android - GridLayoutManager - how to auto fit columns?

Question

I have a RecyclerView with a GridLayoutManager that displays Card Views. I want the cards to rearrange according to the screen size (the Google Play app does this kind of thing with its app cards). Here is an example:

Here is how my app looks at the moment:

As you can see the cards just stretch and don't fit the empty space that is made from the orientation change. So how can I do this?

Code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Json;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Android.Media;
using Android.App;
using Android.Support.V4.App;
using Android.Support.V4.Content.Res;
using Android.Support.V4.Widget;
using Android.Support.V7.Widget;
using Android.Content;
using Android.OS;
using Android.Runtime;
using Android.Util;
using Android.Views;
using Android.Widget;
using Android.Net;
using Android.Views.Animations;
using Android.Graphics;
using Android.Graphics.Drawables;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using *******.Adapters;
using *******.Models;

namespace *******.Fragments {
    public class Dashboard : GridLayoutBase {
        private ISharedPreferences pref;
        private SessionManager session;
        private string cookie;
        private DeviceModel deviceModel;
        private RecyclerView recyclerView;
        private RecyclerView.Adapter adapter;
//      private RecyclerView.LayoutManager layoutManager;
        private GridLayoutManager gridLayoutManager;
        private List<ItemData> itemData;
        private Bitmap lastPhotoBitmap;
        private Drawable lastPhotoDrawable;
        private static Activity activity;
        private ProgressDialog progressDialog;
        private TextView noData;
        private const string URL_DASHBOARD = "http://192.168.1.101/appapi/getdashboard";
        private const string URL_DATA = "http://192.168.1.101/appapi/getdata";

        public override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle) {
            base.OnCreate(bundle);

            activity = Activity;
            session = new SessionManager();
            pref = activity.GetSharedPreferences("UserSession", FileCreationMode.Private);
            cookie = pref.GetString("PHPSESSID", string.Empty);
        }

        public async override void OnStart() {
            base.OnStart();

            progressDialog = ProgressDialog.Show(activity, String.Empty, GetString(Resource.String.loading_text));
            progressDialog.Window.ClearFlags(WindowManagerFlags.DimBehind);

            await GetDevicesInfo();

            if (deviceModel.Error == "true" && deviceModel.ErrorType == "noSensors") {
                recyclerView.Visibility = ViewStates.Gone;
                noData.Visibility = ViewStates.Visible;

                progressDialog.Hide();

                return;
            } else {
                recyclerView.Visibility = ViewStates.Visible;
                noData.Visibility = ViewStates.Gone;

                await PopulateSensorStates();
            }

//          DisplayLastPhoto();

            adapter = new ViewAdapter(itemData);

            new System.Threading.Thread(new System.Threading.ThreadStart(() => {
                activity.RunOnUiThread(() => {
                    recyclerView.SetAdapter(adapter);
                });
            })).Start();

            progressDialog.Hide();
        }

        public async Task GetDevicesInfo() {
            var jsonFetcher = new JsonFetcher();
            JsonValue jsonDashboard = await jsonFetcher.FetchDataWithCookieAsync(URL_DASHBOARD, cookie);
            deviceModel = new DeviceModel();
            deviceModel = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<DeviceModel>(jsonDashboard);
        }

        // Shows sensor states
        public async Task PopulateSensorStates() {
            itemData = new List<ItemData>();
            string lastValue = String.Empty;

            foreach (var sensor in this.deviceModel.Sensors) {
                var sensorImage = ResourcesCompat.GetDrawable(Resources, Resource.Drawable.smoke_red, null);

                switch (sensor.Type) {
                case "2":
                    var jsonFetcher = new JsonFetcher();
                    JsonValue jsonData = await jsonFetcher.FetchSensorDataAsync(URL_DATA, sensor.Id, "DESC", "1", cookie);
                    var deviceModel = new DeviceModel();
                    deviceModel = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<DeviceModel>(jsonData);
                    lastValue = deviceModel.SensorData.Last().Value;
                    break;
                case "4":
                    await RenderLastCameraPhoto();
                    sensorImage = new BitmapDrawable(Resources, lastPhotoBitmap);
                    break;
                }

                itemData.Add(new ItemData() {
                    id = sensor.Id,
                    value = lastValue,
                    type = sensor.Type,
                    image = sensorImage,
                    title = sensor.Name.First().ToString().ToUpper() + sensor.Name.Substring(1).ToLower(),
                });
            }
        }

        // Shows the last camera photo
        public async Task RenderLastCameraPhoto() {
            if (deviceModel.Error == "true" && deviceModel.ErrorType == "noPhoto") {
                //TODO: Show a "No photo" picture
            } else {
                string url = deviceModel.LastPhotoLink;
                lastPhotoBitmap = await new ImageDownloader().GetImageBitmapFromUrlAsync(url, activity, 300, 300);
            }
        }

        public async void UpdateData(bool isSwipeRefresh) {
            await GetDevicesInfo();

            if (deviceModel.Error == "true" && deviceModel.ErrorType == "noSensors") {
                recyclerView.Visibility = ViewStates.Gone;
                noData.Visibility = ViewStates.Visible;

                return;
                } else {
                recyclerView.Visibility = ViewStates.Visible;
                noData.Visibility = ViewStates.Gone;

                await PopulateSensorStates();
            }

            adapter = new ViewAdapter(itemData);

            new System.Threading.Thread(new System.Threading.ThreadStart(() => {
                activity.RunOnUiThread(() => {
                    recyclerView.SetAdapter(adapter);
                });
            })).Start();

            adapter.NotifyDataSetChanged();
        }

        public override View OnCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            View view = inflater.Inflate(Resource.Layout.Dashboard, container, false);
            noData = view.FindViewById<TextView>(Resource.Id.no_data_title);

            SwipeRefreshLayout swipeRefreshLayout = view.FindViewById<SwipeRefreshLayout>(Resource.Id.swipe_container);
            //          swipeRefreshLayout.SetColorSchemeResources(Color.LightBlue, Color.LightGreen, Color.Orange, Color.Red);

            // On refresh button press/swipe, updates the recycler view with new data
            swipeRefreshLayout.Refresh += (sender, e) => {
                UpdateData(true);

                swipeRefreshLayout.Refreshing = false;
            };

            var gridLayoutManager = new GridLayoutManager(activity, 2);

            recyclerView = view.FindViewById<RecyclerView>(Resource.Id.dashboard_recycler_view);
            recyclerView.HasFixedSize = true;
            recyclerView.SetLayoutManager(gridLayoutManager);
            recyclerView.SetItemAnimator(new DefaultItemAnimator());
            recyclerView.AddItemDecoration(new SpaceItemDecoration(15));

            return view;
        }

        public class ViewAdapter : RecyclerView.Adapter {
            private List<ItemData> itemData;
            public string sensorId;
            public string sensorType;
            private ImageView imageId;
            private TextView sensorValue;
            private TextView sensorTitle;

            public ViewAdapter(List<ItemData> itemData) {
                this.itemData = itemData;
            }

            public class ItemView : RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
                public View mainView { get; set; }

                public string id { get; set; }

                public string type { get; set; }

                public ImageView image { get; set; }

                //              public TextView value { get; set; }

                public TextView title { get; set; }

                public ItemView(View view) : base(view) {
                    mainView = view;
                }
            }

            public override RecyclerView.ViewHolder OnCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
                View itemLayoutView = LayoutInflater.From(parent.Context).Inflate(Resource.Layout.DashboardItems, null);
                CardView cardView = itemLayoutView.FindViewById<CardView>(Resource.Id.dashboard_card_view);
                imageId = itemLayoutView.FindViewById<ImageView>(Resource.Id.sensor_image);
//              sensorValue = itemLayoutView.FindViewById<TextView>(Resource.Id.sensor_value);
                sensorTitle = itemLayoutView.FindViewById<TextView>(Resource.Id.sensor_title);

                var viewHolder = new ItemView(itemLayoutView) {
                    id = sensorId,
                    type = sensorType,
                    image = imageId,
//                  value = sensorValue,
                    title = sensorTitle
                };

                return viewHolder;
            }

            public override void OnBindViewHolder(RecyclerView.ViewHolder viewHolder, int position) {
                ItemView itemHolder = viewHolder as ItemView;

                itemHolder.image.SetImageDrawable(itemData[position].image);

                if (itemData[position].type == "2") { // Temperature
                    itemHolder.title.Text = itemData[position].title + ": " + itemData[position].value;
                } else {
                    itemHolder.title.Text = itemData[position].title;
                }

                var bundle = new Bundle();
                var dualColumnList = new DualColumnList();
                var gallery = new Gallery();

                EventHandler clickUpdateViewEvent = ((sender, e) => {
                    bundle.PutString("id", itemData[position].id);
                    gallery.Arguments = bundle;
                    dualColumnList.Arguments = bundle;

                    if (itemData[position].type == "4") { // Camera
                        ((FragmentActivity)activity).ShowFragment(gallery, itemData[position].title, itemData[position].type, true);
                    } else {
                        ((FragmentActivity)activity).ShowFragment(dualColumnList, itemData[position].title, itemData[position].type, true);
                    }
                });

                itemHolder.image.Click += clickUpdateViewEvent;
//              itemHolder.value.Click += clickUpdateViewEvent;
                itemHo

Answer 1

You can calculate available number of columns, given a desired column width, and load the image as calculated. Define a static funtion to calculate as:

public class Utility {
    public static int calculateNoOfColumns(Context context, float columnWidthDp) { // For example columnWidthdp=180
        DisplayMetrics displayMetrics = context.getResources().getDisplayMetrics();
        float screenWidthDp = displayMetrics.widthPixels / displayMetrics.density;
        int noOfColumns = (int) (screenWidthDp / columnWidthDp + 0.5); // +0.5 for correct rounding to int.
        return noOfColumns;
    }
}

And then when using it in the activity or fragment you can do like this :

int mNoOfColumns = Utility.calculateNoOfColumns(getApplicationContext());

............
mGridLayoutManager = new GridLayoutManager(this, mNoOfColumns);