Android: How to make the SearchView take up the entire horizontal space in ActionBar?

Question

In the following screenshot, the SearchView widget in the ActionBar does not take up the entire space available.

I need it to take up all the horizontal space present in the ActionBar (so it spans the entire screen horizontally).

What I tried:

• Programatically, tried this in the onCreateOptionsMenu:

  View searchViewView = (View) searchView;
  searchViewView.getLayoutParams().width=LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT;`
  

  This gives:

  java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to write to
  field 'int android.view.ViewGroup$LayoutParams.width' on a null
  object reference ...       
  TestActionBarTwo.MainActivity.onCreateOptionsMenu(MainActivity.java:57)
  

• and in the menu resource:

  The android:layout_width="match_parent" does not seem to affect anything.

• I also tried android:layout_weight="1" (assuming that the ActionBar has a LinearLayout), but that doesn't work either.

So is there a way that the SearchView (not iconified) takes up the entire horizontal space of the ActionBar?

---

EDIT 1

@Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        Log.i(TAG, "onCreateOptionsMenu OF MainActivity CALLED."); //check

        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_main_action_bar_menu, menu);

        getSupportActionBar().setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(false);
        getSupportActionBar().setDisplayShowTitleEnabled(false);

        // SearchAction
        SearchManager searchManager = (SearchManager) getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
        MenuItem searchMenuItem = menu.findItem(R.id.action_search);
        SearchView searchView = (SearchView) MenuItemCompat.getActionView(searchMenuItem); 
        searchView.setSearchableInfo(searchManager.getSearchableInfo(getComponentName()));
        searchView.setIconifiedByDefault(false);

        //Adding event listeners
        searchView.setOnQueryTextFocusChangeListener(new OnFocusChangeListener() { 
            @Override
            public void onFocusChange(View v, boolean hasFocus) {
                Log.i(TAG, "onFocusChange OF ONFocusChangeListener IN MainActivity CALLED."); //check
            }
        });

        return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
    }

And the menu resource is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      xmlns:testactionbartwo="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" >
      <item android:id="@+id/action_search"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_search"
        android:title="@string/mainActivity_searchActionTitle"
        testactionbartwo:showAsAction="always"
        testactionbartwo:actionViewClass="android.support.v7.widget.SearchView"  />
</menu>

---

Edit 2: Even when I DO NOT set setIconifiedByDefault(false), even though it does not seem relevant:`

Code change:

// SearchAction
        SearchManager searchManager = (SearchManager) getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
        MenuItem searchMenuItem = menu.findItem(R.id.action_search);
        SearchView searchView = (SearchView) MenuItemCompat.getActionView(searchMenuItem); 
        searchView.setSearchableInfo(searchManager.getSearchableInfo(getComponentName()));
        //searchView.setIconifiedByDefault(false);************************

        getSupportActionBar().setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(false);
        getSupportActionBar().setDisplayShowTitleEnabled(false);

Result, when I clicked the iconified search icon to expand it:

---

Edit 3: Copied code from the answer by @MaheeraJazi , still doesn't seem to work. I am now posting the entire SSCCE:

MainActivity.java:-

public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
    private static final String TAG = MainActivity.class.getSimpleName();

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        Log.i(TAG, "onCreate OF MainActivity CALLED."); // check
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        getSupportActionBar().setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(false); 
        getSupportActionBar().setDisplayShowTitleEnabled(false);

        handleIntent(getIntent());
    }

    @Override
    protected void onNewIntent(Intent intent) {
        Log.i(TAG, "onNewIntent OF MainActivity CALLED."); // check
        handleIntent(intent);
        setIntent(intent);
    }

    private void handleIntent(Intent intent) {
        Log.i(TAG, "handleIntent OF MainActivity CALLED."); // check
        if (intent.getAction().equals(Intent.ACTION_SEARCH)) {
            showResults(intent.getStringExtra(SearchManager.QUERY));
        }
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        Log.i(TAG, "onCreateOptionsMenu OF MainActivity CALLED."); // check

        // Inflate the menu items for use in the action bar
        MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
        inflater.inflate(R.menu.activity_main_action_bar_menu, menu);

        // SearchAction
        SearchManager searchManager = (SearchManager) getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
        MenuItem searchMenuItem = menu.findItem(R.id.mainActivity_actionSearch);
        SearchView searchViewActionView = (SearchView) MenuItemCompat.getActionView(searchMenuItem);
        searchViewActionView.setSearchableInfo(searchManager.getSearchableInfo(getComponentName()));
        searchViewActionView.setIconifiedByDefault(true);

        SearchView.OnQueryTextListener queryTextListener = new SearchView.OnQueryTextListener() {
            @Override
            public boolean onQueryTextChange(String newText) {
                Log.i(TAG, "onQueryTextChange OF  OnQueryTextListener IN MainActivity CALLED.");//check
                // this is your adapter that will be filtered
                return true;

            }
            @Override
            public boolean onQueryTextSubmit(String query) {
                Log.i(TAG, "onQueryTextChange OF  OnQueryTextListener IN MainActivity CALLED.");//check
                return true;
            }
        };
        searchViewActionView.setOnQueryTextListener(queryTextListener);

        return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem menuItem) {
        Log.i(TAG, "onOptionsItemSelected OF MainActivity CALLED."); // check
        switch (menuItem.getItemId()) {
        case R.id.mainActivity_actionSearch:
            onSearchRequested();
            return true;
        default:
            return super.onOptionsItemSelected(menuItem);
        }
    }

    private void showResults(String searchQuery) {
        Log.i(TAG, "showResults OF MainActivity CALLED."); // check
    }
}

activity_main_action_bar_menu.xml:-

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      xmlns:testactionbartwo="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" >
      <item android:id="@+id/mainActivity_actionSearch"
            android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_search"
            android:title="@string/mainActivity_searchActionTitle"
            testactionbartwo:showAsAction="always"
            testactionbartwo:actionViewClass="android.support.v7.widget.SearchView"  />
</menu>

activity_main.xml:-

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"

    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

</LinearLayout>

Manifest File:-

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="khanZarah.tests.TestActionBarTwo"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >

    <uses-sdk
        android:minSdkVersion="8"
        android:targetSdkVersion="21" />

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >

        <activity
            android:name=".MainActivity"
            android:label="@string/app_name"
            android:theme="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light"
            android:launchMode="singleTop"
            android:uiOptions="splitActionBarWhenNarrow" >
            <meta-data android:name="android.support.UI_OPTIONS"
                android:value="splitActionBarWhenNarrow" />
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEARCH" />
            </intent-filter>
            <meta-data android:name="android.app.searchable"
                android:resource="@xml/searchable" />
        </activity>

        <meta-data android:name="android.app.default_searchable"
            android:value=".MainActivity"/>
    </application>

Answer 1

The default width of the search view in toolbar is defined by non-public attribute abc_search_view_preferred_width. It set to 320dp for all screen sizes.

A workaround is to set maxWidth of SearchView:

searchView.setMaxWidth(Integer.MAX_VALUE);

Answer 2

Acutely you don't need to specify android:layout_weight or any other properties. In my code I do that and everything goes well !

On main Menu you need to add this:

  <!-- Search, should appear as action button -->
<item
    android:id="@+id/action_search"
    android:icon="@drawable/searchmenu"
    android:title="@string/search"
    yourapp:showAsAction="always"
    yourapp:actionViewClass="android.support.v7.widget.SearchView"
    />
<item

On your Activity:

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    // Inflate the menu items for use in the action bar
    MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
    inflater.inflate(R.menu.top_menu, menu);

    // SearchAction
    SManager = (SearchManager) getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
    searchMenuItem = menu.findItem(R.id.action_search);
    searchViewAction = (SearchView) MenuItemCompat
            .getActionView(searchMenuItem);
    searchViewAction.setSearchableInfo(SManager
            .getSearchableInfo(getComponentName()));
    searchViewAction.setIconifiedByDefault(true);

    SearchView.OnQueryTextListener queryTextListener = new SearchView.OnQueryTextListener() {

        @Override
        public boolean onQueryTextChange(String newText) {
            // this is your adapter that will be filtered
                return true;

        }

        @Override
        public boolean onQueryTextSubmit(String query) {
            // this is your adapter that will be filtered

            return true;
        }
    };
    searchViewAction.setOnQueryTextListener(queryTextListener);

    return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
}

The photo look like:

when getSupportActionBar().setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(false) the searchview look like:

I hope this help!