Question

I am trying to set a background for every XML layout in my application, and I am using the same picture for them all. At the moment, I am going through all hundred or so layouts and just typing in the code:

android:background="@drawable/dirtwall"

Into all of the layouts. How would I be able to set it automatically so I wouldn’t have to change other backgrounds as I made more, and so I wouldn’t have to go through all of my XML files?

Also, I am using Eclipse.

Answer 1

You can use styles. This way, you can define all common elements in a single place and then update it only there.

Example style.xml, which should be located in your project’s /res/values/ folder

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <style name="appearance">
        <item name="android:background">@drawable/dirtwall</item>
    </style>
</resources>

and use it like

<LinearLayout
    ...
    style = "@style/appearance"
>