SearchView getActionView returning null

Question

This was working a few days ago, but suddenly it stopped. I only want to use the action bar search widget when certain fragment is visible.

Now I'm unable to get the SearchView, now getActionView always returns null.

searchable.xml

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

Manifest.xml

<activity
    android:name=".ui.activities.MainActivity"
    android:launchMode="singleTop">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEARCH"/>
    </intent-filter>
    <meta-data
        android:name="android.app.searchable"
        android:resource="@xml/searchable"/>
    <meta-data
    android:name="android.app.default_searchable"
    android:value=".ui.activities.MainActivity" />
</activity>

menu.xml

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  xmlns:myapp="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_search_place"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_2_action_search"
        android:orderInCategory="1"
        android:title="@string/title_search"
        myapp:showAsAction="collapseActionView|ifRoom"
        myapp:actionViewClass="android.support.v7.widget.SearchView"/>
</menu>

The fragment

...
setHasOptionsMenu(true);
...



@Override
public void onCreateOptionsMenu(final Menu menu, final MenuInflater inflater) {
    inflater.inflate(R.menu.menu, menu);
    MenuItem searchItem = menu.findItem(R.id.action_search_place);
    mSearchView = (SearchView) MenuItemCompat.getActionView(searchItem);

    SearchManager searchManager = (SearchManager) getBaseActivity().getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
    if (mSearchView != null) {
        mSearchView.setSearchableInfo(searchManager.getSearchableInfo(getActivity().getComponentName()));
        mSearchView.setIconifiedByDefault(true);
        mSearchView.setOnQueryTextListener(this);
    }
    super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu, inflater);
}

score 114 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 24 '22 at 02:41

114

I had the same problem because in my menu I used: android:actionViewClass="android.widget.SearchView" as per the google documentation.

Well it turns out that if I'm using AppCompatActivity I should use app:actionViewClass="android.widget.SearchView" instead.

edited Dec 24 '22 at 02:41

starball

20,030
7
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answered Sep 10 '15 at 08:56

maxandron

1,650
2
12
16

18

I used `app:actionViewClass="android.support.v7.widget.SearchView"` – J.G.Sebring Oct 27 '15 at 09:37
Lifesaver! Been searching for hours! Hopefully, they update their docs soon. Usually, their docs are pretty good. – Justin Nov 24 '19 at 02:12

score 32 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 14 '14 at 19:41

32

If you're using proguard this is the possible answer: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=58508

In short, add below line to your proguard config file proguard-rules.pro.

-keep class android.support.v7.widget.SearchView { *; }

answered Nov 14 '14 at 19:41

tomrozb

25,773
31
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1

Pretty obvious, but I'll still mention - In case you have extended the SearchView to another class, keep the path to that class in proguard! – user2520215 Apr 05 '16 at 14:30
Thanks Man . I was facing this issue since 3 days . made all the changes but couldn't identify the bug . This was the problem. – Adi Mar 03 '18 at 08:37

score 17 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 01 '13 at 11:06

17

Today I had the same problem and I think I solved it. It turns out I did couple of things that were not exactly as per the ActionBarCompat contract:

Each activity that uses the ActionBarCompat should extend ActionBarActivity instead of FragmentActivity directly
Each activity that uses the ActionBarCompat should declare its theme as inheriting from the ActionBarCompat themes.

Both of those I found watching the explanation video from Google.

Now my searchView is not null anymore.

answered Sep 01 '13 at 11:06

Boris Strandjev

46,145
15
108
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1

It solved my issue by using theme `Theme.AppCompat` instead of `Theme.Base.AppCompat` – Mehul Joisar Apr 03 '14 at 10:18
36

My issue was Proguard. If you have Proguard enabled, make sure you have a rule that keeps the `android.support.v7.widget.SearchView`. For example, to keep everything in all the different versions of the support library, add `-keep class android.support.** { *; }` and `-keep interface android.support.** { *; }`. – ashughes May 24 '14 at 00:17
5

specifying the action class helped my situation: `app:actionViewClass="android.support.v7.widget.ActionMenuView"` – kip2 Apr 27 '15 at 15:48
@kip2 the `app:` solved my issue with not using the support.v7 also. Thanks! – Eric B. Aug 01 '16 at 17:51
@ashughes Your proguard answer should be theanswer. Thanks heaps! :) – yarrichar May 29 '17 at 04:38

score 9 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 17 '20 at 10:53

I fixed it: in the menu xml, I used the app namespace

For users of androidx libraries:

    app:showAsAction="collapseActionView|always"
    app:actionViewClass="androidx.appcompat.widget.SearchView"

For users of the older support libraries:

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

The Android tutorial, https://developer.android.com/training/search/setup.html, uses the framework SearchView rather than the androidx/support library one, and so it uses android:showAs and android:actionView

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered May 27 '18 at 20:33

1

Changing to import android.support.v7.widget.SearchView helped me

answered May 27 '18 at 20:33

Progga Ilma

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score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 31 '14 at 01:10

I was with the same error. And i've made the following things:

I have an Activity extending by FragmentActivity:

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
    getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.feed, menu);

    // Associate searchable configuration with the SearchView
    SearchManager searchManager = (SearchManager) getSystemService(Context.SEARCH_SERVICE);
    SearchView searchView = (SearchView) menu.findItem(R.id.action_search)
            .getActionView();
    searchView.setSearchableInfo(searchManager
            .getSearchableInfo(getComponentName()));

    return true;
}

Searchable.xml:

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

Menu.xml:

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    tools:context="br.com.srtorcedor.FeedActivity">

    <item android:id="@+id/action_search"
        android:icon="@drawable/abc_ic_search"
        android:title="@string/search_title"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:actionViewClass="android.widget.SearchView"/>

</menu>

AndroidManifest:

  <activity
        android:name=".FeedActivity"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_pins"
        android:label="@string/title_activity_feed">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEARCH" />
        </intent-filter>
        <meta-data
            android:name="android.app.searchable"
            android:resource="@xml/searchable" />
    </activity>

Could you check if it works with you?

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Feb 03 '15 at 12:32

0

Today I figured out that I was getting null from the getActionView() call on items that did not have:

android:showAsAction="always"

It seems otherwise they just don't inflate correctly.

answered Feb 03 '15 at 12:32

Daniel Wilson

18,838
12
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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Dec 15 '17 at 16:20

For me the following solution worked:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    tools:context="com.dev.ttburger.conttagem.BuscarProdutoActivity">
    <item
        android:id="@+id/search"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_search"
        android:title="Buscar"
        app:showAsAction="always"   
        app:actionViewClass="android.support.v7.widget.SearchView"/>
</menu>

Change to:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    tools:context="com.dev.ttburger.conttagem.BuscarProdutoActivity">
    <item
        android:id="@+id/search"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_search"
        android:title="Buscar"
        app:showAsAction="always"   
        app:actionViewClass="android.SearchView"/>
</menu>

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 20 '18 at 11:13

0

I added this too:

setHasOptionsMenu(true);

Working with this and @maxandron answer

answered Dec 20 '18 at 11:13

n1rocket

25
7

SearchView getActionView returning null

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