Develop Reference

Hide action bar 3 dots but display items

I am having an issue where i have 2 items in my action bar (one 'refresh' button and one 'Save' Button, but for some reason they do not show, instead they are nested inside an options menu (3 dots). Would anyone know how to remove the 3 dots menu and display my 2 items? I have tried many things but ultimately I just end up removing all three items. Thanks in advance.
Here is my code
add_event_action.xml (this is my menu xml)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<item
android:id="#+id/action_refresh"
android:showAsAction="always"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_refresh"
android:title="Refresh"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/action_save"
android:showAsAction="always"
android:title="#string/save"/>
</menu>
Here is my Java class
public class RandomActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_events_list);
}
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.add_event_action, menu);
return true;
}
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch (item.getItemId()) {
// action with ID action_refresh was selected
case R.id.action_refresh:
Toast.makeText(this, "Refresh selected", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT)
.show();
break;
// action with ID action_settings was selected
case R.id.action_save:
Toast.makeText(this, "Save selected", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT)
.show();
break;
default:
break;
}
return true;
}
}

If I understood correctly, you need two menu buttons in your toolbar.
This works for me, place it in your menu.xml:
<item
android:id="#+id/done"
android:title="#string/done"
app:showAsAction="always|withText"/>

Try to use app:showAsAction instead of android:showAsAction

To expand on the other answers somewhat:
When your activity extends from AppCompatActivity, your menu items should use app:showAsAction. When your activity does not (that is, when you're not using the AppCompat support libraries), your menu items should use android:showAsAction.
Documentation: http://tools.android.com/tips/lint-checks
AppCompatResource
Summary: Menu namespace
Priority: 5 / 10
Severity: Error
Category: Correctness
When using the appcompat library, menu resources should refer to the
showAsAction in the app: namespace, not the android: namespace.
Similarly, when not using the appcompat library, you should be using the android:showAsAction attribute.

How to create Settings page on Android?

I am trying to add a page in "Settings" menu option on top of the android app. The app by default had the 3 dots on top right corner and when I click on it, it doesn't go anywhere and now I am trying to implement settings to my app. What I have done so far is following,
Created xml file in /res/xml folder called preferences.xml with following content;
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<preferencescreen xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<preference android:key="sample"
android:summary="can open other activity"
android:title="click here">
</preference>
<edittextpreference android:key="Name"
android:summary="Add user Name."
android:title="Your Name">
</edittextpreference>
</preferencescreen>
Then I have created a new java class called Preferences in /src/main/java/package/ with following content;
package com.domain.mobile.tipcalculator.app;
import android.preference.PreferenceFragment;
import android.os.Bundle;
public class Preferences extends PreferenceFragment {
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences);
}
}
Then to my understanding this is all I need. I m not getting any errors on compilation time but when I click on the 3 dots on top right and click on "Settings" I still don't see the page come up. Any ideas? Thank you.
P.S. I am using PreferenceFragment because my min sdk requirement is 11.

To use menus like that, you have to create a menu xml file then inflate it and then switch between the menu item ids so that you can handle click events like the following:
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu)
{
MenuInflater menuInflater = getMenuInflater();
menuInflater.inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
return true;
}
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item)
{
switch (item.getItemId())
{
case R.id.preferences:
startActivity(new Intent(this, PreferenceActivity.class));
return true;
case R.id.settings:
startActivity(new Intent(this, SettingsActivity.class));
return true;
default:
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
}
You should be able to achieve what you need this way and I hope this helped.

How to create optionmenu for android 3.0 and higher version and option menu icon not showing in higher version mobiles

How to create optionmenu for Android 3.0 and higher version mobiles?
I am trying to create options menu in my Android program. I am using the following code to inflate options menu. option menu icon not showing in higher version mobiles..
public class MainScreenTab extends FragmentActivity implements
ActionBar.TabListener {
private ViewPager viewPager;
private TabsPagerAdapter mAdapter;
private ActionBar actionBar;
private String[] tabs = { "Merchants", "Personal Payee" };
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main_screen_tab_layout);
//Initilization
viewPager = (ViewPager) findViewById(R.id.pager);
actionBar = getActionBar();
mAdapter = new TabsPagerAdapter(getSupportFragmentManager());
viewPager.setAdapter(mAdapter);
actionBar.setHomeButtonEnabled(false);
actionBar.setNavigationMode(ActionBar.NAVIGATION_MODE_TABS);
//Adding Tabs
for (String tab_name : tabs) {
actionBar.addTab(actionBar.newTab().setText(tab_name)
.setTabListener(this));
}
viewPager.setOnPageChangeListener(new ViewPager.OnPageChangeListener() {
#Override
public void onPageSelected(int position) {
// on changing the page
// make respected tab selected
actionBar.setSelectedNavigationItem(position);
}
#Override
public void onPageScrolled(int arg0, float arg1, int arg2) {
}
#Override
public void onPageScrollStateChanged(int arg0) {
}
});
}
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
// Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.main, menu); //inflate our 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()) {
int id = item.getItemId();
if (id == R.id.item_refresh) {
Intent i = new Intent(MainScreenTab.this,ListMerchantType.class);
startActivity(i);
return true;
}
else if (id == R.id.item_save) {
Intent i = new Intent(MainScreenTab.this,ListPayee.class);
startActivity(i);
return true;
}
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
}

You just need to use this Reflection method to force your icon in the ActionBar
public static void forceOverFlowIconInActionBar(Activity mActivity)
{
try
{
ViewConfiguration config = ViewConfiguration.get(mActivity);
Field menuKeyField = ViewConfiguration.class.getDeclaredField("sHasPermanentMenuKey");
if(menuKeyField != null)
{
menuKeyField.setAccessible(true);
menuKeyField.setBoolean(config, false);
}
}
catch(Exception e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
}

Try this one. import java.lang.reflect.Field; And on your onCreateOptionsMenu() method just simply add:
if (menu.getClass().getSimpleName().equals("MenuBuilder")) {
try {
Field field = menu.getClass().getDeclaredField("mOptionalIconsVisible");
field.setAccessible(true);
field.setBoolean(menu, true);
} catch (Exception ignored) {
ignored.printStackTrace();
}
}
and don't forget to add this to your xml menu android:icon="#drawable/blah_blah" . Hope it helps. And don't forget to up-vote if it is helpful.

Menus: Generally a list of commands or facilities displayed on screen. It is a common user interface for the user. If you want to provide a familiar and consistent user experience you should use Menus in your activity. It is beginning with android 3.0(Api level 11). So design and user experience my change for device to device that is depends on the Menu apis.
There mainly there menus in the android. Those are Options menu, Context menu, Popup Menu.
Options menu:
Options menu is a collection of menu items for an activity. The place where you locate icons that is very impact to the app. Such menu items are search, settings, compose email.
If you are developing the options menu for Android 2.3 and lower user can reveal the options menu by pressing menu button. On the 3.0 and higher the options menu items as a combination of action bar items. Beginning with Android 3.0, the Menu button is deprecated (some devices don't have one), so you should migrate toward using the action bar to provide access to actions and other options.
Creating Options Menu in android
Simply options menu is where you should you include options and other actions what are relevant to activity. The item in the options menu is depends on the version you are using.
If it is below 3.0 that comes when you press the menu buttons. If it is higher that will comes to the top of the screen. Means that will include with the action bar screen.
You can declare items for the options menu from either your Activity subclass or a Fragment subclass. At one time if you declare both the items in the activity then that will appear one followed another. You can also reorder the menu items in the android:orderInCategory attribute in each you need to move.
To specify a menu item in the activity first you need to override one method. That method is onCreateOptionsMenu() . This mehtod fragments provide their own onCreateOptionsMenu() callback.
Example:
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.game_menu, menu);
return true;
}
We can perform add and retrieve options in the menu item api by using add() and findItem().
Handling click events in onCreateOptionsMenu():
If you want to provide a click event on the menu items the system calls onOptionsItemSelected. In that method you can identify which item you are selected by using item.getItemId(). which returns the unique ID for the menu item (defined by the android:id attribute in the menu resource or with an integer given to the add() method). You it is matched you can perform your action whatever you want.
Example:
#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);
}
}
When you successfully handle the menu item that will returns true. If not handle that item that will you should call the superclass implementation of onOptionsItemSelected().
Changing menu items at runtime:
When you call onCreateOptionsMenu() that is displaying simple onCreateOptionsMenu(). you can not change the items in the run time. If you want to change the items in the run time you need to call 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.
Example Project:
Open your eclipse and create one project name called OptionsMenu.
In that open you menu folder in the resource folder. In the main.xml file add how many items you want. You can get main.xml file below.
Main.xml
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item android:id="#+id/menu_settings" android:orderInCategory="100"
android:showAsAction="never" android:title="#string/menu_settings"/>
<item android:id="#+id/item1" android:title="Tutorial 1"></item>
<item android:id="#+id/item2" android:title="Tutorial 2"></item>
<item android:id="#+id/item3" android:title="Tutorial 3"></item>
<item android:id="#+id/item4" android:title="Tutorial 4"></item>
<item android:id="#+id/item5" android:title="Tutorial 5"></item>
</menu>
Here i used #string/menu_settings so you can add that item in the strings.xml file.
strings.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<string name="app_name">OptionsMenu</string>
<string name="hello_world">Hello world!</string>
<string name="menu_settings">Settings</string>
</resources>
Once that is done open your main activity. In that write the onCreateOptionsMenu method for adding the menu item to the activity. Once that is done if you want to give click events you write onOptionsItemSelected. You can get the complete code below.
MainActivity
package com.tutorialindustry.optionsmenu;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.widget.Toast;
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
return true;
}
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch (item.getItemId()) {
case R.id.item1:
Toast.makeText(this, "Tutorial 1 Selected", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
return true;
case R.id.item2:
Toast.makeText(this, "Tutorial 2 Selected", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
return true;
case R.id.item3:
Toast.makeText(this, "Tutorial 3 Selected", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
return true;
case R.id.item4:
Toast.makeText(this, "Tutorial 4 Selected", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
return true;
case R.id.item5:
Toast.makeText(this, "Tutorial 5 Selected", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
return true;
default:
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
}
}
Once that is done run you project that you can get the below output. In this way we can perform options menu in the android.

Options Menu not displaying on ActionBar

I wanted to display Menu in ActionBar using ActionBarActivity.
I am getting options menu while clicking options button instead of displaying in the top of action bar.
I need the options menu at top instead of clicking the options menu from 2.3 onwards
My Code :
public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
ActionBar actionBar = getSupportActionBar();
actionBar.setSubtitle("mytest");
actionBar.setTitle("Testing");
getSupportActionBar().setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true);
if (savedInstanceState == null) {
getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction().add(R.id.container, new PlaceholderFragment()).commit();
}
}
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.main_action, menu);
return true;
}
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch (item.getItemId()) {
case R.id.menu_item_one:
Toast.makeText(this, "clicked search", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
break;
default:
break;
}
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;
}
}
}
My XML file :
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item
android:id="#+id/menu_item_one"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_launcher"
android:showAsAction="always"
android:title="#string/action_settings"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/menu_item_two"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_launcher"
android:showAsAction="always"
android:title="#string/action_settings"/>
</menu>

Try it:
Create XML file on "../res/menu/menu_main.xml"
manu_main.xml
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item
android:id="#+id/menu_settings"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:icon="#android:drawable/ic_menu_settings"
android:title="#string/menu_settings"/>
</menu>
The option "never" on "showAsAction", important, if you put that the option always show on ActionBar.
Then now we must asociate this option on the MainActivity.java (class whatever you want).
MainActivity.java
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
...
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
// Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_main, menu);
return true;
}
}
Now that we define the elements of our action bar is knowing how to respond to keystrokes made ​​by the user about them.
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch (item.getItemId()) {
case R.id.menu_settings:
Log.i("ActionBar", "Settings!");;
//open Activity,Fragments or other action
return true;
default:
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
}
If you have morer options on your menu only add item on XML menu_main.xml and on the principal class add other "case".
For Example:
MainActivity.java
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch (item.getItemId()) {
case R.id.menu_save:
Log.i("ActionBar", "Save!");;
//open Activity,Fragments or other action
return true;
case R.id.menu_settings:
Log.i("ActionBar", "Settings!");;
//open Activity,Fragments or other action
return true;
default:
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
}
menu_main.xml
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item
android:id="#+id/menu_settings"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:icon="#android:drawable/ic_menu_settings"
android:title="#string/menu_settings"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/menu_save"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:icon="#android:drawable/ic_menu_save"
android:title="#string/menu_save"/>
</menu>

It is possible that this is because your device has an options button that would open the menu, so Android don't draw the launcher icon.
http://blog.vogella.com/2013/08/06/android-always-show-the-overflow-menu-even-if-the-phone-as-a-menu/

Try with return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu); instead of return true in your onCreateOptionsMenu method according to below android document...
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/actionbar.html#ActionItems
As per above android document...
The ActionBar APIs were first added in Android 3.0 (API level 11) but they are also available in the Support Library for compatibility with Android 2.1 (API level 7) and above.
So, If you want ActionBar in android 2.3 then you have to use Android Support Library.
Edit:
Your menu XML would need to look like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:yourapp="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
>
<item android:id="#+id/item_menu_ok"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_ok"
android:title="#string/ok"
yourapp:showAsAction="always"/>
<item android:id="#+id/item_menu_cancel"
android:icon="#drawable/ic_action_cancel"
android:title="#string/cancel"
yourapp:showAsAction="always"/>
</menu>
Replace yourapp with your app name or any namespace.

I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like your menu XML file should have a menu in it. In the menu, add the items. Like this:
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/main_menu" >
<item...
<item...
</menu>
Perhaps this works.
There are also a few other things to remember in general. Android decides by itself what to show in the ActionBar (depending on what fits there and other parameters). What does not fit in the ActionBar goes into the overflow.

Do this in your oncreate()
ActionBar actionBar = getActionBar();
actionBar.show();
This should do what you want.
Action Bar

Ok, let's try another answer. If, for whatever reason, Android decides not to show the items in the action bar, then what your are seeing is indeed the correct behaviour. Items not in the action bar are shown in overflow.
One reason items don't show in the action bar is because they don't have a icon defined.
You do define an icon, as this,
android:icon="#drawable/ic_launcher"
and I suspect this is the problem. The launcher icon is of different size (larger) than the action bar items (smaller). Try defining the icon in correct size and see if it is displayed.
http://developer.android.com/design/style/iconography.html
Edit: There is an action bar icon pack to get you started so you can test to see if it works. Download it and use eclipse to import some icon..

Android - how do I add context menu with about and quit choices?

When using the Android Eclipse IDE, how do I add a menu that is triggered by the phone menu button such that it has to have an "About" choice that displays an "About my app" dialog and a "Quit" choice that exits the app?

To create a content menu with about a quit items, please add all of the following to your project after first removing any other attempts at an about menu that might potentially conflict with this code. Let Eclipse help you add the required imports or peruse the android documentation as you try to build this, and after everything's in place it should just work :-)
In /res create a folder menu containing a file main.xml with the following xml:
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
<item
android:id="#+id/action_settings"
android:orderInCategory="100"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="#string/action_settings"/>
<item
android:id="#+id/action_quit"
android:orderInCategory="101"
android:showAsAction="never"
android:title="#string/action_quit"/>
</menu>
In MainActivity.java add the following after your onCreate is closed:
#Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
return true;
}
#Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch (item.getItemId()) {
case R.id.action_settings:
AboutDialog about = new AboutDialog(this);
about.setTitle(“About “my app);
about.show();
return true;
case R.id.action_quit:
System.exit(0);
return true;
}
}
Add a new java file but extend Dialog instead of Activity, like shown:
public class AboutDialog extends Dialog {
public AboutDialog(Context context) {
super(context);
}
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
setContentView(R.layout.dialog_about);
}
}
Finally, add a new layout dialog_about.xml like so:
<ScrollView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:id="#+id/ScrollView01"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" >
</ScrollView>
Of course you’ll need to add another layout and content inside the ScrollView, and you may want other features in your menu and your quit item could use a confirmation (possibly). But this should get you started.