How to change a way Actionbar background is shown?

Question

I am using ActionBar Sherlock and I wanted to change the ActionBar background. I was able to achieve this by modifying my style XML file:

<item name="android:background">@drawable/background_bitmap</item>

The problem is that no matter of device or position (landscape/horizontal) the actionbar background graphic is always stretched as shown here:

Portrait mode:

Landscape mode:

Is there a way to change the way the background_bitmap is shown?

I'd rather the background is either aligned to the left/right or zoomed and cropped.

Answer 1

Yes, create a drawable xml like this in /res/drawable/ and reference it as the action bar background drawable.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<bitmap xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:gravity="right"
    android:src="@drawable/background_bitmap" />