Apps dialog layout breaks in ICS

Hi all,

I wrote a program a while back, and it works fine on gingerbread/froyo, but running on ICS, it breaks. the layout editor in eclipse displays it the way i expect, when using the android 4.0[.3]/theme.DeviceDefault.Dialog. However, when I load my program on to the galaxy nexus (or emulator), the dialog displays one column correctly, then squishes the other.

any help appreciated!!

quick description: i have two columns of form data (each column contains a text label & text input, each 125dp wide). so the whole layout should be ~500dp wide (each of the two columns is 250dp wide). see the attached screenshots for the expected layout on gingerbread vs the broken layout on ics.

manifest file (relative portion):

Code (Text):

1.  
2.       <activity android:name="EditRecord"
3.          android:label="Edit Record"
4.          android:theme="@android:style/Theme.Dialog"
5.       >
6. .....
7.       </activity>
8.  

main layout file (landscape):

Code (Text):

1.  
2. <LinearLayout
3.    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
4.    android:orientation="horizontal"
5.    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
6.    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
7.    android:gravity="center_horizontal"
8.    android:id="@+id/root">
9.    <ScrollView
10.       android:layout_width="wrap_content"
11.       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
12.       android:paddingRight="5dp">
13.       <include
14.          layout="@layout/edit_record_top" />
15.    </ScrollView>
16.    <ScrollView
17.       android:layout_width="wrap_content"
18.       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
19.       android:paddingRight="5dp">
20.       <include
21.          layout="@layout/edit_record_bottom" />
22.    </ScrollView>
23. </LinearLayout>
24.  

Left column of layout (truncated to just show one row):

Code (Text):

1.  
2. <merge
3.    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
4.    <RelativeLayout
5.       android:layout_width="wrap_content"
6.       android:layout_height="wrap_content">
7.       <TextView
8.          android:layout_width="125dp"
9.          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
10.          android:text="@string/odo_label"
11.          android:layout_alignBaseline="@+id/odo_reading"
12.          android:id="@+id/odo_label" />
13.       <EditText
14.          android:layout_width="125dp"
15.          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
16.          android:maxLines="1"
17.          android:inputType="numberDecimal"
18.          android:layout_toRightOf="@id/odo_label"
19.          android:id="@+id/odo_reading" />
20. ....
21.    </RelativeLayout>
22. </merge>
23.  

Right column of layout:

Code (Text):

1.  
2. <merge
3.    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
4.    <RelativeLayout
5.    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
6.    android:layout_height="wrap_content">
7.       <TextView
8.          android:layout_width="125dp"
9.          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
10.          android:id="@+id/date_label"
11.          android:layout_alignBaseline="@+id/date_reading"
12.          android:text="@string/date_label" />
13.       <!--
14.          this is the place where the date is entered. Once the text
15.          field is clicked on, a datePicker dialog box will show up,
16.          where the user can change the date. the default date will be
17.          the current date (encoded, if necessary)
18.       -->
19.       <EditText
20.          android:layout_width="125dp"
21.          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
22.          android:inputType="none|date"
23.          android:layout_toRightOf="@id/date_label"
24.          android:id="@+id/date_reading" />
25. ....
26.       <Button
27.          android:id="@+id/submit"
28.          android:text="Submit Modifications"
29.          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
30.          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
31.          android:layout_below="@id/mpg_diff_reading"
32.          android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" />
33.    </RelativeLayout>
34. </merge>
35.  

 

okay, I stumbled on to a workaround (seems like a hack!). I need to apply the width=fill_parent attribute to the activity layout after it is inflated. I found the answer here:
Android dialog width - Stack Overflow
(which links to here: android - How to make an alert dialog fill 90% of srceen size? - Stack Overflow)

hopefully this helps someone else! Does anyone know why this is necessary, and if/when it will be addressed in Android?

Thanks