---
title: "Leveraging Action bar in android : List Navigation"
description: "Hi everyone, here we will see how to implement List navigation mode for action bar items in android"
author: "Anonymous User"
published: 2015-02-17
updated: 2026-05-13
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1585/leveraging-action-bar-in-android-list-navigation
category: "android"
tags: ["android"]
reading_time: 5 minutes
---
# Leveraging Action bar in android : List Navigation
In my previous posts we learn some basic characteristics and tab navigation ,\
Leveraging action bar in Android
Leveraging Action bar in android : Tab Navigation
Now here we learn how to show action bar items in List navigation mode
The final action bar navigation mode is **list navigation**. With list navigation enabled, a drop-down spinner widget is in place of the title and subtitle text elements. This is only convention; the action bar will allow a title and navigation list to be displayed at the same time [side by side](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/12815/display-two-fields-side-by-side-in-a-bootstrap-form), but there is often not enough visible real estate (at least on a handset device) to effectively display both items.
Note: The [implementation](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/44913/who-is-the-minister-of-statistics-and-programme-implementation) here is implemented using AppCompat Support Library v7 , but it can be easily modified to work with native API’s . The only changes are that each activity must extend Activity instead of ActionBarActivity, and each call to getSupportActionBar() should be replace to getActionBar().
## \
Pre-Requisites:
1. Ellipse SDK
2. Android SDK
3. ADT plugin
Or [Android Studio](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/10942/android-studio-vs-eclipse) and a compatible version of JAVA SDK
Install and configure the above utilities.
Now create a new Android project namely “**ActionBarApplicationTest**”.
## Implementation objective:
To show the **list navigation mode** for Action bar items where the items are displayed in [drop down](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/287/how-to-add-data-in-drop-down-list) list view on action bar.
**Code Implementation:**
First of all [update your](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/96426/how-can-you-update-your-profile-without-notifying-contacts) **activity_main. xml** as follows:
```
```
\
Now navigate to **MainActivity.java** and add this code:
```
package com.example.msclient010.actionbarapplicationtest;import android.content.Context;import android.os.Bundle;import android.support.v7.app.ActionBar;import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity;import android.view.Menu;import android.view.MenuItem;import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;import android.widget.TextView;import java.util.ArrayList;import java.util.List;public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity implements android.support.v7.app.ActionBar.OnNavigationListener {//adapter for holding the list navigation ArrayAdapter adapter; @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.activity_main); //getting action bar instance android.support.v7.app.ActionBar actionbar = getSupportActionBar(); //Enables taps on the home logo actionbar.setHomeButtonEnabled(true); //Display home with the "up" arrow indicator actionbar.setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true); //Set the Title text actionbar.setTitle("My Title"); //Set the sub title actionbar.setSubtitle("Sub-Title"); //List navigation //Apply the appropriate theme to ActionBar item views Context context = getSupportActionBar().getThemedContext(); //Add list items to be displayed on action bar in a list List spinnerItem = new ArrayList<>(); spinnerItem.add("Item1"); spinnerItem.add("Item2"); spinnerItem.add("Item3"); spinnerItem.add("Item4"); spinnerItem.add("Item5"); //Creating an array adapter to hold list items adapter = new ArrayAdapter(context, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item, spinnerItem); //setting adapter to drop down list view adapter.setDropDownViewResource(android.R.layout.simple_dropdown_item_1line); //Attach a selection listener actionbar.setListNavigationCallbacks(adapter, (android.support.v7.app.ActionBar.OnNavigationListener) this); //apply navigation list mode to action bar actionbar.setNavigationMode(ActionBar.NAVIGATION_MODE_LIST); } @Override public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) { // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present. getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_main, menu); return true; } @Override public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) { if (item.getItemId() == android.R.id.home) { return true; } return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item); } /* OnNavigationListener Callback Methods */ @Override public boolean onNavigationItemSelected(int itemPosition, long itemId) { //getting text view reference for text to be displayed on Screen TextView txt = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.txt); //Getting the selected item text from the list String itemTxt = adapter.getItem(itemPosition).toString(); //setting the selected item text to main text txt.setText(itemTxt); return true; }}
```
**\**
**Code [Explanation](https://answers.mindstick.com/blog/94/neural-network-simple-explanation-with-real-life-examples):**
· To enable the list, we must only pass the adapter we’ve created and an **OnNavigationListener** callback to react to selection events, and then set the navigation mode on the action bar.
· We create a **drop-down spinner** by using the standard adapters and resources from the framework, and we create a simple static list of creatively named items.
· Take note of the **Context**we pass into the **ArrayAdapter** instance. Normally, we would just use the activity and pass a this pointer into the constructor.
· However, it is common that the action bar uses a slightly different set of themes or styles to display itself (one such theme is **Theme.Holo.Light.DarkActionBar**) than the rest of the activity uses. This can create [visual elements](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/85194/how-to-use-infographics-images-and-other-visual-elements-to-enhance-your-content) that don’t look correct as action bar elements.
· To avoid this problem, we pass the Context offered by **getThemedContext(),**which provides the appropriate styles for widgets inflated into the action bar
**Running the [application](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12824/calculator-application-in-android):**
Hit on run button,
Click on the item next to title bar, a drop- down list will appear consists of action bar items
Select on any item the corresponding view will be shown on the screen
Next post will involve the locking behavior of UI :Locking Activity [Orientation](https://www.mindstick.com/interview/2604/what-is-orientation) in Android
Thanks for reading this post.
Happy Coding!! J
---
Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1585/leveraging-action-bar-in-android-list-navigation
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