TabWidget - How to set position of indicator text?

Question

i'm trying to use TabHost and TabWidget in my Android application. This is my layout main.xml:

<TabHost
    android:id="@+id/mainTabHost"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <TabWidget android:id="@android:id/tabs" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="65px"/>
    <FrameLayout
        android:id="@android:id/tabcontent"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent">
        <LinearLayout
            android:id="@+id/contentTags"
            android:layout_width="fill_parent"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:orientation="vertical">
        </LinearLayout>
        <LinearLayout
            android:id="@+id/contentPreferences"
            android:layout_width="fill_parent"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:orientation="vertical">
        </LinearLayout>
    </FrameLayout>
</TabHost>

And my code:

final TabHost mainTabHost = (TabHost) this.findViewById(R.id.mainTabHost);
mainTabHost.setup();
final TabHost.TabSpec tabSpecTags = mainTabHost.newTabSpec("tabTags");
tabSpecTags.setIndicator(this.getString(R.string.tab_name_tags));
tabSpecTags.setContent(R.id.contentTags);
mainTabHost.addTab(tabSpecTags);
final TabHost.TabSpec tabSpecPreferences = mainTabHost.newTabSpec("tabPreferences");
tabSpecPreferences.setIndicator(this.getString(R.string.tab_name_preferences));
tabSpecPreferences.setContent(R.id.contentPreferences);
mainTabHost.addTab(tabSpecPreferences);

The problem is that i do not want my tabs to be so tall (65px). However, if i set the layout_height of the TabWidget to e.g. 30px, i can't see the tab labels (indicator) on the tabs at all.

Seems like there is a "minimum required" height for the TabWidget (65px?) and the indicator is positioned at the bottom of this 65px?

Is there a way to adjust the positioning of the indicator?

Thanks!

Answer 1

However, if i set the layout_height of the TabWidget to e.g. 30px, i can't see the tab labels (indicator) on the tabs at all.

Note that the techniques for doing this won't necessarily be reliable in future Android releases, if they change up how a TabHost is constructed.

Is there a way to adjust the positioning of the indicator?

Starting with API Level 4 (a.k.a., Android 1.6), TabHost.TabSpec accepts a View as the indicator via setIndicator(). I haven't tried it, but it may give you greater control over the layout of an individual tab's indicator.