Implementing SearchView as per the material design guidelines

Question

I have been looking for ways to implement a searchview in the activity toolbar (actionbar) as per the material design guidelines.

On clicking on the search icon, the

Answer 1

I think I've figured it out. I'm now using just an EditText inside of the Toolbar.

I now have this:

First inside onCreate() of my activity I added the EditText with an image view on the right hand side to the Toolbar like this:

// Setup search container view
searchContainer = new LinearLayout(this);
Toolbar.LayoutParams containerParams = new Toolbar.LayoutParams(ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT);
containerParams.gravity = Gravity.CENTER_VERTICAL;
searchContainer.setLayoutParams(containerParams);

// Setup search view
toolbarSearchView = new EditText(this);
// Set width / height / gravity
int[] textSizeAttr = new int[]{android.R.attr.actionBarSize};
int indexOfAttrTextSize = 0;
TypedArray a = obtainStyledAttributes(new TypedValue().data, textSizeAttr);
int actionBarHeight = a.getDimensionPixelSize(indexOfAttrTextSize, -1);
a.recycle();
LinearLayout.LayoutParams params = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(0, actionBarHeight);
params.gravity = Gravity.CENTER_VERTICAL;
params.weight = 1;
toolbarSearchView.setLayoutParams(params);

// Setup display
toolbarSearchView.setBackgroundColor(Color.TRANSPARENT);
toolbarSearchView.setPadding(2, 0, 0, 0);
toolbarSearchView.setTextColor(Color.WHITE);
toolbarSearchView.setGravity(Gravity.CENTER_VERTICAL);
toolbarSearchView.setSingleLine(true);
toolbarSearchView.setImeActionLabel("Search", EditorInfo.IME_ACTION_UNSPECIFIED);
toolbarSearchView.setHint("Search");
toolbarSearchView.setHintTextColor(Color.parseColor("#b3ffffff"));
try {
    // Set cursor colour to white
    // http://stackoverflow.com/a/26544231/1692770
    // https://github.com/android/platform_frameworks_base/blob/kitkat-release/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java#L562-564
    Field f = TextView.class.getDeclaredField("mCursorDrawableRes");
    f.setAccessible(true);
    f.set(toolbarSearchView, R.drawable.edittext_whitecursor);
} catch (Exception ignored) {
}

// Search text changed listener
toolbarSearchView.addTextChangedListener(new TextWatcher() {
    @Override
    public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int count, int after) {
    }

    @Override
    public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before, int count) {
        Fragment mainFragment = getFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.container);
        if (mainFragment != null && mainFragment instanceof MainListFragment) {
            ((MainListFragment) mainFragment).search(s.toString());
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void afterTextChanged(Editable s) {
        // http://stackoverflow.com/a/6438918/1692770
        if (s.toString().length() <= 0) {
            toolbarSearchView.setHintTextColor(Color.parseColor("#b3ffffff"));
        }
    }
});
((LinearLayout) searchContainer).addView(toolbarSearchView);

// Setup the clear button
searchClearButton = new ImageView(this);
Resources r = getResources();
int px = (int) TypedValue.applyDimension(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_DIP, 16, r.getDisplayMetrics());
LinearLayout.LayoutParams clearParams = new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
clearParams.gravity = Gravity.CENTER;
searchClearButton.setLayoutParams(clearParams);
searchClearButton.setImageResource(R.drawable.ic_close_white_24dp); // TODO: Get this image from here: https://github.com/google/material-design-icons
searchClearButton.setPadding(px, 0, px, 0);
searchClearButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
    @Override
    public void onClick(View v) {
        toolbarSearchView.setText("");
    }
});
((LinearLayout) searchContainer).addView(searchClearButton);

// Add search view to toolbar and hide it
searchContainer.setVisibility(View.GONE);
toolbar.addView(searchContainer);

This worked, but then I came across an issue where onOptionsItemSelected() wasn't being called when I tapped on the home button. So I wasn't able to cancel the search by pressing the home button. I tried a few different ways of registering the click listener on the home button but they didn't work.

Eventually I found out that the ActionBarDrawerToggle I had was interfering with things, so I removed it. This listener then started working:

 toolbar.setNavigationOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
    @Override
    public void onClick(View v) {
        // toolbarHomeButtonAnimating is a boolean that is initialized as false. It's used to stop the user pressing the home button while it is animating and breaking things.
        if (!toolbarHomeButtonAnimating) {
            // Here you'll want to check if you have a search query set, if you don't then hide the search box.
            // My main fragment handles this stuff, so I call its methods.
            FragmentManager fragmentManager = getFragmentManager();
            final Fragment fragment = fragmentManager.findFragmentById(R.id.container);
            if (fragment != null && fragment instanceof MainListFragment) {
                if (((MainListFragment) fragment).hasSearchQuery() || searchContainer.getVisibility() == View.VISIBLE) {
                    displaySearchView(false);
                    return;
                }
            }
        }

        if (mDrawerLayout.isDrawerOpen(findViewById(R.id.navigation_drawer)))
            mDrawerLayout.closeDrawer(findViewById(R.id.navigation_drawer));
        else
            mDrawerLayout.openDrawer(findViewById(R.id.navigation_drawer));
    }
});

So I can now cancel the search with the home button, but I can't press the back button to cancel it yet. So I added this to onBackPressed():

FragmentManager fragmentManager = getFragmentManager();
final Fragment mainFragment = fragmentManager.findFragmentById(R.id.container);
if (mainFragment != null && mainFragment instanceof MainListFragment) {
    if (((MainListFragment) mainFragment).hasSearchQuery() || searchContainer.getVisibility() == View.VISIBLE) {
        displaySearchView(false);
        return;
    }
}

I created this method to toggle visibility of the EditText and menu item:

public void displaySearchView(boolean visible) {
    if (visible) {
        // Stops user from being able to open drawer while searching
        mDrawerLayout.setDrawerLockMode(DrawerLayout.LOCK_MODE_LOCKED_CLOSED);

        // Hide search button, display EditText
        menu.findItem(R.id.action_search).setVisible(false);
        searchContainer.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);

        // Animate the home icon to the back arrow
        toggleActionBarIcon(ActionDrawableState.ARROW, mDrawerToggle, true);

        // Shift focus to the search EditText
        toolbarSearchView.requestFocus();

        // Pop up the soft keyboard
        new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                toolbarSearchView.dispatchTouchEvent(MotionEvent.obtain(SystemClock.uptimeMillis(), SystemClock.uptimeMillis(), MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN, 0, 0, 0));
                toolbarSearchView.dispatchTouchEvent(MotionEvent.obtain(SystemClock.uptimeMillis(), SystemClock.uptimeMillis(), MotionEvent.ACTION_UP, 0, 0, 0));
            }
        }, 200);
    } else {
        // Allows user to open drawer again
        mDrawerLayout.setDrawerLockMode(DrawerLayout.LOCK_MODE_UNLOCKED);

        // Hide the EditText and put the search button back on the Toolbar.
        // This sometimes fails when it isn't postDelayed(), don't know why.
        toolbarSearchView.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                toolbarSearchView.setText("");
                searchContainer.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                menu.findItem(R.id.action_search).setVisible(true);
            }
        }, 200);

        // Turn the home button back into a drawer icon
        toggleActionBarIcon(ActionDrawableState.BURGER, mDrawerToggle, true);

        // Hide the keyboard because the search box has been hidden
        InputMethodManager imm = (InputMethodManager) getSystemService(Context.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE);
        imm.hideSoftInputFromWindow(toolbarSearchView.getWindowToken(), 0);
    }
}

I needed a way to toggle the home button on the toolbar between the drawer icon and the back button. I eventually found the method below in this SO answer. Though I modified it slightly to made more sense to me:

private enum ActionDrawableState
{
  BURGER, ARROW 
}

private void toggleActionBarIcon(final ActionDrawableState state, final ActionBarDrawerToggle toggle, boolean animate) {
    if (animate) {
        float start = state == ActionDrawableState.BURGER ? 1.0f : 0f;
        float end = Math.abs(start - 1);
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) {
            ValueAnimator offsetAnimator = ValueAnimator.ofFloat(start, end);
            offsetAnimator.setDuration(300);
            offsetAnimator.setInterpolator(new AccelerateDecelerateInterpolator());
            offsetAnimator.addUpdateListener(new ValueAnimator.AnimatorUpdateListener() {
                @Override
                public void onAnimationUpdate(ValueAnimator animation) {
                    float offset = (Float) animation.getAnimatedValue();
                    toggle.onDrawerSlide(null, offset);
                }
            });
            offsetAnimator.addListener(new Animator.AnimatorListener() {
                @Override
                public void onAnimationStart(Animator animation) {

                }

                @Override
                public void onAnimationEnd(Animator animation) {
                    toolbarHomeButtonAnimating = false;
                }

                @Override
                public void onAnimationCancel(Animator animation) {

                }

                @Override
                public void onAnimationRepeat(Animator animation) {

                }
            });
            toolbarHomeButtonAnimating = true;
            offsetAnimator.start();
        }
    } else {
        if (state == ActionDrawableState.BURGER) {
            toggle.onDrawerClosed(null);
        } else {
            toggle.onDrawerOpened(null);
        }
    }
}

This works, I've managed to work out a few bugs that I found along the way. I don't think it's 100% but it works well enough for me. EDIT: If you want to add the search view in XML instead of Java do this:

toolbar.xml:

<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar 
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
android:id="@+id/toolbar"
contentInsetLeft="72dp"
contentInsetStart="72dp"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
android:background="?attr/colorPrimary"
android:elevation="4dp"
android:minHeight="?attr/actionBarSize"
app:contentInsetLeft="72dp"
app:contentInsetStart="72dp"
app:popupTheme="@style/ActionBarPopupThemeOverlay"
app:theme="@style/ActionBarThemeOverlay">

<LinearLayout
    android:id="@+id/search_container"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:gravity="center_vertical"
    android:orientation="horizontal">

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/search_view"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
        android:layout_weight="1"
        android:background="@android:color/transparent"
        android:gravity="center_vertical"
        android:hint="Search"
        android:imeOptions="actionSearch"
        android:inputType="text"
        android:maxLines="1"
        android:paddingLeft="2dp"
        android:singleLine="true"
        android:textColor="#ffffff"
        android:textColorHint="#b3ffffff" />

    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/search_clear"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:paddingLeft="16dp"
        android:paddingRight="16dp"
        android:src="@drawable/ic_close_white_24dp" />
</LinearLayout>

onCreate() of your Activity:

searchContainer = findViewById(R.id.search_container);
toolbarSearchView = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.search_view);
searchClearButton = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.search_clear);

// Setup search container view
try {
    // Set cursor colour to white
    // http://stackoverflow.com/a/26544231/1692770
    // https://github.com/android/platform_frameworks_base/blob/kitkat-release/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java#L562-564
    Field f = TextView.class.getDeclaredField("mCursorDrawableRes");
    f.setAccessible(true);
    f.set(toolbarSearchView, R.drawable.edittext_whitecursor);
} catch (Exception ignored) {
}

// Search text changed listener
toolbarSearchView.addTextChangedListener(new TextWatcher() {
    @Override
    public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int count, int after) {
    }

    @Override
    public void onTextChanged(CharSequence s, int start, int before, int count) {
        Fragment mainFragment = getFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.container);
        if (mainFragment != null && mainFragment instanceof MainListFragment) {
            ((MainListFragment) mainFragment).search(s.toString());
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void afterTextChanged(Editable s) {
    }
});

// Clear search text when clear button is tapped
searchClearButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
    @Override
    public void onClick(View v) {
        toolbarSearchView.setText("");
    }
});

// Hide the search view
searchContainer.setVisibility(View.GONE);