How to make a wrap_content text view wrap its content only enough to still make other views visible in LinearLayout android?

Question

I have a horizontal LinearLayout with 3 text views with width set to wrap_content. I want them all to be wrap content, but there is a potential that one of them becomes too long. This results in the other two text views become out of bound. How can I make the long text view wrap content only to an extend where all children of LinearLayout are still there (within the boundary of the width of the parent LinearLayout (set to match_parent))?

Code sample:

<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_margin="32dp"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
    app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
    app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
    app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent">
    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="This is a very very very very very very very very very long text"
        android:ellipsize="end"
        android:maxLines="1"/>

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="This is another text"
        android:maxLines="1"/>
    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="One final text"
        android:ellipsize="end"
        android:maxLines="1"/>
</LinearLayout>

This is what I get: undesired

This is more of what I want: desired

NOTE: android:layout_weight didn't work for me because I still want the text view to wrap content for smaller texts.

would you like to share a minimal working example here please — , Jul 29 '21 at 13:44

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 29 '21 at 14:09

1

Set width of the parent (LinearLayout) to wrap_content. However this will cause the second text view to come on top of the first textview if text of first textview exceeds the start of the second text view.

Best option i see is specify layout_width for all the text views and then set the max length of text for each textview.

answered Jul 29 '21 at 14:09

creg

13
4

the problem is that the max width varies according to the visibility of the second and third text views. – lama Jul 29 '21 at 14:15
set width to "wrap_content" but do an if condition in the activity class to change layout_width to a specific size if text length exceeds a specific number. – creg Jul 29 '21 at 14:24
I have updated the answer, just change the layout weights and to make this possible adjust the widths to 0dp – Jul 29 '21 at 14:27

javdromero · Answer 2 · 2021-07-29T14:24:34.323

You can set a android:maxWidth and android:layout_width="wrap_content" per TextView

<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_margin="32dp"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
    app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
    app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
    app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent">
    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:maxWidth="150dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="This is a very very very very very very very very very long text"
        android:ellipsize="end"
        android:maxLines="1"/>

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:maxWidth="150dp"
        android:text="This is another text"
        android:maxLines="1"/>
    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:maxWidth="150dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="One final text"
        android:ellipsize="end"
        android:maxLines="1"/>
</LinearLayout>

this doesn't allow me wrap content in the case of smaller texts (check your middle TextView for example) — lama, Jul 29 '21 at 14:16

score 0 · Answer 3 · 2021-07-29T14:24:36.933

In your LinearLayout change the layout weights:

     <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_margin="32dp"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent">
        <TextView
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:background="@color/teal_200"
            android:text="This is a very very very very very very very very very long text"
            android:ellipsize="end"
            android:maxLines="1"/>

        <TextView
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:background="@color/teal_700"
            android:text="This is another text"
            android:maxLines="1"/>
        <TextView
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:background="@color/purple_500"
            android:text="One final text"
            android:ellipsize="end"
            android:maxLines="1"/>
    </LinearLayout>

I have updated the answer, just change the layout weights and to make this possible adjust the widths to 0dp — , Jul 29 '21 at 14:31

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 29 '21 at 15:08

This seemed to work

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_margin="32dp"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent">
        <TextView
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:background="@color/teal_200"
            android:text="This is a very very very very very very very very very long text"
            android:ellipsize="end"
            android:maxLines="1"/>

        <TextView
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:background="@color/teal_700"
            android:text="This is another text This is a very very very very very very very very very long text"
            android:maxLines="1"/>
        <TextView
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:background="@color/purple_500"
            android:text="One final text This is a very very very very very very very very very long text"
            android:ellipsize="end"
            android:maxLines="1"/>
    </LinearLayout>


</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

That will work but it will always fill the screen instead of aligning content to left — htafoya, Aug 30 '23 at 15:28

How to make a wrap_content text view wrap its content only enough to still make other views visible in LinearLayout android?

4 Answers4