Android Options Menu Example

In this tutorial, we will create an options menu in an Android app using Java and XML.

1. XML Files

main_menu.xml (res/menu/main_menu.xml)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item android:title="Setting" android:id="@+id/setting"/>
    <item android:title="Help" android:id="@+id/help"/>
    <item android:title="About Us" android:id="@+id/about"/>
</menu>
        

activity_main.xml (res/layout/activity_main.xml)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/main"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Hello World!"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintEnd_toEndOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />

</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>
        

2. Java File

MainActivity.java (src/com/tecvipul/menudemo/MainActivity.java)

package com.tecvipul.menudemo;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuInflater;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.widget.Toast;

import androidx.annotation.NonNull;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

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

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
        inflater.inflate(R.menu.main_menu, menu);
        return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(@NonNull MenuItem item) {
        switch (item.getItemId()) {
            case R.id.setting:
                Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Setting", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                return true;
            case R.id.help:
                Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Help", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                return true;
        }
        return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }
}
        

3. Directory Structure

Make sure you create the following directory structure:

    /res/menu/main_menu.xml
    /res/layout/activity_main.xml
    /src/com/tecvipul/menudemo/MainActivity.java
    

4. Important Note

If you're getting an error where "R.id.setting" is not resolving like this then add this below given line to your gradle.properties file:
android.nonFinalResIds = false

5. Video Tutorial

Watch this video tutorial for a step-by-step guide: