Question

I am using the XML tag

android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden|keyboard"

and the following code to detect device orientation changes and change layouts:

@Override
public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
    super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
    disp = getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay();
    swidth = disp.getWidth();
    sheight = disp.getHeight();
    parent.removeAllViews();
    parent = new RelativeLayout(this);
    if(newConfig.orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT)
        layoutPortrait();
    else
        layoutLandscape();
}

This works fine going form portrait to landscape. But, for whatever reason, going from landscape to portrait (starting in landscape or switching to it then back) doesn’t change the screen back to portrait.

Through the use of Log messages I’ve determined that after being in Landscape mode, the Display and Configuration classes DO NOT UPDATE. They remain holding the same orientation/length/width values as when the device was in landscape.

Does anyone have any idea why this is?

Additional Code (requested by contributor)

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    disp = getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay();
    swidth = disp.getWidth();
    sheight = disp.getHeight();
    int ornt;
    if(swidth == sheight)
        ornt = Configuration.ORIENTATION_SQUARE;
    else if(swidth < sheight)
        ornt = Configuration.ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT;
    else if(swidth > sheight)
        ornt = Configuration.ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE;
    else
        ornt = Configuration.ORIENTATION_UNDEFINED;
    parent = new RelativeLayout(this);
    labelOne = new TextView(this);
    labelOne.setText("Temperature");
    labelOne.setId((int)(Math.random()*Integer.MAX_VALUE));
    temp = new EditText(this);
    temp.setSingleLine(true);
    temp.setBackgroundColor(Color.WHITE);
    temp.setTextColor(Color.BLACK);
    temp.setId((int)(Math.random()*Integer.MAX_VALUE));
    labelTwo = new TextView(this);
    labelTwo.setText("Humidity(%)");
    labelTwo.setId((int)(Math.random()*Integer.MAX_VALUE));
    humidity = new EditText(this);
    humidity.setSingleLine(true);
    humidity.setBackgroundColor(Color.WHITE);
    humidity.setTextColor(Color.BLACK);
    humidity.setId((int)(Math.random()*Integer.MAX_VALUE));
    output = new TextView(this);
    output.setBackgroundColor(Color.WHITE);
    output.setTextColor(Color.BLACK);
    output.setId((int)(Math.random()*Integer.MAX_VALUE));
    submit = new Button(this);
    submit.setText("Calculate");
    submit.setId((int)(Math.random()*Integer.MAX_VALUE));
    submit.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {

        @Override
        public void onClick(View v) {
              Double result = Calculate.calculate(getInputs());
              if(result !=null) {
                String answer = String.format("%,.1f",result);
                if(f.isChecked()) {
                    output.setText(answer + "°F");
                } else {
                    output.setText(answer + "°C");
                }
              }
        }
    });
    f = new RadioButton(this);
    f.setText("Fahrenheit");
    c = new RadioButton(this);
    c.setText("Celsius");
    rg = new RadioGroup(this);
    rg.setOnCheckedChangeListener(new ListenForMode());
    rg.addView(f);
    rg.addView(c);
    rg.setId((int)(Math.random()*Integer.MAX_VALUE));
    f.setChecked(true);
    if(ornt == Configuration.ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT || ornt == Configuration.ORIENTATION_SQUARE)
        layoutPortrait();
    else
        layoutLandscape();
}

Final Update

Issue is with the emulator not responding correctly to the orientation changes. I changed the onConfigurationChanged(…) orientation checking to use the condition width < height for portrait and all else landscape. This works perfectly on my Android device.

Thanks to all contributors to this question!

Answer 1

If it happens on emulator, then it’s OK – emulator behaves a little bit weird in sense of configuration changes. I have been trying to solve similar problem, unless I noticed that the app worked fine on a real device.

It seems that the emulator ignores the android:configChanges="orientation" attribute, but in a bit strange way: it does force the configuration change but doesn’t call onConfigurationChanged(..) method every time it should be called.