nine patch image shows dots

Question

I've created several 9-patch images using the android draw9patch utility and I've yet to make one that works. On one image I've got 2 dots on the top edge, and 2 dots on the left edge; the 'show bad patches' button shows no bad patches, and the samples on the right side look fine. However, in the app the image appears with the black 9patch dots showing on the top and right sides.

Are we suppose to set the backgroundColor or cachecolor to hide the dots in the imageview?

I'm targeting google maps 2.3.3. Could there be known issues with this API?

Answer 1

Those dots will go away when they're displayed on the phone. They tell the Android System what parts of the image can be stretched without warping how it's supposed to look. If you notice the format of the 9patch is .9.png, there's preprocessing that Android does before the image is displayed and the dots are removed. 'Show Bad Patches' rarely makes a difference I've found, even if they're considered 'bad' they work how I want them too. At least in my experiences. Just add the 9patches to your activity and reference them as you normally would

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Update

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Wait a second. Are you trying to use 9patches as images to be displayed in an ImageView? That's not what 9patches are for. 9patches are stretchable images for buttons or other UI elements (i.e. for different screen sizes) so developers can have one image to stretch and fit the different sized buttons instead of one for each size. Android displays most image formats in ImageView. If you're displaying the 9patches with an ImageView, Android isn't preprocessing the black dots as slices of that image that are repeatable, it's just displaying the whole thing.

Answer 2

What is the full name that you gave to the file? The file name must end in ".9.png" to work properly. Otherwise it will be treated as a normal png file which would display the dots and lines at the edges of the image.