Question

I have the default list view as with the black background, I would like to have it like this:

or:

How do I achieve this?

Answer 1

If you using array adapter you should create two layouts. In one of them to define view of listview element, another must contain <listview> tag.

In onCreate:

public class ListAction extends Activity {
    private ListView lv1;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.list);

        lv1 = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.listView);

            ArrayAdapter<CharSequence> adapter = ArrayAdapter
                    .createFromResource(this, some array,
                            R.layout.list_items);
            lv1.setAdapter(adapter);
            cats = getResources().getStringArray(some array);

        lv1.setTextFilterEnabled(true);
        lv1.setOnItemClickListener(new OnItemClickListener() {
            public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> a, View v, int position,
                    long id) {

            }
        });
    }
}

You shold use R.array.<name> instead of some array

Example of list_item.xml:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <TextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:id="@android:id/text1"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:gravity="center_vertical"
        android:paddingBottom="8.0dip"
        android:paddingLeft="12.0dip"
        android:paddingRight="3.0dip"
        android:paddingTop="8.0dip"
        android:textColor="#ffffffff"
        android:textSize="10.0pt"
        android:textStyle="italic"
        android:background="@drawable/list_bg"
        android:text="List Item" />

Example of list.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:background="@color/white" >

    <ListView
        android:id="@+id/listView"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:divider="@drawable/divider" />

</LinearLayout>

For more specific layout you can look at this link http://www.ezzylearning.com/tutorial.aspx?tid=1763429&q=customizing-android-listview-items-with-custom-arrayadapter

---

Added:
At first you can change background for entire layout in list.xml, also you can use custom divider (You should use tag divider as above).

You can’t add another layouts into list_item.xml, but you can use android:background to set item background. I never used that but I know it works. For more changes you should use simplearray or write your own adapter.

Example how to use gradient (I’m using it for buttons):

<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:shape="rectangle" >
    <corners android:radius="12px" />
    <gradient
        android:angle="90"
        android:endColor="#color2"
        android:startColor="#color1"
        android:type="linear" />
</shape>