How to add dividers and spaces between items in RecyclerView?

 

In Android, you can add dividers and spaces between items in a RecyclerView by customizing the item decoration. You can create a custom ItemDecoration class that defines the spacing and dividers and then apply it to your RecyclerView. Here's an example of how to do this:

1. Create a custom ItemDecoration class:

   Create a Java or Kotlin class that extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration. This class will define the spacing and dividers between items.

   java

import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Rect;
import android.view.View;
import androidx.annotation.NonNull;
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView;

public class CustomItemDecoration extends RecyclerView.ItemDecoration {
    private final int space; // Define the space (in pixels) between items

    public CustomItemDecoration(Context context, int space) {
        this.space = space;
    }

    @Override
    public void getItemOffsets(@NonNull Rect outRect, @NonNull View view, @NonNull RecyclerView parent, @NonNull RecyclerView.State state) {
        // Add space to the bottom of each item (except the last one)
        if (parent.getChildAdapterPosition(view) != parent.getAdapter().getItemCount() - 1) {
            outRect.bottom = space;
        }
    }
}

Apply the ItemDecoration to your RecyclerView:

In your activity or fragment where you have the RecyclerView, create an instance of your custom ItemDecoration class and add it to your RecyclerView.

java

import android.os.Bundle;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.LinearLayoutManager;
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView;

public class MyActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_my);

        RecyclerView recyclerView = findViewById(R.id.recyclerView);
        recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(this));

        // Create an instance of your custom ItemDecoration and add it to the RecyclerView
        int spacingInPixels = getResources().getDimensionPixelSize(R.dimen.spacing); // Define the spacing dimension
        recyclerView.addItemDecoration(new CustomItemDecoration(this, spacingInPixels));

        // Set your RecyclerView adapter and data here
        // recyclerView.setAdapter(...);
    }
}

Define the spacing dimension in your resources:

In your res/values/dimens.xml file, define the spacing dimension that you want to use for spacing between items. For example:

xml

3. <resources>
       <dimen name="spacing">16dp</dimen>
   </resources>
   

   Adjust the spacing dimension as needed to control the space between items.

With these steps, you've created a custom ItemDecoration class that adds spacing between items in your RecyclerView. You can also customize this class further to add dividers or adjust spacing based on your specific design requirements.