ActionBar items appear always in Overflow Menu

Question

I am trying to add actions item in action bar, but items always are adding into the overflow list even there is lot of room. Any suggestion to resolve this ??

This should be like this

main.xml

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">

    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_refresh"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_refresh"
        android:showAsAction="ifRoom"
        android:title="@string/action_refresh" />

    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_search"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_search"
        android:showAsAction="ifRoom"
        android:title="@string/action_search" />

    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_settings"
        android:title="@string/action_settings"
        app:showAsAction="never" />


</menu>

MainActivity.java

public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    }


    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {

        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
        return true;
    }

}

AndroidManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.actionbardemo.app" >

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
        <activity
            android:name="com.example.actionbardemo.app.MainActivity"
            android:label="@string/app_name" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>

</manifest>

build.gradle

apply plugin: 'android'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 19
    buildToolsVersion "19.0.3"

    defaultConfig {
        minSdkVersion 8
        targetSdkVersion 19
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            runProguard false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.txt'
        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:19.0.1'
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:19.0.1'
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
}

Answer 1

My app is using the Support Library for compatibility on versions as low as Android 2.2 so I have to define my own XML namespace and use that namespace as the attribute prefix

Solution was this, I was writing this android:showAsAction="ifRoom" but I should have app:showAsAction="ifRoom"

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">

    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_refresh"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_refresh"
        app:showAsAction="ifRoom"
        android:title="@string/action_refresh" />

    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_search"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_search"
        app:showAsAction="ifRoom"
        android:title="@string/action_search" />

    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_settings"
        android:title="@string/action_settings"
        app:showAsAction="never" />


</menu>

Answer 2

in menu xml file you need to add yourapp:showAsAction="always" like below.

<item
    android:id="@+id/Option"
    android:actionProviderClass="android.support.v7.widget.ShareActionProvider"
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_settings"
    android:title="Option"
    yourapp:showAsAction="always"/>

<item
    android:id="@+id/Save"
    android:actionProviderClass="android.support.v7.widget.ShareActionProvider"
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_save"
    android:title="Save"
    yourapp:showAsAction="always"/>

Answer 3

As per the document

If your app is using the Support Library for compatibility on versions as low as Android 2.1, the showAsAction attribute is not available from the android: namespace. Instead this attribute is provided by the Support Library and you must define your own XML namespace and use that namespace as the attribute prefix. (A custom XML namespace should be based on your app name, but it can be any name you want and is only accessible within the scope of the file in which you declare it.) For example:

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      xmlns:yourapp="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" >
    <!-- Search, should appear as action button -->
    <item android:id="@+id/action_search"
          android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_search"
          android:title="@string/action_search"
          yourapp:showAsAction="ifRoom"  />
    ...
</menu>

Answer 4

try this:

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_refresh"
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_refresh"
    app:showAsAction="ifRoom"
    android:title="@string/action_refresh" />

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_search"
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_search"
    app:showAsAction="ifRoom"
    android:title="@string/action_search" />

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_settings"
    android:title="@string/action_settings"
    app:showAsAction="never" />

Answer 5

If you want to show all items always in actionbar then make your menu xml file like below:

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_refresh"
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_refresh"
    app:showAsAction="always"
    android:title="@string/action_refresh" />

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_search"
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_search"
    app:showAsAction="always"
    android:title="@string/action_search" />

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_settings"
    android:title="@string/action_settings"
    app:showAsAction="always" />

Answer 6

I have the similar issue before you should try this

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_refresh"
    app:showAsAction="never"
    android:title="@string/action_refresh" />

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_search"
    app:showAsAction="never"
    android:title="@string/action_search" />

<item
    android:id="@+id/action_settings"
    android:title="@string/action_settings"
    app:showAsAction="never" />

Answer 7

Try with android:showAsAction="always" for the items in the menu.