How to use resource arrays using xml in Android?

Question

I am new in Android development and facing a problem with managing Android resources. I want to create a listView with an ImageView and a TextView.

Following is my implementation which works fine, but actually I wanted to use arrays which I created before like this:

int[] img = getResources().getIntArray(R.Array.img);

package com.simplelistviewwithlistactivity;

import android.app.AlertDialog;
import android.app.AlertDialog.Builder;
import android.app.ListActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.ListView;

public class ListActivityS extends ListActivity {
    int[] img = { R.drawable.r1, R.drawable.r2, R.drawable.skycubemap1,
            R.drawable.skycubemap1, R.drawable.skycubemap2,
            R.drawable.skycubemap3, R.drawable.skycubemap4,
            R.drawable.skycubemap5 };

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        getListView().setDividerHeight(2);
        getListView().setAdapter(new BindDataAdapter(this, img, item));
    }

    @Override
    protected void onListItemClick(ListView l, View v, int position, long id) {
        super.onListItemClick(l, v, position, id);
        Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(this);
        builder.setMessage(item[position] + " is clicked.");
        builder.setPositiveButton("OK", null);
        builder.show();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_list, menu);
        return true;
    }

    private String item[] = { "This is list Item1", "This is list Item2",
            "This is list Item3", "This is list Item4", "This is list Item5",
            "This is list Item6", "This is list Item8", "This is list Item8"

Answer 1

You can use resources from res/values/arrays.xml.

For drawables

<integer-array name="your_images">
    <item>@drawable/ic_active_image</item>
    <item>@drawable/ic_visited_image</item>
</integer-array>

val position = 1 // Position in array.
val drawables = resources.obtainTypedArray(R.array.your_images)
val drawable = drawables.getResourceId(position, -1)
image.setImageResource(drawable)
drawables.recycle()

For colors

<array name="your_colors">
    <item>#365374</item>
    <item>#00B9FF</item>
</array>

val position = 1
val colors = resources.obtainTypedArray(R.array.your_colors)
val color = colors.getColor(position, -1)
title.setTextColor(color)
colors.recycle()

For strings

<string-array name="your_strings">
    <item>Active</item>
    <item>Visited</item>
</string-array>

val position = 1
val strings = resources.getStringArray(R.array.your_strings)
title.text = strings[position]

Plurals:

<plurals name="proposal_plurals">
    <item quantity="zero">No proposals</item>
    <item quantity="one">%1$d proposal</item>
    <item quantity="two">%1$d proposals</item>
    <item quantity="few">%1$d proposals</item>
    <item quantity="many">%1$d proposals</item>
    <item quantity="other">%1$d proposals</item>
</plurals>

val count = 117
val proposals = count.takeIf { it != 0 }?.let {
    resources.getQuantityString(R.plurals.proposal_plurals, it, it)
} ?: "No proposals"

Answer 2

Create an XML like below and put it in res/values/arrays.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <array name="icons">
        <item>@drawable/home</item>
        <item>@drawable/settings</item>
        <item>@drawable/logout</item>
    </array>
    <array name="colors">
        <item>#FFFF0000</item>
        <item>#FF00FF00</item>
        <item>#FF0000FF</item>
    </array>
</resources>

Then use code like this:

Resources res = getResources();
TypedArray icons = res.obtainTypedArray(R.array.icons);
Drawable drawable = icons.getDrawable(0);

TypedArray colors = res.obtainTypedArray(R.array.colors);
int color = colors.getColor(0,0);

Source: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/more-resources.html