Android – Disable auto change layout direction while using android:supportsRTL=”true”

androidandroid-layoutmultiple-languagesrtl-language

My application must support both RTL and LTR languages in the future but for now just RTLs. When I use android:supportsRTL="true" with android:layoutDirection="end" in each layout, NavigationView and Toolbar and everything else are fine.

But the only problem is when user change system language to a LTR language everything goes wrong because of layout direction changing.

WHAT I NEED: I have to set supportsRTL:"true". I need to change layout direction programmatically when user choose the "application" language at startup and not according to OS language.

QUESTION: Is there any way to prevent auto changing of layout direction by changing the OS language (not by setting supportsRTL false)?

See image below:

supportsRTL="true", RTL vs LTR

If I set android:supportRTL="false" and just design layouts for RTL, Toolbar and Navigation's menu direction will be my new troubles.

See image below:

supportsRTL="false"

Best Answer

Solved. It was just a tiny horrible mistake.

But for anyone who has some problem like that I had this going to work very vell on android version 17 or above, for pre 17 I think the only way is to use separate layouts for RTL and LTR.

If you have to use android:supportsRTL="true" in your manifest then:
1. If you want to support just RTL language, to prevent from changing the direction according to OS language: Simply just add android:layoutDirection="rtl" to parent of all your layouts (Also you can use theme in styles.xml like this). Or make an sub activity and extends all your activity from it, then put this code in it's onCreate:

    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR1) {
        Configuration configuration = getResources().getConfiguration();
            configuration.setLayoutDirection(new Locale("fa"));
        getResources().updateConfiguration(configuration, getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
    }

But in my mind it's better to set the direction to rtl in each layout because you can see how it's going to look without you run the app.

2. If you want to support both RTL and LTR languages, of course don't use android:layoutDirection="rtl/ltr" in your layouts Because it's direction won't change any way even by code. Because it's going to fix it in the direction rtl or ltr. so you should use the second one. make an sub activity and extends all your activity from it, then put this code in it (It's just for example):

    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR1) {
        Configuration configuration = getResources().getConfiguration();
        if (isSlectedLanguageRTL) {
            configuration.setLayoutDirection(new Locale("fa"));
        } else {
            configuration.setLayoutDirection(Locale.ENGLISH);
        }
        getResources().updateConfiguration(configuration, getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
    }

And at the end, sorry for my English :)

Related Solutions

Android – Disable ActionBar RTL Direction

i had the same problem , only that i have a slidingMenu (AKA navigation drawer), so it got even weirder (meaning you click on the top right "up" button and show the drawer on the left...).

there are 2 possible solutions:

by code , in each activity:

if (VERSION.SDK_INT >= VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR1)
    getWindow().getDecorView().setLayoutDirection(View.LAYOUT_DIRECTION_LTR);

by theme. edit your own customized theme, and add the correct line. example:

<style name="AppTheme" parent="@style/Theme.Sherlock.Light">
  <item name="actionBarStyle">@style/CustomActionBarStyle</item>
  <item name="android:actionBarStyle" tools:targetApi="honeycomb">@style/CustomActionBarStyle</item>
</style>

<style name="CustomActionBarStyle" parent="@style/Widget.Sherlock.Light.ActionBar">
  <item name="android:layoutDirection" tools:targetApi="jelly_bean_mr1">ltr</item>
</style>

Android – How to get text direction in Android and change layout dynamically according to the direction

Solution, was easier that I was thinking :) Thanks to JAVA

There is Bidi class. This class has getBaseLevel() method which returns 0 if your text is left-to-right otherwise 1 (if right-to-left).

So, this is my code:

@Override
    public View getView(final int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
        ViewHolder holder;

        Bidi bidi = new Bidi(userList.get(position).getName(), Bidi.DIRECTION_DEFAULT_LEFT_TO_RIGHT);
        if(bidi.getBaseLevel() == 0)
            convertView = myInflater.inflate(R.layout.list_add_friends_row, null);
        else
            convertView = myInflater.inflate(R.layout.list_add_friends_row_mirror, null);

...

and result is:

enter image description here

=============

Update:

There is another method, baseIsLeftToRight() that might be better to be used in if statement. Result was same as above.

Bidi bidi = new Bidi(userList.get(position).getName(), Bidi.DIRECTION_DEFAULT_LEFT_TO_RIGHT);
if(bidi.baseIsLeftToRight())
                convertView = myInflater.inflate(R.layout.list_add_friends_row, null);
            else
                convertView = myInflater.inflate(R.layout.list_add_friends_row_mirror, null);

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Android – Disable ActionBar RTL Direction

Android – How to get text direction in Android and change layout dynamically according to the direction

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