This solution was found on StackOverflow as an answer to this question: Android ListView,show a message if arrayList of arrayAdapter is empty.
The common way is setting an empty textview (@android:id/empty) after the listview:
layout/activity_main.xml
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<ListView
android:id="@android:id/list"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:dividerHeight="1dp" >
</ListView>
<TextView
android:id="@android:id/empty"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/empty_list" />
</LinearLayout>
And then set set the empty view to the listview:
MainActivity.java
1
2
3
ListView lv = (ListView)findViewById(android.R.id.list);
TextView emptyText = (TextView)findViewById(android.R.id.empty);
lv.setEmptyView(emptyText);
This should show items in the list whenever they are, and show the textview when not.