How to share data in Android

The Android API provides the share action which can be integrated as a menu item. This tutorial demonstrates the same.

Main Layout file

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"     xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"     android:layout_width="match_parent"     android:layout_height="match_parent"     android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"     android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"     android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"     android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"     tools:context=".MainActivity" >       <TextView         android:layout_width="wrap_content"         android:layout_height="wrap_content"         android:text="@string/hello_world" />   </RelativeLayout>

Menu xml file

<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >       <item         android:id="@+id/action_share"         android:orderInCategory="100"         android:showAsAction="ifRoom"         android:actionProviderClass="android.widget.ShareActionProvider"/>   </menu>

Java Code

Let’s now see the java code for this:

MainActivity.java

package com.example.shareactionexample;   import android.app.Activity; import android.content.Intent; import android.os.Bundle; import android.view.Menu; import android.view.MenuItem; import android.widget.ShareActionProvider;   public class MainActivity extends Activity {       @Override     protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {         super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);         setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);     }       @Override     public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {         // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.         getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);                   MenuItem shareItem = (MenuItem) menu.findItem(R.id.action_share);                   ShareActionProvider mShare = (ShareActionProvider)shareItem.getActionProvider();                   Intent shareIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);         shareIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);         shareIntent.setType("text/plain");         shareIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "text to share");                   mShare.setShareIntent(shareIntent);                   return true;     }   }

Screenshots for android share menu item

1) The popup for sharing anything is shown below:

2) The data has been shared in the messaging app:

Download code for this example

Share action in Android