Android, graphics overlay?

Tar.Aldarion

I currently have an app that looks like this, it's a terminal emulator:





and if I press settings this appears on the screen:



However I would like to overlay some custom graphics on top, so that they are always there, some curves etc. Rough sketch:



So even when settings aren't visible this overlay would be shown on the terminal, at the top, around the edges etc. When I press settings I'd like them to come down and match the height of the graphics at the top like I have drawn, the bottom of the overlay matches the bottom of the settings. Is it possible to just have this overlay over everything? Or what is the best way to do this? A view over a view, a framelayout?

Tar.Aldarion

Another way to do it would be to just have the image as a background like I have the blue background now, then set up some borders. This would take care of the bottom of the screen. For the top of the screen when settings is not shown i could have the curved graphic image shown, with the bit under the curve filled in black to match the terminal. Then when settings is pressed replace that top image with another image that looks similar but includes the settings buttons. that might be an alternative?

srsly78

Yes just do that. Use the alpha channel for transparency/masking (that means most of the image will be transparent - not black).

Tar.Aldarion

I'm a bit confused, why am I using the transparency? Just so that under the curve where settings will be shown shows the background image is it?

srsly78

Yeah maybe you don't need it, you can use zorder instead. For fancy stuff transparency is useful.