Textview Gravity not working properly in android

Question

What's wrong with my code, I'm trying to display my TextView named "invalid", in different locations (left,right,center), but the gravity (left,right,center) won't work!

My text.xml is

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:padding="20dp" >

    <EditText 
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:id="@+id/etext"
        android:hint="@string/comment"
        android:inputType="textPassword"/>

    <LinearLayout 
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:weightSum="100">
        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button1"
            android:layout_width="fill_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="@string/button" 
            android:layout_weight="25"/>

        <ToggleButton
            android:id="@+id/toggleButton1"
            android:layout_width="fill_parent"
            android:layout_height="40dp"
            android:text="ToggleButton" 
            android:layout_weight="75"
            android:checked="true"
            android:paddingLeft="15dp"/>
    </LinearLayout>

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textView1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="@string/invalid"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:gravity="center" />
</LinearLayout>

My TextPlay.java is

public class TextPlay extends Activity {
    Button button;
    ToggleButton tbutton;
    TextView tview;
    EditText et;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.text);
        button = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button1);
        tbutton = (ToggleButton) findViewById(R.id.toggleButton1);
        tview = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textView1);
        et = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.etext);
        tbutton.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub
                if (tbutton.isChecked()) {
                    et.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_CLASS_TEXT | InputType.TYPE_TEXT_VARIATION_PASSWORD);
                } else {
                    et.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_TEXT_VARIATION_PASSWORD);
                }
            }
        });
        button.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                // TODO Auto-generated method stub
                String input = et.getText().toString();
                System.out.println(input);
                if (input.contentEquals("left")) {
                    tview.setGravity(Gravity.LEFT);
                } else if (input.contentEquals("right")) {
                    System.out.println("inside right");
                    tview.setGravity(Gravity.RIGHT);
                } else if (input.contentEquals("right")) {
                    tview.setGravity(Gravity.CENTER);
                }
            }
        });
    }
}

Dews

remove android:layout_gravity="center" android:gravity="center" from your layout for @+id/textView1 and try... – Empanel

Change the TextView's width to match_parent or use android:layout_gravity in stead. – Consubstantiate

Take a look at this questions as well: link – Gyatt

Why should you want to use tabs in code they are a waste of code size... – Nyeman

Answer 1

You set this text view a width of "wrap_content" it means, what ever the text is, the view take the size of the text.

and in the LinearLayout , the default gravity (used here) is 'center'

you should try this :

<TextView
android:id="@+id/textView1"
android:layout_width="match_parent"   <= change this
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/invalid"
android:gravity="center"   <= then this gravity will be taken into account
/>

Fletcher

Answer 2

99% of the time, not working properly == not used properly.

You are mistaking gravity and layout_gravity.

gravity is the way the text will align itself in the TextView. The TextView being in wrap_content this does nothing, as the TextView is exactly the size of the text.

layout_gravity is the way the TextView will align itself in its parent, in your case in the vertical LinearLayout

Steep

@Harmen gravity is an attribute defined only for TextView. – Steep

Answer 3

You have given your TextView width wrap_content, and that is the problem, Check below code and replace it to your code.

<TextView
android:id="@+id/txtInvalid"
android:layout_width="match_parent"   
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/invalid"
android:gravity="center"   
/>

Siana

Answer 4

One reason why gravity does not work properly can be if you have gravity and textAlignment

If you put it like this

    <TextView                                                                     
        android:id="@+id/textView1"                      
        android:layout_width="200dp"                                              
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"                 
        android:gravity="center|center_horizontal"                                
        android:textAlignment="viewStart"                                         

Android studio editor will give this warning:

Inconsistent alignment specification between textAlignment and gravity attributes: was center|center_horizontal, expected start (Incompatible direction here)

But if you add textAlignment inside the styles then it doesn't complain.

This can be the issue why your gravity value will not work

    <TextView                                                                     
        android:id="@+id/textView2"                                          
        style="@style/Widget.App.TextView.Label.Default"                          
        android:layout_width="200dp"                                              
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"                 
        android:gravity="center|center_horizontal"                                       

Check this answer for the difference between them:

Text/Layout Alignment in Android (textAlignment, gravity)

Commemorative

Answer 5

set android:layout_width="fill_parent" for textView1

Bulwark

Answer 6

Make sure you don't have something like that hanging around

app:layout_box="left|top"

Salangi