Question

I’m confused when it comes down to saving a state. So I know that onSaveInstanceState(Bundle) is called when the activity is about to be destroyed. But how do you store your information in it and bring it back to its original state in onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)? I don’t understand how this bundle will restore information. It would be helpful if someone can provide an example.
The Dev guide doesn’t do a good job of explaining this.

public class Conversation extends Activity {
    private ProgressDialog progDialog;
    int typeBar;
    TextView text1;
    EditText edit;
    Button respond;
    private String name;
    private String textAtView;
    private String savedName;

    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState){
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        setContentView(R.layout.dorothydialog);
        text1 = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.dialog);
        edit = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.repsond);
        respond = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button01);

        if(savedInstanceState != null){
            savedInstanceState.get(savedName);
            text1.setText(savedName);
        }
        else{
            text1.setText("Hello! What is your name?");
            respond.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {

                @Override
                public void onClick(View v) {
                    name = edit.getText().toString();
                    text1.setText("Nice to meet you "+ name);
                }   
            });
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState){
        super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
        outState.putString(savedName, name);
    }
}

Answer 1

The Bundle is a container for all the information you want to save. You use the put* functions to insert data into it. Here’s a short list (there are more) of put functions you can use to store data in the Bundle.

putString
putBoolean
putByte
putChar
putFloat
putLong
putShort
putParcelable (used for objects but they must implement Parcelable)

In your onCreate function, this Bundle is handed back to the program. The best way to check if the application is being reloaded, or started for the first time is:

if (savedInstanceState != null) {
    // Then the application is being reloaded
}

To get the data back out, use the get* functions just like the put* functions. The data is stored as a name-value pair. This is like a hashmap. You provide a key and the value, then when you want the value back, you give the key and the function gets the value. Here’s a short example.

@Override
public void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {
   outState.putString("message", "This is my message to be reloaded");
   super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
}

@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    if (savedInstanceState != null) {
        String message = savedInstanceState.getString("message");
        Toast.makeText(this, message, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
    }
}

Your saved message will be toasted to the screen.