Develop Reference

Why my MenuItem is not being hidden?

I am trying to hide a MenuItem of my menu but without success.
This is the code that I have right now:
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getWindow().setSoftInputMode(WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN);
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main_menu, menu);
return true;
}
#Override
public boolean onPrepareOptionsMenu(Menu menu){
MenuItem item = menu.findItem(R.id.lastOption);
item.setVisible(false);
invalidateOptionsMenu();
return true;
}
but it still shows that option when I run the application.
Trying to find why this behaviour happened, I tried to set some breakpoints to my code and found that menu variable has a variable called mVisibleItems. In that variable I can see that the item that I tried to hide does not appear. It appears on the application, though.
So, I cannot understand why if it does not appear on the menu visible variables, it still is shown on the application.
Am I missing something?
Thanks in advance!

invalidateOptionsMenu();, calls onCreateOptionsMenu again. From the documentation
Declare that the options menu has changed, so should be recreated. The
onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu) method will be called the next time it needs
to be displayed.
so, after setting your item to false, you are inflating the layout of your menu, again

I suppose that this is not the better way to do this but I could not do it using onPrepareOptionsMenu.
As I need two types of menu depending of the user that had logged in (admin or user) I finally do this creating two types of menu for my application. One with some options and one without the options that I do not need for a normal user. Then, on onCreateOptionsMenu I inflate the menu that I need depending of the user that has logged in.
This is the code:
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getWindow().setSoftInputMode(WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN);
if("admin".equals(typeUser)){
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_main_admin, menu);
}else{
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_main_user, menu);
}
return true;
}
where typeUser is a String that I send from the Login Activity in which I set a bundle depending of the user that has logged in.
I also have created two activity_main layouts changing the menu option of the NavigationView on the XML:
app:menu="#menu/activity_main_admin" or app:menu="#menu/activity_main_user", depending on the layout.
Finally, I also have created a condition to set the layout on the onCreate method of MainActivity depending of the user that has logged in. This is the code to do this:
if("admin".equals(typeUser)){
setContentView(R.layout.admin);
}else{
setContentView(R.layout.user);
}

Do I need an empty onCreateOptionsMenu for empty menus?

In my app I have some activities without menu items, that use the following override:
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.appbar_menu_empty, menu);
return true;
}
This works good. If I remove the override, I get the same effect on Android 5.1, i.e. an action bar with no icons.
So the question is: can I drop the override?
The documentation of Activity.onCreateOptionsMenu states:
The default implementation populates the menu with standard system menu items.
What does that mean? Do I need to expect that Android comes up with some buttons I did not explicitly add?

You can remove OncreateOptionsMenu() if you dont want to have menu items.
If you want to add menu items, edit the menu.xml file in resources/menu directory.

From the docs the method is defined in Activity class as below
Initialize the contents of the Activity's standard options menu. You
should place your menu items in to menu.
This is only called once, the first time the options menu is
displayed. To update the menu every time it is displayed, see
onPrepareOptionsMenu(android.view.Menu).
The default implementation populates the menu with standard system
menu items. These are placed in the android.view.Menu.CATEGORY_SYSTEM
group so that they will be correctly ordered with application-defined
menu items. Deriving classes should always call through to the base
implementation.
You can safely hold on to menu (and any items created from it), making
modifications to it as desired, until the next time
onCreateOptionsMenu() is called.
When you add items to the menu, you can implement the Activity's
onOptionsItemSelected(android.view.MenuItem) method to handle them
there.
Parameters:
menu The options menu in which you place your items. Returns:
You must return true for the menu to be displayed; if you return false it will not be shown.
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
if (mParent != null) {
return mParent.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
}
return true;
}
also check this SO thread out onCreateOptionsMenu() calling super
check the code for Activity class here http://grepcode.com/file/repository.grepcode.com/java/ext/com.google.android/android/5.1.1_r1/android/app/Activity.java#Activity.onCreateOptionsMenu%28android.view.Menu%29

see some sample code here where you need to show option in action bar menu
#Override
public void onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu, MenuInflater inflater) {
inflater.inflate(R.menu.menu_act_add_recipe, menu);
super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu, inflater);
}
/res/menu/menu_act_add_recipe.xml
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
<item
android:id="#+id/action_add_image"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_tab_add_image_white"
android:orderInCategory="100"
android:title="#string/action_preview"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/action_recipe_preview"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_tab_check_white"
android:orderInCategory="100"
android:title="#string/action_preview"
app:showAsAction="always" />

Android - Correct use of invalidateOptionsMenu()

I have been searching a lot on invalidateOptionsMenu() and I know what it does. But I cannot think of any real life example where this method could be useful.
I mean, for instance, let's say we want to add a new MenuItem to our ActionBar, we can simply get the Menu from onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) and use it in any button's action.
Now to my real question, is following the only way of using invalidateOptionsMenu()?
bool _OtherMenu;
protected override void OnCreate (Bundle bundle)
{
_OtherMenu = false;
base.OnCreate (bundle);
SetContentView (Resource.Layout.Main);
Button button = FindViewById<Button> (Resource.Id.myButton);
button.Click += delegate
{
if(_OtherMenu)
_OtherMenu = false;
else
_OtherMenu = true;
InvalidateOptionsMenu ();
};
}
public override bool OnCreateOptionsMenu (IMenu menu)
{
var inflater = this.SupportMenuInflater;
if(_OtherMenu)
inflater.Inflate (Resource.Menu.another_menu, menu);
else
inflater.Inflate (Resource.Menu.main_activity_menu, menu);
return base.OnCreateOptionsMenu (menu);
}
Click the button and a different menu appears. Click the button again and previous menu appears.
P.S. Sorry for the C# syntax.

invalidateOptionsMenu() is used to say Android, that contents of menu have changed, and menu should be redrawn. For example, you click a button which adds another menu item at runtime, or hides menu items group. In this case you should call invalidateOptionsMenu(), so that the system could redraw it on UI. This method is a signal for OS to call onPrepareOptionsMenu(), where you implement necessary menu manipulations.
Furthermore, OnCreateOptionsMenu() is called only once during activity (fragment) creation, thus runtime menu changes cannot be handled by this method.
All can be found in documentation:
After the system calls onCreateOptionsMenu(), it retains an instance
of the Menu you populate and will not call onCreateOptionsMenu() again
unless the menu is invalidated for some reason. However, you should
use onCreateOptionsMenu() only to create the initial menu state and
not to make changes during the activity lifecycle.
If you want to modify the options menu based on events that occur
during the activity lifecycle, you can do so in the
onPrepareOptionsMenu() method. This method passes you the Menu object
as it currently exists so you can modify it, such as add, remove, or
disable items. (Fragments also provide an onPrepareOptionsMenu()
callback.)
On Android 2.3.x and lower, the system calls onPrepareOptionsMenu()
each time the user opens the options menu (presses the Menu button).
On Android 3.0 and higher, the options menu is considered to always be
open when menu items are presented in the action bar. When an event
occurs and you want to perform a menu update, you must call
invalidateOptionsMenu() to request that the system call
onPrepareOptionsMenu().

use this to reload new menu during app lifecycle:
new:
getActivity().invalidateOptionsMenu();
old
ActivityCompat.invalidateOptionsMenu(getActivity());

You need to override method onPrepareOptionsMenu(), write your update code of action menu in same method and if you are using fragment then add setHasOptionsMenu(true); in onCreateView().
Hope it helps you

One use I've found is forcing an order of operations between onResume and onCreateOptionsMenu/onPrepareOptionsMenu. The natural order (as of platform 22 at least) seems to flip flop around, especially when re-orientating your device.
Call invalidateOptionsMenu() in onResume() and you'll guarantee that onPrepareOptionsMenu will be called after onResume (it may additionally be called before). For example, this will allow enabling a menu item based on data retrieved in onResume.

/**
* Set a hint for whether this fragment's menu should be visible. This
* is useful if you know that a fragment has been placed in your view
* hierarchy so that the user can not currently seen it, so any menu items
* it has should also not be shown.
*
* #param menuVisible The default is true, meaning the fragment's menu will
* be shown as usual. If false, the user will not see the menu.
*/
public void setMenuVisibility(boolean menuVisible) {
if (mMenuVisible != menuVisible) {
mMenuVisible = menuVisible;
if (mHasMenu && isAdded() && !isHidden()) {
mHost.onSupportInvalidateOptionsMenu();
}
}
}
XML menu sample:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
<item
android:id="#+id/action_edit"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_edit"
android:title="Edit Task"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/action_delete"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_delete"
android:title="Delete Task"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/action_check"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_check"
android:title="Check Task"
app:showAsAction="always" />
<item
android:id="#+id/action_uncheck"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_undo"
android:title="Uncheck Task"
app:showAsAction="always" />
</menu>
Code inside a sample fragment:
private boolean isMenuItemChecked;
#Override
public void onViewCreated(View view, #Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onViewCreated(view, savedInstanceState);
setMenuVisibility(false);
}
#Override
public void onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu, MenuInflater inflater) {
inflater.inflate(R.menu.my_menu, menu);
super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu, inflater);
}
#Override
public void onPrepareOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
super.onPrepareOptionsMenu(menu);
try {
menu.findItem(R.id.action_check).setVisible(!isMenuItemChecked);
menu.findItem(R.id.action_uncheck).setVisible(isMenuItemChecked);
}
catch(Exception e) {
Log.e(TAG, "onPrepareOptionsMenu error");
}
}
public void loadUi(boolean isMenuItemChecked) {
this.isMenuItemChecked = isMenuItemChecked;
setMenuVisibility(true);
}

Put the initial state of the menu in onCreateOptionsMenu(...).
Use the invalidateOptionsMenu() to force onCreateOptionsMenu(...) and onPrepareOptionsMenu(...).
In onPrepareOptionsMenu(...), call menu.clear() to remove all items from the menu.
Still in onPrepareOptionsMenu(...) place your dynamic menu changes after the clear.

Edit: Here is a better answer to the question.
A good use for invalidateOptionsMenu() is when we have a ListView and Delete All MenuItem so when the ListView is empty we should use invalidateOptionsMenu() to remove the Delete All MenuItem.
Here is a question related to this answer: Question.

It's old, but hope this helps some one out in the future.
One use I found on real life scenario:
Assume you've a list of items that are stored into database, and you've 2 activities:
DisplayActivity: which displayed these objects after getting them
from database.
EditActivity: used to edit an existing item & save that into database.
You decided to have a couple of options to go from DisplayActivity to EditActivity:
First: To add a brand-new item into database.
Second: To edit an existing item.
In order not to repeat yourself by duplicating code, you decided to use EditActivity for both purposes.
And so, you want to customize Options Menu according to each purpose. For this case you'd build a default options menu using onCreateOptionsMenu(), and leave it as-is when it's time to edit an existing item; and invalidateOptionsMenu() it when it's time to create new items; and in this case onPrepareOptionsMenu() is auto triggered for customizing your menu.
For instance the Options menu can have a delete option for editing an existing item, and this should be hidden when adding a new item.

From fragment call getActivity().invalidateOptionsMenu();.

Menu onClick attribute and method argument

I'm practising adding menu items and trying to react to menu item clicks. According to the developer's guide, it says:
Tip: Android 3.0 adds the ability for you to define the on-click behavior for a menu item in XML, using the android:onClick attribute. The value for the attribute must be the name of a method defined by the activity using the menu. The method must be public and accept a single MenuItem parameter—when the system calls this method, it passes the menu item selected. For more information and an example, see the Menu Resource document.
However, the sample code in the same page doesn't follow the rule: the methods do not pass the MenuItem parameter. The sample code is:
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
// Handle item selection
switch (item.getItemId()) {
case R.id.new_game:
newGame();
return true;
case R.id.help:
showHelp();
return true;
default:
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
}
My question is: Shouldn't method calls be newGame(MenuItem item) and showHelp(MenuItem item), instead of newGame() and showHelp()? When I tested my own, (MenuItem item) argument was needed in fact, otherwise, the app was crashing, even though it compiles correctly.
Any help would be appreciated.

onOptionsItemSelected is the alternative to defining onClick attributes and what is available prior to Android 3.0 (important if you want to be backward compatible). It is simply a different way of providing the same process flow. Of course, onClick has the potential to crash your application on runtime, rather than onOptionsItemSelected not handling a menu item (simply causing it to do nothing).

Android no menu items showing in Action Bar

I am developing an Android app and I am trying to put a menu item into the ActionBar.
It has enough space, so it shouldn't be on the overflow or anything.
In my menu.xml I have added that item + android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"
However, no matter how large the screen is, that damn menu will not show up on the ActionBar (although it is present in the menu, if the user presses a key).
Unfortunately I cannot post any full-code since I am under a non-disclosure agreement, but I will answer all questions.
The section where I inflate the menu:
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.drinks, menu);
return true;
}
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch (item.getItemId()) {
case android.R.id.home:
NavUtils.navigateUpFromSameTask(this);
return true;
case R.id.done:
//stuff
}
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}

Since you have only a menu item, use this attribute instead: android:showAsAction="always".
EDIT Above works all the time if you're running the code on post Honeycomb. But, in order to run on pre-Honeycomb, according to developer article, you need to extend from ActionBarActivity, that means adding compatibility support v4 & v7 and set the following theme for your activity:
<activity android:theme="#style/Theme.AppCompat.Light" ... >
... or a Them.AppCompat theme. Or use one of your own that extends from these.