Put a progressBar on ActionBar

Question

I am trying to put an indeterminate ProgressBar on the actionBar. I was using an actionView to put the progressBar like Google+ app for example.

<item
    android:id="@+id/menu_progress"
    android:actionLayout="@layout/action_progress"
    android:menuCategory="container"
    android:showAsAction="always">
</item>

the problem is that the progress bar is considered as an item and therefore on a Nexus S portrait mode I have only one other item on the actionbar while on Google+ I can see two items plus the progressBar. How is it possible to put a progressbar using the android actionbar?

Diathesis

guides.codepath.com/android/Handling-ProgressBars explains this very nicely – Multivalent

Answer 1

NOTE: The functionality below is now deprecated in the Support Library.

You need to call

requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_INDETERMINATE_PROGRESS)

in your onCreate() before setting the activity's layout:

e.g.

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_INDETERMINATE_PROGRESS);
    ... // set layout etc

If you are using the support library replace requestWindowFeature with supportRequestWindowFeature

And then call

setProgressBarIndeterminateVisibility(true);

on your Activity whenever you want to show the progress spinner.

Herbage

I have tried this, the problem is that the progress bar appears big and I want to make it small. I tried to put <item name="abProgressBarStyle">@android:style/Widget.ProgressBar.Small</item> as style but it doesn't work! If I make it working, this would be the perfect solution – Diathesis

If the supported method is not what you want you would need to implement it yourself like this one #6857864 – Herbage

with that suggestion I will consume one space on the bar. I want to understand just why cannot put a custom progressbar (just different size) using FEATURE_INDETERMINATE_PROGRESS – Diathesis

I have put a style on a progress bar as asked here #9162981 and it works fine :) – Diathesis

If you want to have a progress bar with proper size and padding, check my solution here: #15520318 – Naissant

Updated the answer to reflect ActionBarActivity support. – Butte

For anyone else who's trying to get this to work from a Fragment, call requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_INDETERMINATE_PROGRESS); from the containing Activity's OnCreate() and then call getActivity().setSupportProgressBarIndeterminateVisibility(true); from your Fragment. – Gonfalonier

To correct the above comment, requestWindowFeature(Window... should be changed to supportRequestWindowFeature(Window... to have it working. Well, this trick fixed it for me, at least. – Elliott

And then obviously set it to false when done getActivity().setSupportProgressBarIndeterminateVisibility(true); – Pulcheria

is it possible to set the progressBar's style to small? – Leahy

How to make this support in api level 21. – Loreeloreen

requestWindowFeature should be called before super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); – Shatterproof

@Jorge. That is incorrect. It needs to be called before setContentView() but can be called after the super call to onCreate(). Both points were illustrated in my answer. developer.android.com/reference/android/view/… – Herbage

@Herbage that's correct unless you use AppCompat library, in that case you it's necessary to call requestFeature() before super.onCreate() – Shatterproof

Please post link to the documentation stating that. – Herbage

Answer 2

My situation required updating the progress bar from a Fragment using the Android Support Library version 4.

In my "MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity" as suggested by Jokeefe:

supportRequestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_INDETERMINATE_PROGRESS);

before

setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

In my fragment's long running task:

onPreExecute

actionBarActivity.setSupportProgressBarIndeterminateVisibility(true);

onPostExecute

actionBarActivity.setSupportProgressBarIndeterminateVisibility(false);
menu.clear();
actionBarActivity = (ActionBarActivity)getActivity();
actionBarActivity.supportInvalidateOptionsMenu();

Not sure if this answers the OP but this is what worked for me based on the posts above. Hope this helps.

Alger

what if you don't write this: menu.clear(); actionBarActivity = (ActionBarActivity)getActivity(); actionBarActivity.supportInvalidateOptionsMenu(); – Torchwood

Sorry for the delayed response. Without those last three lines the bar does not update with the content I need to change to and is empty. – Alger

Answer 3

I have found an easiest one to show progress exactly how you need . I found it here . Just use one class and place your progress bar wherever you want.

Knowledgeable