Develop Reference

Access text of EditTextPreference from Fragment

I've got a Preferenceactivity with a EditTextPreference.
What I'm looking for is the command to access the inserted text of the EditTextPreference from a fragment.
What I have so far:
SharedPreferences preferences = this.getActivity().getSharedPreferences("pref", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
String name = preferences.getString("edit_text_preference_name", "Default");
I allways get "Default" instead of my actual inserted text from the EditTextPreference.
Thanks in Advance.
Edit:
from SettingsActivity.java
#TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB)
public static class BarcodePreferenceFragment extends PreferenceFragment {
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.pref_barcode);
setHasOptionsMenu(true);
bindPreferenceSummaryToValue(findPreference("edit_text_preference_barcode"));
bindPreferenceSummaryToValue(findPreference("edit_text_preference_name"));
}
}
pref.xml
<EditTextPreference
android:capitalize="words"
android:defaultValue="#string/pref_default_display_name"
android:key="edit_text_preference_name"
android:maxLines="1"
android:selectAllOnFocus="true"
android:singleLine="true"
android:title="#string/pref_default_display_name" />

From the documentation of PreferenceFragment:
To retrieve an instance of SharedPreferences that the preference hierarchy in this fragment will use, call getDefaultSharedPreferences(android.content.Context) with a context in the same package as this fragment.
This means that the PreferenceFragment saves the values to the default shared preferences which leaves you two options:
Option 1 - Use the default SharedPreferences to retrieve the saved value
It's pretty simple, you need to call the PreferenceManager's getDefaultSharedPreferences(...) static method to access the default shared prefs. So instead of
SharedPreferences preferences = this.getActivity().getSharedPreferences("pref", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
String name = preferences.getString("edit_text_preference_name", "Default");
do
// use getActivity() instead of getContext() if you're using the framework Fragment API and min SDK is lower than 23
SharedPreferences preferences = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(getContext());
String name = preferences.getString("edit_text_preference_name", "Default");
Option 2 - Set your PreferenceFragment to use named shared prefs
You can set the name of the used shared prefs in your BarcodePreferenceFragment's onCreate(...) method by calling setSharedPreferencesName(...) on the belonging PreferenceManager:
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
getPreferenceManager().setSharedPreferencesName("pref");
// the rest of your code
}

Setting sharedPreferences default values

I have an application where I'm setting roughly around 200 shared preferences when the application is run for the first time. I was initially loading all the preferences by calling it from my onCreate method
SharedPreferences pref = getSharedPreferences(CALC_PREFS, MODE_PRIVATE);
settingsEditor = prefs.edit();
settingsEditor.putString("Something", "");
....
settingsEditor.commit();
and it would work well and rather quickly. I then redesigned my application to have an abstract activity class to handle all the work with the shared preferences becacuse I have 4 different activities accessing these preferences.
public abstract class AnActivity extends Activity{
// Shared Preference string
private static final String CALC_PREFS = "CalculatorPrefs";
// Editor to customize preferences
private Editor settingsEditor;
// Shared preference
private SharedPreferences prefs;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
prefs = getSharedPreferences(CALC_PREFS, MODE_PRIVATE);
settingsEditor = prefs.edit();
}
protected void addPref(String key, String value){
settingsEditor.putString(key, value).commit();
}
protected void addPref(String key, int value){
settingsEditor.putInt(key, value).commit();
}
//other methods were not posted
}
My main activity not extends the "AnActivity" class. However, when I run my application on a fresh install or attemp to access any shared preference, it takes upwards of 10 seconds to instantiate everything.
How can I set the default values in a clean and efficient manner? Does creating an Abstract class to handle the preferences create more overhead than just calling getSharedPreferences manually?

Are you commiting each time you add a preference? This is probably your issue, commiting for each entry could be quite expensive, batch together your put's and commit once.
If you don't need to specify the default value, you could always use clear() instead
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/SharedPreferences.Editor.html#clear%28%29

Android set preferences not saving data

I'm writing a simple photo gallery app. I want people to scroll through the images and have the ability to add them to a 'favorites' list.
I have constructed a Favorite class that's global (put the class in a cGlobal class that defines it as static).
Now I have this working and I want to be able to save the state of the favorite -- the idea is as follows:
When the app first starts up, it will load the favorites list from the preferences in the main activity.
In the gallery activity it will save the favorite state in the preferences.
It seems like when I load the preferences form the main activity it comes up as null. But I can read what I write to it in the gallery activity. I have the following test code:
In main Activity, when the app starts:
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
public class MainActivity extends cBaseView implements OnClickListener {
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
String tr;
#Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
// load in favrets from prefences
SharedPreferences pre=getPreferences(MODE_PRIVATE);
// This does not work and tr is equal to no value.
tr=pre.getString("label","no value");
// add listeners
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Gallery Activity
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
// test code
SharedPreferences pre=getPreferences(MODE_PRIVATE);
pre.edit().putString("label","ted").commit();
// tr is set to ted, got the data
tr=pre.getString("label","no value");
}

When you use getPreferences, here is what you get, according to the javadoc of activity :
Retrieve a SharedPreferences object for accessing preferences that are
private to this activity. This simply calls the underlying
getSharedPreferences(String, int) method by passing in this activity's
class name as the preferences name.
You should getSharedPreferences with the same name, to get preferences shared by different activities.

How to update internal values of a PreferenceActivity when SharedPreferences change

I use a Preference in a PreferenceActivity to load default values: when this specific Preference is clicked, something like this happens:
private String mResetKeys = "key1,key2,key3";
SharedPreferences prefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(getContext());
SharedPreferences.Editor prefs_editor = prefs.edit();
for (String current_pref : mResetKeys.split(",")) {
prefs_editor.remove(current_pref);
}
prefs_editor.commit();
But afterwards, the Preferences whose corresponding SharedPreference was reset still show the old value - it seems to be cached in the Preference. Only when I leave the PreferenceActivity and reopen it, the Preferences show the new values.
How can I update the PreferenceActivity programmatically?

I had a similar problem. This probably isn't the most correct fix but it worked for my purposes. Right after I did the commits, I called the Activity.recreate(); method.
The activity will restart (onDestroy()/onCreate()/etc) but for my purposes all I needed was a special handling on one preference. I listened for a certain preference with an OnPreferenceClickListener and made an alert dialog box with a kind of warning message and an option to change their mind. If they did want to change their mind, I did my commit of the new value to the preference activity and then called recreate() so that the checkbox preference would be updated.
However, I am also interested in a way to do this without recreating the activity...

Update preference value without reloading PreferenceActivity
from http://liquidlabs.ca/2011/08/25/update-preference-value-without-reloading-preferenceactivity/
Here is how to update default shared preference value of target element (in this case EditTextPreference)
public class YourCustomPreference extends PreferenceActivity {
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
// Load the preferences from an XML resource
addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences);
}
// some logic goes above, when you want to reset value and update EditTextPreference value
// For convenience, I am going to wrap two different task in different methods
private void resetPreferenceValue() {
SharedPreferences sharedPref = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this.getApplicationContext());
SharedPreferences.Editor prefEditor = sharedPref.edit(); // Get preference in editor mode
prefEditor.putString("your_edit_text_pref_key", "DEFAULT-VALUE"); // set your default value here (could be empty as well)
prefEditor.commit(); // finally save changes
// Now we have updated shared preference value, but in activity it still hold the old value
this.resetElementValue();
}
private void resetElementValue() {
// First get reference to edit-text view elements
EditTextPreference myPrefText = (EditTextPreference) super.findPreference("your_edit_text_pref_key");
// Now, manually update it's value to default/empty
myPrefText.setText("DEFAULT-VALUE"); // Now, if you click on the item, you'll see the value you've just set here
}
}

How to skip an activity? android

i have a default activity that starts first (Activity A), and from there the user can go to another activity (Activity B). In B after some work the user sets a sharedpreference. the next time the app starts i want to check in A if sharedpreference is null to go to B. and i put this if just under
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
and it encapsulates the whole onCreate. when the app starts it skips A and on B i shows the layout and the FC with NullPointerException.
Any one got experience with this?
OR
any one got a better idea on skipping A?

Well Simon you have to use Shared prefrences. save your data in shared prefrences. Then in the activity where you want to use the data in Shared prefres again get instance of same shared prefrence. get the data and use it.
go through this code
public class Calc extends Activity {
public static final String PREFS_NAME = "MyPrefsFile";
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle state){
super.onCreate(state);
. . .
// Restore preferences
SharedPreferences settings = getSharedPreferences(PREFS_NAME, 0);
boolean silent = settings.getBoolean("silentMode", false);
setSilent(silent);
}
#Override
protected void onStop(){
super.onStop();
// We need an Editor object to make preference changes.
// All objects are from android.context.Context
SharedPreferences settings = getSharedPreferences(PREFS_NAME, 0);
SharedPreferences.Editor editor = settings.edit();
editor.putBoolean("silentMode", mSilentMode);
// Commit the edits!
editor.commit();
}
}
probably you will get an insight

To answer my own question. i had a location listener in onDestroy an because it was not initialized because of skipping onCreate it returned NullPointer.