How can I store a data structure such as a Hashmap internally in Android?

Question

In my Android application I'm trying to store a Map structure such as:Map<String, Map<String, String>>using internal storage. I've looked into using SharedPreferences, but as you know, this only works when storing primitive data types. I tried to use FileOutputStream, but it only lets me write in bytes...Would I need to somehow serialize the Hashmap and then write to file?

I've tried reading through http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/data/data-storage.html#filesInternal but I can't seem to find my solution.

Here's an example of what I'm trying to do:

private void storeEventParametersInternal(Context context, String eventId, Map<String, String> eventDetails){

Map<String,Map<String,String>> eventStorage = new HashMap<String,Map<String,String>>();
Map<String, String> eventData = new HashMap<String, String>();
String REQUEST_ID_KEY = randomString(16);
.   //eventData.put...
.   //eventData.put...
eventStorage.put(REQUEST_ID_KEY, eventData);
FileOutputStream fos = context.openFileOutput(EVENT_FILENAME, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
fos.write(eventStorage) //This is wrong but I need to write to file for later access..

}

What is the best approach for storing this type of a data structure internally in an Android App? Sorry if this seems like a dumb question, I am very new to Android. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

HashMap is serializable, so you could just use a FileInputStream and FileOutputStream in conjunction with ObjectInputStream and ObjectOutputStream.

To write your HashMap to a file:

FileOutputStream fileOutputStream = new FileOutputStream("myMap.whateverExtension");
ObjectOutputStream objectOutputStream= new ObjectOutputStream(fileOutputStream);

objectOutputStream.writeObject(myHashMap);
objectOutputStream.close();

To read the HashMap from a file:

FileInputStream fileInputStream  = new FileInputStream("myMap.whateverExtension");
ObjectInputStream objectInputStream = new ObjectInputStream(fileInputStream);

Map myNewlyReadInMap = (HashMap) objectInputStream.readObject();
objectInputStream.close();