[android] How to define dimens.xml for every different screen size in android?

When supporting different screen sizes (densities) in Android often the focus is on creating different layouts for every possible screen. I.E.

• ldpi
• mdpi
• hdpi
• xhdpi
• xxhdpi
• xxxhdpi

I designed a layout for an xhdpi screen as a reference, and defined it's dimensions in dimens.xml. Now I want to give support it to every possible screen size. How can I do that?

As far as I know, I can use this tool to figure out the proper dimens.xml for other screen sizes and add it to my project. Is this the right way to do it in my situation?

Another question, do I only need to create dimens.xml for above screen dimensions? If yes then what is w820dp?

Thanks for your help. I need to support phones only (not tablets or other devices).

we want to see the changes of required view size in different screens.

We need to create a different values folders for different screens and put dimens.xml file based on screen densities.

I have taken one TextView and observed the changes when i changed dimens.xml in different values folders.

Please follow the process

normal - xhdpi \ dimens.xml

The below devices can change the sizes of screens when we change the normal - xhdpi \ dimens.xml

nexus 5X ( 5.2" * 1080 * 1920 : 420dpi )

nexus 6P ( 5.7" * 1440 * 2560 : 560dpi)

nexus 6 ( 6.0" * 1440 * 2560 : 560dpi)

nexus 5 (5.0", 1080 1920 : xxhdpi)

nexus 4 (4.7", 768 * 1280 : xhdpi)

Galaxy nexus (4.7", 720 * 1280 : xhdpi)

4.65" 720p ( 720 * 1280 : xhdpi )

4.7" WXGA ( 1280 * 720 : Xhdpi )

Xlarge - xhdpi \ dimens.xml

The below devices can change the sizes of screens when we change the Xlarge - xhdpi \ dimens.xml

nexus 9 ( 8.9", 2048 * 1556 : xhdpi)

nexus 10 (10.1", 2560 * 1600 : xhdpi)

large - xhdpi \ dimens.xml

The below devices can change the sizes of screens when we change the large - xhdpi \ dimens.xml

nexus 7 ( 7.0", 1200 * 1920: xhdpi)

nexus 7 (2012) (7.0", 800 * 1280 : tvdpi)

The below screens are visible in " Search Generic Phones and Tablets "

large - mdpi \ dimens.xml

The below devices can change the sizes of screens when we change the large - mdpi \ dimens.xml

5.1" WVGA ( 480 * 800 : mdpi )

5.4" FWVGA ( 480 * 854 : mdpi )

7.0" WSVGA (Tablet) ( 1024 * 600 : mdpi )

normal - hdpi \ dimens.xml

The below devices can change the sizes of screens when we change the normal - hdpi \ dimens.xml

nexus s ( 4.0", 480 * 800 : hdpi )

nexus one ( 3.7", 480 * 800: hdpi)

small - ldpi \ dimens.xml

The below devices can change the sizes of screens when we change the small - ldpi \ dimens.xml

2.7" QVGA Slider ( 240 * 320 : ldpi )

2.7" QVGA ( 240 * 320 : ldpi )

xlarge - mdpi \ dimens.xml

The below devices can change the sizes of screens when we change the xlarge - mdpi \ dimens.xml

10.1" WXGA ( tABLET) ( 1280 * 800 : MDPI )

normal - ldpi \ dimens.xml

The below devices can change the sizes of screens when we change the normal - ldpi \ dimens.xml

3.3" WQVGA ( 240 * 400 : LDPI )

3.4" WQVGA ( 240 * 432 : LDPI )

normal - hdpi \ dimens.xml

The below devices can change the sizes of screens when we change the normal - hdpi \ dimens.xml

4.0" WVGA ( 480 * 800 : hdpi )

3.7" WVGA ( 480 * 800 : hdpi )

3.7" FWVGA Slider ( 480 * 854 : hdpi )

normal - mdpi \ dimens.xml

The below devices can change the sizes of screens when we change the normal - mdpi \ dimens.xml

3.2" HVGA Slider ( ADP1 ) ( 320 * 480 : MDPI )

3.2" QVGA ( ADP2 ) ( 320 * 480 : MDPI )

I've uploaded a simple java program which takes your project location and the dimension file you want as input. Based on that, it would output the corresponding dimension file in the console. Here's the link to it:

https://github.com/akeshwar/Dimens-for-different-screens-in-Android/blob/master/Main.java

Here's the full code for the reference:

public class Main {


    /**
     * You can change your factors here. The current factors are in accordance with the official documentation.
     */
    private static final double LDPI_FACTOR = 0.375;
    private static final double MDPI_FACTOR = 0.5;
    private static final double HDPI_FACTOR = 0.75;
    private static final double XHDPI_FACTOR = 1.0;
    private static final double XXHDPI_FACTOR = 1.5;
    private static final double XXXHDPI_FACTOR = 2.0;

    private static double factor;

    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {


        Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);
        System.out.println("Enter the location of the project/module");
        String projectPath = in.nextLine();

        System.out.println("Which of the following dimension file do you want?\n1. ldpi \n2. mdpi \n3. hdpi \n4. xhdpi \n5. xxhdpi \n6. xxxhdpi");

        int dimenType = in.nextInt();

        switch (dimenType) {
            case 1: factor = LDPI_FACTOR;
                break;
            case 2: factor = MDPI_FACTOR;
                break;
            case 3: factor = HDPI_FACTOR;
                break;
            case 4: factor = XHDPI_FACTOR;
                break;
            case 5: factor = XXHDPI_FACTOR;
                break;
            case 6: factor = XXXHDPI_FACTOR;
                break;
            default:
                factor = 1.0;
        }

        //full path = "/home/akeshwar/android-sat-bothIncluded-notintegrated/code/tpr-5-5-9/princetonReview/src/main/res/values/dimens.xml"
        //location of the project or module = "/home/akeshwar/android-sat-bothIncluded-notintegrated/code/tpr-5-5-9/princetonReview/"


        /**
         * In case there is some I/O exception with the file, you can directly copy-paste the full path to the file here:
         */
        String fullPath = projectPath + "/src/main/res/values/dimens.xml";

        FileInputStream fstream = new FileInputStream(fullPath);
        BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(fstream));

        String strLine;

        while ((strLine = br.readLine()) != null)   {
            modifyLine(strLine);
        }
        br.close();

    }

    private static void modifyLine(String line) {

        /**
         * Well, this is how I'm detecting if the line has some dimension value or not.
         */
        if(line.contains("p</")) {
            int endIndex = line.indexOf("p</");

            //since indexOf returns the first instance of the occurring string. And, the actual dimension would follow after the first ">" in the screen
            int begIndex = line.indexOf(">");

            String prefix = line.substring(0, begIndex+1);
            String root = line.substring(begIndex+1, endIndex-1);
            String suffix = line.substring(endIndex-1,line.length());


            /**
             * Now, we have the root. We can use it to create different dimensions. Root is simply the dimension number.
             */

            double dimens = Double.parseDouble(root);
            dimens = dimens*factor*1000;
            dimens = (double)((int)dimens);
            dimens = dimens/1000;
            root = dimens + "";

            System.out.println(prefix + " " +  root + " " + suffix );

        }

        System.out.println(line);
    }
}

Use Scalable DP

Although making a different layout for different screen sizes is theoretically a good idea, it can get very difficult to accommodate for all screen dimensions, and pixel densities. Having over 20+ different dimens.xml files as suggested in the above answers, is not easy to manage at all.

How To Use:

To use sdp:

1. Include implementation 'com.intuit.sdp:sdp-android:1.0.5' in your build.gradle,

2. Replace any dp value such as 50dp with a @dimen/50_sdp like so:

   <TextView
    android:layout_width="@dimen/_50sdp"
    android:layout_height="@dimen/_50sdp"
    android:text="Hello World!" />
   

How It Works:

sdp scales with the screen size because it is essentially a huge list of different dimens.xml for every possible dp value.

See It In Action:

Here it is on three devices with widely differing screen dimensions, and densities:

Note that the sdp size unit calculation includes some approximation due to some performance and usability constraints.

Android 3.2 introduces a new approach to screen sizes,the numbers describing the screen size are all in “dp” units.Mostly we can use

smallest width dp: the smallest width available for application layout in “dp” units; this is the smallest width dp that you will ever encounter in any rotation of the display.

To create one right click on res >>> new >>> Android resource directory

From Available qualifiers window move Smallest Screen Width to Chosen qualifiers

In Screen width window just write the "dp" value starting from you would like Android Studio to use that dimens.

Than change to Project view,right click on your new created resource directory

new >>> Values resource file enter a new file name dimens.xml and you are done.

You have to create a different values folder for different screens and put dimens.xml file according to densities.

1) values

2) values-hdpi (320x480 ,480x800)

3) values-large-hdpi (600x1024)

4) values-xlarge (720x1280 ,768x1280 ,800x1280 ,Nexus7 ,Nexus10)

5) values-sw480dp (5.1' WVGA screen)

6) values-xhdpi (Nexus4 , Galaxy Nexus)

There are nice libraries which will handle everything and reduce your pain. For using it, just add two dependencies in gradle:

 implementation 'com.intuit.ssp:ssp-android:1.0.5'
 implementation 'com.intuit.sdp:sdp-android:1.0.5'

After that, use dimens like this:

        android:layout_marginTop="@dimen/_80sdp"

You can put dimens.xml in

1) values

2) values-hdpi

3) values-xhdpi

4) values-xxhdpi

And give different sizes in dimens.xml within corresponding folders according to densities.

In case you want to view more: Here's a link for a list of devices (tablet, mobile, watches), including watch,chromebook, windows and mac. Here you can find the density, dimensions, and etc. Just based it in here, it's a good resource if your using an emulator too.

If you click a specific item, it will show more details in the right side.

Since it's Android , I will post related to it.

~ It's better if you save a copy of the web. To view it offline.