Adding RecyclerView inside of DrawerLayout

Question

I wish to be able to have a RecyclerView inside the main page of a DrawyerLayout MainActivity. However, adding my code as below does not permit that and the RecyclerView is on top of everything:

But I can still access the drawer:

How can I make this work?

MainActivity:

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity
        implements NavigationView.OnNavigationItemSelectedListener {

    private List<Person> persons;
    private RecyclerView rv;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);  // Original activity

        Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
        setSupportActionBar(toolbar);

        // *** BEGIN THE RECYCLER VIEW *** //
        rv=(RecyclerView)findViewById(R.id.rv);

        LinearLayoutManager llm = new LinearLayoutManager(this);
        rv.setLayoutManager(llm);
        rv.setHasFixedSize(true);

        initializeData();
        initializeAdapter();

        // Original Drawer layout code
        DrawerLayout drawer = (DrawerLayout) findViewById(R.id.drawer_layout);
        ActionBarDrawerToggle toggle = new ActionBarDrawerToggle(
                this, drawer, toolbar, R.string.navigation_drawer_open, R.string.navigation_drawer_close);

        drawer.addDrawerListener(toggle);   //   drawer.setDrawerListener(toggle);  Deprecated
        toggle.syncState();

        NavigationView navigationView = (NavigationView) findViewById(R.id.nav_view);
        navigationView.setNavigationItemSelectedListener(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void onBackPressed() {
        DrawerLayout drawer = (DrawerLayout) findViewById(R.id.drawer_layout);
        if (drawer.isDrawerOpen(GravityCompat.START)) {
            drawer.closeDrawer(GravityCompat.START);
        } else {
            super.onBackPressed();
        }
    }

    // *** REMOVE THE MAIN DROP DOWN MENU ***
    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
        return true;
    }



    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        // Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will
        // automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long
        // as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.
//        int id = item.getItemId();
//
//        //noinspection SimplifiableIfStatement
//        if (id == R.id.action_settings) {
//            return true;
//        }

        return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }

    @SuppressWarnings("StatementWithEmptyBody")
    @Override
    public boolean onNavigationItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        // Handle navigation view item clicks here.
        int id = item.getItemId();

        if (id == R.id.nav_breakfast) {
            // Handle the camera action


        } else if (id == R.id.nav_lunch) {

        } else if (id == R.id.nav_dinner) {


        }

        DrawerLayout drawer = (DrawerLayout) findViewById(R.id.drawer_layout);
        drawer.closeDrawer(GravityCompat.START);
        return true;
    }

    private void initializeData(){
        persons = new ArrayList<>();
        persons.add(new Person("Emma Wilson", "23 years old", R.drawable.emma));
        persons.add(new Person("Lavery Maiss", "25 years old", R.drawable.lavery));

        for ( int i = 0; i <=1000; i++) {
            persons.add(new Person("Lillie Watts", "35 years old", R.drawable.lillie));
        }
    }

    private void initializeAdapter(){
        RVAdapter adapter = new RVAdapter(persons);
        rv.setAdapter(adapter);
    }
}

activity_main.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/drawer_layout"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:fitsSystemWindows="true"
    tools:openDrawer="start">

    <include
        layout="@layout/app_bar_main"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" />

    <android.support.design.widget.NavigationView
        android:id="@+id/nav_view"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_gravity="start"
        android:fitsSystemWindows="true"
        app:headerLayout="@layout/nav_header_main"
        app:menu="@menu/activity_main_drawer" />

        <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:padding="16dp"        >
            <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:id="@+id/rv">
            </android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView>

        </LinearLayout>

    </android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout>

Update Present view:

activity_main:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/drawer_layout"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:fitsSystemWindows="true"
    tools:openDrawer="start">

        <!-- Added to allow RecyclerView -->
        <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent"
            android:orientation="vertical">

            <include
                layout="@layout/app_bar_main"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

            <android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView
                android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:id="@+id/rv">
            </android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView>

        </LinearLayout>

    <android.support.design.widget.NavigationView
        android:id="@+id/nav_view"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_gravity="start"
        android:fitsSystemWindows="true"
        app:headerLayout="@layout/nav_header_main"
        app:menu="@menu/activity_main_drawer" />

</android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout>

Answer 1

First, you can remove android:padding="16dp" from the LinearLayout, that is why you see "blank space" around the list.

Then you want wrap_content height on the <include-d app bar layout so that it does not take the whole space.

And simply move the LinearLayout outside of the NavigationView

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    ...


    <!-- here is the content -->
    <LinearLayout
        android:orientation="vertical"
        ...
        >

        <!-- here is the toolbar -->
        <include
            layout="@layout/app_bar_main"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

        ...
        <RecyclerView
            ...
            />
    </LinearLayout>

    <!-- here is the drawer -->
    <NavigationView
        android:layout_gravity="start"
        ... >

    </NavigationView>

</DrawerLayout>