Android ignoring my setWidth() and setHeight()

Question

So, why does this code:

package org.popoffka.apicross;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.Button;

public class Game extends Activity {
 @Override
 protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
     super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
     Button testButton = new Button(this);
     testButton.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.cell);
     testButton.setWidth(20);
     testButton.setHeight(20);
     setContentView(testButton);
 }
}

...produce this thing: http://i42.tinypic.com/2hgdzme.png even though there's a setWidth(20) and setHeight(20) in the code? (R.drawable.cell is actually a 20x20 PNG image containing a white cell with a silver border)

Answer 1

You are setting the button as content-view, which means you use it as the "root container".

You should add the Button to an appropriate layout, and then set the layout as content view.

Think about it, what would you have on the sides of the button? No component would cover that area, and it would be impossible for the UI to know what to render at those areas.

Answer 2

The proper way to set the width and height of a View is to do so via the LayoutParams. See ViewGroup.LayoutParams and View.getLayoutParams().