Question

I have a large png that I would like to use as a background on different layouts, but offset it so that I can have different parts showing (much like you can in CSS), preferable in the xml.

My main layout for the activity contains the following xml:

<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:background="@layout/bg1">

Layout bg1 consists of the following xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<bitmap
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:src="@drawable/big_image"
android:layout_marginTop="50sp"
android:paddingTop="50sp"
android:gravity="top|left" />

The gravity property works as expected but margins and paddings are ignored, presumably because I’m working on a bitmap object rather than a layout. What I want to do is set these to a minus amount so that only part of the picture is shown. I’ve tried using a shape but that only wraps the content whereas I need to fill the entire background.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Thanks.

Answer 1

I have used an ImageView with a negative top margin value. The ImageView is declared first within the layout so that it is lowest in the stack of controls and will be rendered behind the others.

<RelativeLayout
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent">
    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/bigLogo"
        android:src="@drawable/big_logo"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"    
        android:layout_marginTop="-100px" />
</RelativeLayout>