Question

I am always confused about this and I need a pointer on how you would do it. If create a an xml layout with multiple imagesview and text view. And Lets say I want to draw line between two images and move an image along this line. How do I draw this line? I know I can get location of both images view so I have x1,y1 and x2,y2. My problem is with drawing.

Do I need surface view to have the drawing capabilities and loading bitmaps on the screen along the line?

If yes, then I guess I should always surface view to fill the screen and views on top just incase I need to draw which seems kinda wrong?

IF no (I hope thats the answer), then how do I draw lines, or load bitmaps on screen using only X,Y values?

I hope I was able to explain my confusion
Thanks

EDIT: Actually I thougth of a way of explaining my confusion better.
When you create an activity with xml layout you have something like

onCreate (){
setContentView(R.id.layout)
}

but when you have activity with drawing view you have something like

onCreate (){
SurfaceView v = new Surfaceview(this);
setContentView(v)
}

My problem is that we have to set the content layout to EITHER xml layout or to be drawing area . What if I want to set it to my xml layout and at the same time I can draw anywhere on the screen (over images view, empty areas, TextViews ..etc)

See my question?

Answer 1

That depends on what your desired result is and how much flexibility you need. You can have a look at this android Animations tutorial (the site is down at the time of posting but google has it cached).

If you don’t need flexibility, then for your line, you might be able to create a View in your xml with an android:background fill color and a size that makes it look as you wish. You could then use an Animation on your bitmap’s ImageView to translate it along the line, and use a listener on said Animation to show/hide the various Views as necessary at the beginning or end of your Animation.

If you need flexibility, the SurfaceView is probably your best bet.