Android Programming In Kotlin: Bias & Chains
Written by Mike James   
Monday, 08 October 2018
Article Index
Android Programming In Kotlin: Bias & Chains
Chains
Packing

Android Studio is now very clear about what layout component you should use - only the ConstraintLayout. But what does it give you that wasn't in the other layouts? This extract about bias constraints and chains is taken from the chapter The ConstraintLayout in a new book aimed at Android programmers wanting to use Kotlin.

Android Programming In Kotlin
Starting with an App

Covers Android Studio 3 and Constraint Layout.

Is now available as a print book:

coverKotlinsmall

Buy from: Amazon

Contents

  1. Getting Started With Android Studio 3
  2. The Activity And The UI
        Extract: Activity & UI  
  3. Building The UI and a Calculator App
        Extract: A First App
  4. Android Events
  5. Basic Controls
        Extract Basic Controls
        Extract More Controls ***NEW!
  6. Layout Containers
        Extract Layouts - LinearLayout
  7. The ConstraintLayout 
        Extract Bias & Chains
  8. Programming The UI
        Extract Programming the UI
        Extract Layouts and Autonaming Components
  9. Menus & The Action Bar
  10. Menus, Context & Popup
  11. Resources
        Extract Conditional Resources
  12. Beginning Bitmap Graphics
        Extract Animation
  13. Staying Alive! Lifecycle & State
        Extract  State Managment
  14. Spinners
  15. Pickers
  16. ListView And Adapters
  17. Android The Kotlin Way

If you are interested in creating custom template also see:

Custom Projects In Android Studio

Androidgears

 

Bias Constraints

So far the ConstraintLayout hasn't really provided anything new, but it does have a more sophisticated constraint that doesn’t have a counterpart in the RelativeLayout. Referred to as “bias” this type of constraint works in terms of ratios, expressed as percentages and displayed as zig-zag lines:

bias

To use it you have to create two constraints that “fight” each other. For example, if you drag one constraint to the left and its counterpart to the right, the result is a horizontal bias used to position the control at the desired proportion of the layout size. You can achieve a vertical bias by dragging constraints from the top and the bottom. 

As you drag the control around the screen, the fractions or percentages are updated in the Attributes window. You can use the sliders that appear to set the percentages:

bias2

Things are just a little more complicated in that you can also specify a margin which provides a relative component to the bias constraint. If you inspect the display in the Attributes windows shown above, you can see that the constraints have a value of 8 displayed alongside them. This is the default margin assigned when you created the constraint. As you drag the component around the screen you cannot position it closer to the sides than the margin set in that direction.

For example, if you edit the left margin to be 100, then the constraint display acquires a straight portion 100 units long. If you now try to move the button to the left, you will find you cannot get closer than 100 units. Notice that it is the distance between the specified margins that is divided up in the ratio set by the bias. If you want the entire screen to be used, then set the margins to zero:

bias3

 

<ASIN:1871962544>

<ASIN:1871962552>



Last Updated ( Saturday, 13 October 2018 )