Android APIs
Added in API level 1
public interface

MenuItem

android.view.MenuItem

Class Overview

Interface for direct access to a previously created menu item.

An Item is returned by calling one of the add(int) methods.

For a feature set of specific menu types, see Menu.

Developer Guides

For information about creating menus, read the Menus developer guide.

Summary

Nested Classes
interface MenuItem.OnActionExpandListener Interface definition for a callback to be invoked when a menu item marked with SHOW_AS_ACTION_COLLAPSE_ACTION_VIEW is expanded or collapsed. 
interface MenuItem.OnMenuItemClickListener Interface definition for a callback to be invoked when a menu item is clicked. 
Constants
int SHOW_AS_ACTION_ALWAYS Always show this item as a button in an Action Bar.
int SHOW_AS_ACTION_COLLAPSE_ACTION_VIEW This item's action view collapses to a normal menu item.
int SHOW_AS_ACTION_IF_ROOM Show this item as a button in an Action Bar if the system decides there is room for it.
int SHOW_AS_ACTION_NEVER Never show this item as a button in an Action Bar.
int SHOW_AS_ACTION_WITH_TEXT When this item is in the action bar, always show it with a text label even if it also has an icon specified.
Public Methods
abstract boolean collapseActionView()
Collapse the action view associated with this menu item.
abstract boolean expandActionView()
Expand the action view associated with this menu item.
abstract ActionProvider getActionProvider()
Gets the ActionProvider.
abstract View getActionView()
Returns the currently set action view for this menu item.
abstract char getAlphabeticShortcut()
Return the char for this menu item's alphabetic shortcut.
abstract int getGroupId()
Return the group identifier that this menu item is part of.
abstract Drawable getIcon()
Returns the icon for this item as a Drawable (getting it from resources if it hasn't been loaded before).
abstract Intent getIntent()
Return the Intent associated with this item.
abstract int getItemId()
Return the identifier for this menu item.
abstract ContextMenu.ContextMenuInfo getMenuInfo()
Gets the extra information linked to this menu item.
abstract char getNumericShortcut()
Return the char for this menu item's numeric (12-key) shortcut.
abstract int getOrder()
Return the category and order within the category of this item.
abstract SubMenu getSubMenu()
Get the sub-menu to be invoked when this item is selected, if it has one.
abstract CharSequence getTitle()
Retrieve the current title of the item.
abstract CharSequence getTitleCondensed()
Retrieve the current condensed title of the item.
abstract boolean hasSubMenu()
Check whether this item has an associated sub-menu.
abstract boolean isActionViewExpanded()
Returns true if this menu item's action view has been expanded.
abstract boolean isCheckable()
Return whether the item can currently display a check mark.
abstract boolean isChecked()
Return whether the item is currently displaying a check mark.
abstract boolean isEnabled()
Return the enabled state of the menu item.
abstract boolean isVisible()
Return the visibility of the menu item.
abstract MenuItem setActionProvider(ActionProvider actionProvider)
Sets the ActionProvider responsible for creating an action view if the item is placed on the action bar.
abstract MenuItem setActionView(int resId)
Set an action view for this menu item.
abstract MenuItem setActionView(View view)
Set an action view for this menu item.
abstract MenuItem setAlphabeticShortcut(char alphaChar)
Change the alphabetic shortcut associated with this item.
abstract MenuItem setCheckable(boolean checkable)
Control whether this item can display a check mark.
abstract MenuItem setChecked(boolean checked)
Control whether this item is shown with a check mark.
abstract MenuItem setEnabled(boolean enabled)
Sets whether the menu item is enabled.
abstract MenuItem setIcon(Drawable icon)
Change the icon associated with this item.
abstract MenuItem setIcon(int iconRes)
Change the icon associated with this item.
abstract MenuItem setIntent(Intent intent)
Change the Intent associated with this item.
abstract MenuItem setNumericShortcut(char numericChar)
Change the numeric shortcut associated with this item.
abstract MenuItem setOnActionExpandListener(MenuItem.OnActionExpandListener listener)
Set an MenuItem.OnActionExpandListener on this menu item to be notified when the associated action view is expanded or collapsed.
abstract MenuItem setOnMenuItemClickListener(MenuItem.OnMenuItemClickListener menuItemClickListener)
Set a custom listener for invocation of this menu item.
abstract MenuItem setShortcut(char numericChar, char alphaChar)
Change both the numeric and alphabetic shortcut associated with this item.
abstract void setShowAsAction(int actionEnum)
Sets how this item should display in the presence of an Action Bar.
abstract MenuItem setShowAsActionFlags(int actionEnum)
Sets how this item should display in the presence of an Action Bar.
abstract MenuItem setTitle(CharSequence title)
Change the title associated with this item.
abstract MenuItem setTitle(int title)
Change the title associated with this item.
abstract MenuItem setTitleCondensed(CharSequence title)
Change the condensed title associated with this item.
abstract MenuItem setVisible(boolean visible)
Sets the visibility of the menu item.

Constants

public static final int SHOW_AS_ACTION_ALWAYS

Added in API level 11

Always show this item as a button in an Action Bar. Use sparingly! If too many items are set to always show in the Action Bar it can crowd the Action Bar and degrade the user experience on devices with smaller screens. A good rule of thumb is to have no more than 2 items set to always show at a time.

Constant Value: 2 (0x00000002)

public static final int SHOW_AS_ACTION_COLLAPSE_ACTION_VIEW

Added in API level 14

This item's action view collapses to a normal menu item. When expanded, the action view temporarily takes over a larger segment of its container.

Constant Value: 8 (0x00000008)

public static final int SHOW_AS_ACTION_IF_ROOM

Added in API level 11

Show this item as a button in an Action Bar if the system decides there is room for it.

Constant Value: 1 (0x00000001)

public static final int SHOW_AS_ACTION_NEVER

Added in API level 11

Never show this item as a button in an Action Bar.

Constant Value: 0 (0x00000000)

public static final int SHOW_AS_ACTION_WITH_TEXT

Added in API level 11

When this item is in the action bar, always show it with a text label even if it also has an icon specified.

Constant Value: 4 (0x00000004)

Public Methods

public abstract boolean collapseActionView ()

Added in API level 14

Collapse the action view associated with this menu item. The menu item must have an action view set, as well as the showAsAction flag SHOW_AS_ACTION_COLLAPSE_ACTION_VIEW. If a listener has been set using setOnActionExpandListener(OnActionExpandListener) it will have its onMenuItemActionCollapse(MenuItem) method invoked. The listener may return false from this method to prevent collapsing the action view.

Returns
  • true if the action view was collapsed, false otherwise.

public abstract boolean expandActionView ()

Added in API level 14

Expand the action view associated with this menu item. The menu item must have an action view set, as well as the showAsAction flag SHOW_AS_ACTION_COLLAPSE_ACTION_VIEW. If a listener has been set using setOnActionExpandListener(OnActionExpandListener) it will have its onMenuItemActionExpand(MenuItem) method invoked. The listener may return false from this method to prevent expanding the action view.

Returns
  • true if the action view was expanded, false otherwise.

public abstract ActionProvider getActionProvider ()

Added in API level 14

Gets the ActionProvider.

Returns
  • The action provider.

public abstract View getActionView ()

Added in API level 11

Returns the currently set action view for this menu item.

Returns
  • This item's action view

public abstract char getAlphabeticShortcut ()

Added in API level 1

Return the char for this menu item's alphabetic shortcut.

Returns
  • Alphabetic character to use as a shortcut.

public abstract int getGroupId ()

Added in API level 1

Return the group identifier that this menu item is part of. The group identifier can not be changed after the menu is created.

Returns
  • The menu item's group identifier.

public abstract Drawable getIcon ()

Added in API level 1

Returns the icon for this item as a Drawable (getting it from resources if it hasn't been loaded before).

Returns
  • The icon as a Drawable.

public abstract Intent getIntent ()

Added in API level 1

Return the Intent associated with this item. This returns a reference to the Intent which you can change as desired to modify what the Item is holding.

Returns

public abstract int getItemId ()

Added in API level 1

Return the identifier for this menu item. The identifier can not be changed after the menu is created.

Returns
  • The menu item's identifier.

public abstract ContextMenu.ContextMenuInfo getMenuInfo ()

Added in API level 1

Gets the extra information linked to this menu item. This extra information is set by the View that added this menu item to the menu.

Returns
  • The extra information linked to the View that added this menu item to the menu. This can be null.

public abstract char getNumericShortcut ()

Added in API level 1

Return the char for this menu item's numeric (12-key) shortcut.

Returns
  • Numeric character to use as a shortcut.

public abstract int getOrder ()

Added in API level 1

Return the category and order within the category of this item. This item will be shown before all items (within its category) that have order greater than this value.

An order integer contains the item's category (the upper bits of the integer; set by or/add the category with the order within the category) and the ordering of the item within that category (the lower bits). Example categories are CATEGORY_SYSTEM, CATEGORY_SECONDARY, CATEGORY_ALTERNATIVE, CATEGORY_CONTAINER. See Menu for a full list.

Returns
  • The order of this item.

public abstract SubMenu getSubMenu ()

Added in API level 1

Get the sub-menu to be invoked when this item is selected, if it has one. See hasSubMenu().

Returns
  • The associated menu if there is one, else null

public abstract CharSequence getTitle ()

Added in API level 1

Retrieve the current title of the item.

Returns
  • The title.

public abstract CharSequence getTitleCondensed ()

Added in API level 1

Retrieve the current condensed title of the item. If a condensed title was never set, it will return the normal title.

Returns
  • The condensed title, if it exists. Otherwise the normal title.

public abstract boolean hasSubMenu ()

Added in API level 1

Check whether this item has an associated sub-menu. I.e. it is a sub-menu of another menu.

Returns
  • If true this item has a menu; else it is a normal item.

public abstract boolean isActionViewExpanded ()

Added in API level 14

Returns true if this menu item's action view has been expanded.

Returns
  • true if the item's action view is expanded, false otherwise.

public abstract boolean isCheckable ()

Added in API level 1

Return whether the item can currently display a check mark.

Returns
  • If a check mark can be displayed, returns true.

public abstract boolean isChecked ()

Added in API level 1

Return whether the item is currently displaying a check mark.

Returns
  • If a check mark is displayed, returns true.

public abstract boolean isEnabled ()

Added in API level 1

Return the enabled state of the menu item.

Returns
  • If true the item is enabled and hence invokable; else it is not.

public abstract boolean isVisible ()

Added in API level 1

Return the visibility of the menu item.

Returns
  • If true the item is visible; else it is hidden.

public abstract MenuItem setActionProvider (ActionProvider actionProvider)

Added in API level 14

Sets the ActionProvider responsible for creating an action view if the item is placed on the action bar. The provider also provides a default action invoked if the item is placed in the overflow menu.

Note: Setting an action provider overrides the action view set via setActionView(int) or setActionView(View).

Parameters
actionProvider The action provider.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.
See Also

public abstract MenuItem setActionView (int resId)

Added in API level 11

Set an action view for this menu item. An action view will be displayed in place of an automatically generated menu item element in the UI when this item is shown as an action within a parent.

Note: Setting an action view overrides the action provider set via setActionProvider(ActionProvider).

Parameters
resId Layout resource to use for presenting this item to the user.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setActionView (View view)

Added in API level 11

Set an action view for this menu item. An action view will be displayed in place of an automatically generated menu item element in the UI when this item is shown as an action within a parent.

Note: Setting an action view overrides the action provider set via setActionProvider(ActionProvider).

Parameters
view View to use for presenting this item to the user.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setAlphabeticShortcut (char alphaChar)

Added in API level 1

Change the alphabetic shortcut associated with this item. The shortcut will be triggered when the key that generates the given character is pressed alone or along with with the alt key. Case is not significant and shortcut characters will be displayed in lower case. Note that menu items with the characters '\b' or '\n' as shortcuts will get triggered by the Delete key or Carriage Return key, respectively.

See Menu for the menu types that support shortcuts.

Parameters
alphaChar The alphabetic shortcut key. This is the shortcut when using a keyboard with alphabetic keys.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setCheckable (boolean checkable)

Added in API level 1

Control whether this item can display a check mark. Setting this does not actually display a check mark (see setChecked(boolean) for that); rather, it ensures there is room in the item in which to display a check mark.

See Menu for the menu types that support check marks.

Parameters
checkable Set to true to allow a check mark, false to disallow. The default is false.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setChecked (boolean checked)

Added in API level 1

Control whether this item is shown with a check mark. Note that you must first have enabled checking with setCheckable(boolean) or else the check mark will not appear. If this item is a member of a group that contains mutually-exclusive items (set via setGroupCheckable(int, boolean, boolean), the other items in the group will be unchecked.

See Menu for the menu types that support check marks.

Parameters
checked Set to true to display a check mark, false to hide it. The default value is false.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setEnabled (boolean enabled)

Added in API level 1

Sets whether the menu item is enabled. Disabling a menu item will not allow it to be invoked via its shortcut. The menu item will still be visible.

Parameters
enabled If true then the item will be invokable; if false it is won't be invokable.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setIcon (Drawable icon)

Added in API level 1

Change the icon associated with this item. This icon will not always be shown, so the title should be sufficient in describing this item. See Menu for the menu types that support icons.

Parameters
icon The new icon (as a Drawable) to be displayed.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setIcon (int iconRes)

Added in API level 1

Change the icon associated with this item. This icon will not always be shown, so the title should be sufficient in describing this item. See Menu for the menu types that support icons.

This method will set the resource ID of the icon which will be used to lazily get the Drawable when this item is being shown.

Parameters
iconRes The new icon (as a resource ID) to be displayed.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setIntent (Intent intent)

Added in API level 1

Change the Intent associated with this item. By default there is no Intent associated with a menu item. If you set one, and nothing else handles the item, then the default behavior will be to call startActivity(Intent) with the given Intent.

Note that setIntent() can not be used with the versions of add(int) that take a Runnable, because run() does not return a value so there is no way to tell if it handled the item. In this case it is assumed that the Runnable always handles the item, and the intent will never be started.

Parameters
intent The Intent to associated with the item. This Intent object is not copied, so be careful not to modify it later.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.
See Also

public abstract MenuItem setNumericShortcut (char numericChar)

Added in API level 1

Change the numeric shortcut associated with this item.

See Menu for the menu types that support shortcuts.

Parameters
numericChar The numeric shortcut key. This is the shortcut when using a 12-key (numeric) keyboard.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setOnActionExpandListener (MenuItem.OnActionExpandListener listener)

Added in API level 14

Set an MenuItem.OnActionExpandListener on this menu item to be notified when the associated action view is expanded or collapsed. The menu item must be configured to expand or collapse its action view using the flag SHOW_AS_ACTION_COLLAPSE_ACTION_VIEW.

Parameters
listener Listener that will respond to expand/collapse events
Returns
  • This menu item instance for call chaining

public abstract MenuItem setOnMenuItemClickListener (MenuItem.OnMenuItemClickListener menuItemClickListener)

Added in API level 1

Set a custom listener for invocation of this menu item. In most situations, it is more efficient and easier to use onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem) or onContextItemSelected(MenuItem).

Parameters
menuItemClickListener The object to receive invokations.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setShortcut (char numericChar, char alphaChar)

Added in API level 1

Change both the numeric and alphabetic shortcut associated with this item. Note that the shortcut will be triggered when the key that generates the given character is pressed alone or along with with the alt key. Also note that case is not significant and that alphabetic shortcut characters will be displayed in lower case.

See Menu for the menu types that support shortcuts.

Parameters
numericChar The numeric shortcut key. This is the shortcut when using a numeric (e.g., 12-key) keyboard.
alphaChar The alphabetic shortcut key. This is the shortcut when using a keyboard with alphabetic keys.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract void setShowAsAction (int actionEnum)

Added in API level 11

Sets how this item should display in the presence of an Action Bar. The parameter actionEnum is a flag set. One of SHOW_AS_ACTION_ALWAYS, SHOW_AS_ACTION_IF_ROOM, or SHOW_AS_ACTION_NEVER should be used, and you may optionally OR the value with SHOW_AS_ACTION_WITH_TEXT. SHOW_AS_ACTION_WITH_TEXT requests that when the item is shown as an action, it should be shown with a text label.

Parameters
actionEnum How the item should display. One of SHOW_AS_ACTION_ALWAYS, SHOW_AS_ACTION_IF_ROOM, or SHOW_AS_ACTION_NEVER. SHOW_AS_ACTION_NEVER is the default.

public abstract MenuItem setShowAsActionFlags (int actionEnum)

Added in API level 14

Sets how this item should display in the presence of an Action Bar. The parameter actionEnum is a flag set. One of SHOW_AS_ACTION_ALWAYS, SHOW_AS_ACTION_IF_ROOM, or SHOW_AS_ACTION_NEVER should be used, and you may optionally OR the value with SHOW_AS_ACTION_WITH_TEXT. SHOW_AS_ACTION_WITH_TEXT requests that when the item is shown as an action, it should be shown with a text label.

Note: This method differs from setShowAsAction(int) only in that it returns the current MenuItem instance for call chaining.

Parameters
actionEnum How the item should display. One of SHOW_AS_ACTION_ALWAYS, SHOW_AS_ACTION_IF_ROOM, or SHOW_AS_ACTION_NEVER. SHOW_AS_ACTION_NEVER is the default.
Returns
  • This MenuItem instance for call chaining.

public abstract MenuItem setTitle (CharSequence title)

Added in API level 1

Change the title associated with this item.

Parameters
title The new text to be displayed.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setTitle (int title)

Added in API level 1

Change the title associated with this item.

Some menu types do not sufficient space to show the full title, and instead a condensed title is preferred. See Menu for more information.

Parameters
title The resource id of the new text to be displayed.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setTitleCondensed (CharSequence title)

Added in API level 1

Change the condensed title associated with this item. The condensed title is used in situations where the normal title may be too long to be displayed.

Parameters
title The new text to be displayed as the condensed title.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.

public abstract MenuItem setVisible (boolean visible)

Added in API level 1

Sets the visibility of the menu item. Even if a menu item is not visible, it may still be invoked via its shortcut (to completely disable an item, set it to invisible and disabled).

Parameters
visible If true then the item will be visible; if false it is hidden.
Returns
  • This Item so additional setters can be called.