Android layout_gravity for TextView in Java

Question

I want to change the layout gravity for a TextView.
Via XML, you'd do that via android:layout_gravity="value".
I know that in order to change the gravity itself, via XML you'd do android:gravity="value", and in Java you'd do textview.setGravity(Gravity.VALUE);
But sadly, there's no textview.setLayoutGravity(VALUE);, so I'm stuck.
Thanks!

Kamran Ahmed · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-17T15:09:39.373

You will need to use the correct sub class. For example if your TextView is in a FrameLayout, you would need to:

FrameLayout.LayoutParams params = (FrameLayout.LayoutParams) textView.getLayoutParams();
params.gravity = Gravity.CENTER;
textView.setLayoutParams(params);

Be aware that layout_gravity or setLayoutGravity sets your current elements gravity in its parent, gravity or setGravity sets gravity for your current elements content within the element. Refer the illustration below for more details.

Example 1:

<FrameLayout
    android:layout_width="400dp"
    android:layout_height="400dp">

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="200dp"
        android:layout_height="200dp"
        android:text="Some Text" />

</FrameLayout>

---------------------------------------------
|Some Text                                  |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
---------------------------------------------

Example 2:

<FrameLayout
    android:layout_width="400dp"
    android:layout_height="400dp">

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="200dp"
        android:layout_height="200dp"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:text="Some Text" />

</FrameLayout>

---------------------------------------------
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|            Some Text                      |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
---------------------------------------------

Example 3:

<FrameLayout
    android:layout_width="400dp"
    android:layout_height="400dp">

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="200dp"
        android:layout_height="200dp"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:text="Some Text" />

</FrameLayout>

---------------------------------------------
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                 Some Text                 |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
---------------------------------------------

Example 4:

<FrameLayout
    android:layout_width="400dp"
    android:layout_height="400dp">

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:text="Some Text" />

</FrameLayout>

---------------------------------------------
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                 Some Text                 |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
---------------------------------------------

Example 5:

<FrameLayout
    android:layout_width="400dp"
    android:layout_height="400dp">

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:text="Some Text" />

</FrameLayout>

---------------------------------------------
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                 Some Text                 |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
|                                           |
---------------------------------------------

Thank you so much! Your answer combined with my answer gave me the solution! — avi12, Dec 20 '16 at 22:02

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 17 '16 at 13:39

2

To set layout_gravity programmatically

LinearLayout.LayoutParams params = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
params.gravity = Gravity.CENTER;
youttextview.setLayoutParams(params);

Note: layout_gravity do not work with relative layout

answered Dec 17 '16 at 13:39

USKMobility

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The parent layout of the TextView is a relative layout. What should I do? – avi12 Dec 17 '16 at 14:08
See Redman answer for relative layout, if you want to add this programmatically then use addRule method like layoutParams.addRule(RelativeLayout.CENTER_HORIZONTAL); – USKMobility Dec 17 '16 at 14:09
My wrong. The parent of the TextView is a relative layout, nested in a frame layout. – avi12 Dec 17 '16 at 14:12

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 17 '16 at 13:51

0

In Linear Layout Use :

android:layout_gravity="value"

In Relative layout use properties :

android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true" 
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_alignParentTop="true"

as per your requirement

edited Dec 17 '16 at 13:51

Youcef LAIDANI

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answered Dec 17 '16 at 13:35

Manohar

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What about frame layout? – avi12 Dec 17 '16 at 14:31
you can use gravity for frame – Manohar Dec 18 '16 at 09:12

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 18 '16 at 22:24

The TextView was surrounded by a HorizontalScrollView which was surrounded by a ScrollView.
I discovered that nothing worked, until I set in the XML file:

<ScrollView
    android:id="@+id/scrollView"
    android:layout_width="match_parent" <!-- The value was "wrap_content" before, hence couldn't work -->
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
    android:layout_alignParentStart="true"
    android:layout_below="@+id/submit"
    android:visibility="visible">
    <!-- Some more code -->

Later on, I simply used:

textview.setGravity(Gravity.LEFT);
textview.setTextDirection(View.TEXT_DIRECTION_LTR);

And it solved my problem.

Thanks a lot to everybody!

Android layout_gravity for TextView in Java

4 Answers4