getWidth and getHeight are returning a zero

Question

I am trying to make a simple drawing program for the android.

I have a custom View class to handle the drawing. When I call its getWidth and getHeight metheds, I get a zero.

But, the drawing works fine, I hard code in the width and height so it works. Why is it doing this?

---

My View class

public class cDrawing extends View{

    char BitMap[];
    static final short WIDTH=160;
    static final short HEIGHT=440;
    static final char EMPTY=' ';
    int mWidthSize;
    int mHeightSize;

    static final char RED ='R';
    int y;

    public cDrawing(Context context) {
        super(context);

        y=3;
        // set up our bitmap
        BitMap=new char[WIDTH*HEIGHT];
        for(int i=0; i<WIDTH*HEIGHT; i++)
                BitMap[i]=EMPTY;


        // returns zero why???????
        int h=getHeight();
        h=400;
        int w=getWidth();
        w=320;
        mWidthSize=w/WIDTH;
        mHeightSize=h/HEIGHT;


        // TODO Auto-generated constructor stub
    }

---

The Activity class

public class cCanves extends Activity  implements OnClickListener {
    /** Called when the activity is first created. */
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.canves);
        cDrawing board=new cDrawing(this);


        LinearLayout layout = (LinearLayout)findViewById(R.id.parent2);
        layout.addView(board);


        // set up buttons
        View mEraser = findViewById(R.id.buteraser);
        mEraser.setOnClickListener(this);

        View mBlack = findViewById(R.id.butblack);
        mBlack.setOnClickListener(this);

        View mWhite = findViewById(R.id.butwhite);
        mWhite.setOnClickListener(this);

        View mRed = findViewById(R.id.butred);
        mRed.setOnClickListener(this);

    } // end function

    public void onClick(View v) {
        Intent i;
        switch(v.getId())
        {
        case R.id.buteraser:
            break;
        case R.id.butblack:
            break;
        case R.id.butwhite:
            break;
        case R.id.butred:
            break;
        } // end switch

    }   // function
}

---

the xml file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout android:id="@+id/parent"
  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  android:layout_width="fill_parent"
  android:orientation="vertical"
  android:layout_height="fill_parent">

    <LinearLayout
      xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:orientation="horizontal"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content">

    <ImageButton android:id="@+id/buteraser"
      android:src="@drawable/icon"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>

    <ImageButton android:id="@+id/butblack"
      android:src="@drawable/icon"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>

    <ImageButton android:id="@+id/butwhite"
      android:src="@drawable/icon"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>

    <ImageButton android:id="@+id/butred"
      android:src="@drawable/icon"
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>
    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout android:id="@+id/parent2"
      android:layout_width="fill_parent"
      android:orientation="vertical"
      android:layout_height="fill_parent">
    </LinearLayout>


</LinearLayout>

Answer 1

The width and height are not defined until the view is actually rendered to the screen.

Use protected abstract void onLayout (boolean changed, int l, int t, int r, int b) (which you override in your activity) to know when the sizes are ready.