Question

I have a LinearLayout which has a background image (a 9 patched png file).
How can I add padding to left and right so that the background image does not take up the whole width? I have tried android:paddingLeft and android:paddingRight, but that does not change anything.

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:paddingLeft="25dip"
    android:paddingRight="25dip"
    android:background="@drawable/background">

The whole background still stretches the whole screen width.

Answer 1

That doesn’t work because padding only acts on the contents of the LinearLayout. By using a second LinearLayout inside this one the padding will take effect. You must define the background color of the first LinearLayout that will be visible in the padding area.

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:paddingLeft="25dip"
    android:paddingRight="25dip"
    android:background="#FF000000">

    <LinearLayout
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:background="@drawable/background">

    </LinearLayout>

</LinearLayout>

Note: This is probably also possible by using an XML file for the background.