Let's assume you ordinarily would call setContentView(R.layout.main), but on first run, you want to have this overlay.
Step #1: Create a FrameLayout in Java code and pass that to setContentView().
Step #2: Use LayoutInflater to inflate R.layout.main into the FrameLayout.
Step #3: Use LayoutInflater to inflate the overlay into the FrameLayout.
Step #4: When the user taps the button (or whatever) to dismiss the overlay, call removeView() to remove the overlay from the FrameLayout.
Since the overlay is a later child of the FrameLayout, it will float over top of the contents of R.layout.main.
"Coach mark" is "Help overlay" in UX talk :-)
coach_mark.xml is your coach mark layout
coach_mark_master_view is the id of the top most view (root) in coach_mark.xml
public void onCoachMark(){
final Dialog dialog = new Dialog(this);
dialog.requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
dialog.getWindow().setBackgroundDrawable(new ColorDrawable(android.graphics.Color.TRANSPARENT));
dialog.setContentView(R.layout.coach_mark);
dialog.setCanceledOnTouchOutside(true);
//for dismissing anywhere you touch
View masterView = dialog.findViewById(R.id.coach_mark_master_view);
masterView.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
@Override
public void onClick(View view) {
dialog.dismiss();
}
});
dialog.show();
}
Adding sample of coach_mark.xml (to this excellent solution given by Oded Breiner), so its easy for ppl to copy & paste to see working example quickly.
Sample of coach_mark.xml here, change the -> drawable/coach_marks to your image:
coach_mark.xml
<?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="match_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:id="@+id/coach_mark_master_view">
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" >
<ImageView
android:id="@+id/coach_marks_image"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"
android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
android:src="@drawable/coach_marks" />
</RelativeLayout>
</LinearLayout>
And optionally use this theme to remove padding: