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