How can I dynamically create menu items?

Question

I'm building an Android application and I'm trying to build a user management system where users can login, logout, etc. I want to display a login menu item if the user is logged out and a logout button if the user is logged in. How can I do this dynamically?

This is the layout file right now:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
  <item android:id="@+id/add" android:title="Add" android:icon="@drawable/ic_menu_add"/>
  <item android:id="@+id/list" android:title="List" android:icon="@drawable/ic_menu_list"/>
  <item android:id="@+id/refresh" android:title="Refresh" android:icon="@drawable/ic_menu_refresh"/>
  <item android:id="@+id/login" android:title="Login" android:icon="@drawable/ic_menu_login"/>
</menu>

This is my Java right now:

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    new MenuInflater(this).inflate(R.menu.activity_main, menu);
    return(super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu));
}

@Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) 
{
    System.out.println(item.getItemId()==R.id.add);
    if (item.getItemId()==R.id.add)
    {
        //Cannot add spot unless we have obtained the users current location. 
        if((currentLat != 0) && (currentLng != 0))
        {

            System.out.println("loggedin? : "  + auth.isLoggedIn());
            if(!auth.isLoggedIn())
            {
                Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, "You must be logged in to add a new spot",
                        Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
            }
            else
            {


                Intent addIntent = new Intent(MainActivity.this, AddSpot.class);
                Bundle b = new Bundle();
                b.putDouble("currentLat", currentLat);
                b.putDouble("currentLng", currentLng);
                addIntent.putExtras(b);
                startActivity(addIntent);
                return(true);
            }
        }
    }   
    else if(item.getItemId()==R.id.list)
    {
        //Pointless showing them a blank screen if nothing is retrieved from the server
        if(list != null)
        {
            Intent listIntent = new Intent(MainActivity.this, ListLocations.class);
            listIntent.putExtra("list", list);
            startActivity(listIntent);
            return(true);
        }
    }

    if(item.getItemId()==R.id.refresh)
    {
        finish();
        startActivity(getIntent());
        return(true);       
    }

    if(item.getItemId()==R.id.login)
    {
        Intent loginIntent = new Intent(MainActivity.this, LoginActivity.class);
        startActivity(loginIntent);
        return(true);   
    }

    return(super.onOptionsItemSelected(item));
}

Solution 1

How to Dynamically Add Menu Items to an Android Activity

public class yourActivity extends Activity {
    ...
    private static final int MENU_ADD = Menu.FIRST;
    private static final int MENU_LIST = MENU.FIRST + 1;
    private static final int MENU_REFRESH = MENU.FIRST + 2;
    private static final int MENU_LOGIN = MENU.FIRST + 3;

    /**
     * Use if your menu is static (i.e. unchanging)
     */
    /*
    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
        menu.add(0, MENU_ADD, Menu.NONE, R.string.your-add-text).setIcon(R.drawable.your-add-icon);
        menu.add(0, MENU_LIST, Menu.NONE, R.string.your-list-text).setIcon(R.drawable.your-list-icon);
        menu.add(0, MENU_REFRESH, Menu.NONE, R.string.your-refresh-text).setIcon(R.drawable.your-refresh-icon);
        menu.add(0, MENU_LOGIN, Menu.NONE, R.string.your-login-text).setIcon(R.drawable.your-login-icon);
        return true;
    }
    */

    /**
     * Gets called every time the user presses the menu button.
     * Use if your menu is dynamic.
     */
    @Override
    public boolean onPrepareOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        menu.clear();
        if(enableAdd)
            menu.add(0, MENU_ADD, Menu.NONE, R.string.your-add-text).setIcon(R.drawable.your-add-icon);
        if(enableList)
            menu.add(0, MENU_LIST, Menu.NONE, R.string.your-list-text).setIcon(R.drawable.your-list-icon);
        if(enableRefresh)
            menu.add(0, MENU_REFRESH, Menu.NONE, R.string.your-refresh-text).setIcon(R.drawable.your-refresh-icon);
        if(enableLogin)
            menu.add(0, MENU_LOGIN, Menu.NONE, R.string.your-login-text).setIcon(R.drawable.your-login-icon);
        return super.onPrepareOptionsMenu(menu);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);

        switch (item.getItemId()) {
        case MENU_ADD: doAddStuff(); break;
        case MENU_LIST: doListStuff(); break;
        case MENU_REFRESH: doRefreshStuff(); break;
        case MENU_LOGIN: doLoginStuff(); break;
        }
        return false;
    }

---

The following specific example adds a MENU_LOGOUT option if the user is logged in.

    private static final int MENU_LOGOUT = MENU.FIRST + 4;

    public boolean onPrepareOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        ...
        if(auth.isLoggedIn()) {
            menu.add(0, MENU_LOGOUT, Menu.NONE, R.string.your-logout-text).setIcon(R.drawable.your-logout-icon);
        }
        ...
    }

    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        ...
        case MENU_LOGOUT:
            if(auth.isLoggedIn()) {
                doLogout();
            } else {
                Toast.makeText(this, "You must have somehow been logged out between the time the menu button was pressed and now.", Toast.DURATION_LONG).show();
            }
            break;
        ...
    }

That's all there is to it.

Solution 2

In my case the menu items are in the ArrayList , - try this Hope it will help u :)

public void onClick(View v)
{
    PopupMenu menu = new PopupMenu(DialogCheckBox.this, v);
    for (String s : limits) { // "limits" its an arraylist  
        menu.getMenu().add(s);
    }
    menu.show();
}

Solution 3

you can call invalidateOptionsMenu() (note:need to use compatability library like actionBarSherlock to access in case you need to support low API versions) , and then update the menu items according to the status.

there you could hide the login action item and show the logout action item.

you might also try update the icon itself but i never tried it.