In Eclipse while using the Android Development Toolkit, there is a Graphical Layout Editor. In this blog post, we are going to be taking a look at the recently added Cisco Cius Graphical Layout to the editor. This will allow you to preview what an application will look like without having to start an Emulator or have a Cius.

In order to access this we open Eclipse and navigate to our Android Layout XML file. This is generally under /res/layout in your Android project. Once there open one of the XML files contained here. We will see that we have an option to view it either in the Graphical Layout mode or the XML mode. In this case, we will be looking at it in the Graphical Layout mode.



At first let us just take a look at the components of this Graphical Layout mode. On the top, we have all the options which set how it will be displayed. These are things like the size of the screen, if it is in portrait or landscape mode, and what Android API it is using. On the left, we have a toolbox of assorted visual components, things from buttons to layouts. On the right, we have the canvas or where we will be viewing what the final result would look like. In order to set our look and feel, we must select the first drop down in the top of the Graphical Layout mode. Within this drop down menu you will see Cisco Cius, please select that. You will then need to select the what the orientation you want to see the preview for as well as Android 2.2.

We are then able to see what the layout would look like were the application running.



As you can see the Graphical Layout Editor with the Cisco Cius Layout, is a helpful tool that allows you to plan your layout without pushing your application to a device.