Is there a way to set actionbar backgound by image in android?

Question

I need to change background of the action bar to a customized image, but every time I try to use this code it does not change a thing.

Bitmap b =  BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(), R.drawable.navbarbg);
BitmapDrawable bd = new BitmapDrawable(getResources(), b);
bar.setBackgroundDrawable(bd);

Also I tried this code but it didn't work.

Resources res = getResources();
xpp =res.getXml(R.drawable.actionbar_background);
bitmapDrawable = (BitmapDrawable) BitmapDrawable.createFromXml (res, xpp);

The contents of actionbar_background.xml are

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

Edited: I used this code which worked fine:

Bitmap bMap = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(res, R.drawable.action_bar_bg);
BitmapDrawable actionBarBackground = new BitmapDrawable(res, bMap);
ActionBar bar = getActionBar();
bar.setBackgroundDrawable(actionBarBackground);

Answer 1

I used this code which worked fine:

Bitmap bMap = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(res, R.drawable.action_bar_bg);
BitmapDrawable actionBarBackground = new BitmapDrawable(res, bMap);
ActionBar bar = getActionBar();
bar.setBackgroundDrawable(actionBarBackground);