[android] Android Shared preferences for creating one time activity (example)

I have three activities A,B and C where A and B are forms and after filling and saving the form data in database(SQLITE). I am using intent from A to B and then B to C.What i want is that every time I open my app I want C as my home screen and not A and B anymore.

I guess shared preferences would work for this, but I cannot find a good example to give me a starting place. Any help would be appreciated.

Shared Preferences is so easy to learn, so take a look on this simple tutorial about sharedpreference

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.PreferenceActivity;

    public class UserSettingActivity extends PreferenceActivity {

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

      addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.settings);

    }
}

Shared Preferences are XML files to store private primitive data in key-value pairs. Data Types include Booleans, floats, ints, longs, and strings.

When we want to save some data which is accessible throughout the application, one way to do is to save it in global variable. But it will vanish once the application is closed. Another and recommended way is to save in SharedPreference. Data saved in SharedPreferences file is accessible throughout the application and persists even after the application closes or across reboots.

SharedPreferences saves the data in key-value pair and can be accessed in same fashion.

You can create Object of SharedPreferences using two methods,

1).getSharedPreferences() : Using this methods you can create Multiple SharedPreferences.and its first parameters in name of SharedPreferences.

2).getPreferences() : Using this method you can create Single SharedPreferences.

Storing Data

Add a Variable declaration/ Create Preference File

public static final String PREFERENCES_FILE_NAME = "MyAppPreferences";

Retrieve a handle to filename (using getSharedPreferences)

SharedPreferences settingsfile= getSharedPreferences(PREFERENCES_FILE_NAME,0);

Open Editor and Add key-value pairs

SharedPreferences.Editor myeditor = settingsfile.edit(); 
myeditor.putBoolean("IITAMIYO", true); 
myeditor.putFloat("VOLUME", 0.7)
myeditor.putInt("BORDER", 2)
myeditor.putLong("SIZE", 12345678910L)
myeditor.putString("Name", "Amiyo")
myeditor.apply(); 

Don’t forget to apply/save using myeditor.apply() as shown above.

Retrieving Data

 SharedPreferences mysettings= getSharedPreferences(PREFERENCES_FILE_NAME, 0);
IITAMIYO = mysettings.getBoolean("IITAMIYO", false); 
//returns value for the given key. 
//second parameter gives the default value if no user preference found
// (set to false in above case)
VOLUME = mysettings.getFloat("VOLUME", 0.5) 
//0.5 being the default value if no volume preferences found
// and similarly there are get methods for other data types

SharedPreferences sharedPref = getActivity().getPreferences(Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
SharedPreferences.Editor editor = sharedPref.edit();
editor.putInt(getString(R.string.saved_high_score), newHighScore);
editor.commit();

Best way to create SharedPreference and for global usage you need to create a class like below:

public class PreferenceHelperDemo {
    private final SharedPreferences mPrefs;

    public PreferenceHelperDemo(Context context) {
        mPrefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(context);
    }

    private String PREF_Key= "Key";

    public String getKey() {
        String str = mPrefs.getString(PREF_Key, "");
        return str;
    }

    public void setKey(String pREF_Key) {
        Editor mEditor = mPrefs.edit();
        mEditor.putString(PREF_Key, pREF_Key);
        mEditor.apply();
    }

}

Write to Shared Preferences

SharedPreferences sharedPref = getActivity().getPreferences(Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
SharedPreferences.Editor editor = sharedPref.edit();
editor.putInt(getString(R.string.saved_high_score), newHighScore);
 editor.commit(); 

Read from Shared Preferences

SharedPreferences sharedPref = getActivity().getPreferences(Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
int defaultValue = getResources().getInteger(R.string.saved_high_score_default);
long highScore = sharedPref.getInt(getString(R.string.saved_high_score), defaultValue);

Create SharedPreferences

SharedPreferences pref = getApplicationContext().getSharedPreferences("MyPref", MODE_PRIVATE); 
Editor editor = pref.edit();

Storing data as KEY/VALUE pair

editor.putBoolean("key_name1", true);           // Saving boolean - true/false
editor.putInt("key_name2", "int value");        // Saving integer
editor.putFloat("key_name3", "float value");    // Saving float
editor.putLong("key_name4", "long value");      // Saving long
editor.putString("key_name5", "string value");  // Saving string

// Save the changes in SharedPreferences
editor.apply(); // commit changes

Get SharedPreferences data

// If value for key not exist then return second param value - In this case null

boolean userFirstLogin= pref.getBoolean("key_name1", true);  // getting boolean
int pageNumber=pref.getInt("key_name2", 0);             // getting Integer
float amount=pref.getFloat("key_name3", null);          // getting Float
long distance=pref.getLong("key_name4", null);          // getting Long
String email=pref.getString("key_name5", null);         // getting String

Deleting Key value from SharedPreferences

editor.remove("key_name3"); // will delete key key_name3
editor.remove("key_name4"); // will delete key key_name4

// Save the changes in SharedPreferences
editor.apply(); // commit changes

Clear all data from SharedPreferences

 editor.clear();
 editor.apply(); // commit changes

public class Preferences {

public static final String PREF_NAME = "your preferences name";

@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
public static final int MODE = Context.MODE_WORLD_WRITEABLE;

public static final String USER_ID = "USER_ID_NEW";
public static final String USER_NAME = "USER_NAME";

public static final String NAME = "NAME";
public static final String EMAIL = "EMAIL";
public static final String PHONE = "PHONE";
public static final String address = "address";

public static void writeBoolean(Context context, String key, boolean value) {
    getEditor(context).putBoolean(key, value).commit();
}

public static boolean readBoolean(Context context, String key,
        boolean defValue) {
    return getPreferences(context).getBoolean(key, defValue);
}

public static void writeInteger(Context context, String key, int value) {
    getEditor(context).putInt(key, value).commit();

}

public static int readInteger(Context context, String key, int defValue) {
    return getPreferences(context).getInt(key, defValue);
}

public static void writeString(Context context, String key, String value) {
    getEditor(context).putString(key, value).commit();

}

public static String readString(Context context, String key, String defValue) {
    return getPreferences(context).getString(key, defValue);
}

public static void writeFloat(Context context, String key, float value) {
    getEditor(context).putFloat(key, value).commit();
}

public static float readFloat(Context context, String key, float defValue) {
    return getPreferences(context).getFloat(key, defValue);
}

public static void writeLong(Context context, String key, long value) {
    getEditor(context).putLong(key, value).commit();
}

public static long readLong(Context context, String key, long defValue) {
    return getPreferences(context).getLong(key, defValue);
}

public static SharedPreferences getPreferences(Context context) {
    return context.getSharedPreferences(PREF_NAME, MODE);
}

public static Editor getEditor(Context context) {
    return getPreferences(context).edit();
}

}

****Use Preferences to Write value using:-****

Preferences.writeString(getApplicationContext(),
                    Preferences.NAME, "dev");

****Use Preferences to Read value using:-****

Preferences.readString(getApplicationContext(), Preferences.NAME,
                    "");

You can create your custom SharedPreference class

public class YourPreference {   
    private static YourPreference yourPreference;
    private SharedPreferences sharedPreferences;

    public static YourPreference getInstance(Context context) {
        if (yourPreference == null) {
            yourPreference = new YourPreference(context);
        }
        return yourPreference;
    }

    private YourPreference(Context context) {
        sharedPreferences = context.getSharedPreferences("YourCustomNamedPreference",Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
    }

    public void saveData(String key,String value) {
        SharedPreferences.Editor prefsEditor = sharedPreferences.edit();
        prefsEditor .putString(key, value);
        prefsEditor.commit();           
    }

    public String getData(String key) {
        if (sharedPreferences!= null) {
           return sharedPreferences.getString(key, "");
        }
        return "";         
    }
}

You can get YourPrefrence instance like:

YourPreference yourPrefrence = YourPreference.getInstance(context);
yourPreference.saveData(YOUR_KEY,YOUR_VALUE);

String value = yourPreference.getData(YOUR_KEY);

SharedPreferences mPref;
SharedPreferences.Editor editor;

public SharedPrefrences(Context mContext) {
    mPref = mContext.getSharedPreferences(Constant.SharedPreferences, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
    editor=mPref.edit();
}

public void setLocation(String latitude, String longitude) {
    SharedPreferences.Editor editor = mPref.edit();
    editor.putString("latitude", latitude);
    editor.putString("longitude", longitude);
    editor.apply();
}

public String getLatitude() {
    return mPref.getString("latitude", "");
}

public String getLongitude() {
    return mPref.getString("longitude", "");
}

public void setGCM(String gcm_id, String device_id) {
     editor.putString("gcm_id", gcm_id);
    editor.putString("device_id", device_id);
    editor.apply();
}

public String getGCMId() {
    return mPref.getString("gcm_id", "");
}

public String getDeviceId() {
    return mPref.getString("device_id", "");
}


public void setUserData(User user){

    Gson gson = new Gson();
    String json = gson.toJson(user);
    editor.putString("user", json);
    editor.apply();
}
public User getUserData(){
    Gson gson = new Gson();
    String json = mPref.getString("user", "");
    User user = gson.fromJson(json, User.class);
    return user;
}

public void setSocialMediaStatus(SocialMedialStatus status){

    Gson gson = new Gson();
    String json = gson.toJson(status);
    editor.putString("status", json);
    editor.apply();
}
public SocialMedialStatus getSocialMediaStatus(){
    Gson gson = new Gson();
    String json = mPref.getString("status", "");
    SocialMedialStatus status = gson.fromJson(json, SocialMedialStatus.class);
    return status;
}

How to Intialize?

// 0 - for private mode`
SharedPreferences pref = getApplicationContext().getSharedPreferences("MyPref", 0); 

Editor editor = pref.edit();

How to Store Data In Shared Preference?

editor.putString("key_name", "string value"); // Storing string

OR

editor.putInt("key_name", "int value"); //Storing integer

And don't forget to apply :

editor.apply();

How to retrieve Data From Shared Preferences ?

pref.getString("key_name", null); // getting String

pref.getInt("key_name", 0); // getting Integer

Hope this will Help U :)

You could also take a look at a past sample project of mine, written for this purpose. I saves locally a name and retrieves it either upon a user's request or when the app starts.

But, at this time, it would be better to use commit (instead of apply) for persisting the data. More info here.

        // Create object of SharedPreferences.
        SharedPreferences sharedPref = getSharedPreferences("mypref", 0);

        //now get Editor
        SharedPreferences.Editor editor = sharedPref.edit();

        //put your value
        editor.putString("name", required_Text);

        //commits your edits
        editor.commit();

       // Its used to retrieve data
       SharedPreferences sharedPref = getSharedPreferences("mypref", 0);
       String name = sharedPref.getString("name", "");

       if (name.equalsIgnoreCase("required_Text")) {
          Log.v("Matched","Required Text Matched");
          } else {
               Log.v("Not Matched","Required Text Not Matched"); 
                 }

Initialise here..
 SharedPreferences msharedpref = getSharedPreferences("msh",
                    MODE_PRIVATE);
            Editor editor = msharedpref.edit();

store data...
editor.putString("id",uida); //uida is your string to be stored
editor.commit();
finish();


fetch...
SharedPreferences prefs = this.getSharedPreferences("msh", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
        uida = prefs.getString("id", "");

I just found all the above examples just too confusing, so I wrote my own. Code fragments are fine if you know what you're doing, but what about people like me who don't?

Want a cut-n-paste solution instead? Well here it is!

Create a new java file and call it Keystore. Then paste in this code:

import android.content.Context;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.content.SharedPreferences.Editor;
import android.util.Log;

public class Keystore { //Did you remember to vote up my example?
    private static Keystore store;
    private SharedPreferences SP;
    private static String filename="Keys";

private Keystore(Context context) {
    SP = context.getApplicationContext().getSharedPreferences(filename,0);
}

public static Keystore getInstance(Context context) {
    if (store == null) {
        Log.v("Keystore","NEW STORE");
        store = new Keystore(context);
    }
    return store;
}

public void put(String key, String value) {//Log.v("Keystore","PUT "+key+" "+value);
    Editor editor = SP.edit();
    editor.putString(key, value);
    editor.commit(); // Stop everything and do an immediate save!
    // editor.apply();//Keep going and save when you are not busy - Available only in APIs 9 and above.  This is the preferred way of saving.
}

public String get(String key) {//Log.v("Keystore","GET from "+key);
    return SP.getString(key, null);

}

public int getInt(String key) {//Log.v("Keystore","GET INT from "+key);
    return SP.getInt(key, 0);
}

public void putInt(String key, int num) {//Log.v("Keystore","PUT INT "+key+" "+String.valueOf(num));
    Editor editor = SP.edit();

    editor.putInt(key, num);
    editor.commit();
}


public void clear(){ // Delete all shared preferences
    Editor editor = SP.edit();

    editor.clear();
    editor.commit();
}

public void remove(){ // Delete only the shared preference that you want
    Editor editor = SP.edit();

    editor.remove(filename);
    editor.commit();
}
}

Now save that file and forget about it. You're done with it. Now go back into your activity and use it like this:

public class YourClass extends Activity{

private Keystore store;//Holds our key pairs

public YourSub(Context context){
    store = Keystore.getInstance(context);//Creates or Gets our key pairs.  You MUST have access to current context!

    int= store.getInt("key name to get int value");
    string = store.get("key name to get string value");

    store.putInt("key name to store int value",int_var);
    store.put("key name to store string value",string_var);
    }
}