page.title=Saving Key-Value Sets

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<h2>This lesson teaches you to</h2>
<ol>
  <li><a href="#GetSharedPreferences">Get a Handle to a SharedPreferences</a></li>
  <li><a href="#WriteSharedPreference">Write to Shared Preferences</a></li>
  <li><a href="#ReadSharedPreference">Read from Shared Preferences</a></li>
</ol>

<h2>You should also read</h2>
<ul>
  <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/data/data-storage.html#pref">Using Shared Preferences</a></li>
</ul>

</div>
</div>


<p>If you have a relatively small collection of key-values that you'd like to save,
you should use the {@link android.content.SharedPreferences} APIs.
A {@link android.content.SharedPreferences} object points to a file containing
key-value pairs and provides simple methods to read and write them. Each
{@link android.content.SharedPreferences} file is
managed by the framework and can be private or shared.</p>

<p>This class shows you how to use the {@link android.content.SharedPreferences} APIs to store and
retrieve simple values.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> The {@link android.content.SharedPreferences} APIs are
only for reading and writing key-value pairs and you should not confuse them with the
{@link android.preference.Preference} APIs, which help you build a user interface
for your app settings (although they use {@link android.content.SharedPreferences} as their
implementation to save the app settings). For information about using the {@link
android.preference.Preference} APIs, see the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/ui/settings.html"
>Settings</a> guide.</p>

<h2 id="GetSharedPreferences">Get a Handle to a SharedPreferences</h2>

<p>You can create a new shared preference file or access an existing
one by calling one of two methods:</p>
<ul>
  <li>{@link android.content.Context#getSharedPreferences(String,int)
getSharedPreferences()} &mdash; Use this if you need multiple shared preference files identified
by name, which you specify with the first parameter. You can call this from any
{@link android.content.Context} in your app.</li>
  <li>{@link android.app.Activity#getPreferences(int) getPreferences()} &mdash; Use this from an
{@link android.app.Activity} if you need
to use only one shared preference file for the activity. Because this retrieves a default shared
preference file that belongs to the activity, you don't need to supply a name.</li>
</ul>

<p>For example, the following code is executed inside a {@link android.app.Fragment}.
It accesses the shared preferences file that's
identified by the resource string {@code R.string.preference_file_key} and opens it using
the private mode so the file is accessible by only your app.</p>

<pre>
Context context = getActivity();
SharedPreferences sharedPref = context.getSharedPreferences(
        getString(R.string.preference_file_key), Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
</pre>

<p>When naming your shared preference files, you should use a name that's uniquely identifiable
to your app, such as {@code "com.example.myapp.PREFERENCE_FILE_KEY"}</p>

<p>Alternatively, if you need just one shared preference file for your activity, you can use the
{@link android.app.Activity#getPreferences(int) getPreferences()} method:</p>

<pre>
SharedPreferences sharedPref = getActivity().getPreferences(Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
</pre>

<p class="caution"><strong>Caution:</strong> If you create a shared preferences file
with {@link android.content.Context#MODE_WORLD_READABLE} or {@link
android.content.Context#MODE_WORLD_WRITEABLE}, then any other apps that know the file identifier
can access your data.</p>


<h2 id="WriteSharedPreference">Write to Shared Preferences</h2>

<p>To write to a shared preferences file, create a {@link
android.content.SharedPreferences.Editor} by calling {@link
android.content.SharedPreferences#edit} on your {@link android.content.SharedPreferences}.</p>

<p>Pass the keys and values you want to write with methods such as {@link
android.content.SharedPreferences.Editor#putInt putInt()} and {@link
android.content.SharedPreferences.Editor#putString putString()}. Then call {@link
android.content.SharedPreferences.Editor#commit} to save the changes. For example:</p>

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


<h2 id="ReadSharedPreference">Read from Shared Preferences</h2>

<p>To retrieve values from a shared preferences file, call methods such as {@link
android.content.SharedPreferences#getInt getInt()} and {@link
android.content.SharedPreferences#getString getString()}, providing the key for the value
you want, and optionally a default value to return if the key isn't
present. For example:</p>

<pre>
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);
</pre>