Set the absolute position of a view

Android Android Layout Layout View Position

Android Problem Overview

Is it possible to set the absolute position of a view in Android? (I know that there is an AbsoluteLayout, but it's deprecated...)

For example, if I have a 240x320px screen, how could I add an ImageView which is 20x20px such that its center is at the position (100,100)?

Android Solutions

Solution 1 - Android

You can use RelativeLayout. Let's say you wanted a 30x40 ImageView at position (50,60) inside your layout. Somewhere in your activity:

// Some existing RelativeLayout from your layout xml
RelativeLayout rl = (RelativeLayout) findViewById(R.id.my_relative_layout);

ImageView iv = new ImageView(this);

RelativeLayout.LayoutParams params = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(30, 40);
params.leftMargin = 50;
params.topMargin = 60;
rl.addView(iv, params);

More examples:

Places two 30x40 ImageViews (one yellow, one red) at (50,60) and (80,90), respectively:

RelativeLayout rl = (RelativeLayout) findViewById(R.id.my_relative_layout);
ImageView iv;
RelativeLayout.LayoutParams params;

iv = new ImageView(this);
iv.setBackgroundColor(Color.YELLOW);
params = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(30, 40);
params.leftMargin = 50;
params.topMargin = 60;
rl.addView(iv, params);

iv = new ImageView(this);
iv.setBackgroundColor(Color.RED);
params = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(30, 40);
params.leftMargin = 80;
params.topMargin = 90;
rl.addView(iv, params);

Places one 30x40 yellow ImageView at (50,60) and another 30x40 red ImageView <80,90> relative to the yellow ImageView:

RelativeLayout rl = (RelativeLayout) findViewById(R.id.my_relative_layout);
ImageView iv;
RelativeLayout.LayoutParams params;

int yellow_iv_id = 123; // Some arbitrary ID value.

iv = new ImageView(this);
iv.setId(yellow_iv_id);
iv.setBackgroundColor(Color.YELLOW);
params = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(30, 40);
params.leftMargin = 50;
params.topMargin = 60;
rl.addView(iv, params);

iv = new ImageView(this);
iv.setBackgroundColor(Color.RED);
params = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(30, 40);
params.leftMargin = 80;
params.topMargin = 90;

// This line defines how params.leftMargin and params.topMargin are interpreted.
// In this case, "<80,90>" means <80,90> to the right of the yellow ImageView.
params.addRule(RelativeLayout.RIGHT_OF, yellow_iv_id);

rl.addView(iv, params);

Solution 2 - Android

In general, you can add a View in a specific position using a FrameLayout as container by specifying the leftMargin and topMargin attributes.

The following example will place a 20x20px ImageView at position (100,200) using a FrameLayout as fullscreen container:

XML

<FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/root"
    android:background="#33AAFF"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent" >
</FrameLayout>

Activity / Fragment / Custom view

//...
FrameLayout root = (FrameLayout)findViewById(R.id.root);
ImageView img = new ImageView(this);
img.setBackgroundColor(Color.RED);
//..load something inside the ImageView, we just set the background color

FrameLayout.LayoutParams params = new FrameLayout.LayoutParams(20, 20);
params.leftMargin = 100;
params.topMargin  = 200;
root.addView(img, params);
//...

This will do the trick because margins can be used as absolute (X,Y) coordinates without a RelativeLayout:

enter image description here

Solution 3 - Android

Just to add to Andy Zhang's answer above, if you want to, you can give param to rl.addView, then make changes to it later, so:

params = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(30, 40);
params.leftMargin = 50;
params.topMargin = 60;
rl.addView(iv, params);

Could equally well be written as:

params = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(30, 40);
rl.addView(iv, params);
params.leftMargin = 50;
params.topMargin = 60;

So if you retain the params variable, you can change the layout of iv at any time after adding it to rl.

Solution 4 - Android

A more cleaner and dynamic way without hardcoding any pixel values in the code.

I wanted to position a dialog (which I inflate on the fly) exactly below a clicked button.

and solved it this way :

    // get the yoffset of the position where your View has to be placed 
    final int yoffset = < calculate the position of the view >
    
    // position using top margin
    if(myView.getLayoutParams() instanceof MarginLayoutParams) {
        ((MarginLayoutParams) myView.getLayoutParams()).topMargin = yOffset;
    }

However you have to make sure the parent layout of myView is an instance of RelativeLayout.

more complete code :

    // identify the button
    final Button clickedButton = <... code to find the button here ...>

    // inflate the dialog - the following style preserves xml layout params
    final View floatingDialog = 
        this.getLayoutInflater().inflate(R.layout.floating_dialog,
            this.floatingDialogContainer, false);
    
    this.floatingDialogContainer.addView(floatingDialog);

    // get the buttons position
    final int[] buttonPos = new int[2];
    clickedButton.getLocationOnScreen(buttonPos);        
    final int yOffset =  buttonPos[1] + clickedButton.getHeight();
    
    // position using top margin
    if(floatingDialog.getLayoutParams() instanceof MarginLayoutParams) {
        ((MarginLayoutParams) floatingDialog.getLayoutParams()).topMargin = yOffset;
    }

This way you can still expect the target view to adjust to any layout parameters set using layout XML files, instead of hardcoding those pixels/dps in your Java code.

Solution 5 - Android

http://i.stack.imgur.com/xiNOY.png" width="200" alt="Check screenshot">

Place any view on your desire X & Y point

layout file

<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"
    tools:context="com.example.test.MainActivity" >

    <AbsoluteLayout
        android:id="@+id/absolute"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" >

        <RelativeLayout
            android:id="@+id/rlParent"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent" >

            <ImageView
                android:id="@+id/img"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:background="@drawable/btn_blue_matte" />
        </RelativeLayout>
    </AbsoluteLayout>

</RelativeLayout>

Java Class

public class MainActivity extends Activity {

	private RelativeLayout rlParent;
	private int width = 100, height = 150, x = 20, y= 50; 
	
	@Override
	protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
		setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
	
		AbsoluteLayout.LayoutParams param = new AbsoluteLayout.LayoutParams(width, height, x, y);
		rlParent = (RelativeLayout)findViewById(R.id.rlParent);
		rlParent.setLayoutParams(param);
	}
}

Done

Solution 6 - Android

Just in case it may help somebody, you may also try this animator ViewPropertyAnimator as below

myView.animate().x(50f).y(100f);

myView.animate().translateX(pixelInScreen)

> Note: This pixel is not relative to the view. This pixel is the pixel > position in the screen.

credits to bpr10 answer

Solution 7 - Android

Try below code to set view on specific location :-

            TextView textView = new TextView(getActivity());
			textView.setId(R.id.overflowCount);
			textView.setText(count + "");
			textView.setGravity(Gravity.CENTER);
			textView.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_SP, 12);
			textView.setTextColor(getActivity().getResources().getColor(R.color.white));
			textView.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
				@Override
				public void onClick(View v) {
					// to handle click 
				}
			});
			// set background 
            textView.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.overflow_menu_badge_bg);

			// set apear
               
            textView.animate()
					.scaleXBy(.15f)
					.scaleYBy(.15f)
					.setDuration(700)
					.alpha(1)
					.setInterpolator(new BounceInterpolator()).start();
			FrameLayout.LayoutParams layoutParams = new FrameLayout.LayoutParams(
					FrameLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
					FrameLayout.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
			layoutParams.topMargin = 100; // margin in pixels, not dps
			layoutParams.leftMargin = 100; // margin in pixels, not dps
			textView.setLayoutParams(layoutParams);

            // add into my parent view
			mainFrameLaout.addView(textView);

Solution 8 - Android

My code for Xamarin, I am using FrameLayout for this purpose and following is my code:

               List<object> content = new List<object>();

        object aWebView = new {ContentType="web",Width="300", Height = "300",X="10",Y="30",ContentUrl="http://www.google.com" };
        content.Add(aWebView);
        object aWebView2 = new { ContentType = "image", Width = "300", Height = "300", X = "20", Y = "40", ContentUrl = "https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/image_card_4x3_ratio/public/thumbnails/image/leisa_christmas_false_color.png?itok=Jxf0IlS4" };
        content.Add(aWebView2);
        FrameLayout myLayout = (FrameLayout)FindViewById(Resource.Id.frameLayout1);
        foreach (object item in content)
        {

            string contentType = item.GetType().GetProperty("ContentType").GetValue(item, null).ToString();
            FrameLayout.LayoutParams param = new FrameLayout.LayoutParams(Convert.ToInt32(item.GetType().GetProperty("Width").GetValue(item, null).ToString()), Convert.ToInt32(item.GetType().GetProperty("Height").GetValue(item, null).ToString()));
            param.LeftMargin = Convert.ToInt32(item.GetType().GetProperty("X").GetValue(item, null).ToString());
            param.TopMargin = Convert.ToInt32(item.GetType().GetProperty("Y").GetValue(item, null).ToString());

            switch (contentType) {
                case "web":{
                        WebView webview = new WebView(this);

                        //webview.hei;
                        myLayout.AddView(webview, param);
                        webview.SetWebViewClient(new WebViewClient());
                        webview.LoadUrl(item.GetType().GetProperty("ContentUrl").GetValue(item, null).ToString());

                        break;
                    }
                case "image":
                    {
                        ImageView imageview = new ImageView(this);

                        //webview.hei;
                        myLayout.AddView(imageview, param);
                        var imageBitmap =  GetImageBitmapFromUrl("https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/image_card_4x3_ratio/public/thumbnails/image/leisa_christmas_false_color.png?itok=Jxf0IlS4");
                        imageview.SetImageBitmap(imageBitmap);
                        

                        break;
                    }

            }

        }

It was useful for me because I needed the property of view to overlap each other on basis of their appearance, e.g the views get stacked one above other.

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	Sephy	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Android	Andy Zhang	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Android	bonnyz	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Android	Excrubulent	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Android	Hari Krishna Ganji	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - Android	Hiren Patel	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - Android	praveenb	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 7 - Android	duggu	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 8 - Android	Technacron	View Answer on Stackoverflow