Same Navigation Drawer in different Activities

Question

I made a working navigation drawer like it's shown in the tutorial on the developer.android.com website. But now, I want to use one Navigation Drawer, i created in the NavigationDrawer.class for multiple Activities in my Application.

My question is, if anyone here can make a little Tutorial, which explains, how to use one Navigation drawer for multiple Activities.

I read it first at this Answer Android Navigation Drawer on multiple Activities

but it didn't work on my Project

public class NavigationDrawer extends Activity {
public DrawerLayout drawerLayout;
public ListView drawerList;
private ActionBarDrawerToggle drawerToggle;

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    drawerLayout = (DrawerLayout) findViewById(R.id.drawer_layout);
    drawerToggle = new ActionBarDrawerToggle((Activity) this, drawerLayout, R.drawable.ic_drawer, 0, 0) {

        public void onDrawerClosed(View view) {
            getActionBar().setTitle(R.string.app_name);
        }

        public void onDrawerOpened(View drawerView) {
            getActionBar().setTitle(R.string.menu);
        }
    };
    drawerLayout.setDrawerListener(drawerToggle);

    getActionBar().setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true);
    getActionBar().setHomeButtonEnabled(true);

    layers = getResources().getStringArray(R.array.layers_array);
    drawerList = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.left_drawer);
    View header = getLayoutInflater().inflate(R.layout.drawer_list_header, null);
    drawerList.addHeaderView(header, null, false);
    drawerList.setAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, R.layout.drawer_list_item, android.R.id.text1,
            layers));
    View footerView = ((LayoutInflater) this.getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE)).inflate(
            R.layout.drawer_list_footer, null, false);
    drawerList.addFooterView(footerView);

    drawerList.setOnItemClickListener(new OnItemClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> arg0, View arg1, int pos, long arg3) {
            map.drawerClickEvent(pos);
        }
    });
}

@Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {

    if (drawerToggle.onOptionsItemSelected(item)) {
        return true;
    }
    return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);

}

@Override
protected void onPostCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onPostCreate(savedInstanceState);
    drawerToggle.syncState();
}

@Override
public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
    super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
    drawerToggle.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
}
}

In this Activity i want to have the Navigation Drawer so I extends 'NavigationDrawer' and in some other Activities i want to User the Same Navigation drawer

  public class SampleActivity extends NavigationDrawer {...}

I don't know what to change...

Answer 1

Create Navigation drawer in your MainActivity using fragment.
Initialize the Navigation Drawer in MainActivity
now in all other activities you want to use same Navigation Drawer put DrawerLayout as base and fragment as navigation drawer. Just set android:name in your fragment pointing to your fragment Java file. You won't need to initialize the fragment in other Activities.
You can access Nav Drawer by swipe in other activities like in Google Play Store app

Answer 2

I've found the best implementation. It's in the Google I/O 2014 app.

They use the same approach as Kevin's. If you can abstract yourself from all unneeded stuff in I/O app, you could extract everything you need and it is assured by Google that it's a correct usage of navigation drawer pattern. Each activity optionally has a DrawerLayout as its main layout. The interesting part is how the navigation to other screens is done. It is implemented in BaseActivity like this:

private void goToNavDrawerItem(int item) {
        Intent intent;
        switch (item) {
            case NAVDRAWER_ITEM_MY_SCHEDULE:
                intent = new Intent(this, MyScheduleActivity.class);
                startActivity(intent);
                finish();
                break;

This differs from the common way of replacing current fragment by a fragment transaction. But the user doesn't spot a visual difference.

Answer 3

For anyone else looking to do what the original poster is asking, please consider to use fragments instead the way Kevin said. Here is an excellent tutorial on how to do that:

https://github.com/codepath/android_guides/wiki/Fragment-Navigation-Drawer

If you choose to instead use activities instead of fragments you are going to run into the problem of the nav drawer being re-created every time you navigate to a new activity. This results in an ugly/slow rendering of the nav drawer each time.

Answer 4

package xxxxxx;



import android.app.SearchManager;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.widget.SearchView;
import android.support.design.widget.NavigationView;
import android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout;
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarDrawerToggle;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Toast;


public class loginhome extends AppCompatActivity {
    private Toolbar toolbar;
    private NavigationView navigationView;
    private DrawerLayout drawerLayout;

    // Make sure to be using android.support.v7.app.ActionBarDrawerToggle version.
    // The android.support.v4.app.ActionBarDrawerToggle has been deprecated.
    private ActionBarDrawerToggle drawerToggle;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.loginhome);

        // Initializing Toolbar and setting it as the actionbar
        toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
        setSupportActionBar(toolbar);


        //Initializing NavigationView


        navigationView = (NavigationView) findViewById(R.id.nav_view);

        //Setting Navigation View Item Selected Listener to handle the item click of the navigation menu
        navigationView.setNavigationItemSelectedListener(new NavigationView.OnNavigationItemSelectedListener() {

            // This method will trigger on item Click of navigation menu

            public boolean onNavigationItemSelected(MenuItem menuItem) {


                //Checking if the item is in checked state or not, if not make it in checked state
                if(menuItem.isChecked()) menuItem.setChecked(false);
                else menuItem.setChecked(true);

                //Closing drawer on item click
                drawerLayout.closeDrawers();

                //Check to see which item was being clicked and perform appropriate action
                switch (menuItem.getItemId()){


                    //Replacing the main content with ContentFragment Which is our Inbox View;
                    case R.id.nav_first_fragment:
                        Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(),"First fragment",Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                         FirstFragment fragment = new FirstFragment();
                        android.support.v4.app.FragmentTransaction fragmentTransaction = getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction();
                        fragmentTransaction.replace(R.id.frame,fragment);
                        fragmentTransaction.commit();
                        return true;

                    // For rest of the options we just show a toast on click
                    case R.id.nav_second_fragment:
                        Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(),"Second fragment",Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        SecondFragment fragment2 = new SecondFragment();
                        android.support.v4.app.FragmentTransaction fragmentTransaction2 = getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction();
                        fragmentTransaction2.replace(R.id.frame,fragment2);
                        fragmentTransaction2.commit();
                        return true;

                    default:
                        Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(),"Somethings Wrong",Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        return true;

                }
            }
        });

        // Initializing Drawer Layout and ActionBarToggle
        drawerLayout = (DrawerLayout) findViewById(R.id.drawer_layout);
        ActionBarDrawerToggle actionBarDrawerToggle = new ActionBarDrawerToggle(this,drawerLayout,toolbar,R.string.drawer_open, R.string.drawer_close){

            @Override
            public void onDrawerClosed(View drawerView) {
                // Code here will be triggered once the drawer closes as we dont want anything to happen so we leave this blank
                super.onDrawerClosed(drawerView);
            }

            @Override
            public void onDrawerOpened(View drawerView) {
                // Code here will be triggered once the drawer open as we dont want anything to happen so we leave this blank

                super.onDrawerOpened(drawerView);
            }
        };

        //Setting the actionbarToggle to drawer layout
        drawerLayout.setDrawerListener(actionBarDrawerToggle);

        //calling sync state is necessay or else your hamburger icon wont show up
        actionBarDrawerToggle.syncState();







    }

use this for your toolbar.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

    <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:background="@color/colorPrimary"
        android:elevation="4dp"
        android:id="@+id/toolbar"
        android:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark"


        >

    </android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar>

use this for navigation header if want to use

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="192dp"
    android:background="?attr/colorPrimaryDark"
    android:padding="16dp"
    android:theme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:gravity="bottom">
    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="56dp"
        android:id="@+id/navhead"
        android:orientation="vertical"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
        android:layout_alignParentStart="true">

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/name"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginLeft="16dp"
            android:textColor="#ffffff"
            android:text="tanya"
            android:textSize="14sp"
            android:textStyle="bold"

            />

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/email"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:textColor="#ffffff"
            android:layout_marginLeft="16dp"
            android:layout_marginTop="5dp"
            android:text="tanya.com"
            android:textSize="14sp"
            android:textStyle="normal"

            />
    </LinearLayout>
    <de.hdodenhof.circleimageview.CircleImageView
        android:layout_width="70dp"
        android:layout_height="70dp"
        android:layout_below="@+id/imageView"
        android:layout_marginTop="15dp"

        android:src="@drawable/face"
        android:id="@+id/circleView"
        />



</RelativeLayout>

Answer 5

Easiest way to reuse a common Navigation drawer among a group of activities

app_base_layout.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout
    android:id="@+id/drawer_layout"
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">

    <FrameLayout
        android:id="@+id/view_stub"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent">

    </FrameLayout>

    <android.support.design.widget.NavigationView
        android:id="@+id/navigation_view"
        android:layout_width="240dp"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_gravity="start"
        app:menu="@menu/menu_test"
        />
</android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout>

AppBaseActivity.java

/*
* This is a simple and easy approach to reuse the same 
* navigation drawer on your other activities. Just create
* a base layout that conains a DrawerLayout, the 
* navigation drawer and a FrameLayout to hold your
* content view. All you have to do is to extend your 
* activities from this class to set that navigation 
* drawer. Happy hacking :)
* P.S: You don't need to declare this Activity in the 
* AndroidManifest.xml. This is just a base class.
*/
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.res.Configuration;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.design.widget.NavigationView;
import android.support.v4.widget.DrawerLayout;
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarDrawerToggle;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.FrameLayout;

public abstract class AppBaseActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements MenuItem.OnMenuItemClickListener {
    private FrameLayout view_stub; //This is the framelayout to keep your content view
    private NavigationView navigation_view; // The new navigation view from Android Design Library. Can inflate menu resources. Easy
    private DrawerLayout mDrawerLayout;
    private ActionBarDrawerToggle mDrawerToggle;
    private Menu drawerMenu;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        super.setContentView(R.layout.app_base_layout);// The base layout that contains your navigation drawer.
        view_stub = (FrameLayout) findViewById(R.id.view_stub);
        navigation_view = (NavigationView) findViewById(R.id.navigation_view);
        mDrawerLayout = (DrawerLayout) findViewById(R.id.drawer_layout);
        mDrawerToggle = new ActionBarDrawerToggle(this, mDrawerLayout, 0, 0);
        mDrawerLayout.setDrawerListener(mDrawerToggle);
        getSupportActionBar().setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true);

        drawerMenu = navigation_view.getMenu();
        for(int i = 0; i < drawerMenu.size(); i++) {
          drawerMenu.getItem(i).setOnMenuItemClickListener(this);
        }
        // and so on...
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPostCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onPostCreate(savedInstanceState);
        mDrawerToggle.syncState();
    }

    @Override
    public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
        super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
        mDrawerToggle.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
    }

    /* Override all setContentView methods to put the content view to the FrameLayout view_stub
     * so that, we can make other activity implementations looks like normal activity subclasses.
     */
    @Override
    public void setContentView(int layoutResID) {
        if (view_stub != null) {
            LayoutInflater inflater = (LayoutInflater) getSystemService(LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
            ViewGroup.LayoutParams lp = new ViewGroup.LayoutParams(
                    ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
                    ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT);
            View stubView = inflater.inflate(layoutResID, view_stub, false);
            view_stub.addView(stubView, lp);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void setContentView(View view) {
        if (view_stub != null) {
            ViewGroup.LayoutParams lp = new ViewGroup.LayoutParams(
                    ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
                    ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT);
            view_stub.addView(view, lp);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void setContentView(View view, ViewGroup.LayoutParams params) {
        if (view_stub != null) {
            view_stub.addView(view, params);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        // Pass the event to ActionBarDrawerToggle, if it returns
        // true, then it has handled the app icon touch event
        if (mDrawerToggle.onOptionsItemSelected(item)) {
            return true;
        }
        // Handle your other action bar items...

        return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onMenuItemClick(MenuItem item) {
        switch (item.getItemId()) {
            case R.id.item1:
                // handle it
                break;
            case R.id.item2:
                // do whatever
                break;
            // and so on...
        }
        return false;
    }
}

Answer 6

There is a work around: In my implementation: I have fragments in first activity that has Navigation Drawer. The other activities create the ActionBar and Navigation Drawer from the same code as first activity, and they do not have fragments, the laying out is described later here. In the first activity, the action click of the item is handled in the same activity, and in the other activities, the action is completed later, first I switch to the first activity, by closing the other activities. The conditions are as follows:

1. I have put the main layout and inside first framelayout, and second framelayout is dedicated to the Drawer in DrawerLayout.

2. I have done the drawer initialization in onResume of the activities other than the first one. This is because it needs to re-initialize after on new intent updates, as all the activities are single instance.

This way I have been able to have NavigationDrawer and ActionBarCompat in all the activities.

The other way around could be: do not use activities at all, instead use fragments, and replace them in the container (Linear Layout for example) where you show your first fragment.

Code is available in Android Developer Tutorials, you just have to customize.

http://developer.android.com/training/implementing-navigation/nav-drawer.html

It is advisable that you should use more and more fragments in your application, and there should be only three activities local to your application, that you mention in your AndroidManifest.xml apart from the external ones (FacebookActivity for example):

1. SplashActivity: uses no fragment, and uses FullScreen theme.

2. LoginSignUpActivity: Do not require NavigationDrawer at all, so simply use normal tool bar, but at the least, 3 or 4 fragments will be required. Uses noactionbar theme

3. HomeActivity or DashBoardActivity: Uses noactionbar theme. Here you require Navigation drawer, also all the screens that follow will be fragments or nested fragments, till the leaf view. All the settings, user profile and etc. will be here as fragments, in this activity.

[ For further guidance see: https://stackoverflow.com/a/51100507/787399 ]

Happy Coding !!