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 Creating Menus document.

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"]
          android:actionLayout="@[package:]layout/layout_resource_name"
          android:actionViewClass="class name"
          android:alphabeticShortcut="string"
          android:numericShortcut="string"
          android:checkable=["true" | "false"]
          android:visible=["visible" | "invisible" | "gone"]
          android:enabled=["enabled" | "disabled"]
          android:menuCategory=["container" | "system" | "secondary" | "alternative"]
          android:orderInCategory="integer" />
    <group android:id="@[+][package:]id/resource name"
           android:checkableBehavior=["none" | "all" | "single"]
           android:visible=["visible" | "invisible" | "gone"]
           android:enabled=["enabled" | "disabled"]
           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 Action Bar. A menu item can appear as an action item only when the activity includes an ActionBar (introduced in API Level 11). Valid values:

Value	Description
ifRoom	Only place this item in the Action Bar if there is room for it.
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 Action Bar.
always	Always place this item in the Action 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 action bar.

See Using the Action Bar for more information.

Introduced in API Level 11.

android:actionViewLayout

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

See Using the Action Bar for more information.

Introduced in API Level 11.

android:actionViewClassName

Class name. A fully-qualified class name for the View to use as the action view.

See Using the Action Bar 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:alphabeticShortcut

Char. A character for the alphabetic shortcut key.

android:numericShortcut

Integer. A number for the numeric shortcut key.

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="G@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()
}

Note: The android:showAsAction attribute is available only on Android 3.0 (API Level 11) and greater.