id="@+id/document_view"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:background="@drawable/ic_rounded"
    android:backgroundTint="@color/ms_black_ms_gray"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:layout_gravity="bottom"
    android:padding="5dp"
    android:paddingStart="15dp">

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/name"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:textColor="@color/white"
        android:textSize="13sp"
        android:singleLine="true"
        android:maxWidth="80dp"
        tools:text="example_form"/>

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/format"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:textColor="@color/white"
        android:textSize="13sp" />

    …
</LinearLayout>

<android.support.v7.widget.CardView
    android:id="@+id/image_view"
    android:layout_width="120dp"
    android:layout_height="80dp"
    android:layout_gravity="bottom"
    app:cardCornerRadius="25dp"
    app:cardElevation="0dp">

    <RelativeLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent">

        <ImageView
            android:id="@+id/preview_image"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:scaleType="fitXY"/>

        …

    </RelativeLayout>
</android.support.v7.widget.CardView>

and this is the layout that contains the RecyclerView, which is basically like this:

<LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:paddingStart="14dp"
        android:paddingEnd="14dp">

        <ImageView
            android:id="@+id/attach"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:padding="10dp"
            android:layout_gravity="bottom"
            android:layout_marginBottom="19dp"
            android:visibility="visible"/>

        <LinearLayout
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginStart="5dp"
            android:layout_marginBottom="10dp"
            android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
            android:padding="3dp"
            android:foreground="@drawable/ic_rounded_stroke"
            android:foregroundTint="@color/white">
            <android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout
                android:id="@+id/chatEdit"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:background="@drawable/ic_rounded"
                android:foreground="@drawable/ic_rounded_stroke"
                android:padding="6dp"
                android:visibility="visible">

                <EditText
                    android:id="@+id/editText"
                    android:textSize="17sp"
                    android:textColor="#121212"
                    android:letterSpacing="-0.02"
                    android:lineSpacingExtra="0sp"
                    android:padding="10dp"
                    android:paddingStart="15dp"
                    android:layout_width="0dp"
                    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                    android:maxLines="5"
                    android:hint="@string/chat_hint"
                    android:inputType="textCapSentences|textMultiLine"
                    android:maxLength="2500"
                    android:background="@null"
                    app:layout_constraintRight_toLeftOf="@id/buttonsContainer"
                    app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
                    app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />


                    <TextView
                        android:id="@+id/send"
                        android:layout_gravity="bottom"
                        android:visibility="visible"
                        android:paddingLeft="15dp"
                        android:paddingRight="15dp"
                        android:paddingBottom="10dp"
                        android:paddingTop="8dp"
                        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
                        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                        android:textSize="18sp"
                        android:textColor="#ffffff"
                        android:letterSpacing="-0.02"
                        android:gravity="center_horizontal"
                        android:text="@string/send"
                        app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
                        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
                        />

                <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
                    android:id="@+id/filesList"
                    android:layout_width="0dp"
                    android:layout_height="match_parent"
                    android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
                    android:paddingTop="5dp"
                    android:paddingEnd="5dp"
                    android:visibility="gone"
                    app:layout_constraintRight_toLeftOf="@id/send"
                    app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
                    app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@id/editText"
                    app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"/>
            </android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>
        </LinearLayout>
    </LinearLayout>

I’m using a single ViewHolder, I just change the visibility of the 2 child views.

The result I expect to get is this one:

But what I’m getting is this; the CardView being cut in half, using the height of the second type of item:

I saw this post, which is similar to my problem. It recommends using Google’s Flexbox. So, I tried to implement FlexboxLayoutManager:

FlexboxLayoutManager layoutManager = new FlexboxLayoutManager(getContext());
layoutManager.setFlexDirection(FlexDirection.ROW);
layoutManager.setFlexWrap(FlexWrap.NOWRAP);

I’m using row direction and It is showing items on next lines if it does not fit in single line. So, I also added No_wrap. And now it is showing items in a single line but do not provide scrolling. Also in this case it tries to fit all items in a single line by decreasing width of items.

I also played with the flex box sample app, but I couldn’t get the result I want.

Is there a way I can achieve horizontal scrolling with the Flexbox integrated with RecyclerView? Or should I use a different approach?

Thanks

EDIT

Thanks for the tips and everything, but it is not solving it. So, I stripped down the code to bare minimum to reproduce this.

MainActivity:

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

private static final int REQUEST_CODE = 1;

private RecyclerView recyclerView;
private FilesAdapter filesAdapter;
private List<File> filesList = new ArrayList<>();

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

    recyclerView = findViewById(R.id.recyclerView);
    LinearLayoutManager filesLayoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(this, LinearLayoutManager.HORIZONTAL, false);
    recyclerView.setLayoutManager(filesLayoutManager);
    filesAdapter = new FilesAdapter(filesList);
    recyclerView.setAdapter(filesAdapter);

    ImageView attach = findViewById(R.id.attach);
    attach.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onClick(View view) {
            Intent intent = new Intent();
            intent.setType("*/*");
            intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_OPENABLE);
            intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
            intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE, true);
            startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent,"Select Files"), REQUEST_CODE);
        }
    });
}

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, @Nullable Intent data) {
    if (requestCode == REQUEST_CODE && resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
        try {
            if (data != null) {
                List<File> uriList = new ArrayList<>();
                if (data.getClipData() != null) { // Multiple files
                    for (int i = 0; i < data.getClipData().getItemCount(); i++) {
                        Uri uri = data.getClipData().getItemAt(i).getUri();
                        Pair<Boolean, File> isValid = isFileValid(uri);
                        if (isValid.first) {
                            uriList.add(isValid.second);
                        }
                    }
                } else { // Single file
                    Uri uri = data.getData();
                    Pair<Boolean, File> isValid = isFileValid(uri);
                    if (isValid.first) {
                        uriList.add(isValid.second);
                    }
                }

                if (uriList.size() > 0) {
                    for (File file : uriList) {
                        filesList.add(filesList.size(), file);
                        filesAdapter.notifyItemInserted(filesList.size());
                    }
                }
            }
        } catch (Throwable e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
}

private Pair<Boolean, File> isFileValid(Uri uri) throws NullPointerException {
    Pair<Boolean, File> defaultResponse = Pair.create(false, null);
    Cursor c = getContentResolver().query(uri, null, null, null, null);
    if (c != null) {
        c.moveToFirst();

        String filename = c.getString(c.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME));

        if (isSupported(filename)) {
            c.close();
            return Pair.create(true, new File(StringUtils.endsWithIgnoreCase(filename, ".pdf") ? DOCUMENT : IMAGE));
        } else {
            Toast.makeText(this, "File format not supported", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            c.close();
            return defaultResponse;
        }
    }
    return defaultResponse;
}

private boolean isSupported(String filename) {
    String[] supportedFormats = { ".pdf", ".jpg", ".gif", ".png" };

    for (String format : supportedFormats) {
        if (StringUtils.endsWithIgnoreCase(filename, format)) {
            return true;
        }
    }
    return false;
}
}

Main activity layout:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout 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:gravity="bottom"
android:orientation="vertical"
tools:context=".MainActivity">

   <androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView
   android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
   android:layout_width="match_parent"
   android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

<ImageView
    android:id="@+id/attach"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_gravity="bottom|center"
    android:layout_marginBottom="19dp"
    android:padding="10dp"
    android:src="@drawable/ic_attach" />
</LinearLayout>

File:

public class File {

public enum Type {
    DOCUMENT,
    IMAGE
}

private Type type;

public File(Type type) {
    this.type = type;
}

public Type getType() {
    return type;
}
}

File Adapter:

public class FilesAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<FilesAdapter.BaseViewHolder> {

private List<File> files;

public FilesAdapter(List<File> files) {
    this.files = files;
}

@NonNull
@Override
public FilesAdapter.BaseViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(@NonNull ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
    View view = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(viewType == 0 ? R.layout.document_item : R.layout.image_item, parent, false);
    if (viewType == 0) {
        return new DocumentViewHolder(view);
    } else {
        return new ImageViewHolder(view);
    }
}

@Override
public void onBindViewHolder(@NonNull FilesAdapter.BaseViewHolder viewHolder, int position) {
    viewHolder.bind(files.get(position));
}

@Override
public int getItemViewType(int position) {
    if (files.get(position).getType() == File.Type.DOCUMENT) {
        return 0;
    } else {
        return 1;
    }
}

@Override
public int getItemCount() {
    return files.size();
}

abstract static class BaseViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
    public BaseViewHolder(@NonNull View itemView) {
        super(itemView);
    }
    abstract void bind(File file);
}

static class ImageViewHolder extends BaseViewHolder {

    public ImageViewHolder(@NonNull View itemView) {
        super(itemView);
    }

    @Override
    void bind(File file) { }
}

static class DocumentViewHolder extends BaseViewHolder {

    public DocumentViewHolder(@NonNull View itemView) {
        super(itemView);
    }

    public void bind(File file) { }
}
}

document item:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="150dp"
android:layout_height="40dp"
android:background="@drawable/ic_rounded"
android:backgroundTint="#888888"
android:layout_margin="5dp">

<TextView
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_gravity="center"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:text="PDF"
    android:textColor="@android:color/white"/>

</LinearLayout>

image item:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.cardview.widget.CardView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:layout_width="120dp"
android:layout_height="80dp"
android:layout_margin="5dp"
app:cardBackgroundColor="#000000"
app:cardCornerRadius="10dp"
app:cardElevation="0dp">

<TextView
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_gravity="center"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:text="IMAGE"
    android:textColor="@android:color/white"/>

</androidx.cardview.widget.CardView>

if I select an image first, and the several pdfs, it works fine:

But if I first select 3 pdfs, and then an image, this happens:

Any idea how to solve this?

Answer 1

I had a similar issue in another project and i solved it by using the Google library FlexboxLayoutManager.

1. Get the latest FlexboxLayoutManager Library (https://github.com/google/flexbox-layout) and add it into your grandle dependencies (implementation 'com.google.android:flexbox:2.0.1')
2. In your Activity add the below lines of code:

   FlexboxLayoutManager layoutManager = new FlexboxLayoutManager(this); 
    layoutManager.setFlexDirection(FlexDirection.ROW);
    layoutManager.setFlexWrap(FlexWrap.NOWRAP);
    recyclerView.setLayoutManager(layoutManager);

3. To make FlexboxLayoutManager work with horizontal scroll add the below code in your adapter (FilesAdapter) in BaseViewHolder class:

   abstract static class BaseViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
        public BaseViewHolder(@NonNull View itemView) {
            super(itemView);
            ViewGroup.LayoutParams lp = itemView.getLayoutParams();
            if (lp instanceof FlexboxLayoutManager.LayoutParams) {
                FlexboxLayoutManager.LayoutParams flexboxLp = (FlexboxLayoutManager.LayoutParams) lp;
                flexboxLp.setFlexShrink(0.0f);
                flexboxLp.setAlignSelf(AlignItems.FLEX_START); //this will align each itemView on Top or use AlignItems.FLEX_END to align it at Bottom
            }
        }
        abstract void bind(File file);
    }

Answer 2

In case it helps anyone else, Kotlin version of MariosP's answer with minor refactors below, but 100% kudos to @MariosP. His answer saved the day for us!

RecyclerView setup (this was from a fragment, called in onViewCreated):

private fun setupRecyclerView() {
    val flexBoxLayoutManager = FlexboxLayoutManager(requireContext(), FlexDirection.ROW, FlexWrap.NOWRAP)
    with(recycler_view) {
        layoutManager = flexBoxLayoutManager
        adapter = myAdapter
    }
}

Adapter setup:

var items : List<Item>

override fun onBindViewHolder(holder: MyViewHolder, position: Int) {
    holder.bindItem(items[position])
}

In the ViewHolder:

class MyViewHolder(private val itemView: View): RecyclerView.ViewHolder(itemView) {

    fun bindItem(item: Item) {
        // Do things with item
        updateLayoutParamsToAllowHorizontalScrolling()
    }

    private fun updateLayoutParamsToAllowHorizontalScrolling() {
        (itemView.layoutParams as? FlexboxLayoutManager.LayoutParams)?.let {
            it.flexShrink = 0.0f
            it.alignSelf = AlignItems.FLEX_START
        }
    }

}

Answer 3

try this for your RecyclerView:

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

Since the XML file that contains your RecyclerView is not complete here I cannot be sure but if your RecyclerView is inside another parent view that is limiting it, then i guess using wrap_content as the height for RecyclerView plus some tweaks should solve it.

Also, note that you are limiting you RecyclerView to the bottom of "editText" from top side so that may be preventing your RecyclerView from expanding too.

Answer 4

All you have to do, is to set recyclerview's height to the height of the biggest item, in your case the image item.

<androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView
android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="80dp" />

Answer 5

The reason Image is getting cropped when you choose pdf files first is because the height of recycleView is 40dp which is the height of pdf item. When you try to add a new item without modifying the existing ones, recycleView height remains the same i.e. 40dp. To enforce a minimum height of 80dp (which is the current height of the image layout), we can use minHeight as follows:

<androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView
        android:id="@+id/recyclerView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:minHeight="80dp"
        tools:listitem="@layout/document_item"
        />

You can also modify your pdf item layout to align the pdfs center_vertically with image items as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:layout_gravity="center_vertical"
    android:layout_margin="5dp">

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="150dp"
        android:layout_height="40dp"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:background="@drawable/ic_round"
        android:backgroundTint="#888888"
        android:text="PDF"
        android:textColor="@android:color/white"/>

</LinearLayout>

Cheers :)

Answer 6

First, I think your main layout is a bit overcomplicated. You could do the whole thing in a single ConstraintLayout (if you need framed background around specific items, I recommend to use pure View instances layed out using Barriers and Guidelines - see https://medium.com/better-programming/essential-components-of-constraintlayout-7f4026a1eb87)

Another addition and/or improvement would be to not use right/left constraints, rather start/end. This prepares your layout for RTL display too.

Also, I highly recommend to use separate layout files and ViewHolders for distinct items in a RecyclerView.

As others pointed out in comments, your RecyclerView is layed out using match_parent which can in turn crop your view. You may want to set this wrap_content.

In the meanwhile, you may also want to update dependencies to use Android Jetpack and ditch support libraries.