Xamarin Mobile Development for Android Cookbook

Creating an options menu

Android provides the user with the ability to display a special type of menu that contains a set of items that pertains to the entire app, instead of the current activity.

How to do it...

Adding an options menu to our app is very simple, and only two things are required: a menu structure and code to connect the menu with the activity. In order to use a menu layout file, a resource file needs to be added:

1. First, we create a new XML file with the name of the menu, for example Options.xml, in the menu folder under the Resources folder.
2. Then, we create the menu structure in this file, for example, create three menu items: refresh, settings, and about.

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"> ...