public interface

Menu

android.view.Menu
Known Indirect Subclasses

Class Overview

Interface for managing the items in a menu.

By default, every Activity supports an options menu of actions or options. You can add items to this menu and handle clicks on your additions. The easiest way of adding menu items is inflating an XML file into the Menu via MenuInflater. The easiest way of attaching code to clicks is via onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem) and onContextItemSelected(MenuItem).

Different menu types support different features:

  1. Context menus: Do not support item shortcuts and item icons.
  2. Options menus: The icon menus do not support item check marks and only show the item's condensed title. The expanded menus (only available if six or more menu items are visible, reached via the 'More' item in the icon menu) do not show item icons, and item check marks are discouraged.
  3. Sub menus: Do not support item icons, or nested sub menus.

Summary

Constants
int CATEGORY_ALTERNATIVE Category code for the order integer for items/groups that are alternative actions on the data that is currently displayed -- or/add this with your base value.
int CATEGORY_CONTAINER Category code for the order integer for items/groups that are part of a container -- or/add this with your base value.
int CATEGORY_SECONDARY Category code for the order integer for items/groups that are user-supplied secondary (infrequently used) options -- or/add this with your base value.
int CATEGORY_SYSTEM Category code for the order integer for items/groups that are provided by the system -- or/add this with your base value.
int FIRST First value for group and item identifier integers.
int FLAG_ALWAYS_PERFORM_CLOSE Flag for performShortcut(int, KeyEvent, int): if set, always close the menu after executing the shortcut.
int FLAG_APPEND_TO_GROUP Flag for addIntentOptions(int, int, int, ComponentName, Intent[], Intent, int, MenuItem[]): if set, do not automatically remove any existing menu items in the same group.
int FLAG_PERFORM_NO_CLOSE Flag for performShortcut(int, KeyEvent, int): if set, do not close the menu after executing the shortcut.
int NONE Value to use for group and item identifier integers when you don't care about them.
Public Methods
abstract MenuItem add(int titleRes)
Add a new item to the menu.
abstract MenuItem add(int groupId, int itemId, int order, CharSequence title)
Add a new item to the menu.
abstract MenuItem add(int groupId, int itemId, int order, int titleRes)
Variation on add(int, int, int, CharSequence) that takes a string resource identifier instead of the string itself.
abstract MenuItem add(CharSequence title)
Add a new item to the menu.
abstract int addIntentOptions(int groupId, int itemId, int order, ComponentName caller, Intent[] specifics, Intent intent, int flags, MenuItem[] outSpecificItems)
Add a group of menu items corresponding to actions that can be performed for a particular Intent.
abstract SubMenu addSubMenu(int titleRes)
Add a new sub-menu to the menu.
abstract SubMenu addSubMenu(int groupId, int itemId, int order, int titleRes)
Variation on addSubMenu(int, int, int, CharSequence) that takes a string resource identifier for the title instead of the string itself.
abstract SubMenu addSubMenu(CharSequence title)
Add a new sub-menu to the menu.
abstract SubMenu addSubMenu(int groupId, int itemId, int order, CharSequence title)
Add a new sub-menu to the menu.
abstract void clear()
Remove all existing items from the menu, leaving it empty as if it had just been created.
abstract void close()
Closes the menu, if open.
abstract MenuItem findItem(int id)
Return the menu item with a particular identifier.
abstract MenuItem getItem(int index)
Gets the menu item at the given index.
abstract boolean hasVisibleItems()
Return whether the menu currently has item items that are visible.
abstract boolean isShortcutKey(int keyCode, KeyEvent event)
Is a keypress one of the defined shortcut keys for this window.
abstract boolean performIdentifierAction(int id, int flags)
Execute the menu item action associated with the given menu identifier.
abstract boolean performShortcut(int keyCode, KeyEvent event, int flags)
Execute the menu item action associated with the given shortcut character.
abstract void removeGroup(int groupId)
Remove all items in the given group.
abstract void removeItem(int id)
Remove the item with the given identifier.
abstract void setGroupCheckable(int group, boolean checkable, boolean exclusive)
Control whether a particular group of items can show a check mark.
abstract void setGroupEnabled(int group, boolean enabled)
Enable or disable all menu items that are in the given group.
abstract void setGroupVisible(int group, boolean visible)
Show or hide all menu items that are in the given group.
abstract void setQwertyMode(boolean isQwerty)
Control whether the menu should be running in qwerty mode (alphabetic shortcuts) or 12-key mode (numeric shortcuts).
abstract int size()
Get the number of items in the menu.

Constants

public static final int CATEGORY_ALTERNATIVE

Since: API Level 1

Category code for the order integer for items/groups that are alternative actions on the data that is currently displayed -- or/add this with your base value.

Constant Value: 262144 (0x00040000)

public static final int CATEGORY_CONTAINER

Since: API Level 1

Category code for the order integer for items/groups that are part of a container -- or/add this with your base value.

Constant Value: 65536 (0x00010000)

public static final int CATEGORY_SECONDARY

Since: API Level 1

Category code for the order integer for items/groups that are user-supplied secondary (infrequently used) options -- or/add this with your base value.

Constant Value: 196608 (0x00030000)

public static final int CATEGORY_SYSTEM

Since: API Level 1

Category code for the order integer for items/groups that are provided by the system -- or/add this with your base value.

Constant Value: 131072 (0x00020000)

public static final int FIRST

Since: API Level 1

First value for group and item identifier integers.

Constant Value: 1 (0x00000001)

public static final int FLAG_ALWAYS_PERFORM_CLOSE

Since: API Level 1

Flag for performShortcut(int, KeyEvent, int): if set, always close the menu after executing the shortcut. Closing the menu also resets the prepared state.

Constant Value: 2 (0x00000002)

public static final int FLAG_APPEND_TO_GROUP

Since: API Level 1

Flag for addIntentOptions(int, int, int, ComponentName, Intent[], Intent, int, MenuItem[]): if set, do not automatically remove any existing menu items in the same group.

Constant Value: 1 (0x00000001)

public static final int FLAG_PERFORM_NO_CLOSE

Since: API Level 1

Flag for performShortcut(int, KeyEvent, int): if set, do not close the menu after executing the shortcut.

Constant Value: 1 (0x00000001)

public static final int NONE

Since: API Level 1

Value to use for group and item identifier integers when you don't care about them.

Constant Value: 0 (0x00000000)

Public Methods

public abstract MenuItem add (int titleRes)

Since: API Level 1

Add a new item to the menu. This item displays the given title for its label.

Parameters
titleRes Resource identifier of title string.
Returns
  • The newly added menu item.

public abstract MenuItem add (int groupId, int itemId, int order, CharSequence title)

Since: API Level 1

Add a new item to the menu. This item displays the given title for its label.

Parameters
groupId The group identifier that this item should be part of. This can be used to define groups of items for batch state changes. Normally use NONE if an item should not be in a group.
itemId Unique item ID. Use NONE if you do not need a unique ID.
order The order for the item. Use NONE if you do not care about the order. See getOrder().
title The text to display for the item.
Returns
  • The newly added menu item.

public abstract MenuItem add (int groupId, int itemId, int order, int titleRes)

Since: API Level 1

Variation on add(int, int, int, CharSequence) that takes a string resource identifier instead of the string itself.

Parameters
groupId The group identifier that this item should be part of. This can also be used to define groups of items for batch state changes. Normally use NONE if an item should not be in a group.
itemId Unique item ID. Use NONE if you do not need a unique ID.
order The order for the item. Use NONE if you do not care about the order. See getOrder().
titleRes Resource identifier of title string.
Returns
  • The newly added menu item.

public abstract MenuItem add (CharSequence title)

Since: API Level 1

Add a new item to the menu. This item displays the given title for its label.

Parameters
title The text to display for the item.
Returns
  • The newly added menu item.

public abstract int addIntentOptions (int groupId, int itemId, int order, ComponentName caller, Intent[] specifics, Intent intent, int flags, MenuItem[] outSpecificItems)

Since: API Level 1

Add a group of menu items corresponding to actions that can be performed for a particular Intent. The Intent is most often configured with a null action, the data that the current activity is working with, and includes either the CATEGORY_ALTERNATIVE or CATEGORY_SELECTED_ALTERNATIVE to find activities that have said they would like to be included as optional action. You can, however, use any Intent you want.

See queryIntentActivityOptions(ComponentName, Intent[], Intent, int) for more * details on the caller, specifics, and intent arguments. The list returned by that function is used to populate the resulting menu items.

All of the menu items of possible options for the intent will be added with the given group and id. You can use the group to control ordering of the items in relation to other items in the menu. Normally this function will automatically remove any existing items in the menu in the same group and place a divider above and below the added items; this behavior can be modified with the flags parameter. For each of the generated items setIntent(Intent) is called to associate the appropriate Intent with the item; this means the activity will automatically be started for you without having to do anything else.

Parameters
groupId The group identifier that the items should be part of. This can also be used to define groups of items for batch state changes. Normally use NONE if the items should not be in a group.
itemId Unique item ID. Use NONE if you do not need a unique ID.
order The order for the items. Use NONE if you do not care about the order. See getOrder().
caller The current activity component name as defined by queryIntentActivityOptions().
specifics Specific items to place first as defined by queryIntentActivityOptions().
intent Intent describing the kinds of items to populate in the list as defined by queryIntentActivityOptions().
flags Additional options controlling how the items are added.
outSpecificItems Optional array in which to place the menu items that were generated for each of the specifics that were requested. Entries may be null if no activity was found for that specific action.
Returns
  • The number of menu items that were added.
See Also

public abstract SubMenu addSubMenu (int titleRes)

Since: API Level 1

Add a new sub-menu to the menu. This item displays the given title for its label. To modify other attributes on the submenu's menu item, use getItem().

Parameters
titleRes Resource identifier of title string.
Returns
  • The newly added sub-menu

public abstract SubMenu addSubMenu (int groupId, int itemId, int order, int titleRes)

Since: API Level 1

Variation on addSubMenu(int, int, int, CharSequence) that takes a string resource identifier for the title instead of the string itself.

Parameters
groupId The group identifier that this item should be part of. This can also be used to define groups of items for batch state changes. Normally use NONE if an item should not be in a group.
itemId Unique item ID. Use NONE if you do not need a unique ID.
order The order for the item. Use NONE if you do not care about the order. See getOrder().
titleRes Resource identifier of title string.
Returns
  • The newly added sub-menu

public abstract SubMenu addSubMenu (CharSequence title)

Since: API Level 1

Add a new sub-menu to the menu. This item displays the given title for its label. To modify other attributes on the submenu's menu item, use getItem().

Parameters
title The text to display for the item.
Returns
  • The newly added sub-menu

public abstract SubMenu addSubMenu (int groupId, int itemId, int order, CharSequence title)

Since: API Level 1

Add a new sub-menu to the menu. This item displays the given title for its label. To modify other attributes on the submenu's menu item, use getItem().

Note that you can only have one level of sub-menus, i.e. you cannnot add a subMenu to a subMenu: An UnsupportedOperationException will be thrown if you try.

Parameters
groupId The group identifier that this item should be part of. This can also be used to define groups of items for batch state changes. Normally use NONE if an item should not be in a group.
itemId Unique item ID. Use NONE if you do not need a unique ID.
order The order for the item. Use NONE if you do not care about the order. See getOrder().
title The text to display for the item.
Returns
  • The newly added sub-menu

public abstract void clear ()

Since: API Level 1

Remove all existing items from the menu, leaving it empty as if it had just been created.

public abstract void close ()

Since: API Level 3

Closes the menu, if open.

public abstract MenuItem findItem (int id)

Since: API Level 1

Return the menu item with a particular identifier.

Parameters
id The identifier to find.
Returns
  • The menu item object, or null if there is no item with this identifier.

public abstract MenuItem getItem (int index)

Since: API Level 3

Gets the menu item at the given index.

Parameters
index The index of the menu item to return.
Returns
  • The menu item.
Throws
IndexOutOfBoundsException when index < 0 || >= size()

public abstract boolean hasVisibleItems ()

Since: API Level 1

Return whether the menu currently has item items that are visible.

Returns
  • True if there is one or more item visible, else false.

public abstract boolean isShortcutKey (int keyCode, KeyEvent event)

Since: API Level 1

Is a keypress one of the defined shortcut keys for this window.

Parameters
keyCode the key code from KeyEvent to check.
event the KeyEvent to use to help check.

public abstract boolean performIdentifierAction (int id, int flags)

Since: API Level 1

Execute the menu item action associated with the given menu identifier.

Parameters
id Identifier associated with the menu item.
flags Additional option flags or 0.
Returns
  • If the given identifier exists and is shown, returns true; else returns false.
See Also

public abstract boolean performShortcut (int keyCode, KeyEvent event, int flags)

Since: API Level 1

Execute the menu item action associated with the given shortcut character.

Parameters
keyCode The keycode of the shortcut key.
event Key event message.
flags Additional option flags or 0.
Returns
  • If the given shortcut exists and is shown, returns true; else returns false.
See Also

public abstract void removeGroup (int groupId)

Since: API Level 1

Remove all items in the given group.

Parameters
groupId The group to be removed. If there are no items in this group, nothing happens.

public abstract void removeItem (int id)

Since: API Level 1

Remove the item with the given identifier.

Parameters
id The item to be removed. If there is no item with this identifier, nothing happens.

public abstract void setGroupCheckable (int group, boolean checkable, boolean exclusive)

Since: API Level 1

Control whether a particular group of items can show a check mark. This is similar to calling setCheckable(boolean) on all of the menu items with the given group identifier, but in addition you can control whether this group contains a mutually-exclusive set items. This should be called after the items of the group have been added to the menu.

Parameters
group The group of items to operate on.
checkable Set to true to allow a check mark, false to disallow. The default is false.
exclusive If set to true, only one item in this group can be checked at a time; checking an item will automatically uncheck all others in the group. If set to false, each item can be checked independently of the others.
See Also

public abstract void setGroupEnabled (int group, boolean enabled)

Since: API Level 1

Enable or disable all menu items that are in the given group.

Parameters
group The group of items to operate on.
enabled If true the items will be enabled, else they will be disabled.
See Also

public abstract void setGroupVisible (int group, boolean visible)

Since: API Level 1

Show or hide all menu items that are in the given group.

Parameters
group The group of items to operate on.
visible If true the items are visible, else they are hidden.
See Also

public abstract void setQwertyMode (boolean isQwerty)

Since: API Level 1

Control whether the menu should be running in qwerty mode (alphabetic shortcuts) or 12-key mode (numeric shortcuts).

Parameters
isQwerty If true the menu will use alphabetic shortcuts; else it will use numeric shortcuts.

public abstract int size ()

Since: API Level 1

Get the number of items in the menu. Note that this will change any times items are added or removed from the menu.

Returns
  • The item count.