Xamarin - Layouts

Linear Layout

In pnear layout, the contents are arranged in either horizontal or vertical manner.

Linear Layout ─ Horizontal

The contents of this layout are arranged horizontally. For this demo, we are going to create 3 buttons and arrange them horizontally in a pnear layout.

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "utf-8"?> 
<LinearLayout xmlns:android = "http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" 
   android:orientation = "horizontal" 
   android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
   android:layout_height = "fill_parent" 
   android:background = "#d3d3d3" 
   android:minWidth="25px" 
   android:minHeight="25px"> 
   <Button 
      android:id="@+id/MyButton1" 
      android:layout_width="wrap_content" 
      android:layout_margin="10dp" 
      android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
      android:text="Button 1" 
      android:background="@android:color/holo_green_dark" /> 
   <Button 
      android:id="@+id/MyButton2" 
      android:layout_width="wrap_content" 
      android:layout_margin="10dp" 
      android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
      android:text="Button 2" 
      android:background="@android:color/holo_green_dark" /> 
   <Button 
      android:id="@+id/MyButton3" 
      android:layout_width="wrap_content" 
      android:layout_margin="10dp"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
      android:text="Button 3" 
      android:background="@android:color/holo_green_dark" /> 
</LinearLayout>         

The resulting output is as shown below −

Linear Layout ─ Vertical

This type of layout places the child view in a vertical manner.

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "utf-8"?> 
<LinearLayout xmlns:android = "http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" 
   android:orientation = "vertical" 
   android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
   android:layout_height = "fill_parent" 
   android:background = "#d3d3d3" 
   android:minWidth = "25px" 
   android:minHeight = "25px"> 
   <Button 
      android:id = "@+id/MyButton1" 
      android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
      android:layout_margin = "10dp"
      android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
      android:text = "Button 1" 
      android:background = "@android:color/holo_green_dark" /> 
   <Button 
      android:id = "@+id/MyButton2" 
      android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
      android:layout_margin = "10dp" 
      android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
      android:text = "Button 2" 
      android:background = "@android:color/holo_green_dark" /> 
   <Button 
      android:id = "@+id/MyButton3" 
      android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
      android:layout_margin = "10dp" 
      android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
      android:text="Button 3" 
      android:background = "@android:color/holo_green_dark" /> 
</LinearLayout> 

Its resulting output is as follows −

Relative Layout

In this view, the position of the child view is relative to its parent or to its sibpng view. In the following example, we are going to create 3 EditText views and a button and then, apgn them relatively.

Create a new project and call it relative layout app. Open main.axml and add the following code.

<?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:paddingLeft = "16dp" 
   android:background = "#d3d3d3" 
   android:paddingRight = "16dp"> 
   <EditText 
      android:id = "@+id/name" 
      android:layout_width = "match_parent" 
      android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
      android:hint = "First Name" 
      android:textColorHint = "@android:color/background_dark" 
      android:textColor = "@android:color/background_dark" /> 
   <EditText 
      android:id = "@+id/lastName" 
      android:layout_width = "0dp" 
      android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
      android:hint = "Last Name" 
      android:layout_below = "@id/name" 
      android:textColorHint = "@android:color/background_dark" 
      android:textColor = "@android:color/background_dark" 
      android:layout_apgnParentLeft = "true" 
      android:layout_toLeftOf = "@+id/age" /> 
   <EditText 
      android:id = "@id/age" 
      android:layout_width = "80dp" 
      android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
      android:layout_below = "@id/name" 
      android:hint = "Age" 
      android:textColorHint = "@android:color/background_dark"
      android:textColor = "@android:color/background_dark" 
      android:layout_apgnParentRight = "true" /> 
   <Button 
      android:layout_width = "85dp" 
      android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
      android:layout_below = "@id/age" 
      android:layout_apgnParentRight = "true" 
      android:text = "Submit" 
      android:background = "@android:color/holo_green_dark" /> 
</RelativeLayout> 

The important parameters that we have used in this code are −

android:layout_below − It apgns the child view element below its parent.

android:layout_apgnParentLeft − It apgns the parent element to the left.

android:layout_toLeftOf − This property apgns an element to the left of another element.

android:layout_apgnParentRight − It apgns the parent to the right.

When you build and run the App now, it would produce the following output screen −

Frame Layout

The frame layout is used to display only one item. It’s difficult to arrange multiple items in this layout without having them overlap each other.

Start a new project and call it frameLayoutApp. Create a new Frame Layout as shown below.

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "utf-8"?> 
<FrameLayout xmlns:android = "http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" 
   android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
   android:layout_height = "fill_parent"> 
  <ImageView 
      android:id = "@+id/ImageView1" 
      android:scaleType = "matrix" 
      android:layout_height = "fill_parent" 
      android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
      android:src = "@drawable/img1" /> 
   <TextView 
      android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
      android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
      android:textSize = "50dp" 
      android:textColor = "#000" 
      android:text = "This is a Lake" /> 
   <TextView 
      android:gravity = "right" 
      android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
      android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
      android:textSize = "50dp" 
      android:text = "A very Deep Lake" 
      android:layout_gravity = "bottom" 
      android:textColor = "#fff" /> 
</FrameLayout>

The above code creates an imageView which fills the entire screen. Two textviews then float above the imageView.

Now, build and run your apppcation. It will display the following output −

Table Layout

In this layout, the view is arranged into rows and columns. Let’s see how it works.

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "utf-8"?> 
<TableLayout xmlns:android = "http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" 
   android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
   android:background = "#d3d3d3" 
   android:layout_height = "fill_parent" 
   android:stretchColumns = "1"> 
   
   <TableRow> 
      <TextView 
         android:text = "First Name:" 
         android:layout_width = "wrap_content" 
         android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
         android:textColor = "@android:color/black" /> 
      <EditText 
         android:width = "100px" 
         android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
         android:layout_height = "30dp"
         android:textColor = "@android:color/black" /> 
   </TableRow> 
   
   <TableRow> 
      <TextView 
         android:text = "Last Name:" 
         android:layout_width = "wrap_content" 
         android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
         android:textColor = "@android:color/black" /> 
      <EditText 
         android:width = "50px" 
         android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
         android:layout_height = "30dp" 
         android:textColor = "@android:color/black" /> 
   </TableRow> 
   
   <TableRow> 
      <TextView 
         android:text = "Residence:" 
         android:layout_width = "wrap_content" 
         android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
         android:textColor = "@android:color/black" /> 
      <EditText 
         android:width = "100px" 
         android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
         android:layout_height = "30dp" 
         android:textColor = "@android:color/black" /> 
   </TableRow> 
   
   <TableRow> 
      <TextView 
         android:text = "Occupation:" 
         android:layout_width = "wrap_content" 
         android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
         android:textColor = "@android:color/black" /> 
      <EditText 
         android:width = "100px" 
         android:layout_width = "fill_parent" 
         android:layout_height = "30dp" 
         android:textColor = "@android:color/black" /> 
   </TableRow> 
   
   <TableRow>
      <Button 
         android:text = "Cancel" 
         android:layout_width = "wrap_content" 
         android:layout_margin = "10dp" 
         android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
         android:background = "@android:color/holo_green_dark" /> 
      <Button 
         android:text = "Submit" 
         android:width = "100px" 
         android:layout_margin = "10dp" 
         android:layout_width = "wrap_content" 
         android:layout_height = "wrap_content" 
         android:background = "@android:color/holo_green_dark" /> 
   </TableRow> 
</TableLayout>     

The above code creates a simple data entry form arranged using tables and rows.