Question

I have an Activity which is an OpenGL view. I also have an xml layout to use for preferences. Until now, to show the preference menu, I just brought it to front by setContentView(). And the same to get back to the OpenGL view.

But is this a case where I should give the preference menu its own Activity?

I guess this would make a few things much easier. For example, the back button would just work, opposed to now where I have to code it or it will just exits the application.

And if this is a good idea, how do I pass data both ways? I have a class that store all preferences. Can I send it to the Activity and back again? Or is the best way to store the preferences in a sqlite database and then use it for passing data?

Answer 1

I find it easier to segregate menus and such into separate activities (unless you are using dialogs etc..) As far as storing data you can do it a number of ways:

1. Database
2. StoredPreferences
3. Intent extras with putExtra/Bundle
4. Creating an application subclass and storing preferences there

Each have their merit. 4 is pretty easy as you just have to state the application class name in your manifest then call: MyAppClass app = (MyAppClass)getApplicationContext(); and you can then use any variables in MyAppClass via app. 2 is also straightforward.