The Goal
In my preferences.xml I would like to store the ID of certain string elements (like) e.g. ...
<string-array name="preference_values"> <item>@string/nav_start</item> <item>@string/nav_overview</item> <item>@string/nav_someelse</item> </string-array> ... meanwhile in xml/pref_general.xml ...
<ListPreference android:key="@string/preference_key" android:entryValues="@array/preference_values" ... /> ... where the different strings will be localized:
Since I don't want to store the localized strings (as those xml definitions do right now), but rather their integer keys, I would really like to know if there is a way of doing this.
This would make the preferences still available after a language change for example.
More Background
I really like being able to access/compare resources in code, which are not subjective to typos or name changes (or at least the IDE checks/handles those for you) e.g.:
switch( getMyPreferenceAsInt(R.string.preferenece_key) ) { case R.string.nav_start: doSome(); break; case R.string.nav_someelse: doSomeElse(); break; ... } I use something similar for my NavigationDrawer, and find it really nice to work with. This is also where does string values actually come from (it's like a "default start page" preference).
<string-array name="navigation_keys"> <item>@string/nav_start</item> <item>@string/nav_overview</item> <item>@string/nav_someelse</item> ... </string-array> But at least here I am able to get the keys with obtainTypedArray(...):
void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { ... mNavKeys = getResources().obtainTypedArray(R.array.navigation_keys); } void onNavigationDrawerItemSelected(int position) { Fragment fragment; int selectedResource = mNavKeys.getResourceId(position, R.string.nav_default); if (selectedResource == R.string.nav_start) { fragment = FancyStartFragment.newinstance(); } else { fragment = ...; } // Fancy methods to do a fragment transaction ... }