Prevent background image from stretching the view

Question

Whenever I assign background to a view that is laid out with wrap_content, if the background image is larger than a view, the view is stretched so that it can hold the entire background. Why is it so and how to prevent it? It occurs even if the image is 9-patch and has stretchable areas marked - why isn't the image shrunk to the size of the view?

Answer 1

You can use RelativeLayout and create two elements inside it. An ImageView for the Background and another view for your content. Use the android:layout_alignBottom to the the ImageView and set the value to the id of your content view. Also set the scaleType of the ImageView to fitXY.

<RelativeLayout android:id="@+id/relativeLayout1" 
  android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
  android:layout_gravity="center" 
  android:layout_width="fill_parent">

<ImageView android:layout_width="fill_parent"
  android:layout_height="wrap_content"
  android:scaleType="fitXY"
  android:src="@drawable/chronometer_bg"
  android:id="@+id/imageView_chronometerBackground"
  android:layout_alignBottom="@id/chronometer" />

<Chronometer android:text="Chronometer"
      android:id="@+id/chronometer" 
      android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
      android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
      android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
      android:textSize="32sp"
      android:gravity="center" />

</RelativeLayout>

Answer 2

Either override the methods getSuggestedMinimumWidth and getSuggestedMinimumHeight of your layout view or the methods getMinimumWidth and getMinimumHeight of your background drawable to achieve that.