Android LinearLayout with color resource: What am I doing wrong?

Question

I followed this tutorial to create a color state list for a particular Android view. I just want it to highlight when clicked so the user knows why the screen just changed.

Answer 1

I remember that I worked around this error by using state drawable instead of state color. For some reason layout background just doesn't work with stateful colors. So try creating a stateful drawable (for example list of shape drawables with different colors) and use it as background.

res/drawable/pressed.xml:

<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:shape="rectangle" >
   <solid android:color="#ff33ffff" />
 </shape>

res/drawable/normal.xml:

<shape xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:shape="rectangle" >
   <solid android:color="#ff000000" />
 </shape>

res/drawable/background.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item android:state_pressed="true" android:drawable="@drawable/pressed" />
    <item android:drawable="@drawable/normal" />
</selector>

Then use background.xml drawable as background :)

Answer 2

Instead of using shapes in your drawable, you can use the android:drawable attribute which accepts a color resource (e.g. @color/black).

layout.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout 
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/myview"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:gravity="top"
    android:background="@drawable/myDrawable">
    <!-- other views in layout-->
</LinearLayout>

my_drawable.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<selector xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <!-- focused -->
    <item android:state_focused="true" android:drawable="@color/YOUR_COLOR_HERE" />
    <!-- focused and pressed-->
    <item android:state_focused="true" android:state_pressed="true" android:drawable="@color/YOUR_COLOR_HERE" />
    <!-- pressed -->
    <item android:state_pressed="true" android:drawable="@color/YOUR_COLOR_HERE" />
    <!-- default -->
    <item android:drawable="@color/YOUR_COLOR_HERE" /> 
</selector>

In my_drawable.xml you need to make sure that the colors you specify are defined in res/values/colors.xml, or this won't work.

If you want to use an image instead of a color change from a color resource to a drawable resource. Example:

android:drawable="@color/YOUR_COLOR_HERE"
android:drawable="@drawable/YOUR_IMAGE_HERE"