ActionMode In Android

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ActionMode In Android

It is an android view class that represents a contextual mode of the user interface. Action modes can be used to provide alternative or temporary interaction modes and replace parts of the normal User Interface until it finish. When action mode is finish the temporary user interface is closed and we will get the pervious user interface. Examples of good action modes include text selection and contextual actions.

To use ActionMode we have to import following statement:-

import androidx.appcompat.view.ActionMode;

 Nested classes:-

1.Interface:- 

ActionMode.Callback:- Callback interface for action modes. It configures and handles events raised by a user's interaction with an action mode. Following are four required functions to override in an implementation of ActionMode.Callback which are also known as action mode's lifecycle :-

1.onActionItemClicked(ActionMode mode, MenuItem item):- It is called on that time when a contextual action button is clicked to report a user click on an action button.

2.onCreateActionMode(ActionMode mode, Menu menu):- It is called once on initial creation, when action mode is first created.

3.onDestroyActionMode(ActionMode mode):- It is called when an action mode is closed or about to be exited and destroyed.

4.onPrepareActionMode(ActionMode mode, Menu menu):- It is called after creation to refresh an action mode's action menu whenever it is invalidated.

Example:-

private ActionMode.Callback actionModeCallback = new ActionMode.Callback() {

    // Called when the action mode is created; startActionMode() was called

    @Override

    public boolean onCreateActionMode(ActionMode mode, Menu menu) {

        // Inflate a menu resource providing context menu items

        MenuInflater inflater = mode.getMenuInflater();

        inflater.inflate(R.menu.context_menu, menu);

        return true;

    }

    // Called each time the action mode is shown. Always called after onCreateActionMode, but

    // may be called multiple times if the mode is invalidated.

    @Override

    public boolean onPrepareActionMode(ActionMode mode, Menu menu) {

        return false; // Return false if nothing is done

    }

    // Called when the user selects a contextual menu item

    @Override

    public boolean onActionItemClicked(ActionMode mode, MenuItem item) {

        switch (item.getItemId()) {

            case R.id.menu_share:

                shareCurrentItem();

                mode.finish(); // Action picked, so close the CAB

                return true;

            default:

                return false;

        }

    }

    // Called when the user exits the action mode

    @Override

    public void onDestroyActionMode(ActionMode mode) {

        actionMode = null;

    }

};

Click me to see practical implementation of above methods.

2.Class:-

ActionMode.Callback2:- Extension of ActionMode.Callback to provide content rect information. This is required for ActionModes with dynamic positioning such as floating action mode. It has Public constructors,Callback2() and Public method onGetContentRect(ActionMode mode, View view, Rect outRect) which is called when an ActionMode needs to be positioned on screen, potentially when it come in contact with view content.

Description of parameters used in onGetContentRect(ActionMode mode, View view, Rect outRect) mehod:-

Parameters	Description
1.ActionMode	The ActionMode that requires positioning.
2.View	The View that originated the ActionMode, in whose coordinates the Rect should be provided.
3.Rect	The Rect to be populated with the content position. Use this to specify where the content in your app lives within the given view. This will be used to avoid occluding the given content Rect with the created ActionMode.

           

Example:-

onGetContentRect(mode: ActionMode, view: View, outRect: Rect) {

    // Provides content rect information

    // Required to dynamically position floating ActionMode,

    // such that it doesn't obscure app content

    outRect.set(left, top, right, bottom)

}

You could pass in the bounds of your View here, or the bounds of the content on which you are focusing contextual actions. If you want to show the floating Action Mode at a specific (x, y) point, you could make left = right and top = bottom.

Public constructors :-

ActionMode() 

Constants:-

It has following 3 constants, that are added in API level 23 (Android version:6 , Version name : Marshmallow) .

Constant	Description	Constant Value
1.DEFAULT_HIDE_DURATION	It sets the default value to hide the action mode for ViewConfiguration#getDefaultActionModeHideDuration().	-1 (0xffffffff)
2.TYPE_FLOATING	The action mode is treated as a Floating Toolbar. Use with setType(int).	1 (0x00000001)
3.TYPE_PRIMARY	The action mode is treated as a Primary mode. This is the default. Use with setType(int).	0 (0x00000000)

Public Methods:-  

There are many methods associated with action mode from which some are listed below:-

Method	Description	Method Added In
1.finish()	Finish and close this action mode.	API level 11 (Android version: 3.0, Version name : Honeycomb).
2.getCustomView()	Returns the current custom view for this action mode.	API level 11 (Android version: 3.0, Version name : Honeycomb).
3.getMenu()	It returns the menu of actions that this action mode presents.	API level 11 (Android version: 3.0, Version name : Honeycomb).
4.getMenuInflater()	It will return a MenuInflater with the ActionMode's context.	API level 11 (Android version: 3.0, Version name : Honeycomb).
5.getSubtitle()	It will Returns the current subtitle of this action mode.	API level 11 (Android version: 3.0, Version name : Honeycomb).
6.getTag ()	Retrieve the tag object associated with this ActionMode.	API level 14 (Android version: 4.0.1, Version name : Ice cream sandwich).
7.getTitle ()	Returns the current title of this action mode.	API level 11 (Android version: 3.0, Version name : Honeycomb).
8.setSubtitle (CharSequence subtitle)	Set the subtitle of the action mode. This method will have no visible effect if a custom view has been set.	API level 11 (Android version: 3.0, Version name : Honeycomb).
9.setSubtitle (int resId)	Set the subtitle of the action mode. This method will have no visible effect if a custom view has been set.	API level 11 (Android version: 3.0, Version name : Honeycomb).
10.setTag (Object tag)	Set a tag object associated with this ActionMode.	API level 14 (Android version: 4.0.1, Version name : Ice cream sandwich).
11.setTitle (CharSequence title)	Set the title of the action mode. This method will have no visible effect if a custom view has been set.	API level 11 (Android version: 3.0, Version name : Honeycomb).
12.setTitle (int resId)	Set the title of the action mode. This method will have no visible effect if a custom view has been set.	API level 11 (Android version: 3.0, Version name : Honeycomb).

How to Styling an action mode:-

When we style action mode it draws user attention.ActionMode can be styled in a theme.xml file , that you find in res/value/theme. The base colors and text appearances are also derived from your app/activity theme (eg. Dark background with light text for Theme.AppCompat and the opposite for Theme.AppCompat.Light). So, now we are going to code  in between  <style></style> tag in theme.xml file to style action mode.

Some of the notable primary ActionMode theme attributes include:

1. actionModeBackground: The color or drawable used for the background of the contextual action bar.

2. actionModeStyle: A reference to a Widget.AppCompat.ActionMode style that includes attributes such as height, titleTextStyle and subtitleTextStyle.

3. windowActionModeOverlay: Flag indicating whether primary ActionMode should overlay window content or resize the content to fit beneath it