How to achieve this layout in Android?

Question

How can I get this layout in Android using RelativeLayout ? No matter what I try, the top 2 buttons don't show up as expected. Below I have provided a screenshot of what I want, what I attempted and the output of my attempt. Please can anyone help me out? Thanks.

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:ads="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:background="#f5f5f5"
    tools:context=".MainActivity" >

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:text="Button" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button2"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:text="Button" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button3"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:text="Button" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button4"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_above="@+id/button3"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:layout_below="@+id/button1"
        android:text="Button" />

</RelativeLayout>

Updated:

Any help is much appreciated.

Answer 1

Try this:

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:ads="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:background="#000000"
    tools:context=".MainActivity" >

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/topLayout"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:weightSum="1"
        android:orientation="horizontal" >

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button1"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="0.5"
            android:gravity="center"
            android:textColor="#ffffff"
            android:background="#ff6a2b"
            android:text="Button 1" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button2"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="0.5"
            android:layout_marginLeft="1dp"
            android:gravity="center"
            android:textColor="#ffffff"
            android:background="#ff6a2b"
            android:text="Button 2" />

    </LinearLayout>

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button4"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:textColor="#ffffff"
        android:background="#14b8ff"
        android:text="Button 4" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button3"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:layout_above="@+id/button4"
        android:layout_below="@+id/topLayout"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:textColor="#ffffff"
        android:background="#000000"
        android:text="Button 3" />

</RelativeLayout>

Good luck.

Answer 2

Try this:

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#f5f5f5"
tools:context=".MainActivity" >

<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:weightSum="2"
    android:id="@+id/topButtons">

<Button
    android:id="@+id/button1"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="Button1" 
    android:layout_weight="1"/>

<Button
    android:id="@+id/button2"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="Button2"
    android:layout_weight="1"/>

</LinearLayout>

<Button
    android:id="@+id/button3"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_below="@+id/topButtons"
    android:layout_above="@+id/button4"
    android:text="Button3" />

<Button
    android:id="@+id/button4"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="Button4"
    android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"/>

Answer 3

You can also use an invisible view to achieve the same effect without using additional layouts:

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:ads="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:background="#f5f5f5"
    tools:context=".MainActivity" >

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:text="Button"
        android:layout_toStartOf="@+id/alignment" />

    <View
        android:id="@+id/alignment"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
        android:visibility="invisible" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button2"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:text="Button"
        android:layout_toEndOf="@+id/alignment" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button3"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:text="Button" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button4"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_above="@+id/button3"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:layout_below="@+id/button1"
        android:text="Button" />

</RelativeLayout>

Answer 4

I would advice the use of Linear Layout !! Because it seems like you need to put buttons 1 and 2 at the very top, and put button 4 at the very bottom, and make button 3 take all the remaining empty space. For that, please check the use of layout_weight in the following :

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:ads="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:background="#f5f5f5"
    tools:context=".MainActivity" >

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/header"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:orientation="horizontal" >

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button1"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="Button" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button2"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="Button" />

    </LinearLayout>

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button3"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:text="Button" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button4"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content
        android:text="Button" />

</LinearLayout>

Notice that I did not use alignParent, layout_above or layout_below attributes anymore because they are useless for the LinearLayout. Also notice that I have specified the width or height to be 0 for several buttons. In that matter they will be calculated based on the remaining empty space on the screen. And hence this layout will always be compatible no matter the screen size of the device running your application !!

Answer 5

Here should be solution:

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:ads="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#f5f5f5"
android:orientation="vertical"
tools:context=".MainActivity" >

<RelativeLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
    android:orientation="horizontal">


  <Button
    android:id="@+id/button1"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
    android:text="Button1" />

  <Button
    android:id="@+id/button2"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
    android:layout_toRightOf="@+id/button1"
    android:text="Button2" />
</RelativeLayout>

  <Button
    android:id="@+id/button3"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentCenter="true"
    android:text="Button3" />

  <Button
    android:id="@+id/button4"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
    android:text="Button4" />

</RelativeLayout>

and also you need add android:background= color for each button.