page.title=Setting Up the Search Interface
trainingnavtop=true
next.title=Storing and Searching for Data
next.link=search.html
@jd:body
<div id="tb-wrapper">
<div id="tb">
<h2>This lesson teaches you to</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}training/search/setup.html#add-sv">Add the Search View to the App
Bar</a></li>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}training/search/setup.html#create-sc">Create a Searchable
Configuration</a></li>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}training/search/setup.html#create-sa">Create a Searchable
Activity</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>You should also read:</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}training/appbar/index.html">Adding the App Bar</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<p>Beginning in Android 3.0, using the {@link android.widget.SearchView} widget as an item in
the app bar is the preferred way to provide search in your app. Like with all items in
the app bar, you can define the {@link android.widget.SearchView} to show at all times, only
when there is room, or as a collapsible action, which displays the {@link
android.widget.SearchView} as an icon initially, then takes up the entire app bar as a search
field when the user clicks the icon.</p>
<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Later in this class, you will learn how to make your
app compatible down to Android 2.1 (API level 7) for devices that do not support
{@link android.widget.SearchView}.</p>
<h2 id="add-sv">Add the Search View to the App Bar</h2>
<p>To add a {@link android.widget.SearchView} widget to the app bar, create a file named
<code>res/menu/options_menu.xml</code> in your project and add the following code to the file.
This code defines how to create the search item, such as the icon to use and the title of the
item. The <code>collapseActionView</code> attribute allows your {@link android.widget.SearchView}
to expand to take up the whole app bar and collapse back down into a
normal app bar item when not in use. Because of the limited app bar space on handset devices,
using the <code>collapsibleActionView</code> attribute is recommended to provide a better
user experience.</p>
<pre>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<item android:id="@+id/search"
android:title="@string/search_title"
android:icon="@drawable/ic_search"
android:showAsAction="collapseActionView|ifRoom"
android:actionViewClass="android.widget.SearchView" />
</menu>
</pre>
<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> If you already have an existing XML file for your menu
items, you can add the <code><item></code> element to that file instead.</p>
<p>To display the {@link android.widget.SearchView} in the app bar, inflate the XML menu
resource (<code>res/menu/options_menu.xml</code>) in the {@link
android.app.Activity#onCreateOptionsMenu onCreateOptionsMenu()} method of your activity:</p>
<pre>
@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.options_menu, menu);
return true;
}
</pre>
<p>If you run your app now, the {@link android.widget.SearchView} appears in your app's app
bar, but it isn't functional. You now need to define <em>how</em> the {@link
android.widget.SearchView} behaves.</p>
<h2 id="create-sc">Create a Searchable Configuration</h2>
<p>A <a href="http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/search/searchable-config.html">searchable
configuration</a> defines how the {@link android.widget.SearchView} behaves and is defined in a
<code>res/xml/searchable.xml</code> file. At a minimum, a searchable configuration must contain
an <code>android:label</code> attribute that has the same value as the
<code>android:label</code> attribute of the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/application-element.html"><application></a> or
<a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html"><activity></a> element in your Android manifest.
However, we also recommend adding an <code>android:hint</code> attribute to give the user an idea of what to enter into the search
box:</p>
<pre>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<searchable xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:label="@string/app_name"
android:hint="@string/search_hint" />
</pre>
<p>In your application's manifest file, declare a <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/meta-data-element.html">
<code><meta-data></code></a> element that points to the <code>res/xml/searchable.xml</code> file,
so that your application knows where to find it. Declare the element in an <code><activity></code>
that you want to display the {@link android.widget.SearchView} in:</p>
<pre>
<activity ... >
...
<meta-data android:name="android.app.searchable"
android:resource="@xml/searchable" />
</activity>
</pre>
<p>In the {@link android.app.Activity#onCreateOptionsMenu onCreateOptionsMenu()} method that you
created before, associate the searchable configuration with the {@link android.widget.SearchView}
by calling {@link android.widget.SearchView#setSearchableInfo}:</p>
<pre>
@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
inflater.inflate(R.menu.options_menu, menu);
// Associate searchable configuration with the SearchView
SearchManager searchManager =
(SearchManager) getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
SearchView searchView =
(SearchView) menu.findItem(R.id.search).getActionView();
searchView.setSearchableInfo(
searchManager.getSearchableInfo(getComponentName()));
return true;
}
</pre>
<p>The call to {@link android.app.SearchManager#getSearchableInfo getSearchableInfo()} obtains a
{@link android.app.SearchableInfo} object that is created from the searchable configuration XML
file. When the searchable configuration is correctly associated with your {@link
android.widget.SearchView}, the {@link android.widget.SearchView} starts an activity with the
{@link android.content.Intent#ACTION_SEARCH} intent when a user submits a query. You now need an
activity that can filter for this intent and handle the search query.</p>
<h2 id="create-sa">Create a Searchable Activity</h2>
<p>A {@link android.widget.SearchView} tries to start an activity with the {@link
android.content.Intent#ACTION_SEARCH} when a user submits a search query. A searchable activity
filters for the {@link android.content.Intent#ACTION_SEARCH} intent and searches for the query in
some sort of data set. To create a searchable activity, declare an activity of your choice to
filter for the {@link android.content.Intent#ACTION_SEARCH} intent:</p>
<pre>
<activity android:name=".SearchResultsActivity" ... >
...
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.SEARCH" />
</intent-filter>
...
</activity>
</pre>
<p>In your searchable activity, handle the {@link android.content.Intent#ACTION_SEARCH} intent by
checking for it in your {@link android.app.Activity#onCreate onCreate()} method.</p>
<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> If your searchable activity launches in single top mode
(<code>android:launchMode="singleTop"</code>), also handle the {@link
android.content.Intent#ACTION_SEARCH} intent in the {@link android.app.Activity#onNewIntent
onNewIntent()} method. In single top mode, only one instance of your activity is created and
subsequent calls to start your activity do not create a new activity on the
stack. This launch mode is useful so users can perform searches from the same activity
without creating a new activity instance every time.</p>
<pre>
public class SearchResultsActivity extends Activity {
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
...
handleIntent(getIntent());
}
@Override
protected void onNewIntent(Intent intent) {
...
handleIntent(intent);
}
private void handleIntent(Intent intent) {
if (Intent.ACTION_SEARCH.equals(intent.getAction())) {
String query = intent.getStringExtra(SearchManager.QUERY);
//use the query to search your data somehow
}
}
...
}
</pre>
<p>If you run your app now, the {@link android.widget.SearchView} can accept the user's query and
start your searchable activity with the {@link android.content.Intent#ACTION_SEARCH} intent. It
is now up to you to figure out how to store and search your data given a query.</p>