Android Resource – Array of Arrays

I am trying to implement a resource data structure that includes an array of arrays, specifically strings. The issue I run into is how to get the sub-array objects and their specific values. Here is what my resource file looks like….

<resources>
   <array name="array0">
     <item>
       <string-array name="array01">
         <item name="id">1</item>
         <item name="title">item one</item>
       </string-array>
     </item>
     <item>
       <string-array name="array02">
         <item name="id">2</item>
         <item name="title">item two</item>
       </string-array>
     </item>
     <item>
       <string-array name="array03">
         <item name="id">3</item>
         <item name="title">item three</item>
       </string-array>
     </item>
   </array>
</resources>

Then, in my Java code I retrieve the array and try to access the sub elements like so…

TypedArray typedArray = getResources().obtainTypedArray(R.array.array0);

TypedValue typedValue = null;

typedArray.getValue(0, typedValue);

At this point the typedArray object should represent the string-array “array01”, however, I don’t see how to retrieve the “id” and “title” string elements. Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

Answer

You can almost do what you want. You have to declare each array separately and then an array of references. Something like this:

<string-array name="array01">
    <item name="id">1</item>
    <item name="title">item one</item>
</string-array>
<!-- etc. -->
<array name="array0">
    <item>@array/array01</item>
    <!-- etc. -->
</array>

Then in your code you do something like this:

Resources res = getResources();
TypedArray ta = res.obtainTypedArray(R.array.array0);
int n = ta.length();
String[][] array = new String[n][];
for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
    int id = ta.getResourceId(i, 0);
    if (id > 0) {
        array[i] = res.getStringArray(id);
    } else {
        // something wrong with the XML
    }
}
ta.recycle(); // Important!