How to add string resources in Eclipse?

Question

Can I have Eclipse adding my string resources as I code or do I have to switch to string.xml all the time and add each string?

Answer 1

The best practice is too have strings.xml inside values folder which keeps all string constants. Because later on if you want to make any change, it will easy for u if u keep in strings.xml. Otherwise you will have to always remember the file where u have wrote that constant.

Answer 2

Eclipse has wonderful time-saving shortcuts for this!

1.- in XML editor:

Say you have a Button,TextView, or any View with a hard-coded string as text:

<Button    
   android:layout_width="wrap_content"
   android:layout_height="wrap_content"
   android:text="Text to add as string resource"/>

With the cursor over the string literal, press CTRL+1, then choose "Extract Android String". Choose the desired resource name (e.g. my_string_resource) then click OK. You will get a string resource in your strings.xml file:

<string name="my_string_resource">Text to add as string resource</string>

And your Button is now gonna look like:

<Button    
   android:layout_width="wrap_content"
   android:layout_height="wrap_content"
   android:text="@string/my_string_resource"/>

All automatically and without a single context-change :)

2.- In Code editor:

Write a string literal in your code like

mButton.setText("Text to add as String resource");

Then select the string literal (from " to "), and press CTRL+1, a yellow menu will appear, double click on "Extract Android String" (the S key does not work for me in this case, i just double click on the option). Choose the desired name (e.g. my_string_resouce), and click Ok. Again, you will get a new strings.xml entry:

<string name="my_string_resource">Text to add as string resource</string>

And your Button's setText line replaced by:

mButton.setText(R.string.my_string_resource);

Hope it helps and saves you as much time as it did for me! :)

Answer 3

You have to switch to string.xml: its unfortunate, but right now Eclipse doesn't give you a clean way of popping into the string editor directly from the code you are typing. Optimally you would type a string constant (like R.string.new_string and I guess hotkey or double click or something and jump directly into the strings.xml editor with the existing entry selected (if new_string exists) or a new entry created (if new_string doesn't yet exist).

Wouldn't that be nice.

Answer 4

Eclipse will sort of do it for you. So if you have a field:

android:text="hello"

Select "hello" and then goto Refactor-->Android-->Extract Android String, Eclipse will change the line to:

android:text="@string/hello"

and automagically add the line to strings.xml as:

<string name="hello">Hello</string>

JAL