getString Outside of a Context or Activity

Question

I've found the R.string pretty awesome for keeping hardcoded strings out of my code, and I'd like to keep using it in a utility class that works with models in my application to generate output. For instance, in this case I am generating an email from a model outside of the activity.

Is it possible to use getString outside a Context or Activity? I suppose I could pass in the current activity, but it seems unnecessary. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

Edit: Can we access the resources without using Context?

Answer 1

Yes, we can access resources without using `Context`

You can use:

Resources.getSystem().getString(android.R.string.somecommonstuff)

... everywhere in your application, even in static constants declarations. Unfortunately, it supports the system resources only.

For local resources use this solution. It is not trivial, but it works.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, the only way you can access any of the string resources is with a Context (i.e. an Activity or Service). What I've usually done in this case, is to simply require the caller to pass in the context.

Answer 3

In MyApplication, which extends Application:

public static Resources resources;

In MyApplication's onCreate:

resources = getResources();

Now you can use this field from anywhere in your application.

Answer 4

BTW, one of the reason of symbol not found error may be that your IDE imported android.R; class instead of yours one. Just change import android.R; to import your.namespace.R;

So 2 basic things to get string visible in the different class:

//make sure you are importing the right R class
import your.namespace.R;

//don't forget about the context
public void some_method(Context context) {
   context.getString(R.string.YOUR_STRING);
}

Answer 5

Unique Approach

App.getRes().getString(R.string.some_id)

This will work everywhere in app. (Util class, Dialog, Fragment or any class in your app)

(1) Create or Edit (if already exist) your Application class.

import android.app.Application;
import android.content.res.Resources;

public class App extends Application {
    private static App mInstance;
    private static Resources res;


    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        mInstance = this;
        res = getResources();
    }

    public static App getInstance() {
        return mInstance;
    }

    public static Resources getResourses() {
        return res;
    }

}

(2) Add name field to your manifest.xml <application tag.

<application
        android:name=".App"
        ...
        >
        ...
    </application>

Now you are good to go. Use App.getRes().getString(R.string.some_id) anywhere in app.

Answer 6

If you have a class that you use in an activity and you want to have access the ressource in that class, I recommend you to define a context as a private variable in class and initial it in constructor:

public class MyClass (){
    private Context context;

    public MyClass(Context context){
       this.context=context;
    }

    public testResource(){
       String s=context.getString(R.string.testString).toString();
    }
}

Making an instant of class in your activity:

MyClass m=new MyClass(this);

Answer 7

The best approach from the response of Khemraj:

App class

class App : Application() {

    companion object {
        lateinit var instance: Application
        lateinit var resourses: Resources
    }


    // MARK: - Lifecycle

    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()
        instance = this
        resourses = resources
    }

}

Declaration in the manifest

<application
        android:name=".App"
        ...>
</application>     

Constants class

class Localizations {

    companion object {
        val info = App.resourses.getString(R.string.info)
    }

}

Using

textView.text = Localizations.info

Answer 8

This should get you access to applicationContext from anywhere allowing you to get applicationContext anywhere that can use it; Toast, getString(), sharedPreferences, etc.

The Singleton:

package com.domain.packagename;

import android.content.Context;

/**
 * Created by Versa on 10.09.15.
 */
public class ApplicationContextSingleton {
    private static PrefsContextSingleton mInstance;
    private Context context;

    public static ApplicationContextSingleton getInstance() {
        if (mInstance == null) mInstance = getSync();
        return mInstance;
    }

    private static synchronized ApplicationContextSingleton getSync() {
        if (mInstance == null) mInstance = new PrefsContextSingleton();
        return mInstance;
    }

    public void initialize(Context context) {
        this.context = context;
    }

    public Context getApplicationContext() {
        return context;
    }

}

Initialize the Singleton in your Application subclass:

package com.domain.packagename;

import android.app.Application;

/**
 * Created by Versa on 25.08.15.
 */
public class mApplication extends Application {

    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();
        ApplicationContextSingleton.getInstance().initialize(this);
    }
}

If I´m not wrong, this gives you a hook to applicationContext everywhere, call it with ApplicationContextSingleton.getInstance.getApplicationContext(); You shouldn´t need to clear this at any point, as when application closes, this goes with it anyway.

Remember to update AndroidManifest.xml to use this Application subclass:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<manifest
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.domain.packagename"
    >

<application
    android:allowBackup="true"
    android:name=".mApplication" <!-- This is the important line -->
    android:label="@string/app_name"
    android:theme="@style/AppTheme"
    android:icon="@drawable/app_icon"
    >

Please let me know if you see anything wrong here, thank you. :)

Answer 9

It's better to use something like this without context and activity:

Resources.getSystem().getString(R.string.my_text)

Answer 10

Here's what I did, In your MainActivity, create a static variable for context as shown below:

public static Context mContext;

and in the onCreate() initialise mContext to this;

mContext = this;

Then, in the file where you want to access context, say,

private Context context = MainActivity.mContext;

Now, you can get a string resource in the following manner,

String myString = context.getResources().getString(R.string.resource_id);

Answer 11

I used getContext().getApplicationContext().getString(R.string.nameOfString); It works for me.