Easy way to make the ListPreference multiple choice in Android?

Question

I am trying to create a preference dialog window that allows the user to select more then one item in the list. Currently it only allows you to select one item. Is there an easy way to do this? I have looked all over the internet and not seen a way as of yet. Any help is appreciated!

Answer 1

Here is all the code you need!

http://blog.350nice.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/listpreferencemultiselect.java

public class ListPreferenceMultiSelect extends ListPreference {
    //Need to make sure the SEPARATOR is unique and weird enough that it doesn't match one of the entries.
    //Not using any fancy symbols because this is interpreted as a regex for splitting strings.
    private static final String SEPARATOR = "OV=I=XseparatorX=I=VO";

    private boolean[] mClickedDialogEntryIndices;

    public ListPreferenceMultiSelect(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);

        mClickedDialogEntryIndices = new boolean[getEntries().length];
    }

    @Override
    public void setEntries(CharSequence[] entries) {
        super.setEntries(entries);
        mClickedDialogEntryIndices = new boolean[entries.length];
    }

    public ListPreferenceMultiSelect(Context context) {
        this(context, null);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPrepareDialogBuilder(Builder builder) {
        CharSequence[] entries = getEntries();
        CharSequence[] entryValues = getEntryValues();

        if (entries == null || entryValues == null || entries.length != entryValues.length ) {
            throw new IllegalStateException(
                    "ListPreference requires an entries array and an entryValues array which are both the same length");
        }

        restoreCheckedEntries();
        builder.setMultiChoiceItems(entries, mClickedDialogEntryIndices, 
                new DialogInterface.OnMultiChoiceClickListener() {
                    public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which, boolean val) {
                        mClickedDialogEntryIndices[which] = val;
                    }
        });
    }

    public static String[] parseStoredValue(CharSequence val) {
        if ( "".equals(val) )
            return null;
        else
            return ((String)val).split(SEPARATOR);
    }

    private void restoreCheckedEntries() {
        CharSequence[] entryValues = getEntryValues();

        String[] vals = parseStoredValue(getValue());
        if ( vals != null ) {
            for ( int j=0; j<vals.length; j++ ) {
                String val = vals[j].trim();
                for ( int i=0; i<entryValues.length; i++ ) {
                    CharSequence entry = entryValues[i];
                    if ( entry.equals(val) ) {
                        mClickedDialogEntryIndices[i] = true;
                        break;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected void onDialogClosed(boolean positiveResult) {
//        super.onDialogClosed(positiveResult);

        CharSequence[] entryValues = getEntryValues();
        if (positiveResult && entryValues != null) {
            StringBuffer value = new StringBuffer();
            for ( int i=0; i<entryValues.length; i++ ) {
                if ( mClickedDialogEntryIndices[i] ) {
                    value.append(entryValues[i]).append(SEPARATOR);
                }
            }

            if (callChangeListener(value)) {
                String val = value.toString();
                if ( val.length() > 0 )
                    val = val.substring(0, val.length()-SEPARATOR.length());
                setValue(val);
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

For which Android-Api-Level do you want this ?

When you use API-Level 11 you can use this MultiSelect Preference for Android 3.0 or higher

When you use API-Level smaller 11 you can use this Custom Implementation of MuliiSelect Preference