Question

I have a typical login screen(table layout). What I would like to do is draw a rectangle around those controls and put gradient in it. How do I do that in xml ?

Answer 1

create gradient.xml in /res/drawable:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:shape="rectangle">
    <gradient
        android:startColor="#FFFFFF"
        android:endColor="#00000000"
        android:angle="45"/>    
</shape>

and in your layout file add android:background="@drawable/gradient" to the propierties of the container where the controls are put in