Question

I have a string array defined in arrays.xml that references two strings in strings.xml:

<string-array name="my_options">
  <item>@string/my_string_one</item>
  <item>@string/my_string_two</item>
</string-array>

<string name="my_string_one">Value 1</string>
<string name="my_string_two">Value 2</string>

I need to get the position of an item in the array, based on the value of the string. I.e string “Value 2” has an index of 1. I can obviously just hard code the positional values (0, 1, etc.), but it will break if the order of the strings is changed. I want the code to be positionally independent. The following works:

int value = Arrays.asList((getResources().getStringArray(R.array.my_options))).indexOf(getString(R.string.my_string_one));

Is there a more compact, simpler way to do this?

Answer 1

The code you show in your question is basically what you need to do.

However, you could refactor it somewhat to make it more readable:
Refactor Arrays.asList((getResources().getStringArray(R.array.my_options))) into a List (i don’t know how your app’s code looks like, but you may be able to store this List as a instance field or even as a static (class) field).

static List<String> myOptions;

.... 
    if (myOptions == null) {
        myOptions = Arrays.asList((getResources().getStringArray(R.array.my_options)));
    }

...

    int value = myOptions.indexOf(getString(R.string.my_string_one));