Recall selections when using .setMultiChoiceItems with AlertDialog

[Adam Wentz]

I have implemented multiple checkboxes in an AlertDialog. However, I am now looking for a simple way to recall the selected checkboxes if the AlertDialog is reopened.

The issue arises here...

AlertDialog.Builder alertDialogBuilder = new AlertDialog.Builder(AddNewActivity.this);

A new instance of the AlertDialog is called every time. So, I was supposing that if there was a way to preserve the previous state, that should do the trick. Does anyone have experience doing this? Or suggestions?

Thanks y'all!

[Adam Wentz]

Well, after doing extensive digging, I came across this tutorial:

Show/Create AlertDialog with multiple choices in android

It resolves the issue of recalling previous selections in the checkbox AlertDialog by utilizing a boolean array. It needed only minor tweaking to make it work perfectly for my purpose.

In the event that the aforementioned page should become unavailable in the future, here is the code from the referenced tutorial:

MainActivity.java

package com.showalertdialogwithmultiplechoices_android_examples.com;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.app.AlertDialog;
import android.content.DialogInterface;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class MainActivity extends Activity {

 Button button;
 TextView textview;
 
 AlertDialog.Builder alertdialogbuilder;
 
 String[] AlertDialogItems = new String[]{
 "Android",
 "PHP",
 "WordPress",
 "Blogger"
 };
 
 List<String> ItemsIntoList;
 
 boolean[] Selectedtruefalse = new boolean[]{
 false, 
 false,
 false,
 false, 
 false
 };
 
 @Override
 protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
 super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
 setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
 
 button = (Button)findViewById(R.id.button1);
 textview = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.textView1);
 
 button.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
 @Override
 public void onClick(View v) {
 
 textview.setText("");
 
 alertdialogbuilder = new AlertDialog.Builder(MainActivity.this);

 ItemsIntoList = Arrays.asList(AlertDialogItems);

 alertdialogbuilder.setMultiChoiceItems(AlertDialogItems, Selectedtruefalse, new DialogInterface.OnMultiChoiceClickListener() {
 @Override
 public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which, boolean isChecked) {

 }
 });

 alertdialogbuilder.setCancelable(false);

 alertdialogbuilder.setTitle("Select Subjects Here");

 alertdialogbuilder.setPositiveButton("OK", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
 @Override
 public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
 
 int a = 0;
 while(a < Selectedtruefalse.length)
 {
 boolean value = Selectedtruefalse[a];
 
 if(value){
 textview.setText(textview.getText() + ItemsIntoList.get(a) + "\n");
 }
 
 a++;
 }
 
 }
 });

 alertdialogbuilder.setNeutralButton("Cancel", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
 @Override
 public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int which) {
 }
 });

 AlertDialog dialog = alertdialogbuilder.create();
 
 dialog.show();
 }
 });
 
 }
 
}

activity_main.xml

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
 xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
 android:layout_width="match_parent"
 android:layout_height="match_parent"
 android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
 android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
 android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
 android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
 tools:context="com.showalertdialogwithmultiplechoices_android_examples.com.MainActivity" >

 <Button
 android:id="@+id/button1"
 android:layout_width="wrap_content"
 android:layout_height="wrap_content"
 android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
 android:layout_centerVertical="true"
 android:text="Click here to open AlertDialog with multiple choices in android" />

 <TextView
 android:id="@+id/textView1"
 android:layout_width="wrap_content"
 android:layout_height="wrap_content"
 android:layout_above="@+id/button1"
 android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
 android:layout_marginBottom="52dp"
 android:text="Selected Items Display here"
 android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceLarge" />

</RelativeLayout>