Nested Recycler view height doesn't wrap its content

Question

I have an application that manage collections of books (like playlists).

I want to display a list of collection with a vertical RecyclerView and inside each row, a list of book in an horizontal RecyclerView.

When i set the layout_height of the inner horizontal RecyclerView to 300dp, it is displayed correctly but when i set it to wrap_content, it doesn't display anything. I need to use wrap_content because I want to be able to change the layout manager programmatically to switch between vertical and horizontal display.

Do you know what i'm doing wrong ?

My Fragment layout :

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:background="@color/white">

    <com.twibit.ui.view.CustomSwipeToRefreshLayout
        android:id="@+id/swipe_container"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent">

        <LinearLayout
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:orientation="vertical">

            <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
                android:id="@+id/shelf_collection_listview"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:paddingTop="10dp"/>

        </LinearLayout>

    </com.twibit.ui.view.CustomSwipeToRefreshLayout>
</LinearLayout>

Collection element layout :

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
              android:layout_width="match_parent"
              android:layout_height="wrap_content"
              android:orientation="vertical">

    <RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
                    android:layout_width="match_parent"
                    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                    android:background="#FFF">

        <!-- Simple Header -->

    </RelativeLayout>

    <FrameLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content">

        <TextView
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:text="@string/empty_collection"
            android:id="@+id/empty_collection_tv"
            android:visibility="gone"
            android:gravity="center"/>

        <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
            android:id="@+id/collection_book_listview"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"/> <!-- android:layout_height="300dp" -->

    </FrameLayout>

</LinearLayout>

Book list item :

<FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
              android:layout_width="180dp"
              android:layout_height="220dp"
              android:layout_gravity="center">

        <ImageView
            android:id="@+id/shelf_item_cover"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_gravity="center"
            android:maxWidth="150dp"
            android:maxHeight="200dp"
            android:src="@drawable/placeholder"
            android:contentDescription="@string/cover"
            android:adjustViewBounds="true"
            android:background="@android:drawable/dialog_holo_light_frame"/>

</FrameLayout>

Here is my Collection Adapter :

private class CollectionsListAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<CollectionsListAdapter.ViewHolder> {
    private final String TAG = CollectionsListAdapter.class.getSimpleName();
    private Context mContext;

    // Create the ViewHolder class to keep references to your views
    class ViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {

        private final TextView mHeaderTitleTextView;
        private final TextView mHeaderCountTextView;

        private final RecyclerView mHorizontalListView;
        private final TextView mEmptyTextView;

        public ViewHolder(View view) {
            super(view);

            mHeaderTitleTextView = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.collection_header_tv);
            mHeaderCountTextView = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.collection_header_count_tv);

            mHorizontalListView = (RecyclerView) view.findViewById(R.id.collection_book_listview);
            mEmptyTextView = (TextView) view.findViewById(R.id.empty_collection_tv);
        }
    }


    public CollectionsListAdapter(Context context) {
        mContext = context;
    }


    @Override
    public ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int i) {
        Log.d(TAG, "CollectionsListAdapter.onCreateViewHolder(" + parent.getId() + ", " + i + ")");
        // Create a new view by inflating the row item xml.
        View v = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(R.layout.shelf_collection, parent, false);

        // Set the view to the ViewHolder
        ViewHolder holder = new ViewHolder(v);

        holder.mHorizontalListView.setHasFixedSize(false);
        holder.mHorizontalListView.setHorizontalScrollBarEnabled(true);

        // use a linear layout manager
        LinearLayoutManager mLayoutManager = new LinearLayoutManager(mContext);
        mLayoutManager.setOrientation(LinearLayoutManager.HORIZONTAL);
        holder.mHorizontalListView.setLayoutManager(mLayoutManager);

        return holder;
    }

    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(ViewHolder holder, int i) {
        Log.d(TAG, "CollectionsListAdapter.onBindViewHolder(" + holder.getPosition() + ", " + i + ")");

        Collection collection = mCollectionList.get(i);
        Log.d(TAG, "Collection : " + collection.getLabel());

        holder.mHeaderTitleTextView.setText(collection.getLabel());
        holder.mHeaderCountTextView.setText("" + collection.getBooks().size());

        // Create an adapter if none exists
        if (!mBookListAdapterMap.containsKey(collection.getCollectionId())) {
            mBookListAdapterMap.put(collection.getCollectionId(), new BookListAdapter(getActivity(), collection));
        }

        holder.mHorizontalListView.setAdapter(mBookListAdapterMap.get(collection.getCollectionId()));

    }

    @Override
    public int getItemCount() {
        return mCollectionList.size();
    }
}

And finally, the Book adapter :

private class BookListAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<BookListAdapter.ViewHolder> implements View.OnClickListener {
    private final String TAG = BookListAdapter.class.getSimpleName();

    // Create the ViewHolder class to keep references to your views
    class ViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
        public ImageView mCoverImageView;

        public ViewHolder(View view) {
            super(view);
            mCoverImageView = (ImageView) view.findViewById(R.id.shelf_item_cover);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onClick(View v) {
        BookListAdapter.ViewHolder holder = (BookListAdapter.ViewHolder) v.getTag();
        int position = holder.getPosition();
        final Book book = mCollection.getBooks().get(position);

        // Click on cover image
        if (v.getId() == holder.mCoverImageView.getId()) {
            downloadOrOpenBook(book);
            return;
        }
    }

    private void downloadOrOpenBook(final Book book) {
        // do stuff
    }

    private Context mContext;
    private Collection mCollection;

    public BookListAdapter(Context context, Collection collection) {
        Log.d(TAG, "BookListAdapter(" + context + ", " + collection + ")");
        mCollection = collection;
        mContext = context;
    }

    @Override
    public ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int i) {
        Log.d(TAG, "onCreateViewHolder(" + parent.getId() + ", " + i + ")");
        // Create a new view by inflating the row item xml.
        View v = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(R.layout.shelf_grid_item, parent, false);

        // Set the view to the ViewHolder
        ViewHolder holder = new ViewHolder(v);
        holder.mCoverImageView.setOnClickListener(BookListAdapter.this); // Download or Open

        holder.mCoverImageView.setTag(holder);

        return holder;
    }

    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(ViewHolder holder, int i) {
        Log.d(TAG, "onBindViewHolder(" + holder.getPosition() + ", " + i + ")");

        Book book = mCollection.getBooks().get(i);

        ImageView imageView = holder.mCoverImageView;
        ImageLoader.getInstance().displayImage(book.getCoverUrl(), imageView);
    }

    @Override
    public int getItemCount() {
        return mCollection.getBooks().size();
    }
}

Answer 1

Update

Many issues relating to this feature in version 23.2.0 have been fixed in 23.2.1, update to that instead.

With the release of Support Library version 23.2, RecyclerView now supports that!

Update build.gradle to:

compile 'com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:23.2.1'

or any version beyond that.

This release brings an exciting new feature to the LayoutManager API: auto-measurement! This allows a RecyclerView to size itself based on the size of its contents. This means that previously unavailable scenarios, such as using WRAP_CONTENT for a dimension of the RecyclerView, are now possible. You’ll find all built in LayoutManagers now support auto-measurement.

This can be disabled via setAutoMeasurementEnabled() if need be. Check in detail here.