How to assign a string id to UI elements. - android-layout

Question

I'm developing an app on android and I am generating UI elements in a loop. But I need these elements to have an id with letters and numbers, for example "rl1" or "rl2". I was trying to use the method RelativeLayout.setId() but, that method only accepts int. Is there a way I can set an ID as I want without being limited to numbers?
Thanks.
Here is the code I am trying to make work.
for (int i=1; i < 10; i++)
{
//gets the frameview where the elements will be created.
String LinearLayoutId = "frameview1";
int resID = getResources().getIdentifier(LinearLayoutId, "id", "com.myapp.ERS");
LinearLayout linearLayout = (LinearLayout)findViewById(resID);
//creates the RelativeLayout that will hold the ImageIcon and the TextView
RelativeLayout rl = new RelativeLayout(this);
RelativeLayout.LayoutParams lp = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(
RelativeLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,40 );
rl.setLayoutParams(lp);
rl.setId("rl"); /// >>>> I would like here to set and ID of "rl1" for example.
rl.setBackgroundDrawable(getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.bk36));
//creates the image icon within the layout at the left side
ImageView image = new ImageView(this);
lp = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(
40,RelativeLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT );
image.setLayoutParams(lp);
String imageicon = "icon_"+i;
resID = getResources().getIdentifier(imageicon, "drawable", "com.myapp.ERS");
image.setImageDrawable(getResources().getDrawable(resID)); //sets the icon
rl.addView(image); //adds the ImageView to the relative layout
//creates the TextView within the layout with a 40 margin to the left
TextView tv = new TextView(this);
lp = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(
RelativeLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,RelativeLayout.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT );
lp.setMargins(40, 0, 0, 0);
tv.setLayoutParams(lp);
String textViewID = "tv"+i;
resID = getResources().getIdentifier(textViewID, "string", "com.myapp.ERS");
tv.setText(getResources().getString(resID));
tv.setTextColor(Color.BLACK);
tv.setTextSize(25);
rl.addView(tv);//adds the TextView to the relative layout
rl.setOnClickListener(mAddListener);
linearLayout.addView(rl);//adds the RelativeLayout to the LinearLayout
}
and then I have the OnCLickListener like this...
private OnClickListener mAddListener = new OnClickListener()
{
public void onClick(View v){
Intent intent;
Bundle bundle;
String id = getResources().getResourceEntryName(v.getId());
id = id.replaceAll("\\D+","");
int value = Integer.parseInt(id);
intent = new Intent(ERS.this, ShowInfo.class);
bundle = new Bundle();
bundle.putInt("key", value);
System.out.println(v.getId());
intent.putExtras(bundle);
startActivity(intent);
}
};
I have tried to set up numeric IDs, but then when I Look for them with:
String id = getResources().getResourceEntryName(v.getId());
It can't find them.
I had all of this in an xml file to begin with, but it was really long because there are about forty items in the list, and it was complicated for me to go and change a letter for example in all of them. I came up with this idea to generate them at runtime in a for loop. I am testing in the meantime with ten, but I can't get it to work.
If I am doing something incorrect, then pardon me, but I am new to this.

Answer 1

You may still find it easier to go back to XML layouts and use the R class to generate meaningful IDs. Although as you haven't included the original xml file you refer to at the end of the question, so I can only guess at the problem you had with it. It does seem to fit the bill though, and would allow you to create something along the lines of:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<TextView
android:id="#+id/hellotextview"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:text="Hi there"/>
The android:id="#+id/hellotextview" generates an id that can be used elsewhere in your project. In your java code you could access that specific TextView with something similar to:
TextView helloText = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.hellotextview);
The R.id.hellotextview is a int automatically generated when the project is built (in gen/R.java), but as you get to pick the name you can assign them something relevant to you and your project. So instead of trying to use strings values such as "rl1" and "rl2" that you mentioned, you could use R.id.rl1 and R.id.rl2.
As well as individual UI elements, you can also use the same technique for strings (in res/values/strings.xml), and other resources stored under the project's res/ folder, such as icons, media files, etc. In the case of strings you would access them getString(R.string.some_name_given_by_you);
See Accessing Resources at the Android Developers site for more info.

Answer 2

Why dont you try using SharedPreferences as an alternative in case you want to access the elements which you give some ID elsewhere in some other activity.