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I have all my strings for my project stores in the string.xml file. I have no problem using them in most cases but for some reason it outputs an integer value to the editText when I mix Strings with an integer for example if I do:

editText.setText(R.string.x_plays + j)

which I want to display "X Plays: 3" to the GUI however it displays a large integer to the GUI. If I do this without j (which is an integer) it is fine.

editText.setText(R.string.x_plays)

This just displays the string "X Plays: ".

So the problem is obviously trying to concatenate an integer with an R.string but I don't know how to work around this. I have tried using stringBuilder and adding in empty strings ("") around the R.string and integer but similar results are returned. How can I fix this?

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3 Answers 3

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The reason why this happens is because R.string.x_plays is actually an integer resource ID that certain methods are able to convert into a string that can be displayed. One of these is setText. However, if you add a number to this ID, it may no longer be valid.

The easiest solution is to just write getString(R.string.x_plays) + j.

You could also change the string to a format string, such as X plays: %1$d and instead write getString(R.string.x_plays, j)

See: String Resources

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2 Comments

It does not recognize the getString(R.string.x_plays) method. I am using android studio and it does not even ask me to import
If you're in an activity, getString() should work; otherwise you need to obtain a context object, for example getActivity().getString() in a Fragment
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Use getString instead. Since you want to concatenate the String, get the String and concatenate:

getString(R.string.blah);

Actually R.string.something is an integer (a reference).

editText.setText(int)also takes this int value as a parameter. You can also send string as a param to setText. But first you would have to get the string in string.xml as string using getString() function.

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It does not recognize a getString() method?
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You can use string format argument for cases when you want to join a static string (from string.xml) with your dynamic values (like i);

in Strings.xml

<string name="jump_message">I jumped from %1$d storey building</string>

in code

int i = 99;
String finalMessage = String.format(getString(R.string.jump_message), i);
//finalMessage becomes 'I jumped from 99 storey building'
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I think it's more concise to pass the format arguments directly to getString—e.g. getString(R.string.jump_message, i). Not sure why the Android docs don't mention this...

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