I have found same problem as me 
1. [Action buttons doesn't show up on Action Bar?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20512644/action-buttons-doesnt-show-up-on-action-bar)

the problem is the icon search never appear eventhough the text is there

However when i follow the resolution there , the problem still never solve.

can someone please view my codes? be patient with me as today is just my 2nd day in learning android development.

main\_activity\_actions.xml

```
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
    <!-- Search, should appear as action button -->
    <item android:id="@+id/action_search"
          android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_search"
          android:title="@string/action_search"
          android:showAsAction="always" />
    <!-- Settings, should always be in the overflow -->
    <item android:id="@+id/action_settings"
          android:title="@string/action_settings"
          android:showAsAction="never" />
</menu>

```

strings.xml

```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>

    <string name="app_name">My First App</string>
    <string name="edit_message">Enter a message</string>
    <string name="button_send">Send</string>
    <string name="action_settings">Settings</string>
    <string name="title_activity_main">MainActivity</string>
    <string name="title_activity_display_message">My Message</string>
    <string name="hello_world">Hello world!</string>
    <string name="action_search">-Search-</string>

</resources>

```

MainActivity.java

```
package com.example.myfirstapp;

import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity;
import android.support.v4.app.Fragment;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
    public final static String EXTRA_MESSAGE = "com.example.myfirstapp.MESSAGE";
    /** Called when the user clicks the Send button */
    public void sendMessage(View view) {
        // Do something in response to button
        Intent intent = new Intent(this, DisplayMessageActivity.class);
        EditText editText = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.edit_message);
        String message = editText.getText().toString();
        intent.putExtra(EXTRA_MESSAGE, message);
        startActivity(intent);
        Toast.makeText(this,"clicked", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
    }

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        if (savedInstanceState == null) {
            getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction()
                    .add(R.id.container, new PlaceholderFragment())
                    .commit();
        }
    }

   // @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);
        //return true;

    //}

    @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_activity_actions, menu);
        return super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        // Handle presses on the action bar items
        switch (item.getItemId()) {
            case R.id.action_search:
                openSearch();
                return true;
            case R.id.action_settings:
                openSettings();
                return true;
            default:
                return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
        }
    }

    //@Override
    //public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        //// Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will
        //// automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long
        //// as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.
        //int id = item.getItemId();
        //if (id == R.id.action_settings) {
            //return true;
        //}
        //return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    //}

    private void openSettings() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

    }

    private void openSearch() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub

    }

    /**
     * A placeholder fragment containing a simple view.
     */
    public static class PlaceholderFragment extends Fragment {

        public PlaceholderFragment() {
        }

        @Override
        public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
                Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            View rootView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_main, container, false);
            return rootView;
        }
    }

}

```

AndroidManifest.xml

```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.myfirstapp"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >

    <uses-sdk
        android:minSdkVersion="11"
        android:targetSdkVersion="19" />

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
        <activity
            android:name="com.example.myfirstapp.MainActivity"
            android:label="@string/app_name" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
        <activity
            android:name="com.example.myfirstapp.DisplayMessageActivity"
            android:label="@string/title_activity_display_message"
            android:parentActivityName="com.example.myfirstapp.MainActivity" >
            <meta-data
                android:name="android.support.PARENT_ACTIVITY"
                android:value="com.example.myfirstapp.MainActivity" />
        </activity>

    </application>

</manifest>

```

Main.xml

```
<menu 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"
    tools:context="com.example.myfirstapp.MainActivity" >

    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_settings"
        android:orderInCategory="100"
        android:title="@string/action_settings"
        app:showAsAction="never"/>
     <item 
        android:id="@+id/action_search"
        android:title="@string/action_search"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_search"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:actionViewClass="android.widget.SearchView"/>

</menu>

```

Thank you for your help. Please do not judge me did not do any research because i have spent whole one day,searching here and there to make it right. The reason i still cannot it get it right is because i am just dumb...:-)