ActionBarSherlock Returning Null Value in Android App

Question

Here's my issue:

I've been trying to get an ActionBar in my Android 2.3 App. I decided to use ActionBarSherlock. I created a new project by importing the ZIP and then making it a library.

I added it as a library to my current project.

Then it wouldn't work unless I removed the compatibility library (Conversion to Dalvik format failed with error 1)

So I removed it and no more errors when compiling. But when I try to use it, it always returns null. I'm not sure if I'm missing something small or what but this has been driving me nuts for a while now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Here are some code snippets as well:

Manifest:

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  package="com.StuMan"
  android:versionCode="1"
  android:versionName="1.0"
  android:theme="@style/Theme.Sherlock">
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="4"
          android:targetSdkVersion="13" />

And then the call which I make in my Activity:

import java.util.ArrayList;
import com.StuMan.R;
import android.app.ActionBar;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity;
import android.support.v4.view.Window;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.GridView;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class WelcomeGrid extends FragmentActivity{

private ArrayList<String> parts = new ArrayList<String>();
final String [] items=new String[]{"Classes", "Calendar", "To-Do List"};

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState){
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.welcome_grid);
    requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_ACTION_BAR_ITEM_TEXT);

    Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), String.valueOf(getSupportActionBar().isShowing()), Toast.LENGTH_LONG);

    GridView gv = (GridView)findViewById(R.id.gv_welcome);
    ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, items);

    gv.setAdapter(adapter);

}

}

Answer 1

You don't need to include the support package as ActionBarSherlock contains the support package (and enhances it). If you check the ActionBarSherlock source you'll be about to see the android.support.v4.* classes.

I was getting getSupportActionBar() retuning null till I went back to reread the usage instructions in particular about Parent Themes.

In order for the action bar to function on pre-3.0 devices your activity must use Theme.Sherlock or Theme.Sherlock.Light, or your custom theme must use one of the aforementioned two as its parent.

Include in the application element

<application
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name" 
        android:theme="@style/Theme.Sherlock">