Question

What is the action bar/Viewpager used for and can it be used for navigating through pages?

If it is used for navigating through screens how can i disable swiping through sections in my code so navigation can only be done by clicking on the section buttons within the action bar?

My Java code for the action bar

Answer 1

The primary goals of the action bar are to:

Provide a dedicated space for identifying the application brand and
user location. This is accomplished with the app icon or logo on the
left side and the activity title. You might choose to remove the
activity title, however, if the current view is identified by a
navigation label, such as the currently selected tab. Provide
consistent navigation and view refinement across different
applications. The action bar provides built-in tab navigation for
switching between fragments. It also offers a drop-down list you can
use as an alternative navigation mode or to refine the current view
(such as to sort a list by different criteria). Make key actions for
the activity (such as “search”, “create”, “share”, etc.) prominent and
accessible to the user in a predictable way. You can provide instant
access to key user actions by placing items from the options menu
directly in the action bar, as “action items.” Action items can also
provide an “action view,” which provides an embedded widget for even
more immediate action behaviors. Menu items that are not promoted to
an action item are available in the overflow menu, revealed by either
the device Menu button (when available) or by an “overflow menu”
button in the action bar (when the device does not include a Menu
button).

From http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/actionbar.html