RelativeLayout breaking strangely when used with match_parent or wrap_content

Question

I'm trying to have two TextViews separated in the center, with one on the left side and one on the right side. This breaks in a strange way when the RelativeLayout width is set to match_parent or wrap_content, however. When the RelativeLayout is set to a manual value (e.g. 200dp), it works.

Note that both layouts preview properly in Eclipse, they just don't work correctly on a phone or an emulator.

Here is the RelativeLayout code with match_parent:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="?android:attr/listPreferredItemHeight"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayout1"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="2dp"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:orientation="horizontal" >
    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayoutSeparator"
        android:layout_width="1dp"
        android:layout_height="1dp"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
        android:layout_centerVertical="true"
        android:background="@color/transparent"
        android:orientation="vertical" >
    </LinearLayout>

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textViewPrompt"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:layout_alignRight="@+id/linearLayoutSeparator"
        android:ellipsize="end"
        android:maxLines="2"
        android:paddingRight="5dp"
        android:text="Prompt"
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceSmall"
        android:textColor="@color/default_text"
        android:textSize="16sp" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textViewAnswer"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignLeft="@+id/linearLayoutSeparator"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:ellipsize="end"
        android:maxLines="2"
        android:paddingLeft="5dp"
        android:text="Answer"
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceSmall"
        android:textColor="@color/default_text"
        android:textSize="16sp" />

</RelativeLayout>

And here is the result:

And here is the code with a manual width value (200dp, in this case), which creates a proper result:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="200dp"
    android:layout_height="?android:attr/listPreferredItemHeight"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayout1"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="2dp"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:orientation="horizontal" >
    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayoutSeparator"
        android:layout_width="1dp"
        android:layout_height="1dp"
        android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
        android:layout_centerVertical="true"
        android:background="@color/transparent"
        android:orientation="vertical" >
    </LinearLayout>

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textViewPrompt"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:layout_alignRight="@+id/linearLayoutSeparator"
        android:ellipsize="end"
        android:maxLines="2"
        android:paddingRight="5dp"
        android:text="Prompt"
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceSmall"
        android:textColor="@color/default_text"
        android:textSize="16sp" />

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textViewAnswer"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignLeft="@+id/linearLayoutSeparator"
        android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:ellipsize="end"
        android:maxLines="2"
        android:paddingLeft="5dp"
        android:text="Answer"
        android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceSmall"
        android:textColor="@color/default_text"
        android:textSize="16sp" />

</RelativeLayout>

Here is the result:

The only difference between the two layouts is the line:

android:layout_width="200dp"

Does anyone know what the issue could be? Thanks in advance for your help!

Answer 1

// try this way 
<?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="wrap_content"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:padding="5dp"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content">
        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/textViewPrompt"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:ellipsize="end"
            android:maxLines="2"
            android:paddingRight="5dp"
            android:gravity="left"
            android:text="Prompt"
            android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceSmall"
            android:textSize="16sp" />

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/textViewAnswer"
            android:layout_width="0dp"
            android:layout_weight="1"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:ellipsize="end"
            android:maxLines="2"
            android:paddingLeft="5dp"
            android:text="Answer"
            android:gravity="right"
            android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceSmall"
            android:textSize="16sp" />
        </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayoutSeparator"
        android:layout_width="1dp"
        android:layout_height="1dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
        android:orientation="vertical" >
    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayout1"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="2dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
        android:orientation="horizontal" >
    </LinearLayout>

</LinearLayout>