In-depth explanation of the five major Android layouts: TableLayout

1 year ago
Olivia Parker
2 minutes

TableLayout is a type of layout in Android that is similar to the table layout in HTML, and it can be used to display data in multiple rows and columns.

Characteristics of TableLayout:

  1. The grid layout arranges subviews in a row and column manner, similar to cells in a table.
  2. Each cell in the table layout can contain one or more subviews.
  3. In a table layout, rows can be represented by TableRow, with each TableRow representing a row of cells.
  4. The spacing and borders between cells can be controlled in table layouts by setting properties.

Below is a detailed explanation of the five layout options in TableLayout:

  1. Each row in a TableLayout is represented by a TableRow, allowing for the creation of multiple rows by nesting TableRows within the TableLayout. Each TableRow can contain multiple child views which will be placed in the cells of the TableRow.
  2. Column Width:
    The width of each column in TableLayout can be controlled by setting the android:layout_columnWeight attribute, which determines the proportion of the width of that column relative to the other columns.
  3. Cell spacing:
    You can control the spacing between cells by setting the android:stretchColumns attribute of TableLayout. This attribute takes a comma-separated list of column indexes indicating which columns should be stretched to fill the horizontal space.
  4. Cell borders:
    You can control the display of border lines between cells by setting the android:divider property of the TableRow. The value of this property can be a color value or a Drawable resource.
  5. Merge across rows:
    TableLayout supports merging across rows, which can be achieved by setting the android:layout_span attribute of the TableRow. The value of this attribute represents the number of rows to merge, for example android:layout_span=”2″ indicates merging two rows.

Summary:
TableLayout is a layout method in Android used to display data in multiple rows and columns. It uses TableRow to represent each row, allowing control over the table’s style by setting properties like column width, cell spacing, and borders. Additionally, TableLayout supports row spanning, enabling it to meet complex layout requirements.

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