ActionProvider Examples

Simple stepby step Android ActionProvider Examples.

This is an example of Settings ActionProvider.

This example shows how to implement an androidx.core.view.ActionProvider for adding functionality to the Action Bar. In particular this example creates an ActionProvider for launching the system settings and adds a menu item with that provider.

Step 1: Create Project

Start by creating an android project using Android Studio.

Step 2: Design Layout

All you need to do is place an ImageButton inside a LinearLayout as follows:

action_bar_settings_action_provider.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:layout_gravity="center"
    android:focusable="true"
    android:addStatesFromChildren="true"
    android:background="?android:attr/actionBarItemBackground"
    style="?android:attr/actionButtonStyle"
    tools:targetApi="ice_cream_sandwich">

    <ImageButton android:id="@+id/button"
        android:background="@drawable/ic_launcher_settings"
        android:layout_width="32dip"
        android:layout_height="32dip"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:scaleType="fitCenter"
        android:adjustViewBounds="true"
        tools:ignore="ContentDescription" />

</LinearLayout>

Step 3: Write code

Start by creating a ActionBarSettingsActionProviderActivity.kt file.

Then add imports:

import android.annotation.SuppressLint
import android.annotation.TargetApi
import android.content.Context
import android.content.Intent
import android.os.Build
import android.provider.Settings
import android.util.Log
import android.view.LayoutInflater
import android.view.Menu
import android.view.MenuItem
import android.view.View
import android.widget.ImageButton
import android.widget.Toast

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.appcompat.app.ActionBar
import androidx.core.view.ActionProvider
import com.example.android.apis.R

Then extend the AppCompatActivity

@Suppress("MemberVisibilityCanBePrivate")
@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH)
class ActionBarSettingsActionProviderActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

Declare and initialize an internal ActionBar. This will be the reference to our activity's [ActionBar] for setting its display options.

    internal var mActionBar: ActionBar? = null

Then initialize the contents of the Activity's standard options menu. First we call through to our super's implementation of onCreateOptionsMenu. Then we fetch a MenuInflater and use it to inflate our menu from R.menu.action_bar_settings_action_provider into the Menu menu given us. Finally we return true so the menu will be displayed.

@param menu - The options menu in which you place your items.
@return - You must return true for the menu to be displayed; if you return false it will not be shown.

    override fun onCreateOptionsMenu(menu: Menu): Boolean {
        super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu)
        menuInflater.inflate(R.menu.action_bar_settings_action_provider, menu)
        mActionBar = supportActionBar
        mActionBar!!.setDisplayOptions(0, ActionBar.DISPLAY_SHOW_TITLE)
        return true
    }

This hook is called whenever an item in your options menu is selected. We simply toast the message "Handling in onOptionsItemSelected avoided" and return false and the class we specify by the android:actionProviderClass in the menu xml is used to call that class's implementation of onPerformDefaultAction. This callback is only called from the "Settings" item in the overflow menu, NOT from the icon shown (ifRoom) in the ActionBar, onPerformDefaultAction is just called.

@param item - The menu item that was selected.
@return boolean - Return false to allow normal menu processing to proceed, true to consume it here.

    override fun onOptionsItemSelected(item: MenuItem): Boolean {
        // If this callback does not handle the item click, onPerformDefaultAction
        // of the ActionProvider is invoked. Hence, the provider encapsulates the
        // complete functionality of the menu item.
        Log.i(TAG, "onOptionsItemSelected has been called")
        Toast.makeText(this, R.string.action_bar_settings_action_provider_no_handling,
                Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
        return false
    }

This class is specified using the xml attribute android:actionProviderClass in our menu xml file. It extends the abstract class ActionProvider, implementing the abstract callbacks onCreateActionView and onPerformDefaultAction

    class SettingsActionProvider
    /**
     * Creates a new instance. We first call through to our super's constructor, then save the
     * Context passed us for use in onCreateActionView.
     */
    (
            /** Context for accessing resources.  */
            private val mContext: Context) : ActionProvider(mContext) {

The following is a Factory method called by the Android framework to create new action views. First we fetch a LayoutInflater layoutInflater using the Context passed when creating this instance of the SettingsActionProvider Class and use this LayoutInflater to inflate View view from from our layout file R.layout.action_bar_settings_action_provider.

We find in this view our ImageButton button (R.id.button) and set the OnClickListener of "button" to a callback which uses mContext to start the activity in the Intent sSettingsIntent (the system settings Activity specified using Settings.ACTION_SETTINGS).

Finally we return our View.

@return A new action view.

        override fun onCreateActionView(): View {
            // Inflate the action view to be shown on the action bar.
            val layoutInflater = LayoutInflater.from(mContext)
            @SuppressLint("InflateParams")
            val view = layoutInflater.inflate(R.layout.action_bar_settings_action_provider, null)
            val button = view.findViewById<ImageButton>(R.id.button)
            // Attach a click listener for launching the system settings.
            button.setOnClickListener {
                mContext.startActivity(sSettingsIntent)
            }
            return view
        }

The following is Called only when the Action is in the overflow menu, not when it is in the ActionBar. We simply use our saved Context mContext to start the system settings Activity, then return true to denote that the action has been handled.

@return true if the Action has been handled.

        override fun onPerformDefaultAction(): Boolean {
            // This is called if the host menu item placed in the overflow menu of the
            // action bar is clicked and the host activity did not handle the click.
            Log.i(TAG, "onPerformDefaultAction has been called")
            mContext.startActivity(sSettingsIntent)
            return true
        }

        companion object {

            /** An intent for launching the system settings.  */
            private val sSettingsIntent = Intent(Settings.ACTION_SETTINGS)
        }
    }

    companion object {

        /**
         * TAG used for logging.
         */
        private const val TAG = "ActionBarSettings"
    }
}

Below is the full code:

ActionBarSettingsActionProviderActivity.kt

import android.annotation.SuppressLint
import android.annotation.TargetApi
import android.content.Context
import android.content.Intent
import android.os.Build
import android.provider.Settings
import android.util.Log
import android.view.LayoutInflater
import android.view.Menu
import android.view.MenuItem
import android.view.View
import android.widget.ImageButton
import android.widget.Toast

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.appcompat.app.ActionBar
import androidx.core.view.ActionProvider

import com.example.android.apis.R

@Suppress("MemberVisibilityCanBePrivate")
@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH)
class ActionBarSettingsActionProviderActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

    internal var mActionBar: ActionBar? = null

    override fun onCreateOptionsMenu(menu: Menu): Boolean {
        super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu)
        menuInflater.inflate(R.menu.action_bar_settings_action_provider, menu)
        mActionBar = supportActionBar
        mActionBar!!.setDisplayOptions(0, ActionBar.DISPLAY_SHOW_TITLE)
        return true
    }

    override fun onOptionsItemSelected(item: MenuItem): Boolean {
        Log.i(TAG, "onOptionsItemSelected has been called")
        Toast.makeText(this, R.string.action_bar_settings_action_provider_no_handling,
                Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
        return false
    }

    class SettingsActionProvider
    (
            private val mContext: Context) : ActionProvider(mContext) {

        override fun onCreateActionView(): View {
            val layoutInflater = LayoutInflater.from(mContext)
            @SuppressLint("InflateParams")
            val view = layoutInflater.inflate(R.layout.action_bar_settings_action_provider, null)
            val button = view.findViewById<ImageButton>(R.id.button)
            button.setOnClickListener {
                mContext.startActivity(sSettingsIntent)
            }
            return view
        }

        override fun onPerformDefaultAction(): Boolean {
            Log.i(TAG, "onPerformDefaultAction has been called")
            return true
        }

        companion object {
            private val sSettingsIntent = Intent(Settings.ACTION_SETTINGS)
        }
    }

    companion object {
        private const val TAG = "ActionBarSettings"
    }
}

Run

Create project as has been discussed.
Copy layout and kotlin into your project
Run

Example 2: Kotlin Android ShareActionProvider with ActionBar

This example demonstrates how to use an androidx.core.view.ActionProvider for adding functionality to the Action Bar. In particular this demo is adding a menu item with ShareActionProvider as its action provider. The ShareActionProvider is responsible for managing the UI for sharing actions.

Step 1: Create Project

Create an empty android studio project.

In the res/menu/ directory, create a menu resource file as with two menu items as follows:

action_bar_share_action_provider.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    tools:targetApi="ice_cream_sandwich">

    <item android:id="@+id/menu_item_share_action_provider_action_bar"
        app:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="@string/action_bar_share_with"
        app:actionProviderClass="androidx.appcompat.widget.ShareActionProvider"
        tools:ignore="AlwaysShowAction" />

    <item android:id="@+id/menu_item_share_action_provider_overflow"
        app:showAsAction="never"
        android:title="@string/action_bar_share_with"
        app:actionProviderClass="androidx.appcompat.widget.ShareActionProvider" />

</menu>

Step 3: Write Code

Start by creating the file ActionBarShareActionProviderActivity.kt.

Then add imports:

package com.example.android.apis.app

import android.annotation.TargetApi
import android.content.ClipData
import android.content.Intent
import android.net.Uri
import android.os.Build
import android.os.Bundle
import android.util.TypedValue
import android.view.Menu

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.appcompat.widget.ShareActionProvider
import androidx.core.view.MenuItemCompat

import com.example.android.apis.R

@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH)
class ActionBarShareActionProviderActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

The onCreate() is Called when the activity is starting. We just call our super's implementation of onCreate

    public override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
    }

Next initialize the contents of the Activity's standard options menu. You should place your menu items into [menu]. First we get a MenuInflater with this context and use it to inflate a menu hierarchy from our menu R.menu.action_bar_share_action_provider into the options "menu" passed us. Then we initialize our MenuItem variable val actionItem to the "Share with..." action found at ID R.id.menu_item_share_action_provider_action_bar in our menu.

We use the MenuItemCompat.getActionProvider method to fetch the action provider specified for actionItem to initialize our ShareActionProvider variable val actionProvider, set the file name of the file for persisting the share history to DEFAULT_SHARE_HISTORY_FILE_NAME (the default name for storing share history: "share_history.xml"), then use our method createShareIntent to create a sharing Intent and set the share Intent of actionProvider to this Intent.

Then we initialize our MenuItem variable overflowItem to the "Share with..." action in the overflow menu found at R.id.menu_item_share_action_provider_overflow in our [menu]. We initialize our ShareActionProvider variable val overflowProvider by using the MenuItemCompat.getActionProvider method to fetch the action provider specified for overflowItem, set the file name of the file for persisting the share history to DEFAULT_SHARE_HISTORY_FILE_NAME, then use our method createShareIntent to create a sharing [Intent] and set the share Intent of overflowProvider to this Intent.

Finally we return true so that our menu will be displayed.

@param menu - The options menu in which you place your items. * @return - You must return true for the menu to be displayed.

    override fun onCreateOptionsMenu(menu: Menu): Boolean {
        // Inflate your menu.
        menuInflater.inflate(R.menu.action_bar_share_action_provider, menu)

        // Set file with share history to the provider and set the share intent.
        val actionItem = menu.findItem(R.id.menu_item_share_action_provider_action_bar)
        val actionProvider = MenuItemCompat.getActionProvider(actionItem) as ShareActionProvider
        actionProvider.setShareHistoryFileName(ShareActionProvider.DEFAULT_SHARE_HISTORY_FILE_NAME)
        // Note that you can set/change the intent any time,
        // say when the user has selected an image.
        actionProvider.setShareIntent(createShareIntent())

        // Set file with share history to the provider and set the share intent.
        val overflowItem = menu.findItem(R.id.menu_item_share_action_provider_overflow)
        val overflowProvider = MenuItemCompat.getActionProvider(overflowItem) as ShareActionProvider
                overflowProvider.setShareHistoryFileName(
                ShareActionProvider.DEFAULT_SHARE_HISTORY_FILE_NAME)
        // Note that you can set/change the intent any time,
        // say when the user has selected an image.
        overflowProvider.setShareIntent(createShareIntent())

        return true
    }

The following Creates a sharing [Intent]. We first initalize our [Intent] variable val shareIntent with a new instance with the action ACTION_SEND, and add the flag [Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION] to it. We initialize our val b to a new instance of [Uri.Builder], set the scheme of b to "content", and set its authority to our "com.example.android.apis.content.FileProvider" (our content/FileProvider ContentProvider which provides access to resources in our apk to other apps).

We initialize our val tv to a new instance of TypedValue, and use it to hold the resource data for our raw asset png file with id R.raw.robot. We then append to our Uri.Builder b the encoded path of the asset cookie of tv for asset R.raw.robot followed by the encoded path of the string value for R.raw.robot.

We then initialize our val uri to the Uri that results from building b. We next set the mime type of shareIntent to "image/png", add uri as an extra under the key Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, and set the clip data of shareIntent to a new instance of ClipData holding a Uri whose ContentResolver is a ContentResolver instance for our application's package, whose user-visible label for the clip data is "image", and whose Uri is our uri. Finally we return shareIntent to the caller.

@return The sharing intent.

    private fun createShareIntent(): Intent {
        val shareIntent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND)
        shareIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION)
        val b: Uri.Builder = Uri.Builder()
        b.scheme("content")
        b.authority("com.example.android.apis.content.FileProvider")
        val tv = TypedValue()
        resources.getValue(R.raw.robot, tv, true)
        b.appendEncodedPath(tv.assetCookie.toString())
        b.appendEncodedPath(tv.string.toString())
        val uri: Uri = b.build()
        shareIntent.type = "image/png"
        shareIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri)
        shareIntent.clipData = ClipData.newUri(contentResolver, "image", uri)
        return shareIntent
    }

}

Here is the full code:

ActionBarShareActionProviderActivity.kt

import android.annotation.TargetApi
import android.content.ClipData
import android.content.Intent
import android.net.Uri
import android.os.Build
import android.os.Bundle
import android.util.TypedValue
import android.view.Menu

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.appcompat.widget.ShareActionProvider
import androidx.core.view.MenuItemCompat

import com.example.android.apis.R

@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH)
class ActionBarShareActionProviderActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

    public override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
    }

    override fun onCreateOptionsMenu(menu: Menu): Boolean {
        // Inflate your menu.
        menuInflater.inflate(R.menu.action_bar_share_action_provider, menu)

        // Set file with share history to the provider and set the share intent.
        val actionItem = menu.findItem(R.id.menu_item_share_action_provider_action_bar)
        val actionProvider = MenuItemCompat.getActionProvider(actionItem) as ShareActionProvider
        actionProvider.setShareHistoryFileName(ShareActionProvider.DEFAULT_SHARE_HISTORY_FILE_NAME)
        // Note that you can set/change the intent any time,
        // say when the user has selected an image.
        actionProvider.setShareIntent(createShareIntent())

        // Set file with share history to the provider and set the share intent.
        val overflowItem = menu.findItem(R.id.menu_item_share_action_provider_overflow)
        val overflowProvider = MenuItemCompat.getActionProvider(overflowItem) as ShareActionProvider
                overflowProvider.setShareHistoryFileName(
                ShareActionProvider.DEFAULT_SHARE_HISTORY_FILE_NAME)
        // Note that you can set/change the intent any time,
        // say when the user has selected an image.
        overflowProvider.setShareIntent(createShareIntent())

        return true
    }

    private fun createShareIntent(): Intent {
        val shareIntent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND)
        shareIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION)
        val b: Uri.Builder = Uri.Builder()
        b.scheme("content")
        b.authority("com.example.android.apis.content.FileProvider")
        val tv = TypedValue()
        resources.getValue(R.raw.robot, tv, true)
        b.appendEncodedPath(tv.assetCookie.toString())
        b.appendEncodedPath(tv.string.toString())
        val uri: Uri = b.build()
        shareIntent.type = "image/png"
        shareIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri)
        shareIntent.clipData = ClipData.newUri(contentResolver, "image", uri)
        return shareIntent
    }

}

Run

Copy the code into your project
Run

ActionProvider Examples

Example 1: Kotlin Android ActionProvider - Launch Settings and Add Menu item

Step 1: Create Project

Step 2: Design Layout

Step 3: Write code

Run

Example 2: Kotlin Android ShareActionProvider with ActionBar

Step 1: Create Project

Step 2: Create Menu

Step 3: Write Code

Run