How do I create a custom toolbar?
How do I create a custom toolbar?
Designing custom toolbars in Android Studio is a great way to customize the look and feel of your app. In this tutorial, we’ll cover everything you need to know about creating custom toolbars, including how to add menu items, change the toolbar’s color and style, and handle user clicks.
Step 1: Create a new project
The first step to creating a custom toolbar in Android Studio is to create a new project. To do this, open Android Studio and select “Start a new Android Studio project” from the welcome screen. Follow the wizard and set up your project as per your needs.
Step 2: Add a Toolbar to your layout
To add a Toolbar to your layout, open the XML layout file for your activity and add the following code snippet:
<androidx.appcompat.widget.Toolbar android:id="@+id/my_toolbar" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize" android:background="@color/colorPrimary" android:elevation="4dp" android:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.ActionBar" app:title="@string/app_name" />
Here, we have created a Toolbar with a specific ID and assigned a few attributes such as the height, background color, elevation, and theme. You can customize these attributes as per your requirements.
Step 3: Set up the Toolbar in your Activity
To set up the Toolbar in your Activity, you need to reference it in your Java code. Add the following code in your Activity class:
Toolbar myToolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.my_toolbar); setSupportActionBar(myToolbar);
Here, we have referenced the Toolbar using its ID and set it as the ActionBar using the setSupportActionBar() method.
Step 4: Add menu items to the Toolbar
To add menu items to the Toolbar, you need to create a menu resource file. Create a new folder named “menu” in your “res” directory and add a new menu resource file. In this example, we’ll name it “toolbar_menu.xml”. Add the following code to this file:
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"> <item android:id="@+id/action_search" android:icon="@drawable/ic_search" android:title="Search" app:showAsAction="always" /> <item android:id="@+id/action_settings" android:icon="@drawable/ic_settings" android:title="Settings" app:showAsAction="never" /> </menu>
Here, we have added two menu items: “Search” and “Settings”. We have also specified the icon, title, and showAsAction attribute for each item. The “showAsAction” attribute determines whether the item should be displayed as an action in the Toolbar or as a submenu item.
Step 5: Inflate the menu in your Activity
To inflate the menu in your Activity, you need to override the onCreateOptionsMenu() method. Add the following code to your Activity class:
@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu)
{
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.toolbar_menu, menu);
return true;
}
Here, we have overridden the onCreateOptionsMenu() method and inflated the menu resource file using a MenuInflater. This will add the menu items to the Toolbar.
Step 6: Handle clicks on menu items
To handle clicks on menu items, you need to override the onOptionsItemSelected() method. Add the following code to your Activity class:
@Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item)
{
switch (item.getItemId())
{
case R.id.action_search:
// Handle search icon press
return true;
case R.id.action_settings:
// Handle settings icon press
return true;
default:
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
}
Here, we have overridden the onOptionsItemSelected() method and used a switch statement to handle clicks on each menu item. You can add your own logic for handling these clicks, such as starting a new activity or displaying a dialog.
Step 7: Customize the Toolbar’s color and style
To customize the Toolbar’s color and style, you can modify its attributes in the XML layout file or in a separate style file. Here’s an example of how to change the Toolbar’s background color and text color:
<androidx.appcompat.widget.Toolbar android:id="@+id/my_toolbar" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize" android:background="@color/my_toolbar_color" android:elevation="4dp" android:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.ActionBar" app:title="@string/app_name" app:titleTextColor="@color/my_toolbar_text_color" />
Here, we have set the Toolbar’s background color to “my_toolbar_color” and the text color to “my_toolbar_text_color”. You can define these colors in your colors.xml file.
Alternatively, you can define a style for your Toolbar in a separate style file:
<style name="MyToolbarStyle" parent="Widget.AppCompat.Toolbar"> <item name="android:background">@color/my_toolbar_color</item> <item name="titleTextColor">@color/my_toolbar_text_color</item> </style>
Then, you can apply this style to your Toolbar in the XML layout file:
<androidx.appcompat.widget.Toolbar android:id="@+id/my_toolbar" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize" style="@style/MyToolbarStyle" app:title="@string/app_name" />
This will apply the MyToolbarStyle to your Toolbar and customize its color and style.
Conclusion:
In this tutorial, we’ve covered everything you need to know about creating custom toolbars in Android Studio. We’ve learned how to add menu items, handle user clicks, customize the Toolbar’s color and style, and more. By following these steps, you can create your own custom toolbar and give your app a unique look and feel.
