17.12 Displaying Sample Data

When designing layouts in Android Studio situations will arise where the content to be displayed within the user interface will not be available until the app is completed and running. This can sometimes make it difficult to assess from within the layout editor how the layout will appear at app runtime. To address this issue, the layout editor allows sample data to be specified that will populate views within the layout editor with sample images and data. This sample data only appears within the layout editor and is not displayed when the app runs. Sample data may be configured either by directly editing the XML for the layout, or visually using the design-time helper by right-clicking on the widget in the design area and selecting the Set Sample Data menu option. The design-time helper panel will display a range of preconfigured options for sample data to be displayed on the selected view item including combinations of text and images in a variety of configurations...