Android data store in XML files

Question

In my android application I am using an xml file to store some history information within the application.

Following is the code I use to enter a new record to the file.

String filename = "file.xml";
File xmlFilePath = new File("/data/data/com.testproject/files/" + filename); 

private void addNewRecordToFile(History history)
{
    try
    {
        DocumentBuilderFactory dbfac = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
        DocumentBuilder docBuilder = dbfac.newDocumentBuilder();
        Document doc = docBuilder.parse(xmlFilePath);    

        Element rootEle = doc.getDocumentElement();                                                                             

        Element historyElement = doc.createElement("History");                         
        rootEle.appendChild(historyElement);                                           

        Element customerEle = doc.createElement("customer");                           
        customerEle.appendChild(doc.createTextNode(history.getCustomer()));               
        historyElement.appendChild(customerEle);                                       

        Element productEle = doc.createElement("product");                            
        productEle.appendChild(doc.createTextNode(history.getProduct()));                  
        historyElement.appendChild(productEle);                                        

        //-------->
        DOMSource source = new DOMSource(doc);                                        

        TransformerFactory transformerFactory = TransformerFactory.newInstance();      
        Transformer transformer = transformerFactory.newTransformer();                 
        transformer.setOutputProperty(OutputKeys.INDENT, "yes");
        transformer.setOutputProperty("{http://xml.apache.org/xslt}indent-amount", "2");
        StreamResult result = new StreamResult(xmlFilePath);                          
        transformer.transform(source, result);   
    }
    catch (ParserConfigurationException e) 
    {
        Log.v("State", "ParserConfigurationException" + e.getMessage());
    } 
    catch (SAXException e) 
    {
        Log.v("State", "SAXException" + e.getMessage());
    } 
    catch (IOException e) 
    {
        Log.v("State", "IOException" + e.getMessage());
    } 
    catch (TransformerConfigurationException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    catch (TransformerFactoryConfigurationError e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    } 
    catch (TransformerException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}

XML file format

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<HistoryList>
  <History>
    <customer>Gordon Brown Ltd</customer>
    <product>Imac</product>
  </History>
  <History>
    <customer>GG Martin and Sons</customer>
    <product>Sony Vaio</product>
  </History>
  <History>
    <customer>PR Thomas Ltd</customer>
    <product>Acer Laptop</product>
  </History>
</HistoryList>

So using this code I can successfully add a new rocord to the file. But My minimum target version in android shoud be API level 4. This code works well with API Level 8 and above.

DOMSource , TransformerFactory classes are not available in android API levels under 8. So All the things before the comment //--------> works in APIs below 8.

Does anyone know any way that I can write to the xml file without using Transformer APIs. Thanks in advance...

EDITS.....

In my case I have to use a xml file to store information. That's why I don't look for sharedpreferences or Sqlite DB to store data. Thanks.

Answer 1

Maybe you should store this information is SharedPreferences instead? If you have a specific reason why you are trying to write this to XML, that is fine.

Otherwise, I would suggest using a different method of persistence in Android - as there are a few built in ways to do this that are easier that working with XML.