ConstraintLayout margins not working

Question

Using the xml below the marginTop is getting ignored if the view's visibility that I'm constrained to is gone.

This happens with the latest layout lib version at this time com.android.support.constraint:constraint-layout:1.0.0-beta4

Example:

tvMessage and ivCommentImage are visible - the 16dp top margin on llLeftActions and llRightActions is working fine. If the ivCommentImage is gone the margin is ignored.

<android.support.v7.widget.CardView
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content">

<android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:paddingBottom="16dp">

<!-- some more views here -->

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/tvMessage"
        style="@style/SocialFeed.Description"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginEnd="16dp"
        android:layout_marginLeft="16dp"
        android:layout_marginRight="16dp"
        android:layout_marginStart="16dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="16dp"
        app:layout_constraintHorizontal_bias="0.0"
        app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/ivProfile"
        app:layout_goneMarginTop="0dp"
        tools:text="@string/lorem_ipsum_140chars"/>

    <android.support.v7.widget.AppCompatImageView
        android:id="@+id/ivCommentImage"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="16dp"
        android:adjustViewBounds="true"
        app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/tvMessage"
        app:layout_goneMarginTop="0dp"
        />

    <android.support.constraint.Guideline
        android:id="@+id/gCenter"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="vertical"
        app:layout_constraintGuide_percent="0.5"/>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/llLeftActions"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="16dp"
        android:gravity="center_vertical|left"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="@+id/tvMessage"
        app:layout_constraintRight_toLeftOf="@+id/gCenter"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/ivCommentImage"
        app:layout_goneMarginTop="0dp"
        />

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/llRightActions"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginTop="16dp"
        android:gravity="center_vertical|right"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="@+id/gCenter"
        app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="@+id/tvMessage"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/ivCommentImage"
        app:layout_goneMarginTop="0dp"/>


</android.support.constraint.ConstraintLayout>

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

Answer 1

<TextView
    android:id="@+id/textView"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="Available chats"
    tools:layout_editor_absoluteX="1dp"
    tools:layout_editor_absoluteY="1dp" />

<ListView
    android:id="@+id/listChats"
    android:layout_width="0dp"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/textView"/>

Please notice the last line, adding constraints around the edges makes the constraint work.

You can also use the design view in Studio, and drag and drop the constraints between objects.