Android Menus

Defining a Menu in XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item android:id="@+id/new_game"
          android:icon="@drawable/ic_new_game"
          android:title="@string/new_game"
          android:showAsAction="ifRoom"/>
    <item android:id="@+id/help"
          android:icon="@drawable/ic_help"
          android:title="@string/help" />
</menu>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <item android:id="@+id/file"
          android:title="@string/file" >
        <!-- "file" submenu -->
        <menu>
            <item android:id="@+id/create_new"
                  android:title="@string/create_new" />
            <item android:id="@+id/open"
                  android:title="@string/open" />
        </menu>
    </item>
</menu>

Creating an Options Menu

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
    inflater.inflate(R.menu.game_menu, menu);
    return true;
}

Handling click events

@Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
    // Handle item selection
    switch (item.getItemId()) {
        case R.id.new_game:
            newGame();
            return true;
        case R.id.help:
            showHelp();
            return true;
        default:
            return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }
}

Changing menu items at runtime

If you want to modify the options menu based on events that occur during the activity lifecycle, you can do so in the onPrepareOptionsMenu() method.

References :
https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/menus.html#options-menu
https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/menu-resource.html
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15492791/how-do-i-show-overflow-menu-items-to-action-bar-in-android
http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/Creating_and_Managing_Overflow_Menus_on_Android