Android4.0 PreferenceActivity

1. 介绍

     在Android系统中用了好多PreferenceActivity来配置和管理系统信息，最典型的也就是Settings，我也是最近在解bug时接触到了，于是做了点常用的总结，

     摘录了官网上对这个类的解释：

          This activity shows one or more headers of preferences, each of which is associated with a PreferenceFragment to display the                       preferences of that header. The actual layout and display of these associations can however vary; currently there are two major                             approaches it may take: 

• On a small screen it may display only the headers as a single list when first launched. Selecting one of the header items will re-launch the activity with it only showing the PreferenceFragment of that header.
• On a large screen in may display both the headers and current PreferenceFragment together as panes. Selecting a header item switches to showing the correct PreferenceFragment for that item.

Subclasses of PreferenceActivity should implement onBuildHeaders(List) to populate the header list with the desired items. Doing this implicitly switches the class into its new "headers + fragments" mode rather than the old style of just showing a single preferences list.

     PreferenceActivity实际是用来显示一个或多个 preferences header的，而 一个preference header 实际上就是一个与之对应的PreferenceFragment。因此实际上PreferenceActivity中包含了一个活着多个PreferenceFragment，里面有一个 mPrefsContainer(ViewGroup)来保存，Fragment在Activiy中就是以ViewGroup来看待的。想要使用这个类一般需要去实现onBuildHeaders(List) （除非不包含PreferenceFragment），一般在个方法中你调用loadHeadersFromResource（）去加载Headers.

2. 关键的几个类

    1）PreferenceActivity 上面讲过了 

    2）PreferenceFragment 它只是一个Frament，里面有一个PreferenceScreen 和 PreferenceManage 实例

    3）PreferenceScreen   一个hierarchies的root

    4）PreferenceCategroy

    5）PreferenceManage 帮忙去创建和管理preference hierarchies, 里面有一个sharedpreference

    6）各种Preference

    7）SharedPreference  Android中的一种存储机制，采用map的方式 官方解释

PreferenceActivity Sample Code

The following sample code shows a simple preference activity that has two different sets of preferences. The implementation, consisting of the activity itself as well as its two preference fragments is:

public class PreferenceWithHeaders extends PreferenceActivity {
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        // Add a button to the header list.
        if (hasHeaders()) {
            Button button = new Button(this);
            button.setText("Some action");
            setListFooter(button);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Populate the activity with the top-level headers.
     */
    @Override
    public void onBuildHeaders(List<Header> target) {
        loadHeadersFromResource(R.xml.preference_headers, target);
    }

    /**
     * This fragment shows the preferences for the first header.
     */
    public static class Prefs1Fragment extends PreferenceFragment {
        @Override
        public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

            // Make sure default values are applied.  In a real app, you would
            // want this in a shared function that is used to retrieve the
            // SharedPreferences wherever they are needed.
            PreferenceManager.setDefaultValues(getActivity(),
                    R.xml.advanced_preferences, false);

            // Load the preferences from an XML resource
            addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.fragmented_preferences);
        }
    }

    /**
     * This fragment contains a second-level set of preference that you
     * can get to by tapping an item in the first preferences fragment.
     */
    public static class Prefs1FragmentInner extends PreferenceFragment {
        @Override
        public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

            // Can retrieve arguments from preference XML.
            Log.i("args", "Arguments: " + getArguments());

            // Load the preferences from an XML resource
            addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.fragmented_preferences_inner);
        }
    }

    /**
     * This fragment shows the preferences for the second header.
     */
    public static class Prefs2Fragment extends PreferenceFragment {
        @Override
        public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
            super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

            // Can retrieve arguments from headers XML.
            Log.i("args", "Arguments: " + getArguments());

            // Load the preferences from an XML resource
            addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preference_dependencies);
        }
    }
}

The preference_headers resource describes the headers to be displayed and the fragments associated with them. It is:

<preference-headers
        xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

    <header android:fragment="com.example.android.apis.preference.PreferenceWithHeaders$Prefs1Fragment"
            android:icon="@drawable/ic_settings_applications"
            android:title="Prefs 1"
            android:summary="An example of some preferences." />

    <header android:fragment="com.example.android.apis.preference.PreferenceWithHeaders$Prefs2Fragment"
            android:icon="@drawable/ic_settings_display"
            android:title="Prefs 2"
            android:summary="Some other preferences you can see.">
        <!-- Arbitrary key/value pairs can be included with a header as
             arguments to its fragment. -->
        <extra android:name="someKey" android:value="someHeaderValue" />
    </header>

    <header android:icon="@drawable/ic_settings_display"
            android:title="Intent"
            android:summary="Launches an Intent.">
        <intent android:action="android.intent.action.VIEW"
                android:data="http://www.android.com" />
    </header>

</preference-headers>

The first header is shown by Prefs1Fragment, which populates itself from the following XML resource:

<PreferenceScreen
        xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

    <PreferenceCategory
            android:title="@string/inline_preferences">

        <CheckBoxPreference
                android:key="checkbox_preference"
                android:title="@string/title_checkbox_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_checkbox_preference" />

    </PreferenceCategory>

    <PreferenceCategory
            android:title="@string/dialog_based_preferences">

        <EditTextPreference
                android:key="edittext_preference"
                android:title="@string/title_edittext_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_edittext_preference"
                android:dialogTitle="@string/dialog_title_edittext_preference" />

        <ListPreference
                android:key="list_preference"
                android:title="@string/title_list_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_list_preference"
                android:entries="@array/entries_list_preference"
                android:entryValues="@array/entryvalues_list_preference"
                android:dialogTitle="@string/dialog_title_list_preference" />

    </PreferenceCategory>

    <PreferenceCategory
            android:title="@string/launch_preferences">

        <!-- This PreferenceScreen tag sends the user to a new fragment of
             preferences.  If running in a large screen, they can be embedded
             inside of the overall preferences UI. -->
        <PreferenceScreen
                android:fragment="com.example.android.apis.preference.PreferenceWithHeaders$Prefs1FragmentInner"
                android:title="@string/title_fragment_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_fragment_preference">
            <!-- Arbitrary key/value pairs can be included for fragment arguments -->
            <extra android:name="someKey" android:value="somePrefValue" />
        </PreferenceScreen>

        <!-- This PreferenceScreen tag sends the user to a completely different
             activity, switching out of the current preferences UI. -->
        <PreferenceScreen
                android:title="@string/title_intent_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_intent_preference">

            <intent android:action="android.intent.action.VIEW"
                    android:data="http://www.android.com" />

        </PreferenceScreen>

    </PreferenceCategory>

    <PreferenceCategory
            android:title="@string/preference_attributes">

        <CheckBoxPreference
                android:key="parent_checkbox_preference"
                android:title="@string/title_parent_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_parent_preference" />

        <!-- The visual style of a child is defined by this styled theme attribute. -->
        <CheckBoxPreference
                android:key="child_checkbox_preference"
                android:dependency="parent_checkbox_preference"
                android:layout="?android:attr/preferenceLayoutChild"
                android:title="@string/title_child_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_child_preference" />

    </PreferenceCategory>

</PreferenceScreen>

Note that this XML resource contains a preference screen holding another fragment, the Prefs1FragmentInner implemented here. This allows the user to traverse down a hierarchy of preferences; pressing back will pop each fragment off the stack to return to the previous preferences.

 

PreferenceFragment Sample Code

The following sample code shows a simple preference fragment that is populated from a resource. The resource it loads is:

<PreferenceScreen
        xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

    <PreferenceCategory
            android:title="@string/inline_preferences">

        <CheckBoxPreference
                android:key="checkbox_preference"
                android:title="@string/title_checkbox_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_checkbox_preference" />

    </PreferenceCategory>

    <PreferenceCategory
            android:title="@string/dialog_based_preferences">

        <EditTextPreference
                android:key="edittext_preference"
                android:title="@string/title_edittext_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_edittext_preference"
                android:dialogTitle="@string/dialog_title_edittext_preference" />

        <ListPreference
                android:key="list_preference"
                android:title="@string/title_list_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_list_preference"
                android:entries="@array/entries_list_preference"
                android:entryValues="@array/entryvalues_list_preference"
                android:dialogTitle="@string/dialog_title_list_preference" />

    </PreferenceCategory>

    <PreferenceCategory
            android:title="@string/launch_preferences">

        <!-- This PreferenceScreen tag serves as a screen break (similar to page break
             in word processing). Like for other preference types, we assign a key
             here so it is able to save and restore its instance state. -->
        <PreferenceScreen
                android:key="screen_preference"
                android:title="@string/title_screen_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_screen_preference">

            <!-- You can place more preferences here that will be shown on the next screen. -->

            <CheckBoxPreference
                    android:key="next_screen_checkbox_preference"
                    android:title="@string/title_next_screen_toggle_preference"
                    android:summary="@string/summary_next_screen_toggle_preference" />

        </PreferenceScreen>

        <PreferenceScreen
                android:title="@string/title_intent_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_intent_preference">

            <intent android:action="android.intent.action.VIEW"
                    android:data="http://www.android.com" />

        </PreferenceScreen>

    </PreferenceCategory>

    <PreferenceCategory
            android:title="@string/preference_attributes">

        <CheckBoxPreference
                android:key="parent_checkbox_preference"
                android:title="@string/title_parent_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_parent_preference" />

        <!-- The visual style of a child is defined by this styled theme attribute. -->
        <CheckBoxPreference
                android:key="child_checkbox_preference"
                android:dependency="parent_checkbox_preference"
                android:layout="?android:attr/preferenceLayoutChild"
                android:title="@string/title_child_preference"
                android:summary="@string/summary_child_preference" />

    </PreferenceCategory>

</PreferenceScreen>

The fragment implementation itself simply populates the preferences when created. Note that the preferences framework takes care of loading the current values out of the app preferences and writing them when changed:

public static class PrefsFragment extends PreferenceFragment {

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

        // Load the preferences from an XML resource
        addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences);
    }
}

参考链接：

1） google developer:  http://developer.android.com/reference/android/preference/PreferenceActivity.html  

2）用eclipse创建PreferenceActivity：http://www.cnblogs.com/wservices/archive/2010/07/08/1773449.html

3）自定义PreferenceActivity: http://my.oschina.net/eclipse88/blog/52316

4）google ApiDemos