title: Setting background colour of Android layout element
body: <p>I am trying to, somewhat clone the design of an activity <a href="https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=0AfYilHnGmJNGZGZwNnZ4dm5fNDdkY3o2M3Bqag&amp;hl=en_GB">from a set of slides on Android UI design</a>. However I am having a problem with a very simple task.</p>
  
  <p>I have created the layout as shown in the image, and the header is a <code>TextView</code> in a <code>RelativeLayout</code>. Now I wish to change the background colour of the <code>RelativeLayout</code>, however I cannot seem to figure out how.</p>
  
  <p>I know I can set the <code>android:background</code> property in the <code>RelativeLayout</code> tag in the XML file, but what do I set it to? I want to define a new colour that I can use in multiple places. Is it a <code>drawable</code> or a <code>string</code>?</p>
  
  <p>Additionally I would expect there to be a very simple way to this from within the Eclipse Android UI designer that I must be missing?</p>
  
  <p>I am a bit frustrated currently, as this should be an activity that is performed with a few clicks at maximum. So any help is very appreciated. :)</p>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/BeIBr.png" alt="Android activity design"></p>