Removing/Adding constraint programmatically in ConstraintLayout

Question

I want to remove and add constraint programmatically based on some condition. Here are the screenshots:

and I want to remove it like this but in code:

so the same effect in want to achieve programmatically

and here is the code that I tried:

    if (advertisements.size() > 0) { //my own condition
        ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams layoutParams = (ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams) btnCreateAd.getLayoutParams();
        layoutParams.topToBottom = R.id.imvEmpty; //the imageview that is in center of the view
        btnCreateAd.setLayoutParams(layoutParams);
        recyclerView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        txvMyAdEmptyText.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        imvEmpty.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        adapter.setList(advertisements);
        adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
    } else {
        ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams layoutParams = (ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams) btnCreateAd.getLayoutParams();
        layoutParams.topToBottom = -1; //here i am trying to remove top constraint but it doesn't work
        btnCreateAd.setLayoutParams(layoutParams);

        recyclerView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        txvMyAdEmptyText.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        imvEmpty.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        adapter.setList(new ArrayList<Advertisement>());
    }
    mConstraintView.invalidate(); //this is my constraint view

EDIT

I have tried using ConstraintSet also, but the result was even different somehow my RecyclerView (which is set to boundaries of parent view) was disappearing

 ConstraintSet set = new ConstraintSet();
    set.clone(parentView);

    if (advertisements.size() > 0) {

        recyclerView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        txvMyAdEmptyText.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        imvEmpty.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        adapter.setList(advertisements);
        adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();

    } else {

        set.connect(btnCreateAd.getId(), ConstraintSet.TOP, imvEmpty.getId(), ConstraintSet.BOTTOM, 0);

        recyclerView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        txvMyAdEmptyText.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        imvEmpty.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        adapter.setList(new ArrayList<Advertisement>());
    }
    set.connect(btnCreateAd.getId(), ConstraintSet.END, ConstraintSet.PARENT_ID, ConstraintSet.END, 0);
    set.connect(btnCreateAd.getId(), ConstraintSet.START, ConstraintSet.PARENT_ID, ConstraintSet.START, 0);
    set.connect(btnCreateAd.getId(), ConstraintSet.BOTTOM, ConstraintSet.PARENT_ID, ConstraintSet.BOTTOM, 0);

    set.applyTo(parentView);

Polypus

see if this helps #5108240 – Catlee

@ValdioVeliu sorry, but that is for RelativeLayout params, i need from constraintLayoutParams. – Polypus

@Chisko i have tried also with ConstraintSet but it doesn't work for this case, and moreover somehow it is breaking my other constraints of the views. By the way all views are already created in layout (i mean I don't create a view dynamically). – Polypus

Answer 1

I have not worked through your code, but the following illustrates how to break and make the constraint using ConstraintSet.

ConstraintSet set = new ConstraintSet();
ConstraintLayout layout;

layout = (ConstraintLayout) findViewById(R.id.layout);
set.clone(layout);
// The following breaks the connection.
set.clear(R.id.bottomText, ConstraintSet.TOP);
// Comment out line above and uncomment line below to make the connection.
// set.connect(R.id.bottomText, ConstraintSet.TOP, R.id.imageView, ConstraintSet.BOTTOM, 0);
set.applyTo(layout);

Hamiltonian

@DominikusK.Oops, thanks for calling me out! If your interested in animating these transitions, this is a helpful post – Wayne

Has anyone noticed any problem with Api 21 or 22 with ConstraintLayout 1.1.1 when changing the constraints? Seems to be a bit unreliable though works perfectly on api 28 – Markos

Yes @Bakhshi, I've noticed the same thing. Have you resolved it? If yes, how? I'm using version 1.1.3 – Spurling

set.clone(layout); this line was very important, since my layout started to disappear after I apply without this line. – Bice

Answer 2

There is an easier way to do it now if you're using viewBinding/dataBinding with Kotlin.

There is an extension function called updateLayoutParams from import androidx.core.view.updateLayoutParams and use it like below

    binding.yourView.updateLayoutParams<ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams> {
                        this.startToEnd = ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams.UNSET
                      this.startToStart = ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams.PARENT_ID
                    }

Bartholemy

This is so far the best answer for me!! ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams.UNSET. It is the most sophisticated and latest update for update layout params programmatically. – Osei

Answer 3

Another way of doing this is with ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams.UNSET. This way is not using ConstraintSet.clear.

Assuming we want to remove the bottom constraint of our constraintLayout itself but can be any view:

val containerParams = cl_container.layoutParams as ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams
containerParams.bottomToBottom = ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams.UNSET
cl_container.layoutParams = containerParams

Savoirvivre

Can you provide a java version of this code please?? – Gribble

Kotlin and Java is interchangeable. Look for an option to change it in the ide or online – Savoirvivre

Answer 4

Here is the Java version of the answer from j2emanue using ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams, which works without specifying the id of the element that the layout is contrained to:

final ConstraintLayout constraintLayout = findViewById(R.id.constraintLayout);
final ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams layoutParams = (ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams) constraintLayout.getLayoutParams();
layoutParams.bottomToBottom = ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams.UNSET;
constraintLayout.setLayoutParams(layoutParams);

Lemmuela