Methods of Data Storage - Opinion

Question

I have been working on an app and have encountered some limitations relating to my lack of experience in Java IO and data persistence. Basically I need to store information on a few Spinner objects. So far I have saved information on each Spinner into a text file using the format of:

//Blank Line

Name //the first drop-down entry of the spinner

Type //an enum value

Entries //a semicolon-separated list of the drop-down entry String values

//Blank line

And then, assuming this rigid syntax is followed always, I've extracted this information from the saved .txt whenever the app is started. But things such as editing these entries and working with certain aspects of the Scanner have been an absolute nightmare. If anything is off by even one line or space of blankness BAM! everything is ruined. There must be a better way to store information for easy access, something with some search-eability, something that won't be erased the moment the app closes and that isn't completely laxed in its layout to the extent that the most minor of changes destroys everything.

Any recommendations for how to save a simple String, a simple int, and an array of String outside the app? I am looking for a recommendation from an experienced developer here. I have seen the storage options, but am unsure which would be best for just a few simple things. Everything I need could be represented in a 3 X n table wherein n is the number of spinners.

Answer 1

Since your requirements are so minimal, I think the shared preferences approach is probably the best option. If your requirements were more complicated, then a using a database would start to make more sense.

Using shared preferences for simple data like yours really is as simple as the example shown on the storage options page.