Activity.java

private BadgeView mBadgeView;

@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
    getSupportMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.badge_demo, menu);
    MenuItem menuItem = menu.findItem(R.id.item_id);
  
    ImageButton iconView = new ImageButton(this, null,
            com.actionbarsherlock.R.style.Widget_Sherlock_ActionButton);
    iconView.setImageDrawable(menuItem.getIcon());
    iconView.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onClick(View v) {
            // The thing is clicked, do something useful.
        }
    });
  
    // The badge view requires target view (iconView in this case)
    // to have a ViewGroup parent
    LinearLayout container = new LinearLayout(this);
    container.setLayoutParams(new LinearLayout.LayoutParams(
        ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT,
        ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT));
    container.addView(iconView);
  
    mBadgeView = new BadgeView(this, iconView);
    mBadgeView.setText("10");
    mBadgeView.show();
  
    menuItem.setActionView(container);
  
    return true;
}