Theme/Style is not applied when inflater used with ApplicationContext

android, coding-style, themes

Solution

Solution # 1

The inflate method accepts optional 'ViewGroup root' argument:

public View inflate (int resource, ViewGroup root, boolean attachToRoot)

If we have value to pass as 'root' parameter, than hence we can use it to get 'activity context' from where we can get correct LayoutInflater:

ViewGroup root > activity context > LayoutInflater

So my code could be:

private void add(LinearLayout container) {
    LayoutInflater inflater = getInflater(container.getContext());
    inflater.inflate(R.layout.my_template, container, true);
}

Solution # 2

Just tried to set Application Context theme programmatically, and it works:

getApplicationContext().setTheme(R.style.MyTheme);

I think it was logical to expect this markup:

<application 
    android:icon="@drawable/icon" 
    android:label="@string/app_name"
    android:theme="@style/MyTheme"
    >

to set it automatically, but it does not.

Problem

I have theme that specifies textColor for TextView as red. I am using LayoutInflater to instantiate TextView. The problem is that styles are not applied to TextView when inflater created using ApplicationContext - the color is not red. All works fine when LayoutInflater created using activity. Why this happens, and how can be fixed? /res/values/styles.xml: ``` <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <resources> <style name="MyTheme"> <item name="android:textViewStyle">@style/MyTextView</item> </style> <style name="MyTextView" parent="@android:style/Widget.TextView"> <item name="android:textColor">#f00</item> </style> </resources> ``` AndroidManifest.xml: ``` <application android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_name" android:theme="@style/MyTheme" > ``` Code: ``` public class A extends Activity { @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.test_a); final LayoutInflater goodInflater = getInflater((Activity)this); final LayoutInflater badInflater = getInflater(getApplicationContext()); final LinearLayout container = (LinearLayout)findViewById(R.id.container); findViewById(R.id.add_with_appContext).setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() { @Override public void onClick(View v) { add(container, badInflater); // Creates gray TextView } }); findViewById(R.id.add_with_activity).setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() { @Override public void onClick(View v) { add(container, goodInflater); // Creates red TextView } }); } private LayoutInflater getInflater(Context context) { return (LayoutInflater)context.getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE); } private void add(LinearLayout container, LayoutInflater inflater) { inflater.inflate(R.layout.my_template, container, true); } } ``` /res/layout/test_a.xml ``` <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:orientation="vertical"> <Button android:text="Add with AppContext" android:id="@+id/add_with_appContext" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" /> <Button android:text="Add with Activity" android:id="@+id/add_with_activity" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" /> <LinearLayout android:id="@+id/container" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:orientation="vertical" /> </LinearLayout> ``` /res/layout/my_template.xml: ``` <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" > <TextView android:id="@+id/text" android:text="Some text..." android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" /> </LinearLayout> ```

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