patternjavaMinor

Android - Share ToolBar across whole application

Submitted by: @import:stackexchange-codereview·Mar 10, 2026·

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shareandroidwholeapplicationtoolbaracross

Problem

I have 3 ToolBars that I use across my whole application

The first one is just a ToolBar with a close button.

The second one is a ToolBar with a close and delete icon.

The third one is a ToolBar with a close and home icon.

Here is my case, I use this ToolBar in many places, and I dont want to use Fragment for some reasons so I am forced to use Activity.

For usability, I created methods to handle their functions, but I am sure I can do something to make this easier as I repeat this code in each activity.

toolbar_layout.xml

toolbar_layout_delete_icon.xml

toolbar_layout_home_icon.xml

java method that handles the ToolBar :

private void setupToolbar() {
        Toolbar mytoolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.mytoolbar);
        TextView toolbarTitle = (TextView) mytoolbar.findViewById(R.id.toolbarTitle);
        toolbarTitle.setText(getResources().getString(R.string.submit_claim));
        ImageView closeButton = (ImageView) mytoolbar.findViewById(R.id.CloseImageView);
        closeButton.setOnClickListener(v -> finish());
        ImageView HomeButton = (ImageView) mytoolbar.findViewById(R.id.HomeImageView);
        HomeButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                Intent mIntent = new Intent(PolicyAndContactDetailActivity.this , MainActivity.class);
                mIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP | Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
                startActivity(mIntent);
                finish();
            }
        });
    }

I need to minimize my code as much as possible, and any help with @+id names will be appreciated.

Solution

Create a Base Activity with ToolBar and let all your activity extend the BaseActivity like below code I've given :

BaseActivity

public class BaseActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
        Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
        setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
    }
}

Main.xml (Base activity layout)

Now every Activity extends BaseActivity instead of AppCompatActivity or ActionBarActivity so you can get access to the Toolbar in every Activity.

Your MainActivity

public class YourActivity extends BaseActivity{ //your code }

Code Snippets

public class BaseActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
        Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
        setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
    }
}

<android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
        android:id="@+id/toolbar"
        android:theme="@style/toolbarTheme"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:background="@color/green"
        android:minHeight="?attr/actionBarSize" />

public class YourActivity extends BaseActivity{ //your code }

Context

StackExchange Code Review Q#144760, answer score: 3

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