from com.android.monkeyrunner import MonkeyRunner, MonkeyDevice
from com.android.monkeyrunner.easy import EasyMonkeyDevice, By

device = MonkeyRunner.waitForConnection()
easy_device = EasyMonkeyDevice(device)

easy_device.touch(By.id('action_search'), MonkeyDevice.DOWN_AND_UP)

<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=".Cities" >
    <item android:id="@+id/action_search"
          android:title="@string/search_label"
          android:icon="@android:drawable/ic_menu_search"
          app:showAsAction="ifRoom"
          app:actionViewClass="android.support.v7.widget.SearchView" />
</menu>

easy_device.touch(By.id('action_search'), MonkeyDevice.DOWN_AND_UP)
ValueError: View not found: <com.android.monkeyrunner.easy.By object at 0x2>

# it doesn't work by id:
#easy_device.touch(By.id('action_search'), MonkeyDevice.DOWN_AND_UP)
# workaround: click on it by coordinates:
device.touch(int(deviceW*0.87), int(deviceH*0.07), 'DOWN_AND_UP')
MonkeyRunner.sleep(1)
# now the search box is active and the keyboard has popped up

# click on the middle of the search box doesn't help:
device.touch(int(deviceW*0.5), int(deviceH*0.07), 'DOWN_AND_UP')
MonkeyRunner.sleep(1)

# type doesn't work:
device.type('Bud')
# at this point search box lost the focus

# nor does pressing the keys work:
device.press('KEYCODE_B', MonkeyDevice.DOWN_AND_UP)
MonkeyRunner.sleep(1)
device.press('KEYCODE_u', MonkeyDevice.DOWN_AND_UP)