Android Resource - Array of Arrays

Solution 1:

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!

Solution 2:

https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/more-resources.html#Color

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <array name="icons">
        <item>@drawable/home</item>
        <item>@drawable/settings</item>
        <item>@drawable/logout</item>
    </array>
    <array name="colors">
        <item>#FFFF0000</item>
        <item>#FF00FF00</item>
        <item>#FF0000FF</item>
    </array>
</resources>

This application code retrieves each array and then obtains the first entry in each array:

Resources res = getResources();
TypedArray icons = res.obtainTypedArray(R.array.icons);
Drawable drawable = icons.getDrawable(0);
TypedArray colors = res.obtainTypedArray(R.array.colors);
int color = colors.getColor(0,0);

Solution 3:

according to @Ted Hopp answer, more elegant way:

<integer-array name="id_array">
    <item>1</item>
    <item>2</item>
    <item>3</item>
</integer-array>
<string-array name="name_array">
    <item>name 1</item>
    <item>name 2</item>
    <item>name 3</item>
</string-array>
<array name="array0">
    <item>@array/id_array</item>
    <item>@array/name_array</item>
</array>

make sure sub arrays row count is identical.
enjoy write code to access array cells!
android is still a kid while maintain the ugly "item" tag of the TypedArray "array0".
in my opinion, the most flexible should be:

<array name="array0">
    <integer-array name="id_array">
        <item>1</item>
        <item>2</item>
        <item>3</item>
    </integer-array>
    <string-array name="name_array">
        <item>name 1</item>
        <item>name 2</item>
        <item>name 3</item>
    </string-array>
</array>

but don't do that because that's not android way :)