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Android OptionMenu Tutorial with Examples

  1. Android Option Menu
  2. Example of Option Menu

1. Android Option Menu

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In Android, an Option Menu is a set of primary options of an application which users can select one of the options to perform an action. The Option Menu appears on the right side of the App Bar.
Let's have a look at the XML codes below to create a simple Option Menu.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

    <item android:title="Menu Item 1" />
    <item android:title="Menu Item 2" >
        <menu >
            <item android:title="Menu Item 2.1" />
            <item android:title="Menu Item 2.2" />
        </menu>
    </item>
    <item android:title="Menu Item 3" />
</menu>
Users need to press the icon to display the Option Menu.
A Menu may contain one or more Menu Items and Sub Menus.
Before Android 3.0, you could easily set icons for the Menu Items. However, after Google's design thinking had changed, they wanted developers to put all the functions on the App Bar instead of the Menu, and they no longer allowed icons to be displayed on the Menu Items of the Overflow Menu. Yet, there are a few exceptions, such as Samsung-related Android devices still support to show icons on the Overflow Menu.
activity_main_menu.xml (2)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

    <item
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_open"
        android:title="Open"
        app:showAsAction="collapseActionView" />
    <item
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_share"
        android:title="Share">
        <menu>
            <item android:title="Facebook" />
            <item android:title="Instagram" />
        </menu>
    </item>
    <item
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_delete"
        android:title="Delete" />

    <item
        android:id="@+id/app_bar_search"
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_search"
        android:title="Search"
        app:actionViewClass="android.widget.SearchView" />

    <item
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_settings"
        android:title="Settings" />
</menu>
According to a post on StackOverflow, you still have a "tricky" way to make the icons appear on the Item Menu of the Overflow Menu, but there is no guarantee that it will work in later versions.
ActivityMain.java
package org.o7planning.optionmenututorial;

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.appcompat.view.menu.MenuBuilder;

import android.annotation.SuppressLint;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuInflater;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    }

    @SuppressLint("RestrictedApi")
    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        MenuInflater menuInflater = getMenuInflater();
        menuInflater.inflate(R.menu.activity_main_menu, menu);

        // If you want Icon display in Overflow Menu.
        // https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19750635/icon-in-menu-not-showing-in-android
        if(menu instanceof MenuBuilder){
            MenuBuilder m = (MenuBuilder) menu;
            m.setOptionalIconsVisible(true);
        }
        return true;
    }
}
app:showAsAction="always | ifRoom"
Google's new mindset is that the common Menu Items of an Option Menu should be displayed on the App Bar, but users will only see their icons. What they claim is that that will upgrade the experience of the users on the application.
activity_main_menu.xml (3)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

    <item
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_open"
        android:title="Open"
        app:showAsAction="collapseActionView" />
    <item
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_share"
        android:title="Share"
        app:showAsAction="ifRoom">
        <menu>
            <item android:title="Facebook" />
            <item android:title="Instagram" />
        </menu>
    </item>
    <item
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_delete"
        android:title="Delete" />

    <item
        android:id="@+id/app_bar_search"
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_search"
        android:title="Search"
        app:actionViewClass="android.widget.SearchView"
        app:showAsAction="always" />

    <item
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_settings"
        android:title="Settings"
        app:showAsAction="always" />
</menu>
The Menu Item with theattribute of app:showAsAction="always" will always be shown on the App Bar, and you will not see it on the Overflow Menu.
<item
    android:icon="@drawable/icon_settings"
    android:title="Settings"
    app:showAsAction="always" />
The Menu Item with the attribute of app:showAsAction="ifRoom" will be displayed on the App Bar if there is enough space for it. As soon as it appears on the App Bar, you won't see it on the Overflow Menu.
Because Search and Settings functions are two of the important functions of the application, it is quite easy to understand why they are often viewed on the App Bar.

2. Example of Option Menu

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Let's see the example:
On Android Studio, create a new project:
  • File > New > New Project > Empty Activity
    • Name: OptionMenuExample
    • Package name: org.o7planning.optionmenuexample
    • Language: Java
Copy some icons and paste in the drawable folder of your project:
icon_open.png
icon_delete.png
icon_settings.png
icon_search.png
icon_share.png
On Android Studio,select:
  • File > New > Android Resource File
  • File name: activity_main_menu.xml
  • Resource Type: Menu
You can visually design the Menu on Android Studio.
Set ID, Title,and Icon for the Menu Items:
The setting of the "Search" and "Settings" functions will always be on display on the App Bar, and the "Share" function will be shown on the App Bar if there is enough free space.
  • Search: showAsAction="always"
  • Settings: showAsAction="always"
  • Share: showAsAction="ifRoom"
activity_main_menu.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item
        android:id="@+id/menuItem_open"
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_open"
        android:title="Open" />
    <item
        android:id="@+id/menuItem_share"
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_share"
        android:title="Share"
        app:showAsAction="ifRoom">
        <menu>
            <item
                android:id="@+id/menuItem_facebook"
                android:title="Facebook" />
            <item
                android:id="@+id/menuItem_instagram"
                android:title="Instagram" />
        </menu>
    </item>
    <item
        android:id="@+id/menuItem_delete"
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_delete"
        android:title="Delete" />
    <item
        android:id="@+id/menuItem_search"
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_search"
        android:title="Search"
        app:actionViewClass="android.widget.SearchView"
        app:showAsAction="always" />
    <item
        android:id="@+id/menuItem_settings"
        android:icon="@drawable/icon_settings"
        android:title="Settings"
        app:showAsAction="always" />
</menu>
activity_main.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
    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"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Hello World!"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />

</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
MainActivity.java
package org.o7planning.optionmenuexample;

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.appcompat.view.menu.MenuBuilder;

import android.annotation.SuppressLint;
import android.app.SearchManager;
import android.content.Context;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuInflater;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.SearchView;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    private static final String LOG_TAG= "OptionMenuExample";
    private SearchView searchView;

    private String lastQuery;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    }


    @SuppressLint("RestrictedApi")
    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        MenuInflater menuInflater = getMenuInflater();
        menuInflater.inflate(R.menu.activity_main_menu, menu);

        // If you want Icon display in Overflow Menu.
        // https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19750635/icon-in-menu-not-showing-in-android
        if (menu instanceof MenuBuilder) {
            MenuBuilder m = (MenuBuilder) menu;
            m.setOptionalIconsVisible(true);
        }

        SearchManager searchManager = (SearchManager) getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
        this.searchView = (SearchView) menu.findItem(R.id.menuItem_search).getActionView();

        this.searchView.setSearchableInfo(searchManager.getSearchableInfo(getComponentName()));
         // Need click "search" icon to expand SearchView.
        this.searchView.setIconifiedByDefault(true);


        searchView.setOnQueryTextListener(new SearchView.OnQueryTextListener() {

            // Typing search text.
            public boolean onQueryTextChange(String newText) {
                // This is your adapter that will be filtered
                Log.i(LOG_TAG, "onQueryTextChange: " + newText);
                return true;
            }

            // Press Enter to search (Or something to search).
            public boolean onQueryTextSubmit(String query) {
                // IMPORTANT!
                // Prevent onQueryTextSubmit() method called twice.
                // https://stackoverflow.com/questions/34207670
                searchView.clearFocus();

                Log.i(LOG_TAG, "onQueryTextSubmit: " + query);
                return doSearch(query);
            }
        });

        searchView.setOnSearchClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                Log.i(LOG_TAG, "SearchView.onSearchClickListener!" );
            }
        }) ;

        return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
    }


    private boolean doSearch(String query) {
        if (query == null || query.isEmpty()) {
            return false; // Cancel search.
        }
        this.lastQuery = query;

        Toast.makeText(this, "Search: " + query, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        switch (item.getItemId()) {
            case R.id.menuItem_open:
                Toast.makeText(this, "Open ...", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                return true;
            case R.id.menuItem_delete:
                Toast.makeText(this, "Delete ...", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                return true;
            case R.id.menuItem_facebook:
                Toast.makeText(this, "Facebook Share ...", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                return true;
            case R.id.menuItem_instagram:
                Toast.makeText(this, "Instagram Share ...", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                return true;
            case R.id.menuItem_settings:
                Toast.makeText(this, "Settings ...", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                return true;
            case R.id.menuItem_search:
                Log.i(LOG_TAG, "onOptionsItemSelected (R.id.menuItem_search)");
                Toast.makeText(this, "Search ...", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                return true;
            default:
                return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
        }
    }
}
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