Localized getString() with parameters

getString

We all know the getString() method which is available in the Resources class and in the Context class. However, did you know that there is also a second version of that method that accepts parameters that will be merged into a format string? You can find the Android documentation here.

Simple example

Here is an example of this version of getString():

In your xml file:

 <string name="hello_person">Hello %1$s, how are you?</string>  

In your Java file:

 String userName = getUserName();  
 String hello = getResources().getString(R.string.hello_person, userName);  

This simplifies your code a lot. And it really is but a convenience at you can see in the source Android code:

 public String getString(int id, Object... formatArgs) throws NotFoundException {  
   String raw = getString(id);  
   return String.format(mConfiguration.locale, raw, formatArgs);  
 }  

Multipe placeholders example

You can also have more than one placeholder in your original string, and you can use more than one type:

In your xml file:

 <string name="hello_person_age">Hello %1$s, you are %2$d years old</string>   

In your Jave file:

 String userName = getUserName();  
 int age = getAge();  
 String hello = getResources().getString(R.string.hello_person_age, userName, age);   

Context class

And how about the version in the Context class?  It just delegates to the method in the Resources class:

 public final String getString(int resId, Object... formatArgs) {  
   return getResources().getString(resId, formatArgs);  
 }  

Thanks to +Wolfram Rittmeyer for tuning me into this version of getString()!

Automating ADB over Wi-Fi for multiple devices

Here is a script that will scan through your Android devices that are connected to ADB via a USB cable and then connect them all via ADB over Wi-Fi.

Usage is very simple.  If needed, modify the script with your IP range and then run the script. You will need to run this script every time you want to connect to your Wi-Fi network.

Note that I haven't yet found a way to test if a device is already connected via Wi-Fi so you may get errors such as "unable to connect to 192.168.1.2:5555:5555".  You'll know that the device is already connected if you see the double port value at the end.

Thanks to +Tony Owen for the original idea and to +Wolfram Rittmeyer with the help on the script.

Please feel free to expand this script or modify it. Let me know if you do so that I can update this post!

 #!/bin/bash  
   
 #Modify this with your IP range  
 MY_IP_RANGE="192\.168\.1"  
   
 #You usually wouldn't have to modify this  
 PORT_BASE=5555  
   
 #List the devices on the screen for your viewing pleasure  
 adb devices  
 echo   
   
 #Find USB devices only (no emulators, genymotion or connected devices  
 declare -a deviceArray=(`adb devices -l | grep -v emulator | grep -v vbox | grep -v "${MY_IP_RANGE}" | grep " device " | awk '{print $1}'`)  
   
 echo "found ${#deviceArray[@]} device(s)"  
 echo   
   
 for index in ${!deviceArray[*]}  
 do  
   echo "finding IP address for device ${deviceArray[index]}"  
   IP_ADDRESS=$(adb -s ${deviceArray[index]} shell ifconfig wlan0 | awk '{print $3}')   
     
   echo "IP address found : $IP_ADDRESS "  
     
   echo "Connecting..."  
   adb -s ${deviceArray[index]} tcpip $(($PORT_BASE + $index))  
   adb -s ${deviceArray[index]} connect "$IP_ADDRESS:$(($PORT_BASE + $index))"  
   
   echo  
   echo  
 done  
   
 adb devices -l  
 #exit