creating options menu android bottom of page on android

Question

Is it possible to create on option menu but have it at the bottom of the page. I'm working with <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="8" android:targetSdkVersion="17" />. I know that by default it is position at the top, but im assuming it can be bought to the bottom. I just dont know how . here is my code

option_menu.xml

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item android:id="@+id/scan"
          android:icon="@android:drawable/ic_menu_search"
          android:title="@string/connect"/>
    <item android:id="@+id/discoverable"
          android:icon="@android:drawable/ic_menu_mylocation"
          android:title="@string/discoverable"/>
</menu>

main.java

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
    inflater.inflate(R.menu.option_menu, menu);
    return true;
}

@Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
    switch (item.getItemId()) {
    case R.id.scan:
        // Launch the DeviceListActivity to see devices and do scan
        Intent serverIntent = new Intent(this, DeviceListActivity.class);
        startActivityForResult(serverIntent, REQUEST_CONNECT_DEVICE);
        return true;

    case R.id.discoverable:
        // Ensure this device is discoverable by others
        ensureDiscoverable();
        return true;
    }

    return false;
}

Any help would be great.

Answer 1

Seeing that you target sdk 17, you can use the SplitBar, it is an option available on the default ActionBar: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/actionbar.html#SplitBar.

You need to declare it in every activity where it is needed in your manifest file, for example:

<activity
        android:name=".MainActivity"
        android:label="@string/title_activity_main" 
        android:uiOptions="splitActionBarWhenNarrow" />

Then in your onCreate function, you can also call a custom layout if you still need to display additional buttons at the top of the screen:

ActionBar actionBar = getActionBar();
    actionBar.setCustomView(R.layout.action_bar_custom); //load menu
    actionBar.setDisplayOptions(ActionBar.DISPLAY_SHOW_HOME|ActionBar.DISPLAY_SHOW_CUSTOM);
    actionBar.setDisplayShowTitleEnabled(false);
    actionBar.show();

By default, the icons displayed normally at the top will be displayed at the bottom, but you can still add custom action buttons using a custom layout such as the one in this example. The setDisplayOptions function is described here.

EDIT: the menu will be displayed at the bottom only on narrow screens, on bigger devices or in landscape mode, the default action bar at the top will be displayed.