page.title=Hello, LinearLayout
parent.title=Hello, Views
parent.link=index.html
@jd:body

<p>A {@link android.widget.LinearLayout} is a GroupView that will lay child View elements
vertically or horizontally.</p>


<ol>
  <li>Start a new project/Activity called HelloLinearLayout.</li>
  <li>Open the layout file.
    Make it like so:
<pre>
&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
&lt;LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent">

    &lt;LinearLayout
	android:orientation="horizontal"
	android:layout_width="fill_parent"
	android:layout_height="fill_parent"
	android:layout_weight="1">
	
	&lt;TextView
	    android:text="red"
	    android:gravity="center_horizontal"
	    android:background="#aa0000"
	    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
	    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
	    android:layout_weight="1"/>
	
	&lt;TextView
	    android:text="green"
	    android:gravity="center_horizontal"
	    android:background="#00aa00"
	    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
	    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
	    android:layout_weight="1"/>
	
	&lt;TextView
	    android:text="blue"
	    android:gravity="center_horizontal"
	    android:background="#0000aa"
	    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
	    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
	    android:layout_weight="1"/>
	
	&lt;TextView
	    android:text="yellow"
	    android:gravity="center_horizontal"
	    android:background="#aaaa00"
	    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
	    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
	    android:layout_weight="1"/>
		
    &lt;/LinearLayout>
	
    &lt;LinearLayout
	android:orientation="vertical"
	android:layout_width="fill_parent"
	android:layout_height="fill_parent"
	android:layout_weight="1">
	
	&lt;TextView
	    android:text="row one"
	    android:textSize="15pt"
	    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
	    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
	    android:layout_weight="1"/>
	
	&lt;TextView
	    android:text="row two"
	    android:textSize="15pt"
	    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
	    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
	    android:layout_weight="1"/>
	
	&lt;TextView
	    android:text="row three"
	    android:textSize="15pt"
	    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
	    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
	    android:layout_weight="1"/>
	
	&lt;TextView
	    android:text="row four"
	    android:textSize="15pt"
	    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
	    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
	    android:layout_weight="1"/>
        
    &lt;/LinearLayout>
        
&lt;/LinearLayout>
</pre>
        <p>Carefully inspect the XML. You'll notice how this layout works a lot like
        an HTML layout. There is one parent LinearLayout that is defined to lay
        its child elements vertically. The first child is another LinearLayout that uses a horizontal layout
        and the second uses a vertical layout. Each LinearLayout contains several {@link android.widget.TextView}
        elements.</p>
</li>
<li>Now open the HelloLinearLayout Activity and be sure it loads this layout in the <code>onCreate()</code> method:</p>
<pre>
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);
}
</pre>
<p><code>R.layout.main</code> refers to the <code>main.xml</code> layout file.</p>
</li>
<li>Run it.</li>
</ol>
<p>You should see the following:</p>
<img src="images/hello-linearlayout.png" width="150px" />

<p>Notice how the various XML attributes define the View's behavior.
Pay attention to the effect of the <code>layout_weight</code>. Try 
	experimenting with different values to see how the screen real estate is 
	distributed based on the weight of each element.</p>

<h3>References</h3>
<ul>
	<li>{@link android.widget.LinearLayout}</li>
<li>{@link android.widget.TextView}</li>
</ul>