@kabir's solution works. Now if you are like me (wanted to have two alternate colors in background, this is his dispached method rewritten (or let's say edited)
@Override
protected void dispatchDraw(Canvas canvas) {
super.dispatchDraw(canvas);
int caseLastChildBottom = -1;
int caselastChildHeight = -1;
int caseNrOfLines = -1;
//makes the colors follow the order (alternateColor1 - alternateColor2 - alternateColor1 - etc.)
int plusIndex = 1;
if (this.getChildCount() % 2 == 0)
plusIndex = 0;
// ListView's height
final int currentHeight = getMeasuredHeight();
// this will let you know the status for the ListView, fitting/not fitting content
final int scrolledHeight = computeVerticalScrollRange();
//empty listview (no item)
if (scrolledHeight == 0) {
//no childs exist so we take the top
caseLastChildBottom = 0;
//last child doesn't exist, so we set a default height (took the value in dp in the item row's height)
caselastChildHeight = convertDpToPx(DEFAULT_CHILD_ROW_S_HEIGHT);
// determine the number of lines required to fill the ListView
caseNrOfLines = currentHeight / caselastChildHeight;
}
//there is a remaining gap to fill
else {
final View lastChild = getChildAt(getChildCount() - 1);
if (lastChild == null) return;
// values used to know where to start drawing lines
caseLastChildBottom = lastChild.getBottom();
// last child's height(use this to determine an appropriate value for the row height)
caselastChildHeight = lastChild.getMeasuredHeight();
// determine the number of lines required to fill the ListView
caseNrOfLines = (currentHeight - caseLastChildBottom) / caselastChildHeight;
}
// values used to know where to start drawing lines
final int lastChildBottom = caseLastChildBottom;
// last child's height(use this to determine an appropriate value for the row height)
final int lastChildHeight = caselastChildHeight;
// determine the number of lines required to fill the ListView
final int nrOfLines = caseNrOfLines;
int i = 0;
for (i = 0; i < nrOfLines; i++) {
Rect r = new Rect(0, lastChildBottom + i * lastChildHeight, getMeasuredWidth(), lastChildBottom + (i + 1) * lastChildHeight);
canvas.drawRect(r, (i + plusIndex) % 2 == 0 ? alternateColorView1 : alternateColorView2);
}
//is there a gap at the bottom of the list
if(currentHeight - (nrOfLines *lastChildHeight) > 0){
Rect r = new Rect(0, lastChildBottom + i * lastChildHeight,getMeasuredWidth(), currentHeight);
canvas.drawRect(r, (i + plusIndex) % 2 == 0 ? alternateColorView1 : alternateColorView2);
}
return;
}
I forgot these two Paint colors (just as @kabir declared the colors):
alternateColorView1.setColor(....);
alternateColorView1.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);
alternateColorView2.setColor(....);
alternateColorView2.setStyle(Paint.Style.FILL);