SearchInfo always coming out null

Question

I'm having trouble setting up the search view in the action bar.

I followed the developer site, but it doesn't work. I get the feeling that I am missing something.

When I run my code, it always outputs "failed to get searchable info" (MainActivity.setupSearchView()).

MainActivity.java

// package...
// imports...
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
    private static String tag = "Main Activity";
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
    }
    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        MenuInflater mi = getMenuInflater();
        mi.inflate(R.menu.search_view, menu);
        setupSearchView(menu);
        return true;
    }
    private void setupSearchView(Menu menu) {
        SearchManager sm = (SearchManager) getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
        SearchableInfo si = sm.getSearchableInfo(getComponentName());
        if (si == null) {
            Log.wtf(tag, "failed to get searchable info");
            return;
        }
        SearchView sv = (SearchView) menu.findItem(R.id.menu_search).getActionView();
        sv.setSearchableInfo(si);
        // Do not iconify the widget; expand it by default
        sv.setIconifiedByDefault(false);
    }
}

SearchResultsActivity.java

// package...
// imports...
public class SearchResultsActivity extends ListActivity {

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        final Intent queryIntent = getIntent();
        doSearchQuery(queryIntent);
    }
    @Override
    public void onNewIntent(final Intent newIntent) {
        super.onNewIntent(newIntent);
        final Intent queryIntent = getIntent();
        doSearchQuery(queryIntent);
    }
}

searchable.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<searchable xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:hint="@string/search_hint"
    android:label="@string/search_label" >
</searchable>

AndroidManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="kpaek.examples"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >
    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="15" />
    <application
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name" >
        <activity
            android:name=".search.MainActivity"
            android:label="@string/app_name" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
        <activity
            android:name=".SearchResultsActivity">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEARCH" />
            </intent-filter>
            <meta-data
                android:name="android.app.searchable"
                android:resource="@xml/searchable" />
        </activity>
    </application>
</manifest>

Answer 1

The key thing I found is that searchable.xml must not contain literal strings, only resources. I wasted about half a day on that one, since it causes getSearchableInfo to fail silently.

Answer 2

In my case using custom tags in res/menu/mymenu.xml worked for me:

app:showAsAction="ifRoom|collapseActionView"
app:actionViewClass="android.support.v7.widget.SearchView"

Do not use:

android:showAsAction="ifRoom|collapseActionView"
android:actionViewClass="android.support.v7.widget.SearchView"

Answer 3

I have found that the intent-filter and the meta-data elements must be included in the manifest activity element from which the search is initiated (MainActivity having a SearchView) for the method getSearchableInfo(getComponentName()) to return the correct configuration and not null.

<activity
    android:name=".MainActivity"
    android:label="@string/app_name">
    <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>

I wonder if instead (and the solution I am going with for now) one should leave the intent and meta-data on the results activity declaration and change the argument to getSearchableInfo() as follows:

<activity android:name=".SearchResultsActivity">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEARCH" />
    </intent-filter>

    <meta-data
        android:name="android.app.searchable"
        android:resource="@xml/searchable" />
</activity>

And the changes to MainActivity (note the assignment statement for searchableInfo):

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_search, menu);
    SearchManager searchManager = (SearchManager) getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
    SearchView mySearchView = (SearchView) menu.findItem(R.id.action_search).getActionView();
    SearchableInfo searchableInfo = searchManager.getSearchableInfo(new ComponentName(getApplicationContext(), SearchResultsActivity.class));
    mySearchView.setSearchableInfo(searchableInfo);

    return true;
}