Example usage of the tools namespace for creating a meaningful Design View

tools_namespace_example.xml

<TextView
        xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:visibility="gone"
        tools:visibility="visible"
        tools:text="Rebecca Franks" />

Tired of creating dummy text strings in the strings.xml file? or want to see things in the Design View but its supposed to be hidden?

You can use the nifty tools namespace to make things visible for design purposes but have no affect in your app. Add the tools namespace to your XML file, and you can override things such as visibility and text.

Even though android:visibility is set to gone, using tools:visibility to visible, the view will be visible in the Design View but not in the real implementation. Very handy for complex layouts.