Develop Reference

Array in XML: insert one array into another as a part

Preparing string resources for my Android application, I've faced such a problem. I need two string arrays with 12 and 13 items, and first 11 items are common for both arrays. It would be a good idea to create array of 11 common items, then create two needed arrays contained 11 items from the 'common' array plus 1 and 2 additional items. However, I cannot find a way to do it. It is possible to reference to some xml resource, but in my case it makes necessary to include each 11 common items separately.
Thanks in advance for any idea

In your XML, you can reference common array as item:
<resources>
<string-array name="common_array">
<item>name 1</item>
<item>name 2</item>
<item>name 3</item>
</string-array>
<string-array name="new_array">
<item>#array/common_array</item>
<item>name 4</item>
</string-array>
</resources>
Then in your java code, you add following function which will convert the resource items to list of strings:
List<String> getArrayItems(int resourceId, Resources resources) {
ArrayList<String> itemList = new ArrayList<>();
TypedArray typedArray = resources.obtainTypedArray(resourceId);
for (int i = 0; i < typedArray.length(); i++) {
int type = typedArray.getType(i);
if (type == TypedValue.TYPE_STRING) {
itemList.add(typedArray.getString(i));
} else if (type == TypedValue.TYPE_REFERENCE) {
int resIdOfArray = typedArray.getResourceId(i, 0);
List<String> itemsForGivenRes = Arrays.asList(resources.getStringArray(resIdOfArray));
itemList.addAll(itemsForGivenRes);
}
}
typedArray.recycle();
return itemList;
}
Finally, you can use that function to get list of items in new_array:
List<String> arrayItems = getArrayItems(R.array.new_array, getApplicationContext().getResources());
Log.d("MyAdapter", "onCreate: " + arrayItems.toString()); // should print MyAct: onCreate: [name 1, name 2, name 3, name 4]
Note that in my example, I have considered string arrays only. With small change, you can adapt function to different arrays as well.
I hope my answer helps.

Pulling individual strings from string arrays at random

Im trying to pull individual strings from a string array at random, and display it on screen(in android studio). But i cant seem to find a solution anywhere.
Its a simple string array, and i need to pull one at a click of a button. My string array is pretty standard and set up like this:
<string-array name="string_array1">
<item>Sentence 1</item>
<item>Sentence 2</item>
</string-array>

You can user java String array or ArrayList of String in Activity like:
Java String Array Example in Activity :
1)define an Array
String string_array1[]={"Sentence 1","Sentence 2"};
Get value from the array :
Sting zeroIndexValue=string_array1[0];
Sting oneIndexValue=string_array1[1];
2) ArrayList Example:
define ArrayList of String:
ArrayList<String> string_List=new ArrayList<String>();
Add value to List:
string_List.add("Sentence 1");
string_List.add("Sentence 2");
Get value from List:
string_List.get(0);
string_List.get(1);

fetch array from string file
String[] string_array1 = getResources().getStringArray(R.array.string_array1);
Now generate random value and fetch it from array.
Random rand = new Random()
int Low = 0;
int High = string_array1.length-1;
int value = rand.nextInt(High-Low) + Low; //It will generate random number in the given range only.
String printed_value = string_array1[value];

Android - R.array.[variable] in a For loop?

I'm looking for option to access array of strings defined in strings.xml in loop.
Means, I have in my strings.xml - several arrays like:
<string-array name="ques1">
<item>bla bla</item>
<item>bla bla</item>
</string-array>
<string-array name="ques2">
<item>bla bla</item>
<item>bla bla</item>
</string-array>
How can i access in my code - the arrays of ques1, ques2...etc ? (for example - i have many questions in my application with its answers, so i want to access it in generic way).

String[] stringArray = context.getResources().getStringArray(R.array.ques1);
for(String s : stringArray) {
//do something with s
}
Edit ... I just realized you want to iterate not over the array, but over several arrays. That's also possible, with :
for(int i = 0; i<max_arrays; i++) {
int id = context.getResources().getIdentifier("ques"+i, "array",
context.getPackageName());
String[] stringArray = context.getResources().getStringArray(id);
for(String s : stringArray) {
//do something with s
}
}

Randomly select a string from strings.xml in Android

I need to randomly select a string defined within strings.xml file in android.
For example my strings.xml is :
<resources>
<string name="str1">Content comes here1</string>
<string name="str2">Content comes here2</string>
<string name="str3">Content comes here3</string>
</resources>
Can I randomly select one of these strings in my Activity?

Create an array contains all of your resource names you want to select:
String[] strs = new String[] {"str1", "str2", "str3"};
Get a random index:
int randomIndex = new Random().nextInt(3);
Get your random string from resource:
int resId = getResources().getIdentifier(strs[randomIndex ], "string", your_package_name);
String randomString = getString(resId);

The best way is you declare you Strings as an Array, then get it like this:
String[] arrayOfStrings = context.getResources().getStringArray(R.array.your_string_array);
String randomString = arrayOfStrings[new Random().nextInt(arrayOfStrings.length)];
Then you can use it as you like.

You would probable rather make it an array of strings (and then that is easier to select at random one of the array). Else, you can put the ids of your strings in an array and randomly select one of the items in the array.

Android random non repeating string

I'm making a bingo type game. I have a 5x5 grid of imagebuttons, each with their own textview. When the app starts or is reset, I want each textview to display a random string without any one string being displayed twice during a game. I currently have the strings in a resource array, with 127 items:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<string-array name="tile_text">
<item>String 1</item>
<item>String 2</item>
<item>String 3</item>
...all the way to String 127
</string-array>
</resources>
And to display a random string on each textview:
public String[] myString;
Resources res = getResources();
myString = res.getStringArray(R.array.tile_text);
Random random = new Random(System.currentTimeMillis());
int[] textViews = {
//I have all my textviews added to this array
};
for(int v : textViews) {
TextView tv = (TextView)findViewById(v);
tv.setText(myString[random.nextInt(myString.length)]);
}
The above works well, but even with 200 strings in the array to choose from, some items still show up twice. Is there a way I can get the array to shuffle and not pick the same string twice for per game? I have searched and I find info on random strings, but nothing about non repeating random strings, so apologies if this is a duplicate question.

I'd keep a list of the strings you'e already added and then keep picking new random strings until you find one that's not already in your list.
Something like this:
Vector<String> alreadyUsed = new Vector<String>();
for(int v : textViews) {
TextView tv = (TextView)findViewById(v);
String nextString;
do {
nextString = myString[random.nextInt(myString.length)];
} while (alreadyUsed.contains(nextString));
alreadyUsed.add(nextString);
tv.setText(nextString);
}