Introduction

In this article, I explain the Linear Layout in Android. In Linear Layout we can use two types of views, one is horizontal and the other is vertical. When we want a linear design or simple design, we use this type of Linear Layout otherwise a Relative Layout is usually used in Android view displays.
Here I will show you how to use a Linear Layout in Android. In this article I will take a Linear Layout and one inner Linear Layout as shown in the output below, the main layout will be a vertical layer and the inner one will be a horizontal layer.
Step 1
First of all, create a new Android application project as shown below.
LinearLayout.jpg
Step 2
Now open the XML file as "res/layout/activity_main.xml" and update it with the following code. This XML code is only for the Linear Layout and the view inside it.
  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  2. <!-- Parent linear layout with vertical orientation -->
  3. <LinearLayout
  4. xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  5. android:orientation="vertical"
  6. android:layout_width="match_parent"
  7. android:layout_height="match_parent">
  8. <TextView
  9. android:id="@+id/textview1"
  10. android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content"
  11. android:text="Email:" android:padding="5dip"/>
  12. <EditText
  13. android:id="@+id/edittext1"
  14. android:layout_width="fill_parent"
  15. android:layout_height="wrap_content"
  16. android:layout_marginBottom="10dip"
  17. android:text="@string/email" />
  18. <EditText
  19. android:id="@+id/edittex2"
  20. android:layout_width="fill_parent"
  21. android:layout_height="wrap_content"
  22. android:layout_marginBottom="10dip" />
  23. <Button
  24. android:id="@+id/enter_btn"
  25. android:layout_width="fill_parent"
  26. android:layout_height="wrap_content"
  27. android:text="Enter" />
  28. <!-- Child linear layout with horizontal orientation -->
  29. <LinearLayout android:layout_width="fill_parent"
  30. android:layout_height="wrap_content"
  31. android:orientation="horizontal" android:background="#2a2a2a"
  32. android:layout_marginTop="25dip">
  33. <TextView
  34. android:id="@+id/home_btn"
  35. android:layout_width="fill_parent"
  36. android:layout_height="wrap_content"
  37. android:layout_weight="1"
  38. android:gravity="center"
  39. android:padding="15dip"
  40. android:text="Home"
  41. android:textColor="#ffffff" />
  42. <TextView
  43. android:id="@+id/reset_btn"
  44. android:layout_width="fill_parent"
  45. android:layout_height="wrap_content"
  46. android:layout_weight="1"
  47. android:gravity="center"
  48. android:padding="15dip"
  49. android:text="Reset"
  50. android:textColor="#ffffff" />
  51. </LinearLayout>
  52. <TextView
  53. android:id="@+id/result_txtview"
  54. android:layout_width="fill_parent"
  55. android:layout_height="match_parent"
  56. android:text=" " />
  57. </LinearLayout>
Step 3
Now Open the "MainAcivity.java" file and update it with your logic.
  1. package com.example.linearlayout;
  2. import android.R.string;
  3. import android.app.Activity;
  4. import android.app.backup.RestoreObserver;
  5. import android.os.Bundle;
  6. import android.view.Menu;
  7. import android.view.View;
  8. import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
  9. import android.widget.Button;
  10. import android.widget.TextView;
  11. public class MainActivity extends Activity {
  12. Button home_btn,entr_btn,rst_btn;
  13. TextView tv1,tv2,rslt_tv;
  14. String tv,s1,s2;
  15. @Override
  16. protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
  17. super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
  18. setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
  19. tv1=(TextView) findViewById(R.id.edittext1);
  20. tv2=(TextView) findViewById(R.id.edittex2);
  21. entr_btn=(Button) findViewById(R.id.enter_btn);
  22. home_btn=(Button) findViewById(R.id.home_btn);
  23. rst_btn=(Button) findViewById(R.id.reset_btn);
  24. rslt_tv=(TextView) findViewById(R.id.result_txtview);
  25. entr_btn.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
  26. @Override
  27. public void onClick(View v) {
  28. // TODO Auto-generated method stub
  29. s1= tv1.getText().toString();
  30. s2=tv2.getText().toString();
  31. rslt_tv.setText(s1+s2);
  32. }
  33. });
  34. }
  35. @Override
  36. public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
  37. // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
  38. getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_main, menu);
  39. return true;
  40. }
  42. }
Step 4
Open the "strings.xml" file and update it as given below.
  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  2. <resources>
  3. <string name="app_name">LinearLayout</string>
  4. <string name="hello_world">Hello world!</string>
  5. <string name="menu_settings">Settings</string>
  6. <string name="email"></string>
  7. <string name="button"></string>
  9. </resources>
Step 5
Output
In the output you will see in the Outer Linear Layout I defined a vertical text view, two edit texts, one button and one inner Linear Layout with two horizontal buttons inside it.
LinearLayout_output.jpg