The Action Bar: Front to Back

AnDevCon SF 2013

The Action Bar,
Front to Back
Copyright © 2012 CommonsWare, LLC

Action Bar Options
●

Native Implementation
●

●

Works well if android:minSdkVersion is 11 or
higher

Backports
●

Official: AppCompat

●

Popular: ActionBarSherlock


Action Bar Options
●

AppCompat
●

Part of Android Support package

●

Pros
–
–

●

Google “seal of approval”
No additional libraries (since you probably are already
using the Android Support package)

Cons
–

Released in August 2013

–

Modest track record to date


Action Bar Options
●

ActionBarSherlock
●

Independent open source backport

●

Pros
–
–

●

Used by countless projects over 18+ months
Lots of material written about it

Cons
–

Requires an Android library project

–

No Google “seal of approval”


Manifest Changes
●

<uses-sdk android:targetSdkVersion=”14”>
●
●

●

Action bar added
Holographic theme for widgets

android:uiOptions=”splitActionBarWhenNarrow”
●

Two halves of action bar, top and bottom

●

Used for phones in portrait mode


Populating the Bar
●

res/menu/options.xml (or other name)
●

Root = <menu>

●

<menu> holds <item> elements

●

<item> defines a single menu item
–

android:id

–

android:title

–

android:icon

–

android:visible

–

android:enabled


Populating the Bar
●

Activity Callbacks for Action Bar
●

onCreateOptionsMenu()
–

●

onOptionsItemSelected()
–

●

Where you set up the basic options menu to use, via a
MenuInflater
Called when the user clicks on something in the action
bar

Default Behavior: Overflow
●

Devices with MENU button – use to display

●

Devices sans MENU button – … to display


Toolbar Buttons
●

●

Puts item right in action bar, vs. overflow
Add android:showAsAction to <item> in
menu resource
●

●

ifRoom to indicate it can remain an options menu
item if there is no room
withText if you want icon & title


Fragments and the Action Bar
●

Step #1: Call setHasOptionsMenu(true)

●

Step #2: Implement onCreateOptionsMenu()
●

●

Slightly different method signature

Step #3: Implement onOptionsItemSelected()


Custom Action Bar Widgets
●

Option #1: Substitute Own Inflated Layout for
Standard Button
●

●

Add android:actionLayout to <item> in menu
resource
Call getActionView() on MenuItem to
configure at runtime


●

Option #2: android:actionViewClass
●

Skip the layout, directly reference a View class

●

Often implements CollapsibleActionView interface
–

●

Allows automatic expansion to fill available space or
collapse to allow other action bar items to be seen

Built-In: SearchView


●

Option #3: ActionProvider
●

●

Extend ActionProvider, implement
onCreateActionView()
Wire in via android:actionProviderClass in
menu resource

●

Supports overflow with simplified UI

●

Built-in
–

ShareActionProvider

–

MediaRouteActionProvider


ShareActionProvider
●

Stock Way to Share Content

●

Step #1: Add to <menu>

●

Step #2: Call setShareIntent()
●

●

●

Once or many times, as appropriate
Be sure to set MIME type!

Optional
●

Control share history

●

Register OnShareTargetSelectedListener, to update UI


SearchView
●

The Classic Magnifying Glass

●

Approaches
●

Iconified by default, expanding on click

●

Expanded by default
–

Good for tablets, particularly in landscape


Basic SearchView Usage
●

Step #1: Add to <menu>

●

Step #2: Configure in onCreateOptionsMenu()
●

Register listeners
–
–

●

●

OnQueryTextListener
OnCloseListener

Other settings

Step #3: Respond to Events
●

E.g., manage a ListView filter


App Icon
●

Default = activity icon
●

●

Virtual menu choice: android.R.id.home
●

●

Optional android:logo in <application> to
supply alternative image
Handle in onOptionsItemSelected()

setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled()
●
●

Adds arrowhead
Handling “up navigation” well is beyond the
scope of this presentation


Action Bar Navigation
●

Option #1: Tabs
●

Use setNavigationMode() on ActionBar
–

NAVIGATION_MODE_TABS

●

Call addTab() to add a tab

●

Pros: easy to set up, automatic fragment support

●

Cons
–

May appear on separate row

–

May be converted into list navigation


●

Option #2: List
●

Use setNavigationMode() on ActionBar
–

●

NAVIGATION_MODE_LIST

Call setListNavigationCallbacks() to define
Spinner contents and listener


●

setCustomView()
●
●

●
●

You supply your own View or layout resource ID
Used in the navigation space on the action bar,
instead of tabs or Spinner
Example: AutoCompleteTextView for browser
getCustomView() to retrieve inflated layout for
runtime configuration


Action Modes
●

Alternate Action Bar for Contextual Actions
●

Operations on selections
–
–

●

Multiple selections in a list
Selected text in a TextView, EditText, WebView, etc.

Replacement for context menu


Action Modes
●

ActionMode.Callback
●

●

Configure ActionMode in
onCreateActionMode()
onActionItemClicked() if user clicks a toolbar
button

●

finish() the ActionMode when done

●

Clean up in onDestroyActionMode()


Action Modes
●

Automatic Multiple-Choice Action Mode
●

CHOICE_MODE_MULTIPLE_MODAL and an

appropriate row layout
●

Checking item toggles on action mode with your
supplied MultiChoiceModeListener callback
–

Serves as ActionBar.Callback, plus
onItemCheckedStateChanged() for check/uncheck
events


Action Modes
●

Long-Press-Initiated Automatic Action Mode
●

Start off in single-choice mode

●

On long-click of item, toggle into
CHOICE_MODE_MULTIPLE_MODAL

●

●

When action mode destroyed, switch back to
single-choice mode
Need to remember choice mode across
configuration changes!


Styles and Themes
●

Theme.Holo / Theme.Holo.Light
●

●

Standard themes, standard color scheme

Can Style the Action Bar
●

Easy: Action Bar Style Generator
–

●

http://jgilfelt.github.io/android-actionbarstylegenerator

More power: DIY
–

https://developer.android.com/training/basics/actionbar
/styling.html


What Else Is There?
●

Custom Action Providers

●

ActionBarDrawerToggle

●

Transparent/Translucent Action Bars

●

Checkable Action Items

●

Long-Press “Tooltip” Help

●

And more!


The Action Bar: Front to Back

More Related Content

Similar to The Action Bar: Front to Back (20)

More from CommonsWare (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

The Action Bar: Front to Back