Percentage width in a RelativeLayout

I am working on a form layout for a Login Activity in my Android App. The image below is how I want it to look like:

enter image description here

I was able to achieve this layout with the following XML. The problem is, it's a bit hackish. I had to hard-code a width for the host EditText. Specifically, I had to specify:

android:layout_width="172dp"

I'd really like to give a percentage width to the host and port EditText's . (Something like 80% for the host, 20% for the port.) Is this possible? The following XML works on my Droid, but it doesn't seem to work for all screens. I would really like a more robust solution.

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/main"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent" >

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/host_label"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@+id/home"
        android:paddingLeft="15dp"
        android:paddingTop="0dp"
        android:text="host"
        android:textColor="#a5d4e2"
        android:textSize="25sp"
        android:textStyle="normal" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/port_label"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@+id/home"
        android:layout_toRightOf="@+id/host_input"
        android:paddingTop="0dp"
        android:text="port"
        android:textColor="#a5d4e2"
        android:textSize="25sp"
        android:textStyle="normal" />

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/host_input"
        android:layout_width="172dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/host_label"
        android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
        android:layout_marginRight="15dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="4dp"
        android:background="@android:drawable/editbox_background"
        android:inputType="textEmailAddress" />

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/port_input"
        android:layout_width="100dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/host_label"
        android:layout_marginTop="4dp"
        android:layout_toRightOf="@id/host_input"
        android:background="@android:drawable/editbox_background"
        android:inputType="number" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/username_label"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@+id/host_input"
        android:paddingLeft="15dp"
        android:paddingTop="15dp"
        android:text="username"
        android:textColor="#a5d4e2"
        android:textSize="25sp"
        android:textStyle="normal" />

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/username_input"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/username_label"
        android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
        android:layout_marginRight="15dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="4dp"
        android:background="@android:drawable/editbox_background"
        android:inputType="textEmailAddress" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/password_label"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@+id/username_input"
        android:paddingLeft="15dp"
        android:paddingTop="15dp"
        android:text="password"
        android:textColor="#a5d4e2"
        android:textSize="25sp"
        android:textStyle="normal" />

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/password_input"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/password_label"
        android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
        android:layout_marginRight="15dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="4dp"
        android:background="@android:drawable/editbox_background"
        android:inputType="textPassword" />

    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/home"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
        android:layout_centerVertical="false"
        android:paddingLeft="15dp"
        android:paddingRight="15dp"
        android:paddingTop="15dp"
        android:scaleType="fitStart"
        android:src="@drawable/home" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/login_button"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@+id/password_input"
        android:layout_marginLeft="15dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="15dp"
        android:text="   login   "
        android:textSize="18sp" >
    </Button>

</RelativeLayout>

Solution 1:

You are looking for the android:layout_weight attribute. It will allow you to use percentages to define your layout.

In the following example, the left button uses 70% of the space, and the right button 30%.

<LinearLayout
    android:layout_width="match_parent" 
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="horizontal">

    <Button
        android:text="left" 
        android:layout_width="0dp" 
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
        android:layout_weight=".70" /> 

    <Button
        android:text="right" 
        android:layout_width="0dp" 
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
        android:layout_weight=".30" />

</LinearLayout>

It works the same with any kind of View, you can replace the buttons with some EditText to fit your needs.

Be sure to set the layout_width to 0dp or your views may not be scaled properly.

Note that the weight sum doesn't have to equal 1, I just find it easier to read like this. You can set the first weight to 7 and the second to 3 and it will give the same result.

Solution 2:

This does not quite answer the original question, which was for a 70/30 split, but in the special case of a 50/50 split between the components there is a way: place an invisible strut at the center and use it to position the two components of interest.

<RelativeLayout 
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content">
    <View android:id="@+id/strut"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="0dp" 
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"/>
    <Button
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignRight="@id/strut"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:text="Left"/> 
    <Button 
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignLeft="@id/strut"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:text="Right"/>
</RelativeLayout>

As this is a pretty common case, this solution is more than a curiosity. It is a bit of a hack but an efficient one because the empty, zero-sized strut should cost very little.

In general, though, it's best not to expect too much from the stock Android layouts...

Solution 3:

Update 1

As pointed by @EmJiHash PercentRelativeLayout is deprecated in API level 26.0.0

Below quoting google comment:

This class was deprecated in API level 26.0.0. consider using ConstraintLayout and associated layouts instead. The following shows how to replicate the functionality of percentage layouts with a ConstraintLayout

Google introduced new API called android.support.percent

Then you can just specify percentage to take by view

Add compile dependency like

implementation 'com.android.support:percent:22.2.0

in that, PercentRelativeLayout is what we can do a percentage wise layout

 <android.support.percent.PercentRelativeLayout
     xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
     xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
     android:layout_width="match_parent"
     android:layout_height="match_parent">
     <ImageView
         app:layout_widthPercent="50%"
         app:layout_heightPercent="50%"
         app:layout_marginTopPercent="25%"
         app:layout_marginLeftPercent="25%"/>
 </android.support.percent.PercentRelativeLayout>

Solution 4:

You cannot use percentages to define the dimensions of a View inside a RelativeLayout. The best ways to do it is to use LinearLayout and weights, or a custom Layout.