Develop Reference

How to add a custom menu to an actionBar

I am working in an app with this kind of structure:
The app has no initial ActionBar so I add it on the OnCreate on each Activity this way:
android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar barra =(android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar) getLayoutInflater().inflate(local.quick_stuff.R.layout.barra_herramientas,null);
LinearLayout layout_actividad = (LinearLayout)findViewById(R.id.cp_lista_receta);
layout_actividad.addView(barra,0);
setSupportActionBar(barra);
getSupportActionBar().setTitle("Listado de Recetas");
Then I try to inflate a menu.xml to the ActionBar so the code changes to this:
android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar barra =(android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar) getLayoutInflater().inflate(local.quick_stuff.R.layout.barra_herramientas,null);
barra.inflateMenu(R.menu.menu_barra);
LinearLayout layout_actividad = (LinearLayout) findViewById(R.id.cp_lista_receta);
layout_actividad.addView(barra,0);
setSupportActionBar(barra);
getSupportActionBar().setTitle("Listado de Recetas");
getSupportActionBar().setDisplayOptions(ActionBar.DISPLAY_SHOW_CUSTOM);
But the result is a blank ActionBar
The Menu.xml file
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
<item
android:id="#+id/filtro"
android:icon="#drawable/filtrado_icono"
android:title="Filtrado"
android:visible="true"
app:showAsAction="ifRoom"/>
</menu>
At the end of the day i am trying to do this to have flexibility because a want to have different menu.xml to inflate at my ActionBar.
I am thinking this could be kind of flexible but has too many branching coding.
Any help?

Just for sake of closing, and help if someone needs it:
if you call setSupportActionBar(barra);
You must override onCreateOptionsMenu() because the activity takes control of the toolbar and the Menu must be defined by that method. So I just added this to the activity code.
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.menu_barra, menu);
return true;
}

Remove Toolbar items on runtime

I have a Toolbar within my app which I would like to modify it contents dynamically, during the app execution (in other words, on run-time).
For example, the app is capable of taking and previewing photos; once that photos are previewed, the user is able to select some photos and perform a sending action to a server. I want also to make the user able to delete photos once that some of them are selected and for doing that I would like that the "delete" item on the action bar (identifiable via the trash icon) will be visible only when one or more photos are selected.
Is this possible to do?
If yes, how?
In other words and, more generically, I want to control items (visibility) in the toolbar, setting the code as they will be "visible" only when some conditions are "true" (in the example above, when photos are selected or, in a different example, when user is logged) and invisible when they are "false" (when user isn't logged).
For now I just need to "remove" (or make invisible) items in the Toolbar, but it will be useful also to know if is possible to add items in the toolbar on run-time.
I'm adding some code which can help to understand the problem.
app_bar.xml file in "/res/layout", which graphically defines the Toolbar
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/my_toolbar"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
android:elevation="4dp"
android:theme="#style/ToolbarTheme" />
menu_resources.xml file, which defines the Toolbar items
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
<!-- "User favourite function", should appear as action button if possible -->
<item
android:id="#+id/action_app_icon"
android:icon="#mipmap/ic_launcher"
android:title="#string/action_bar_app_icon"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<!-- Settings, should always be in the overflow -->
<item
android:id="#+id/action_delete"
android:icon="#drawable/trash"
android:title="#string/action_bar_delete"
app:showAsAction="always"/>
<!-- Settings, should always be in the overflow -->
<item
android:id="#+id/action_settings"
android:icon="#drawable/settings"
android:title="#string/action_bar_settings"
app:showAsAction="never"/>
<!-- About, should always be in the overflow -->
<item
android:id="#+id/about"
android:icon="#android:drawable/ic_dialog_info"
app:showAsAction="never"
android:title="#string/action_bar_about"/>
Part of the activity in which the toolbar is
public class myClass extends AppCompatActivity implements View.OnClickListener {
// Instantiating a toolbar
private Toolbar toolbar;
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_my_class);
// Adding toolbar to the activity
toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.my_toolbar);
setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
// Get a support ActionBar corresponding to this toolbar
ActionBar ab = getSupportActionBar();
// Enable the Up button
ab.setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true);
}
// The method that creates an options menu
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
// Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_resource, menu);
// This make the delete item invisible
menu.findItem(R.id.action_delete).setVisible(false);
return true;
}
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch (item.getItemId()) {
case R.id.action_settings:
// Perform the settings action
return true;
case R.id.about:
// Perform the about
return true;
case R.id.action_delete:
deletePhotos();
return true;
default:
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
}
public static void manageSelection(Boolean state, int position){
if (photoArray.getNumberSelected() == 0) {
// disable the trash icon and its functionality;
} else {
// enable the trash icon with its functionality;
}
}
// This method allows to deleteItems images to the array
public void deletePhotos() {
//code for deleting photos
}
}
Thanks for your time.

Try this code in your activity please:
public class ActivityClass extends AppCompatActivity {
MenuItem menuItem; // Make global toolbar's menuItem
.
.
.
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_layout, menu);
menuItem = menu.findItem(R.id.toolbar_action_button) // Your toolbar´s button ID and save it in your global menuItem
return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
}
public void showMenuItem(){
menuItem.setVisible(true); // Call this method in runtime when you need show it
}
public void hideMenuItem(){
menuItem.setVisible(false); // Call this method in runtime when you need hide it
}
[EDIT]
Thanks to Alessandro Iudicone´s comment we have an alternative way to get the toolbar´s menu too without the global MenuItem but only global Toolbar instance:
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_layout, menu);
return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
}
public void showMenuItem(){
toolbar.getMenu().findItem(R.id.toolbar_actio‌​n_button).setVisible‌​(true);
}
public void hideMenuItem(){
toolbar.getMenu().findItem(R.id.toolbar_actio‌​n_button).setVisible‌​(false);
}
Hope it helps :)

For hiding the icon:
toolbar.findViewById(R.id.menu_item_id).setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
For adding a view to the toolbar:
TextView textView = new TextView(MainActivity.this);
textView.setText("Hello World");
toolbar.addView(textView);
This only works for views on the toolbar itself, not for the overflow menu. You'll probably have to use code found in this stack overflow answer if you want to mess with the overflow menu: Android Toolbar overflow menu view id

Changing menu items on a toolbar menu made from a xml layout

So I have this toolbar in my app, and I want to display different menu items depending on whether the user is logged in or not. When the user logs in or out I want to update my layout which for now is the toolbar menu to represent the change. For some reason though, my menu items are not removed at all, all of them are visible at all times, regardless of the login state.
My menu items:
<menu
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
<item
android:id="#+id/action_add"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_add"
android:title="#string/action_add"
app:showAsAction="ifRoom"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/action_login"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_logged_out"
android:title="#string/action_log_in"
app:showAsAction="always"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/action_logout"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_logged_in"
android:title="#string/action_log_out"
app:showAsAction="always"/>
</menu>
The first menu item is only supposed to be visible to a user that is logged in. Also I guess it's self explanatory but I only want one of the log in/out buttons to be visible depending on the login state.
My Java code:
protected void initializeToolbar(){
myToolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.my_toolbar);
menu = myToolbar.getMenu();
resetToolbarMenu();
myToolbar.setOnMenuItemClickListener(this);
}
private void resetToolbarMenu(){
menu.clear();
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu, menu);
if(loginPrefs.getBoolean("login", false)) { //loginPrefs is reference to a SharedPreference object
menu.removeItem(1);
} else {
menu.removeItem(2);
menu.removeItem(0);
}
}
Reason I got two methods is that I only want to set up the toolbar and listener once, but I want to be able to change the menu every time the user logs in/out without reloading the page.
After a successful login the resetToolbarMenu() method will be called again.
I suppose the menu.remove(0) does not update the UI, but I could not find another way to reach my menu object without first inflating it and then getting it from the toolbar, and I assume the inflation is what decides what items are visible. Basically, I could not find a way to remove any menu items before inflating or updating the UI in another way than inflating.
Solution:
I changed my java code into something like this:
protected void initializeToolbar(){
myToolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.my_toolbar);
setSupportActionBar(myToolbar);
}
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu, menu);
return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu); // Don't know if this is necessary or if returning true is prefered.
}
#Override
public boolean onPrepareOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
if(loginPrefs.getBoolean("login", false)) {
menu.getItem(0).setVisible(true);
menu.getItem(1).setVisible(false);
menu.getItem(2).setVisible(true);
} else {
menu.getItem(0).setVisible(false);
menu.getItem(1).setVisible(true);
menu.getItem(2).setVisible(false);
}
return true;
}
I also had to call invalidateOptionsMenu() on logout/login to update the toolbar/menu. However onPrepareOptionsMenu() is also automatically called whenever you open the menu for items that aren't shown on the toolbar itself.
PS: OnCreateOptionsMenu and OnPrepareOptionsMenu will not be used unless you remember to setSupportActionBar(myToolbar) as I forgot.

You can create options menu by overriding onCreateOptionsMenu. You can create 2 xml and inflate either one of them depending on your logic. To force a redraw of the menu, you can call invalidateOptionsMenu.
For example
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
if (login) {
inflater.inflate(R.menu.login_menu, menu);
} else {
inflater.inflate(R.menu.logout_menu, menu);
}
return true;
}
And outside change the flag and force redraw
login = false; // or true
invalidateOptionsMenu();

You have to override onPrepareOptionsMenu in the activity to change the items in the menu.
From the documentation:
Prepare the Screen's standard options menu to be displayed. This is called right before the menu is shown, every time it is shown. You can use this method to efficiently enable/disable items or otherwise dynamically modify the contents.

How to enable back press button on the right side of action bar?

I would like to add a back arrow button to the right side of action bar.
I have the following code, but it adds the back button to the the left side of the action bar.
ActionBar actionBar = getActionBar();
actionBar.setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true);

What you did is enabled the action-bar's back functionality on click/touch event. If you want a button at the right of the action bar, the best/easy thing you can do is to add an overflow menu, for which you can set-up any icon you want.
There are lots of tutorials on how to do this (for ex. http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/Creating_and_Managing_Overflow_Menus_on_Android).
Essential points are as follows.
Create the layout/items for the overflow menu (filename should match with the one in the 2nd step).
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item
android:id="#+id/menu_settings"
android:orderInCategory="1"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:icon="#drawable/overflow_menu_icon"
android:title="#string/menu_settings" />
</menu>
Init the overflow inside the onCreateOptionsMenu() function, where activity_menu_app is the name of the .xml file created in the previous step.
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_menu_app, menu);
return true;
}
Catch the touch events of the menu items inside onOptionsItemSelected() function.
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch (item.getItemId()) {
case R.id.menu_settings:
// do your stuff here
return true;
default:
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
}

Please go through -Back button is not working properly in Right side of action bar
If you want to add back arrow button on the right side - Toolbar is the best option to add anything in the actionbar or Topbar.

First, you need to initialize the toolbar :
Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
then call the back button from actionBar :
getSupportActionBar().setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true);
getSupportActionBar().setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(true);
Finally, over right this method,
#Override
public boolean onSupportNavigateUp() {
onBackPressed();
return true;
}
Solution collected from,this
Link

How to set 3 dot menu image as showcase view target?

I need to get the id of the 3 dot menu on action bar.I need it to use
showcaseview on it to show a tutorial to the user.
If it is not possible,then is there any way to set showcaseView target
as 3dot menu image?

Assuming your Activity is AppCompatActivity:
Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.action_bar);
if (toolbar != null) {
// 0 - title
// 1 - options menu
View menuLayout = toolbar.getChildAt(1);
if (menuLayout instanceof ViewGroup) {
// index here depends on actual toolbar layout
View menu3dots = ((ViewGroup)menuLayout).getChildAt(0);
}
}

it has no id; you must inflate the view to create the three dots. You also need another xml file defining the menu.
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
// Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.your_menu, menu);
return true;
}
The xml file:
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" tools:context=".My_Activity">
<item android:id="#+id/more_info" android:title="#string/moreInfo"
android:orderInCategory="100" app:showAsAction="never" />