Menu Resource

A menu resource defines an application menu (Options Menu, Context Menu, or submenu) that can be inflated with MenuInflater.

For a guide to using menus, see the Menus developer guide.

file location:

res/menu/filename.xml
The filename will be used as the resource ID.

compiled resource datatype:

Resource pointer to a Menu (or subclass) resource.

resource reference:

In Java: R.menu.filename
In XML: @[package:]menu.filename

syntax:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item android:id="@[+][package:]id/resource_name"
          android:title="string"
          android:titleCondensed="string"
          android:icon="@[package:]drawable/drawable_resource_name"
          android:onClick="method name"
          android:showAsAction=["ifRoom" | "never" | "withText" | "always" | "collapseActionView"]
          android:actionLayout="@[package:]layout/layout_resource_name"
          android:actionViewClass="class name"
          android:actionProviderClass="class name"
          android:alphabeticShortcut="string"
          android:alphabeticModifiers=["META" | "CTRL" | "ALT" | "SHIFT" | "SYM" | "FUNCTION"]
          android:numericShortcut="string"
          android:numericModifiers=["META" | "CTRL" | "ALT" | "SHIFT" | "SYM" | "FUNCTION"]
          android:checkable=["true" | "false"]
          android:visible=["true" | "false"]
          android:enabled=["true" | "false"]
          android:menuCategory=["container" | "system" | "secondary" | "alternative"]
          android:orderInCategory="integer" />
    <group android:id="@[+][package:]id/resource name"
           android:checkableBehavior=["none" | "all" | "single"]
           android:visible=["true" | "false"]
           android:enabled=["true" | "false"]
           android:menuCategory=["container" | "system" | "secondary" | "alternative"]
           android:orderInCategory="integer" >
        <item />
    </group>
    <item >
        <menu>
          <item />
        </menu>
    </item>
</menu>

elements:

<menu>

Required. This must be the root node. Contains <item> and/or <group> elements.

attributes:

xmlns:android

XML namespace. Required. Defines the XML namespace, which must be "http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android".

<item>

A menu item. May contain a <menu> element (for a Sub Menu). Must be a child of a <menu> or <group> element.

attributes:

android:id

Resource ID. A unique resource ID. To create a new resource ID for this item, use the form: "@+id/name". The plus symbol indicates that this should be created as a new ID.

android:title

String resource. The menu title as a string resource or raw string.

android:titleCondensed

String resource. A condensed title as a string resource or a raw string. This title is used for situations in which the normal title is too long.

android:icon

Drawable resource. An image to be used as the menu item icon.

android:onClick

Method name. The method to call when this menu item is clicked. The method must be declared in the activity as public and accept a MenuItem as its only parameter, which indicates the item clicked. This method takes precedence over the standard callback to onOptionsItemSelected(). See the example at the bottom.

Warning: If you obfuscate your code using ProGuard (or a similar tool), be sure to exclude the method you specify in this attribute from renaming, because it can break the functionality.

Introduced in API Level 11.

android:showAsAction

Keyword. When and how this item should appear as an action item in the app bar. A menu item can appear as an action item only when the activity includes an app bar. Valid values:

Value	Description
ifRoom	Only place this item in the app bar if there is room for it. If there is not room for all the items marked "ifRoom", the items with the lowest orderInCategory values are displayed as actions, and the remaining items are displayed in the overflow menu.
withText	Also include the title text (defined by android:title) with the action item. You can include this value along with one of the others as a flag set, by separating them with a pipe |.
never	Never place this item in the app bar. Instead, list the item in the app bar's overflow menu.
always	Always place this item in the app bar. Avoid using this unless it's critical that the item always appear in the action bar. Setting multiple items to always appear as action items can result in them overlapping with other UI in the app bar.
collapseActionView	The action view associated with this action item (as declared by android:actionLayout or android:actionViewClass) is collapsible. Introduced in API Level 14.

See the Adding the App Bar training class for more information.

Introduced in API Level 11.

android:actionLayout

Layout resource. A layout to use as the action view.

See Action Views and Action Providers for more information.

Introduced in API Level 11.

android:actionViewClass

Class name. A fully-qualified class name for the View to use as the action view. For example, "android.widget.SearchView" to use SearchView as an action view.

See Action Views and Action Providers for more information.

Warning: If you obfuscate your code using ProGuard (or a similar tool), be sure to exclude the class you specify in this attribute from renaming, because it can break the functionality.

Introduced in API Level 11.

android:actionProviderClass

Class name. A fully-qualified class name for the ActionProvider to use in place of the action item. For example, "android.widget.ShareActionProvider" to use ShareActionProvider.

See Action Views and Action Providers for more information.

Warning: If you obfuscate your code using ProGuard (or a similar tool), be sure to exclude the class you specify in this attribute from renaming, because it can break the functionality.

Introduced in API Level 14.

android:alphabeticShortcut

Char. A character for the alphabetic shortcut key.

android:numericShortcut

Integer. A number for the numeric shortcut key.

android:alphabeticModifiers

Keyword. A modifier for the menu item's alphabetic shortcut. The default value corresponds to the Control key. Valid values:

Value	Description
META	Corresponds to the Meta meta key
CTRL	Corresponds to the Control meta key
ALT	Corresponds to the Alt meta key
SHIFT	Corresponds to the Shift meta key
SYM	Corresponds to the Sym meta key
FUNCTION	Corresponds to the Function meta key

Note: You can specify multiple keywords in an attribute. For example, android:alphabeticModifiers="CTRL|SHIFT" indicates that to trigger the corresponding menu item, the user needs to press both Control and Shift meta keys along with the shortcut.

You can use the setAlphabeticShortcut() method to set the attribute values programmatically. For more information about the alphabeticModifier attribute, go to alphabeticModifiers.

android:numericModifiers

Keyword. A modifier for the menu item's numeric shortcut. The default value corresponds to the Control key. Valid values:

Value	Description
META	Corresponds to the Meta meta key
CTRL	Corresponds to the Control meta key
ALT	Corresponds to the Alt meta key
SHIFT	Corresponds to the Shift meta key
SYM	Corresponds to the Sym meta key
FUNCTION	Corresponds to the Function meta key

Note: You can specify multiple keywords in an attribute. For example, android:numericModifiers="CTRL|SHIFT" indicates that to trigger the corresponding menu item, the user needs to press both Control and Shift meta keys along with the shortcut.

You can use the setNumericShortcut() method to set the attribute values programmatically. For more information about the numericModifier attribute, go to numericModifiers.

android:checkable

Boolean. "true" if the item is checkable.

android:checked

Boolean. "true" if the item is checked by default.

android:visible

Boolean. "true" if the item is visible by default.

android:enabled

Boolean. "true" if the item is enabled by default.

android:menuCategory

Keyword. Value corresponding to Menu CATEGORY_* constants, which define the item's priority. Valid values:

Value	Description
container	For items that are part of a container.
system	For items that are provided by the system.
secondary	For items that are user-supplied secondary (infrequently used) options.
alternative	For items that are alternative actions on the data that is currently displayed.

android:orderInCategory

Integer. The order of "importance" of the item, within a group.

<group>

A menu group (to create a collection of items that share traits, such as whether they are visible, enabled, or checkable). Contains one or more <item> elements. Must be a child of a <menu> element.

attributes:

android:id

Resource ID. A unique resource ID. To create a new resource ID for this item, use the form: "@+id/name". The plus symbol indicates that this should be created as a new ID.

android:checkableBehavior

Keyword. The type of checkable behavior for the group. Valid values:

Value	Description
none	Not checkable
all	All items can be checked (use checkboxes)
single	Only one item can be checked (use radio buttons)

android:visible

Boolean. "true" if the group is visible.

android:enabled

Boolean. "true" if the group is enabled.

android:menuCategory

Keyword. Value corresponding to Menu CATEGORY_* constants, which define the group's priority. Valid values:

Value	Description
container	For groups that are part of a container.
system	For groups that are provided by the system.
secondary	For groups that are user-supplied secondary (infrequently used) options.
alternative	For groups that are alternative actions on the data that is currently displayed.

android:orderInCategory

Integer. The default order of the items within the category.

example:

XML file saved at res/menu/example_menu.xml:

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item android:id="@+id/item1"
          android:title="@string/item1"
          android:icon="@drawable/group_item1_icon"
          android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText"/>
    <group android:id="@+id/group">
        <item android:id="@+id/group_item1"
              android:onClick="onGroupItemClick"
              android:title="@string/group_item1"
              android:icon="@drawable/group_item1_icon" />
        <item android:id="@+id/group_item2"
              android:onClick="onGroupItemClick"
              android:title="@string/group_item2"
              android:icon="@drawable/group_item2_icon" />
    </group>
    <item android:id="@+id/submenu"
          android:title="@string/submenu_title"
          android:showAsAction="ifRoom|withText" >
        <menu>
            <item android:id="@+id/submenu_item1"
                  android:title="@string/submenu_item1" />
        </menu>
    </item>
</menu>

The following application code inflates the menu from the onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu) callback and also declares the on-click callback for two of the items:

public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
    inflater.inflate(R.menu.example_menu, menu);
    return true;
}

public void onGroupItemClick(MenuItem item) {
    // One of the group items (using the onClick attribute) was clicked
    // The item parameter passed here indicates which item it is
    // All other menu item clicks are handled by onOptionsItemSelected()
}