---
title: "Display Action Mode in Response to the User Action"
description: "Action mode allows the user to take actions on specific items in our user interface."
author: "Anonymous User"
published: 2015-09-14
updated: 2019-09-07
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1866/display-action-mode-in-response-to-the-user-action
category: "android"
tags: ["android", "android activity", "android controls"]
reading_time: 9 minutes
---
# Display Action Mode in Response to the User Action
Action mode allows the user to take actions on specific items in our [user interface](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/302016/what-is-user-interface-and-what-are-its-benefits). Activating an ActionMode overtakes the system action bar with an overlay that includes menu [options](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12789/best-options-for-a-home-based-business) you provide and an extra option to exit the ActionMode. It also allows you to select [multiple](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/12797/iowa-is-expected-to-see-heavy-growth-in-multiple-sectors) items at once on which to apply a single action.
##### Pre-Requisites:
##### \
1. Ellipse SDK
##### \
2. Android SDK
##### \
3. ADT plugin
##### \
Or Android Studio and a compatible version of JAVA SDK
[Install](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12876/the-top-5-reasons-to-buy-and-install-a-tonneau-cover) and configure the above utilities.
Now create a new [Android](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1567/navigation-drawer-implementation-in-android) [project](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/story/1788/things-to-ensure-your-construction-project-is-successful) namely “ActionModeSample”.
##### Implementation objective:
#####
To apply action mode on List view and implement multiple item sections and operations.
##### Code Implementation:
For this, navigate to res/menu/ from package [explorer](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/81617/now-it-is-time-to-say-goodbye-to-internet-explorer) in Eclipse and create an xml to define the menu itself. We’ll call this one contextmenu.xml Open contextmenu.xml
```
```
Now navigate toMainActivity.java and add this code:
```
package com.example.contextmenusample;import android.annotation.SuppressLint;import android.app.Activity;import android.os.Bundle;import android.util.SparseArray;import android.util.SparseBooleanArray;import android.view.ActionMode;import android.view.ContextMenu;import android.view.Menu;import android.view.MenuInflater;import android.view.MenuItem;import android.view.View;import android.widget.AbsListView.MultiChoiceModeListener;import android.widget.AdapterView.AdapterContextMenuInfo;import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;import android.widget.ListView;
@SuppressLint("NewApi")public class MainActivity extends Activity implements MultiChoiceModeListener { private static String[] myList = { "MindStick", "Apple", "Microsoft", "Oracle", "Amazon", "Facebook", "WhatsApp" }; private ListView list; @SuppressLint("NewApi") @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.activity_main); // Register a button for context events // Creating a list view list = new ListView(this); // Creating an array adapter ArrayAdapter adapter = new ArrayAdapter(this, android.R.layout.simple_list_item_activated_1, myList); // setting adapter to list view list.setAdapter(adapter); // Set up this list with a contextual ActionMode list.setChoiceMode(ListView.CHOICE_MODE_MULTIPLE_MODAL); list.setMultiChoiceModeListener(this); setContentView(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.main, menu); return true; }
@Override public boolean onActionItemClicked(ActionMode mode, MenuItem item) { // List of checked item locations to do the operation SparseBooleanArray items = list.getCheckedItemPositions(); // Switch on the item's ID to find the selected action switch (item.getItemId()) { case R.id.menu_delete:
// Perform delete actions break; case R.id.menu_edit: // Perform edit actions break; default: return false; } return true;
} @SuppressLint("NewApi") @Override public boolean onCreateActionMode(ActionMode mode, Menu menu) { MenuInflater inflater = mode.getMenuInflater(); inflater.inflate(R.menu.contextmenu, menu); return true;
} @Override public void onDestroyActionMode(ActionMode mode) { // This is called when the ActionMode has been exited
}
@Override public boolean onPrepareActionMode(ActionMode mode, Menu menu) { // You can do extra work here to update the menu if the // ActionMode is ever invalidated return true;
} @Override public void onItemCheckedStateChanged(ActionMode mode, int position, long id, boolean checked) { int count = list.getCheckedItemCount(); mode.setTitle(String.format("%d Selected", count)); }
}
```
##### Code Explanation:
##### · To use our ListView to activate a multiple selection ActionMode, we set its
##### choiceMode attribute to CHOICE_MODE_MULTIPLE_MODAL. This is different from
##### the traditional CHOICE_MODE_MULTIPLE, which will provide selection widgets on
##### each list item to make the selection. The modal flag applies this selection mode
##### only while an ActionMode is active.
##### \
· There are a series of callbacks required to implement an ActionMode that are
##### not built directly into an activity like the ContextMenu. We need to implement the
##### ActionMode.Callback interface to respond to the events of creating the menu and
##### selecting options. ListView has a special interface called MultiChoiceModeListener
##### which is a sub interface of ActionMode.Callback
##### \
· In onCreateActionMode(), we respond similarly to onCreateContextMenu(), just
##### inflating our menu options for the overlay to display. Your menu does not need to
##### contain icons; ActionMode can display the item names instead. The
##### onItemCheckedStateChanged() method is where we will get feedback for each
##### item selection. Here, we use that change to update the title of the ActionMode to
##### display how many items are currently selected.
##### \
· The onActionItemClicked() method will be called when the user has finished
##### making selections and taps an option item. Because there are multiple items to
##### work on, we go back to the list to get all the items selected with
##### getCheckedItemPositions() so we can apply the selected operation.
##### \
##### Running the application:
Hit on run button,\
A list of [companies](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/86898/tech-layoffs-us-companies-with-job-cuts) will appear on screen.
Now long press on any list item and the action mode will be activated, the action bar will be overlay the action option menu for the selected item
Now let’s test the multi [selection](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/60/populate-records-in-second-listbox-according-to-the-selection-in-first-list-box) option, click on any other item, it will also get selected
Finally click on the tick button on the action bar and all the items will be unselected.
Thanks for reading this post.
Happy Coding!! J
---
Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1866/display-action-mode-in-response-to-the-user-action
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