title: how to make a textview invisible
body: <p>this is my first android app so plese bear with me, and also, if you suggest a answer, alternative method of completeing a task, please specify how and also in detail...</p>
  
  <p>Here is my problem, after doing some research, and trying it out, my app FC when I have the following line (specified by *)</p>
  
  <pre><code>private TextView msg;
  
  msg = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.txtviewOut) ;
  
  *    msg.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I have no idea why</p>
  
  <p>here is the rest of all my code:</p>
  
  <p>main.xml</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
      android:layout_width="match_parent"
      android:layout_height="match_parent"
      android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
      android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
      android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
      android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
      tools:context=".MainActivity$PlaceholderFragment"&gt;
  
      &lt;EditText
          android:id="@+id/textenter"
          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
          android:layout_width="match_parent"
          android:layout_below="@+id/lbledt1"
          android:layout_alignParentLeft="true" /&gt;
  
      &lt;TextView
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
          android:text="Enter Name"
          android:id="@+id/lbledt1"
          android:layout_marginTop="26dp"
          android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" /&gt;
  
      &lt;TextView
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
          android:text="Enter your date of birth (e.g. xx July 19xx)"
          android:id="@+id/textView"
          android:layout_below="@+id/textenter"
          android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
          android:layout_marginTop="57dp" /&gt;
  
      &lt;EditText
          android:id="@+id/editText"
          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
          android:layout_width="match_parent"
          android:layout_below="@+id/textView"
          android:layout_alignParentLeft="true" /&gt;
  
      &lt;Button
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
          android:text="Press this button"
          android:id="@+id/button"
          android:layout_centerVertical="true"
          android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" /&gt;
  
      &lt;TextView
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
          android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceLarge"
          android:text="You have been awesome since"
          android:id="@+id/txtviewOut"
          android:layout_marginTop="86dp"
          android:textIsSelectable="false"
          android:visibility="invisible"
          android:layout_below="@+id/button"
          android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" /&gt;
  
      &lt;TextView
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
          android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceLarge"
          android:id="@+id/txtoutName"
          android:textIsSelectable="false"
          android:layout_alignBottom="@+id/txtviewOut"
          android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
          android:layout_marginBottom="41dp" /&gt;
  
      &lt;TextView
          android:layout_width="wrap_content"
          android:layout_height="wrap_content"
          android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceLarge"
          android:id="@+id/txtOutDate"
          android:layout_marginTop="28dp"
          android:textIsSelectable="false"
          android:layout_below="@+id/txtviewOut"
          android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" /&gt;
  
  &lt;/RelativeLayout&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>and here is from MainActivity.java</p>
  
  <pre><code>package com.example.helloandroidstudio;
  
  import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity;
  import android.support.v7.app.ActionBar;
  import android.support.v4.app.Fragment;
  import android.os.Bundle;
  import android.view.LayoutInflater;
  import android.view.Menu;
  import android.view.MenuItem;
  import android.view.View;
  import android.view.ViewGroup;
  import android.os.Build;
  import android.widget.Button;
  import android.widget.EditText;
  import android.widget.TextView;
  
  public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
  
      private Button btnClick;
      private EditText Name, Date;
      private TextView msg, NameOut, DateOut;
      @Override
      protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
          super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
          setContentView(R.layout.main);
          btnClick = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button) ;
          btnClick.setOnClickListener(this);
          Name = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.textenter) ;
          Date = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.editText) ;
          msg = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.txtviewOut) ;
          msg.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
          NameOut = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.txtoutName) ;
          DateOut = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.txtOutDate) ;
          if (savedInstanceState == null) {
              getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction()
                      .add(R.id.container, new PlaceholderFragment())
                      .commit();
          }
      }
  
      public void onClick(View v)
      {
          if (v == btnClick)
          {
              if (Name.equals("") == false &amp;&amp; Date.equals("") == false)
              {
                  NameOut = Name;
                  DateOut = Date;
                  msg.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
              }
              else
              {
                  msg.setText("Please complete both fields");
                  msg.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
              }
          }
          return;
  
      }
  
  
      @Override
      public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
  
          // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
          getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
          return true;
      }
  
      @Override
      public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
          // Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will
          // automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long
          // as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.
          switch (item.getItemId()) {
              case R.id.action_settings:
                  return true;
          }
          return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
      }
  
      /**
       * A placeholder fragment containing a simple view.
       */
      public static class PlaceholderFragment extends Fragment {
  
          public PlaceholderFragment() {
          }
  
          @Override
          public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
                  Bundle savedInstanceState) {
              View rootView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_main, container, false);
              return rootView;
          }
      }
  
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Any assistance would be appreciated</p>