Develop Reference

Save data in SharedPreferences when application is not running

I am using SharedPreferences to store my data. When my application is running data is been saved to SharedPreferences successfully but when i close my application and try to save data in it via Intent Service nothing happened . no data saved to it :
public class TinyDB {
private SharedPreferences preferences;
private String DEFAULT_APP_IMAGEDATA_DIRECTORY;
private String lastImagePath = "";
public TinyDB(Context appContext) {
preferences = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(appContext);
}
public void putString(String key, String value) {
checkForNullKey(key); checkForNullValue(value);
preferences.edit().putString(key, value).apply();
}
}
I am using its object in onMessageReceive()
public void onMessageReceived(RemoteMessage remoteMessage) {
tinyDb.putString("key","value");
}
The main point that i want to make sure that i want to save value when app is not running. When app is running everything is fine.
I also want to know what class or Activity is best for initializing the object of TinyDB , and i should make it static or not ?

You can instantiate a new instance of TinyDB in your IntentService class with the Context of your Service (assuming that the IntentService is running on the same process as the original Activity). Please note that after performing all its logic, an IntentService is destroyed with all its resource, so the new TinyDB will be destroyed as well.

try
public void onMessageReceived(RemoteMessage remoteMessage) {
// shortcut and valid local variable
Context ctx = getApplicationContext()
// get instance of shared preferences using service/receiver context!
// keep in mind device protected context / boot aware stuff
// https://source.android.com/security/encryption/file-based
SharedPreferences sp = ctx.getSharedPreferences(preferencesFileName,Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
// save pref value
sp.edit().put(...).commit();
}
*preferenceFileName - if default is your_packageName + _preferences
ps some things to consider:
see man: apply() vs commit()
check how you register your receiver
read in dosc / specs / www if you are allowed to save preferences outside main thread (ActivityThread)
read Are Android's BroadcastReceivers started in a new thread?
more hints:
do not store Context class objects - as they are and should stay short lived - instead use WeakReference
// create if you want to hold context reference
WeakReference<Context> wctx = new WeakReference<Context>(context)
// then get when you want to use context
Context ctx = wctx.get();
if(ctx!=null) // context still alive we can use it

Android : SharedPreferences and MVC pattern

I'm developping my app using the MVC pattern. To store/access data, my controllers use a class named "DataStorage", and for now this class allows to store/access simple parameters about my app (username, data storage path, ...). In other words, I want to call a few methods like "getParameter(String key)" or "setParameter(String key, String value)".
I think SharedPreferences would be the most convenient way to store these parameters, so my get/setParameters use this class.
In all the examples I have seen, SharedPreferences is called from an Activity and there is no problem to call methods such as "getSharedPreferences" or "getApplicationContext"/"getContext". Because my DataStorage class is not an activity, for now I ask my first activity to give its context when creating a new DataStorage instance, and it works well to store my parameters. My problem : I want to be able to remove parameters from another activity using clear + commit methods. But it doesn't work (parameters are still there), and I think the reason is I give the 2nd activity context when creating another instance of DataStorage. The problem might be something else though, I've been practicing Android for only 2 days now...
To summarize how my app works :
Activity 1 creates a DataStorage class and provides its context to the DataStorage constructor. The DataStorage might store a parameter into a SharedPreferences file (or not...)
When I run my app again, if a particular parameter is set in the SharedPreferences file, then I start Activity 2 instead of Activity 1. Using the menu on Activity 2, I want to be able to clear the SharedPreferences file (in order to get Activity 1 again when I restart the app), so I create another DataStorage instance (and I provide Activity 2 context) and I call the method to clear all parameters.
As I said, first part works well (I can store parameters), but clear & commit do nothing to my SharedPreferences file.
I don't want to put a piece of code for this directly in my activities.
Can you help me with this ? What am I doing wrong in the way I use SharedPreferences ?
Thank you for your help !
Edit :
public class DataStorage {
private Context context;
private String settingsFilename;
private SharedPreferences settings;
public DataStorage(Context activityContext, String filename) {
context = activityContext;
settingsFilename = filename;
settings = context.getSharedPreferences(settingsFilename, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
}
public void newSharedPreference(String key, String value) {
settings.edit().putString(key, value).apply();
settings.edit().commit();
}
public String getSharedPreference(String key) {
return settings.getString(key, null);
}
public void clearPreferences() {
settings.edit().clear();
settings.edit().commit();
Toast.makeText(context,settings.toString(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
}
In my first activity (the code is part of onCreate method) :
DataStorage storage = new DataStorage(this, getResources().getString(R.string.sharedPreferencesFile));
username = storage.getSharedPreference("username");
Toast.makeText(this, username, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
if (username != null) {
Intent nextActivity = new Intent(this, ActivityMainMenu.class);
startActivity(nextActivity);
} else {
setContentView(R.layout.activity_name);
}
In my 2nd activity :
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
// Handle action bar item clicks here. The action bar will
// automatically handle clicks on the Home/Up button, so long
// as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest.xml.
int id = item.getItemId();
switch(id) {
case R.id.action_clearSharedPref :
storage.clearPreferences();
break;
case R.id.action_leave :
System.exit(RESULT_OK);
}
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
(Storage is constructed exactly as I did in my first Activity)
I tried to replace "this" by getApplicationContext() in DataStorage constructor, but it didn't work.

From Editor Class Overview
Interface used for modifying values in a SharedPreferences object. All changes you make in an editor are batched, and not copied back to the original SharedPreferences until you call commit() or apply().
You need to update to change methods at your DataStorage
public void newSharedPreference(String key, String value) {
settings.edit().putString(key, value).apply();
}
and
public void clearPreferences() {
settings.edit().clear().apply();
Toast.makeText(context,settings.toString(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
Reason of issue is next
settings.edit().clear(); // clear is ok, but it won't be saved because
settings.edit().commit(); // create new editor and commit nothing

How to pass a value to an activity from another WITHOUT starting it?

I want to pass a value from activity A to activity B without actually starting the activity B (therefore this rules out the use of Intents and putExtra). The activity B may or may not be started but when it does it needs to display the value passed to it by activity A.
I searched high and low but couldn't find any relevant solution to this seemingly simple question. Any help will be appreciated!

You can't find a solution, because it's something that goes against any logic.
Activity B can't do anything if not started and visible. Activity B might even already be destroyed by the system without you knowing.
You can use a lot of things to set some variables, which your Activity B can read such as in your Application, somewhere in your XML or simply any random class.
Still, you can not actually DO anything with any of these options, until you start Activity B and when you can, it will just effectively be the same as giving the extra data in the Intent.

Use global class like :
public class AppConfig {
Context context;
public AppConfig(Context mxt) {
context = mxt;
}
public static String filepath = null;
Then, in activity A before onCreate() :
AppConfig config;
Context context;
and in onCreate() method put this :
context = getApplicationContext();
config = new AppConfig(context);
And, in second Activity B before onCreate() :
AppConfig config;
Context context;
And, in onCreate() method put this :
context = getApplicationContext();
config = new AppConfig(context);
And set the value where you want. Hope this will help you.

You can use shared Preferences. Using this one Activity can set Value into it, and other activity can read from it.

So you need to keep a value for an activity . If it starts it means you have to use those values, otherwise you will discard those values. For this you can use a separate class with a variable of datatype that you want and you can create getter setter for that and you can use it.
Make use of the classes
public class GetSet {
public GetSet() {
super();
}
private static boolean passwordSet = false;
public static boolean isPasswordSet() {
return passwordSet;
}
public static void setPasswordSet(boolean passwordSet) {
GetSet.passwordSet = passwordSet;
}
}
You can access ths using GetSet.setPasswordSet(false);
and Boolean flag = GetSet.isPasswordSet();

Set the value as Global:
public class Global {
public static int mValue;
public static int getValue() {
return mValue;
}
public static void setValue(int mValue) {
Global.mValue = mValue;
}
}

I was looking for answers to that but I couldn't find it. So I found a way to do that.
First Activity
Intent intent = new Intent(this, SecondActivity.class);
intent.putExtra("Flag" , true);
startActivity(intent);
Second Activity
boolean flag;
flag = getIntent().getBooleanExtra("Flag" ,false);
if(flag == true)
{
this.finish();
}
So now you may send any data you want it will open the Second Activity and then immediately close it after you wouldn't even realize it. You may use Shared prefences to save your data for after usage.

Regarding Intents

According to what i have learnt from passing data using Intents is that when you pass Object O from Activity A to Activity B via intents, activity B receives a COPY of object O. The way things work is that The object O gets serialized (converted to a sequence of bytes) and that sequence of bytes is then passed to Activity B. Then activity B recreates a copy of object O at the moment it was serialized.
I would like to know if it would be efficient if one extends the Intent class to create a custom Intent and have references to the objects that are required by the other activities and pass the data to the other activities. For example:
public class CustomIntent extends Intent {
private Object o;
public CustomIntent() {
super();
// TODO Auto-generated constructor stub
}
public Object getObject () {
return o;
}
public void setObject(Object object) {
this.o = object;
}
}
In the receiving activity i get the intent and cast the intent to the CustomIntent type and retrieve the object required by the activity. Would this improve the efficiency by reducing the need for Serialization? Kindly throw some light on this. Thanks in advance.

No. Intents are dispatched by the Android system and are always serialized as they can be sent to any activity, service, etc in the system.
For your problem you could probably workaround this issue by creating an Application class and storing your data in it:
class CustomApplication extends Application {
private Object data;
public Object getData() {
return data;
}
public void setData(Object data) {
this.data = data;
}
}
You activate it by updating AndroindManifest.xml setting the android:name property on the application tag you your class name.
To use in your activities:
CustomApplication app = (CustomApplication) getApplicationContext();
app.setData(yourDataObject);

I think it would be better if you let the android handle everything for you. Do not customize it, if it is not very essential.
If you want to have the reference of the object in another activity then there are other ways too.
You can make your object static and directly access it from other activity.
You can make a new object of same type and replace it after coming again back to the first activity(in onActivitResult() method.).
or there may be many more ways to do it.
Thanks.

Accessing SharedPreferences through static methods

I have some information stored as SharedPreferences. I need to access that information from outsite an Activity (in from a domain model class). So I created a static method in an Activity which I only use to get the shared preferences.
This is giving me some problems, since apparently it is not possible to call the method "getSharedPreferences" from a static method.
Here's the message eclipse is giving me:
Cannot make a static reference to the non-static method
getSharedPreferences(String, int) from the type ContextWrapper
I tried to work around this by using an Activity instance, like this:
public static SharedPreferences getSharedPreferences () {
Activity act = new Activity();
return act.getSharedPreferences("FILE", 0);
}
This code gives a null point exception.
Is there a work-around? Am I going into an android-code-smell by trying to do this?
Thanks in advance.

Cristian's answer is good, but if you want to be able to access your shared preferences from everywhere the right way would be:
Create a subclass of Application, e.g. public class MyApp extends Application {...
Set the android:name attribute of your <application> tag in the AndroidManifest.xml to point to your new class, e.g. android:name="MyApp" (so the class is recognized by Android)
In the onCreate() method of your app instance, save your context (e.g. this) to a static field named app and create a static method that returns this field, e.g. getApp(). You then can use this method later to get a context of your application and therefore get your shared preferences. :-)

That's because in this case, act is an object that you just create. You have to let Android do that for you; getSharedPreferences() is a method of Context, (Activity, Service and other classes extends from Context). So, you have to make your choice:
If the method is inside an activity or other kind of context:
getApplicationContext().getSharedPreferences("foo", 0);
If the method is outside an activity or other kind of context:
// you have to pass the context to it. In your case:
// this is inside a public class
public static SharedPreferences getSharedPreferences (Context ctxt) {
return ctxt.getSharedPreferences("FILE", 0);
}
// and, this is in your activity
YourClass.this.getSharedPreferences(YourClass.this.getApplicationContext());

I had a similar problem and I solved it by simply passing the current context to the static function:
public static void LoadData(Context context)
{
SharedPreferences SaveData = context.getSharedPreferences(FILENAME, MODE_PRIVATE);
Variable = SaveData.getInt("Variable", 0);
Variable1 = SaveData.getInt("Variable1", 0);
Variable2 = SaveData.getInt("Variable2", 0);
}
Since you are calling from outside of an activity, you'll need to save the context:
public static Context context;
And inside OnCreate:
context = this;
Storing the context as a static variable, can cause problems because when the class is destroyed so are the static variables. This sometimes happens when the app is interrupted and becomes low on memory. Just make sure that the context is always set before you attempt to use it even when the class setting the context is randomly destroyed.

Here's a better alternative to storing your shared preferences in static fields.
Similar to what has been suggested here, create a class that extends Application
Make the constructor for your class take Context as a parameter.
Use your context to get shared preferences and store them in private variables.
Create public variables to return the retrieved data.
e.g
public class UserInfo extends Application{
private String SAVED_USERID;
private String SAVED_USERNAME;
public UserInfo(Context context) {
SharedPreferences prefs = context.getSharedPreferences(FILE, MODE_PRIVATE);
SAVED_USERNAME = prefs.getString("UserName", null);
SAVED_USERID = prefs.getString("UserID", null);
}
public String getSavedUserName() {
return SAVED_USERNAME;
}
public String getSavedUserID() {
return SAVED_USERID;
}
}
usage in your activity
UserInfo user = new UserInfo(this.getApplicationContext());
String SAVED_USERNAME = user.getSavedUserName();
String SAVED_USERID = user.getSavedUserID();

I had the same need - some of my preferences need to be accessed often, and efficiently. I also imagine that reading and writing a string from SharedPreferences is slightly slower than getting and setting a static variable (but likely to an insignificant degree). I also just kind of got used to using static fields, retrieving Preference values only at startup, and saving them on close.
I didn't love my options for keeping static references to the SharedPreferences/contexts directly, but so far this workaround has sufficed.
My solution:
Create a Settings class with all the static variables you need.
When the application initializes, retrieve SharedPreferences fields and immediately set all Settings fields (I call a "loadSharedPrefs()" method at the end of MainActivity's onCreate method).
In the SettingsActivity's preferenceChangeListener's initialization, set the appropriate static field in the Settings class. (I call a "setAppropriateSetting(key, value)" method at the beginning of SettingsActivity's onPreferenceChange()).
Use your static preferences wherever, whenever!

public static String getPreferenceValue(Context context) {
SharedPreferences sharedPreferences =
PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(context);
String key = context.getString(R.string.pref_key);
String defaultVal = context.getString(R.string.pref_default);
return sharedPreferences.getString(key,defaulVal);
}