How to get gravity 'bottom' working on a drawable in xml

Question

I have a simple aim. I want a light grey background on my FrameLayout with a black dividing line underneath it (only undernearth, not all around). So far I have this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<layer-list xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item>
        <shape android:shape="rectangle" android:gravity="center">
            <solid android:color="#EEEEEE" />
        </shape>
    </item>
    <item>
        <shape android:shape="line" android:gravity="bottom" >
            <stroke android:width="1dip" android:color="#010101"/>
        </shape>
    </item>
</layer-list>

But it draws the line through the centre, i.e. ignores the gravity='bottom' bit. How can I fix this?

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Answer 1

I've struggled a lot with this as well. Basically, to create a border at the bottom, you have to think in opposite direction from what you expect. You start with a rectangle with your Border color. On top of that, you draw the actual color, with an offset from the bottom. I use this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<layer-list xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >

    <!-- CREATE A RECTANGLE WITH YOUR BORDER COLOR -->
    <item>
        <shape android:shape="rectangle" >
            <solid android:color="#fff"/>
        </shape>
    </item>

    <!-- NOW DEFINE THE NORMAL COLOR-->
    <item android:bottom="BOTTOM_BORDER_THICKNESS E.G. 4dp">
        <shape android:shape="rectangle" >
            <solid android:color="#ccc"/>
        </shape>
    </item>
</layer-list>

Or, as Juan Pablo Saraceno suggested :

<layer-list xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" > 
    <item> 
        <color android:color="YOUR_BORDER_COLOR" /> 
    </item> 
    <item android:top="YOUR_BORDER_THICKNESS"> 
        <color android:color="YOUR_BG_COLOR" /> 
    </item> 
</layer-list>

Answer 2

Unfortunately I have not found a way to get the gravity working for drawables, but I found how you can achieve what you want with pure xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<layer-list xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item
        android:top="-2dp"
        android:left="-2dp"
        android:right="0dp"
        android:bottom="1dp"
        >
        <shape android:shape="rectangle">
            <solid android:color="#EEEEEE"/>
            <stroke android:width="1dp" android:color="#010101"/>
        </shape>
    </item>
</layer-list>

Good luck:)

Answer 3

I'd recommend using a nine-patch image for this - here's an example that should do the job:

(It's only tiny but it is there!)

If you place this in your drawable folder and set your FrameLayout's background to it then you should get the desired result. The content will go in the grey area and the #010101 pixel will be stretched horizontally to form a line at the bottom. Just make sure to keep the .9.png extension to ensure it gets loaded as a nine-patch.

Hope that helps you

Answer 4

This works!

<item>
      <bitmap
         android:gravity="left|bottom"
         android:src="@drawable/myDrawable" />
 </item>