Set the background colour of a Layout view to a gradient in Android?

Question

How do I specify that the background "colour" of a Android layout view element should be a gradient (at a specific angle) ?

I wish to specify this in the XML, i.e. not at runtime. Preferably as a style I can apply to any layout I wish with the style property?

Answer 1

create gradient.xml in /res/drawable:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"     android:shape="rectangle">     <gradient         android:startColor="#FFFFFF"         android:endColor="#00000000"         android:angle="45"/>     </shape> 

and in your main.xml layout file in /res/layout:

<?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="@drawable/gradient"     >    </LinearLayout> 

you can specify the angle by replacing the android:angle value and start/end colour by replacing android:startColor and android:endColor

Answer 2

You can use something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"         android:shape="rectangle">     <gradient android:startColor="#A1A1A1"                android:centerColor="#BDBDBD"               android:endColor="#A4A4A4"                android:angle="-90" /> </shape> 

to build a gradient (You choose the colors you like ). Place this in drawable and voila you got your own shape to use as background: android:background="@drawable/the_name_of_your_xml"