There's nothing in the xml that will let you link the width and height properties. Probably the easiest thing to do is to subclass LinearLayout and override onMeasure
@Override public void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
int width = MeasureSpec.getSize(widthMeasureSpec);
int height = MeasureSpec.getSize(heightMeasureSpec);
int size = width > height ? height : width;
setMeasuredDimension(size, size);
}
I've used this to create views that are always square before. It should still work for a LinearLayout.
Here's a solution that works for all layout parameters that can be set to view or viewgroup:
int width = MeasureSpec.getSize(widthMeasureSpec);
int height = MeasureSpec.getSize(heightMeasureSpec);
int widthDesc = MeasureSpec.getMode(widthMeasureSpec);
int heightDesc = MeasureSpec.getMode(heightMeasureSpec);
int size = 0;
if (widthDesc == MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED
&& heightDesc == MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED) {
size = DP(defaultSize); // Use your own default size, in our case
// it's 125dp
} else if ((widthDesc == MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED || heightDesc == MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED)
&& !(widthDesc == MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED && heightDesc == MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED)) {
//Only one of the dimensions has been specified so we choose the dimension that has a value (in the case of unspecified, the value assigned is 0)
size = width > height ? width : height;
} else {
//In all other cases both dimensions have been specified so we choose the smaller of the two
size = width > height ? height : width;
}
setMeasuredDimension(size, size);
@Override
protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
int widthMode = MeasureSpec.getMode(widthMeasureSpec);
int widthSize = MeasureSpec.getSize(widthMeasureSpec);
int heightMode = MeasureSpec.getMode(heightMeasureSpec);
int heightSize = MeasureSpec.getSize(heightMeasureSpec);
int size;
if(widthMode == MeasureSpec.EXACTLY && widthSize > 0){
size = widthSize;
}
else if(heightMode == MeasureSpec.EXACTLY && heightSize > 0){
size = heightSize;
}
else{
size = widthSize < heightSize ? widthSize : heightSize;
}
int finalMeasureSpec = MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(size, MeasureSpec.EXACTLY);
super.onMeasure(finalMeasureSpec, finalMeasureSpec);
}
With this implementation, your layout will be square, assuming the lower size between width and height. And it can even be set with dynamic values, like using weight inside a LinearLayout.
We can do it with a very simple way - just call super.onMeasure() twice.
protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
int width = getMeasuredWidth();
int height = getMeasuredHeight();
int squareLen = Math.min(width, height);
super.onMeasure(
MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(squareLen, MeasureSpec.EXACTLY),
MeasureSpec.makeMeasureSpec(squareLen, MeasureSpec.EXACTLY));
}
By calling super.onMeasure() twice, this is less efficient in terms of the drawing process, but it is a simple way to fix layout issues that the other answers can cause.
My suggestion is to create a custom layout class that inherits from FrameLayout. Override the OnMeasure() method and put whatever control you want to be square inside that SquareFrameLayout.
This is how it's done in Xamarin.Android:
public class SquareFrameLayout : FrameLayout
{
private const string _tag = "SquareFrameLayout";
public SquareFrameLayout(Android.Content.Context context):base(context) {}
public SquareFrameLayout(IntPtr javaReference, Android.Runtime.JniHandleOwnership transfer):base(javaReference, transfer) {}
public SquareFrameLayout(Android.Content.Context context, IAttributeSet attrs):base(context, attrs) {}
public SquareFrameLayout(Android.Content.Context context, IAttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr):base(context, attrs, defStyleAttr) {}
public SquareFrameLayout(Android.Content.Context context, IAttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr, int defStyleRes):base(context, attrs, defStyleAttr, defStyleRes) {}
protected override void OnMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec)
{
var widthMode = MeasureSpec.GetMode(widthMeasureSpec);
int widthSize = MeasureSpec.GetSize(widthMeasureSpec);
var heightMode = MeasureSpec.GetMode(heightMeasureSpec);
int heightSize = MeasureSpec.GetSize(heightMeasureSpec);
int width, height;
switch (widthMode)
{
case MeasureSpecMode.Exactly:
width = widthSize;
break;
case MeasureSpecMode.AtMost:
width = Math.Min(widthSize, heightSize);
break;
default:
width = 100;
break;
}
switch (heightMode)
{
case MeasureSpecMode.Exactly:
height = heightSize;
break;
case MeasureSpecMode.AtMost:
height = Math.Min(widthSize, heightSize);
break;
default:
height = 100;
break;
}
Log.Debug(_tag, $"OnMeasure({widthMeasureSpec}, {heightMeasureSpec}) => Width mode: {widthMode}, Width: {widthSize}/{width}, Height mode: {heightMode}, Height: {heightSize}/{height}");
var size = Math.Min(width, height);
var newMeasureSpec = MeasureSpec.MakeMeasureSpec(size, MeasureSpecMode.Exactly);
base.OnMeasure(newMeasureSpec, newMeasureSpec);
}
}
If you want a View (or any other control) to be square (and centered) just add it to your layout the following way:
Check out SquareLayout, an Android Library which provides a wrapper class for different Layouts, rendering them Squared dimensioned without losing any core functionalities.
The dimensions are calculated just before the Layout is rendered, hence there is no re-rendering or anything as such to adjust once the View is obtained.
To use the Library, add this to your build.gradle: