Android: why is there no maxHeight for a View?

Solution 1:

None of these solutions worked for what I needed which was a ScrollView set to wrap_content but having a maxHeight so it would stop expanding after a certain point and start scrolling. I just simply overrode the onMeasure method in ScrollView.

@Override
protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
    heightMeasureSpec = MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(300, MeasureSpec.AT_MOST);
    super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
}

This might not work in all situations, but it certainly gives me the results needed for my layout. And it also addresses the comment by madhu.

If some layout present below the scrollview then this trick wont work – madhu Mar 5 at 4:36

Solution 2:

In order to create a ScrollView or ListView with a maxHeight you just need to create a Transparent LinearLayout around it with a height of what you want the maxHeight to be. You then set the ScrollView's Height to wrap_content. This creates a ScrollView that appears to grow until its height is equal to the parent LinearLayout.

Solution 3:

This worked for me to make it customizable in xml:

MaxHeightScrollView.java:

public class MaxHeightScrollView extends ScrollView {

private int maxHeight;
private final int defaultHeight = 200;

public MaxHeightScrollView(Context context) {
    super(context);
}

public MaxHeightScrollView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    super(context, attrs);
    if (!isInEditMode()) {
        init(context, attrs);
    }
}

public MaxHeightScrollView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr) {
    super(context, attrs, defStyleAttr);
    if (!isInEditMode()) {
        init(context, attrs);
    }
}

@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP)
public MaxHeightScrollView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr, int defStyleRes) {
    super(context, attrs, defStyleAttr, defStyleRes);
    if (!isInEditMode()) {
        init(context, attrs);
    }
}

private void init(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    if (attrs != null) {
        TypedArray styledAttrs = context.obtainStyledAttributes(attrs, R.styleable.MaxHeightScrollView);
        //200 is a defualt value
        maxHeight = styledAttrs.getDimensionPixelSize(R.styleable.MaxHeightScrollView_maxHeight, defaultHeight);

        styledAttrs.recycle();
    }
}

@Override
protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
    heightMeasureSpec = MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(maxHeight, MeasureSpec.AT_MOST);
    super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
}
}

attr.xml

<declare-styleable name="MaxHeightScrollView">
        <attr name="maxHeight" format="dimension" />
    </declare-styleable>

example layout

<blah.blah.MaxHeightScrollView android:layout_weight="1"
                app:maxHeight="90dp"
                android:layout_width="fill_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content">
                <EditText android:id="@+id/commentField"
                    android:hint="Say Something"
                    android:background="#FFFFFF"
                    android:paddingLeft="8dp"
                    android:paddingRight="8dp"
                    android:gravity="center_vertical"
                    android:maxLines="500"
                    android:minHeight="36dp"
                    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
                    android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
            </blah.blah.MaxHeightScrollView>