Question

I’m currently using a Parser and it parses every time the onCreate gets called.
My parser uses an XML file that’s located in my assetfolder.

Is there any chance that I can make it parse only once, instead of every time I rotate the screen or restart the application?

Thank you 🙂

Answer 1

Persist a flag using the Preferences system the first time you complete a parse, and check this each time before parsing again. Do all this in your OnCreate() method.

    SharedPreferences settings = getSharedPreferences(SHARED_PREF_NAME, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
    if (!settings.getBoolean("parsed", false)) {
        parseTheXML();

        SharedPreferences.Editor editor = settings.edit();
        editor.putBoolean("parsed",  true);
        editor.commit();
    }

There are other ways but this has the advantage of working across app reloads/phone power cycles – assuming that’s what you want.