Save ArrayList to SharedPreferences

Question

I have an ArrayList with custom objects. Each custom object contains a variety of strings and numbers. I need the array to stick around even if the user leaves

Answer 1

After API 11 the SharedPreferences Editor accepts Sets. You could convert your List into a HashSet or something similar and store it like that. When you read it back, convert it into an ArrayList, sort it if needed and you're good to go.

//Retrieve the values
Set<String> set = myScores.getStringSet("key", null);

//Set the values
Set<String> set = new HashSet<String>();
set.addAll(listOfExistingScores);
scoreEditor.putStringSet("key", set);
scoreEditor.commit();

---

You can also serialize your ArrayList and then save/read it to/from SharedPreferences. Below is the solution:

EDIT:
Ok, below is the solution to save ArrayList as a serialized object to SharedPreferences and then read it from SharedPreferences.

Because API supports only storing and retrieving of strings to/from SharedPreferences (after API 11, it's simpler), we have to serialize and de-serialize the ArrayList object which has the list of tasks into a string.

In the addTask() method of the TaskManagerApplication class, we have to get the instance of the shared preference and then store the serialized ArrayList using the putString() method:

public void addTask(Task t) {
  if (null == currentTasks) {
    currentTasks = new ArrayList<task>();
  }
  currentTasks.add(t);
 
  // save the task list to preference
  SharedPreferences prefs = getSharedPreferences(SHARED_PREFS_FILE, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
  Editor editor = prefs.edit();
  try {
    editor.putString(TASKS, ObjectSerializer.serialize(currentTasks));
  } catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
  }
  editor.commit();
}

Similarly we have to retrieve the list of tasks from the preference in the onCreate() method:

public void onCreate() {
  super.onCreate();
  if (null == currentTasks) {
    currentTasks = new ArrayList<task>();
  }
 
  // load tasks from preference
  SharedPreferences prefs = getSharedPreferences(SHARED_PREFS_FILE, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
 
  try {
    currentTasks = (ArrayList<task>) ObjectSerializer.deserialize(prefs.getString(TASKS, ObjectSerializer.serialize(new ArrayList<task>())));
  } catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
  } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
  }
}

You can get the ObjectSerializer class from the Apache Pig project ObjectSerializer.java

Answer 2

    public  void saveUserName(Context con,String username)
    {
        try
        {
            usernameSharedPreferences= PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(con);
            usernameEditor = usernameSharedPreferences.edit();
            usernameEditor.putInt(PREFS_KEY_SIZE,(USERNAME.size()+1)); 
            int size=USERNAME.size();//USERNAME is arrayList
            usernameEditor.putString(PREFS_KEY_USERNAME+size,username);
            usernameEditor.commit();
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

    }
    public void loadUserName(Context con)
    {  
        try
        {
            usernameSharedPreferences= PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(con);
            size=usernameSharedPreferences.getInt(PREFS_KEY_SIZE,size);
            USERNAME.clear();
            for(int i=0;i<size;i++)
            { 
                String username1="";
                username1=usernameSharedPreferences.getString(PREFS_KEY_USERNAME+i,username1);
                USERNAME.add(username1);
            }
            usernameArrayAdapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, android.R.layout.simple_dropdown_item_1line, USERNAME);
            username.setAdapter(usernameArrayAdapter);
            username.setThreshold(0);

        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

Answer 3

You can save String and custom array list using Gson library.

=>First you need to create function to save array list to SharedPreferences.

public void saveListInLocal(ArrayList<String> list, String key) {

        SharedPreferences prefs = getSharedPreferences("AppName", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
        SharedPreferences.Editor editor = prefs.edit();
        Gson gson = new Gson();
        String json = gson.toJson(list);
        editor.putString(key, json);
        editor.apply();     // This line is IMPORTANT !!!

    }

=> You need to create function to get array list from SharedPreferences.

public ArrayList<String> getListFromLocal(String key)
{
    SharedPreferences prefs = getSharedPreferences("AppName", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
    Gson gson = new Gson();
    String json = prefs.getString(key, null);
    Type type = new TypeToken<ArrayList<String>>() {}.getType();
    return gson.fromJson(json, type);

}

=> How to call save and retrieve array list function.

ArrayList<String> listSave=new ArrayList<>();
listSave.add("test1"));
listSave.add("test2"));
saveListInLocal(listSave,"key");
Log.e("saveArrayList:","Save ArrayList success");
ArrayList<String> listGet=new ArrayList<>();
listGet=getListFromLocal("key");
Log.e("getArrayList:","Get ArrayList size"+listGet.size());

=> Don't forgot to add gson library in you app level build.gradle.

implementation 'com.google.code.gson:gson:2.8.2'

Answer 4

You can use serialization or Gson library to convert list to string and vice versa and then save string in preferences.

Using google's Gson library:

//Converting list to string
new Gson().toJson(list);

//Converting string to list
new Gson().fromJson(listString, CustomObjectsList.class);

Using Java serialization:

//Converting list to string
ByteArrayOutputStream bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(bos);
oos.writeObject(list);
oos.flush();
String string = Base64.encodeToString(bos.toByteArray(), Base64.DEFAULT);
oos.close();
bos.close();
return string;

//Converting string to list
byte[] bytesArray = Base64.decode(familiarVisitsString, Base64.DEFAULT);
ByteArrayInputStream bis = new ByteArrayInputStream(bytesArray);
ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(bis);
Object clone = ois.readObject();
ois.close();
bis.close();
return (CustomObjectsList) clone;

Answer 5

Also with Kotlin:

fun SharedPreferences.Editor.putIntegerArrayList(key: String, list: ArrayList<Int>?): SharedPreferences.Editor {
    putString(key, list?.joinToString(",") ?: "")
    return this
}

fun SharedPreferences.getIntegerArrayList(key: String, defValue: ArrayList<Int>?): ArrayList<Int>? {
    val value = getString(key, null)
    if (value.isNullOrBlank())
        return defValue
    return ArrayList (value.split(",").map { it.toInt() }) 
}

Answer 6

Use this custom class:

public class SharedPreferencesUtil {

    public static void pushStringList(SharedPreferences sharedPref, 
                                      List<String> list, String uniqueListName) {

        SharedPreferences.Editor editor = sharedPref.edit();
        editor.putInt(uniqueListName + "_size", list.size());

        for (int i = 0; i < list.size(); i++) {
            editor.remove(uniqueListName + i);
            editor.putString(uniqueListName + i, list.get(i));
        }
        editor.apply();
    }

    public static List<String> pullStringList(SharedPreferences sharedPref, 
                                              String uniqueListName) {

        List<String> result = new ArrayList<>();
        int size = sharedPref.getInt(uniqueListName + "_size", 0);

        for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
            result.add(sharedPref.getString(uniqueListName + i, null));
        }
        return result;
    }
}

How to use:

SharedPreferences sharedPref = getPreferences(Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
SharedPreferencesUtil.pushStringList(sharedPref, list, getString(R.string.list_name));
List<String> list = SharedPreferencesUtil.pullStringList(sharedPref, getString(R.string.list_name));