Android Action Bar Tutorial with 2.2+ Compatibility

Note: The code is working but we are currently improving this article.

This is a step by step guide on how you can create an ActionBar for your awesome Android app.

DOWNLOAD SOURCE CODE

1. Create new project.

Go to File > New > Android Application Project

2. Add three icons to the project's res/drawable-hdpi/ directory

You can download the Android design icon pack.

3. Modify res/menu/main.xml and add three ActionBar items.

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >

    <item
        android:id="@+id/refresh"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_refresh"
        android:orderInCategory="100"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="Refresh"/>
    <item
        android:id="@+id/copyLink"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_copy"
        android:orderInCategory="100"
        android:showAsAction="collapseActionView"
        android:title="Copy Link"/>
    <item
        android:id="@+id/share"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_share"
        android:orderInCategory="100"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="Share"/>

</menu>

4. Create the onOptionsItemSelected() method

This is inside MainActity.java

// handle click events for action bar items
@Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {

    switch (item.getItemId()) {
    
        case R.id.refresh:
            showToast("Refresh was clicked.");
            return true;
            
        case R.id.copyLink:
            showToast("Copy link was clicked.");
            return true;
            
        case R.id.share:
            showToast("Share was clicked.");
            return true;
            
        default:
            return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }
}

5. Create the showToast() for each case

This is inside MainActity.java

// so that we know something was triggered
public void showToast(String msg){
    Toast.makeText(this, msg, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}

6. Create getOverflowMenu()

This is inside MainActity.java

// put the other two menu on the three dots (overflow)
private void getOverflowMenu() {

    try {
        
       ViewConfiguration config = ViewConfiguration.get(this);
       java.lang.reflect.Field menuKeyField = ViewConfiguration.class.getDeclaredField("sHasPermanentMenuKey");
       if(menuKeyField != null) {
           menuKeyField.setAccessible(true);
           menuKeyField.setBoolean(config, false);
       }
   } catch (Exception e) {
       e.printStackTrace();
   }
    
}

Call it from onCreate() to show unshown actions as three dots

getOverflowMenu();

Final Code

MainActivity.java

package com.example.actionbarexample;

import com.example.actoinbarexample.R;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.ViewConfiguration;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class MainActivity extends Activity {

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

    // inflate for action bar
    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
        return true;
    }
    
    // handle click events for action bar items
    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {

        switch (item.getItemId()) {
        
            case R.id.refresh:
                showToast("Refresh was clicked.");
                return true;
                
            case R.id.copyLink:
                showToast("Copy link was clicked.");
                return true;
                
            case R.id.share:
                showToast("Share was clicked.");
                return true;
                
            default:
                return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
        }
    }
    
    // put the other two menu on the three dots (overflow)
    private void getOverflowMenu() {

        try {
            
           ViewConfiguration config = ViewConfiguration.get(this);
           java.lang.reflect.Field menuKeyField = ViewConfiguration.class.getDeclaredField("sHasPermanentMenuKey");
           if(menuKeyField != null) {
               menuKeyField.setAccessible(true);
               menuKeyField.setBoolean(config, false);
           }
       } catch (Exception e) {
           e.printStackTrace();
       }
        
     }
    
    // so that we know something was triggered
    public void showToast(String msg){
        Toast.makeText(this, msg, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

}

Lower Android (2.2+) Version Compatibility

Android ActionBar only works for Honeycomb and Up. To make it work with pre-honeycome devices, you should use the Android support library. Download it first using your SDK manager and then follow the step by step guide here.