Remove icon/title for actionbar with expanded SearchView?

Question

I created a new project, targeting api 11 and above. I have an activity where I want a SearchView expanded by default:

@Override
public void onCreateOptionsM         


        

Answer 1

Even though the icon is transparent, it still takes up the space:

getActionBar().setIcon(android.R.color.transparent);

Remove this line and add:

getActionBar().setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(false);

Now, you should have the SearchView take up all the available space.

Action items that can be collapsed have a max width. The only workaround I can think of is the following:

public class GreatAndroid extends FragmentActivity {
    private SearchView mSearchView;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        getActionBar().setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(false);
        getActionBar().setDisplayShowTitleEnabled(false);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);

        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_search, menu);
        MenuItem mi = menu.findItem(R.id.action_search);
        mSearchView = (SearchView) mi.getActionView();
        mSearchView.setIconifiedByDefault(false);

        // You can use Display.getSize(Point) from API 13 onwards.
        // For API 11 and 12, use Display.getWidth()

        final Point p = new Point();

        getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay().getSize(p);

        // Create LayoutParams with width set to screen's width
        LayoutParams params = new LayoutParams(p.x, LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT);

        mSearchView.setLayoutParams(params);

        return true;
    }
}

Although it looks like there's still space to the left, you can use mSearchView.setBackgroundColor(Color.RED); to see that there really isn't.