Android – In Eclipse, "Graphical Layout" tab does not appear for my layout files

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Problem: In Eclipse, “Graphical Layout” tab does not appear for my layout files.

Description:
As i have mentioned in my earlier post that i have changed to Eclipse Indigo development environment, i was trying to open the Design layout of my xml file and it is being appeared:

Problem while loading XML files

Problem while loading XML files

Instead it should be actually appeared as:

Actual output when we load XML layout files

Actual output when we load XML layout files

Solution:

In Layout folder, right click on any xml layout file, select open with -> Android Layout Editor. Enjoy :)

Solution-2: (May be permanent):

I just made a trick to solve the above problem. It may be helpful to you, just try it, select any xml layout file, click on window->preferences and now follow as per the below snap:

Android - graphical layout editor

Android - graphical layout editor

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About Paresh Mayani

I'm Paresh Mayani, a passionate mobile application developer from India. Having been involved in android app development since 2010. By passion, I am Head/Organizer of Google Developers Group (GDG), Ahmedabad
  • Matt Crawley

    This did not work for me; I have no idea what is going on with the program, but it says “org.eclipse.core.runtime.CoreException: Error opening the Android XML editor. Is the document an XML file?” at the top of the error details.

    • http://pareshnmayani.wordpress.com Paresh N Mayani

      I have seen this problem before. Sometimes (no guarantees!) installing the latest JRE/JDK helps. (From SO link).

      • Kevin

        I had the same problem on Windows 7. Tried two different machines and 3.7 and 3.5.X Eclipse. I don’t know how the graphical layout tab got lost. Installed latest JDK still have the same problem.

        • pareshnmayani

          Hey Kevin,
          i have updated the post with solution-2, please find it.

  • http://twitter.com/buddhasource Siddharth Menons

    Thanks works just fine for me. But I have to do this every time I open the xml. Is there any permanent solution / configuration ?

    • pareshnmayani

      Hey siddharth,
      i have updated the post with solution-2, please find it.

  • jingyue

    Hi, may I know how to install android layout editor?

    • http://www.technotalkative.com/ Paresh N. Mayani

      My dear, its built-in things, no need to install anything :)