In this article, we will learn how to create android Toolbar programmatically in Kotlin. We will go through various steps that explains how to create Toolbar and add it in kotlin file, use different attributes to customise it etc. in any android application.

Learn to use Different Attributes of Toolbar in XML File to Customize it.

Output

Getting Started

We can define android Toolbar widget as below –

Toolbar is generalized version of action bar. It can be placed at any place in view hierarchy.

Now, how do we use Toolbar in android application ?

Before we move ahead, we need to setup for viewBinding to access Toolbar in Kotlin file without using findViewById() method.

Setup ViewBinding

Add viewBinding true in app/build.gradle file.

 
 android { 
 	// OTHER CODE... 
 	buildFeatures { 
 		viewBinding true 
 	} 
 } 
 

Now, set content in activity using view binding.
Open MainActivity.kt file and write below code in it.

 
 class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() { 
 	
 	private lateinit var binding: ActivityMainBinding 
 	
 	override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { 
 		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState) 
 		binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater) 
 		val view = binding.root 
 		setContentView(view) 
 	} 
 } 
 

Now, we can access view in Kotlin file without using findViewById() method.

Since we have a new project, we will modify the xml and class file to use Toolbar programmatically in Kotlin. Please follow the steps below.

2. Modify Values Folder

Open res/values/strings.xml file. Add below code into it.

<resources>
    <string name="app_name">DynamicToolbar</string>
</resources>

Other values folders have not been changed. So, we are not going to mention it here.

3. Modify Layout Folder

Open res/layout/activity_main.xml file. Add below code into it.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/rootContainer"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Hello World!"
        app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />

</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

Note that ConstraintLayout has id rootContainer. In Kotlin file, we will create Toolbar Dynamically and add it into this ConstraintLayout having id rootContainer.

4. Create Android Toolbar programmatically in Kotlin

Open src/main/java/com.tutorialwing.dynamictoolbar/MainActivity.kt file. Then, add below code into it.

package com.tutorialwing.dynamictoolbar

import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.ViewGroup
import android.widget.Toast
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.appcompat.widget.Toolbar
import androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat
import com.tutorialwing.dynamictoolbar.databinding.ActivityMainBinding


class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

	private lateinit var binding: ActivityMainBinding

	override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

		binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
		setContentView(binding.root)

		setupToolbar()
	}

	private fun setupToolbar() {
		val toolbar = Toolbar(this)

		val constraintLayoutParams = ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams(
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
		)
		toolbar.layoutParams = constraintLayoutParams

		toolbar.title = "Tutorialwing"
		toolbar.setTitleTextColor(ContextCompat.getColor(context, R.color.white))
		toolbar.subtitle = "Android"
		toolbar.setSubtitleTextColor(ContextCompat.getColor(context, R.color.white))
		toolbar.logo = ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, R.drawable.ic_person)
		toolbar.navigationIcon = ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, R.drawable.ic_menu)
		toolbar.setNavigationOnClickListener {
				Toast.makeText(
					applicationContext,
					"Navigation icon was clicked",
					Toast.LENGTH_SHORT
				).show()
			}
		toolbar.setBackgroundResource(R.color.purple_500)

		binding.rootContainer.addView(toolbar)
		setSupportActionBar(toolbar)
	}
}

Here,

1. Created toolBar using as –

   val toolbar = Toolbar(this)
   

2. toolbar.layoutParams: Set layout parameters in toolBar. Here, we have added toolBar into ConstraintLayout. So, we create layoutParams accordingly. Then, added it to toolBar –

   val constraintLayoutParams = ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams(
   	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
   	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
   )
   toolbar.layoutParams = constraintLayoutParams
   

3. toolbar.title: Set title in toolBar. Here, we have set Tutorialwing as title of toolBar.
4. setTitleTextColor(): Using this method, we can set color of title in toolBar.
5. toolbar.subtitle: Set subtitle in toolBar. Here, we have set Android as subtitle of toolBar.
6. setSubtitleTextColor(): Using this method, we can set color of subtitle in toolBar.
7. toolbar.logo: Set logo in toolBar. Here, we have set R.drawable.ic_person as logo of toolBar.
8. toolbar.navigationIcon: Set navigation icon in toolBar. Here, we have set R.drawable.ic_menu as navigation icon in toolBar.
9. setBackgroundResource(): Using this method, we can set background of toolBar. Here, we have set color R.color.purple_500 as background of toolbar.
10. We can also set click listener to navigation icon as below –

    toolbar.setNavigationOnClickListener {
    		Toast.makeText(
    			applicationContext,
    			"Navigation icon was clicked",
    			Toast.LENGTH_SHORT
    		).show()
    	}
    

We can improve our code in MainActivity.kt file using Kotlin extension function .apply { } as below –

package com.tutorialwing.dynamictoolbar

import android.os.Bundle
import android.view.ViewGroup
import android.widget.Toast
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.appcompat.widget.Toolbar
import androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout
import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat
import com.tutorialwing.dynamictoolbar.databinding.ActivityMainBinding


class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

	private lateinit var binding: ActivityMainBinding

	override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

		binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
		setContentView(binding.root)

		setupToolbar()
	}

	private fun setupToolbar() {
		val toolbar = Toolbar(this)

		val constraintLayoutParams = ConstraintLayout.LayoutParams(
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
			ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
		)

		toolbar.apply {
			title = "Tutorialwing"
			setTitleTextColor(ContextCompat.getColor(context, R.color.white))
			subtitle = "Android"
			setSubtitleTextColor(ContextCompat.getColor(context, R.color.white))
			logo = ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, R.drawable.ic_person)
			navigationIcon = ContextCompat.getDrawable(context, R.drawable.ic_menu)
			setNavigationOnClickListener {
				Toast.makeText(
					applicationContext,
					"Navigation icon was clicked",
					Toast.LENGTH_SHORT
				).show()
			}
			setBackgroundResource(R.color.purple_500)
			layoutParams = constraintLayoutParams
		}
		binding.rootContainer.addView(toolbar)
		setSupportActionBar(toolbar)
	}
}

Notice that everything is inside .apply {} now.

Finally, when you run the application, you will get output as shown above.

Till now, we have used how to use android toolbar programmatically in Kotlin. Now, Let’s check how to use different attributes of Toolbar to customise it dynamically –

Set Id of Toolbar

Follow steps below to set id of Toolbar programmatically –

• Create ids.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code into it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <item type="id" name="toolBar_ID" />
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set id of Toolbar dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  toolBar.id = R.id.toolBar_ID  // Toolbar
  

  Here, we have set id of Toolbar using property access syntax – toolBar.id

Learn to Set ID of Toolbar Using XML Attribute

Set Width and Height of Toolbar

We use layoutParams to set width and height of any View programmatically. In this article, we have added Toolbar in LinearLayout. So, we will define LayoutParams as below –

toolBar.layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
)

Here, we have set width and height as WRAP_CONTENT. Some of possible values for width and height are –

• WRAP_CONTENT: Sets value of width or height depending on text inside it.
• MATCH_PARENT: Sets value of width of height depending on width or height of parent layout . i.e. width or height of Toolbar will be same as width or height of parent layout.
• Fixed Value: Sets width or height as per value provided.

Learn to Set Width or Height of Toolbar Using XML Attribute

Set Padding of Toolbar

Follow steps below to set padding of Toolbar Dynamically –

• If there is no dimens.xml file, create dimens.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code in it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <dimen name="text_padding">16dp</dimen>
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set padding of Toolbar dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  val padding = resources.getDimension(R.dimen.text_padding).toInt()
  toolBar.setPadding(padding, padding, padding, padding)
  

  Here, we have accessed dimension defined in dimens.xml using getDimension() method. Then, set padding of Toolbar using setPadding() method.

Learn to Set Padding of Toolbar Using XML Attribute

Set Margin of Toolbar

Follow steps below to set margin of Toolbar Dynamically –

• If there is no dimens.xml file, create dimens.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code in it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <dimen name="text_margin">16dp</dimen>
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set margin of Toolbar dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  val margin = resources.getDimension(R.dimen.text_margin).toInt()
  val layoutParams = LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
  	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
  	ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT
  )
  layoutParams.setMargins(margin, margin, margin, margin)
  toolBar.layoutParams = layoutParams
  

  Here, we have accessed dimension defined in dimens.xml using getDimension() method. Then, we have defined layoutParams, set margin to layoutParams. After that, set layoutParams to Toolbar.

Learn to Set Margin of Toolbar Using XML Attribute

Set Background of Toolbar

Follow steps below to set background of Toolbar programmatically –

• If there is no colors.xml file, create colors.xml file in res/values folder. Then, add below code in it –

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
      <color name="purple_200">#FFBB86FC</color>
  </resources>
  

• Now, we can set background of Toolbar dynamically, in MainActivity.kt file, as –

  val color = ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.purple_200)
  toolBar.setBackgroundColor(color)
  

  Here, we used setBackgroundColor() method to set background color in toolBar.

Learn to Set Background of Toolbar Using XML Attribute

Set Visibility of Toolbar

We can set visibility of Toolbar programmatically as –

toolBar.visibility = View.VISIBLE

Here, we have set visibility of Toolbar using toolBar.visibility attribute. Visibility can be of three types – gone, visible and invisible.
Learn to Set Visibility of Toolbar Using XML Attribute

That’s end of tutorial on Android Toolbar Programmatically in Kotlin With Example.