How to persist options selected in AlertDialog spawned from ItemizedOverlay onTap method

Question

In the description of how to add a list of options to an AlertDialog the official Android documentation alludes to saving a users preferences with one of the "data storage techniques." The examples assume the AlertDialog has been spawned within an Activity class.

In my case I've created a class that extends ItemizedOverlay. This class overrides the onTap method and uses an AlertDialog to prompt the user to make a multi-choice selection. I would like to capture and persist the selections for each OverlayItem they tap on.

The below code is the onTap method I've written. It functions as written but doesn't yet do what I'd hope. I'd like to capture and persist each selection made by the user to be used later. How do I do that? Is using an AlertDialog in this manner a good idea? Are there better options?

protected boolean onTap(int index)
{
    OverlayItem item = _overlays.get(index);
    final CharSequence[] items = { "WiFi", "BlueTooth" };
    final boolean[] checked = { false, false };

    AlertDialog.Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(_context);
    builder.setTitle(item.getTitle());
    builder.setMultiChoiceItems(items, checked, new
        DialogInterface.OnMultiChoiceClickListener()
        {
          @Override
          public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int item,
              boolean isChecked)
              {
                  // for now just show that the user touched an option
                  Toast.makeText(_context, items[item],
                    Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
              }
        });
    builder.setPositiveButton("Okay", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener()
    {
        @Override
        public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int id)
        {
            // should I be examining what was checked here?
            dialog.dismiss();
        }
    });

    builder.setNegativeButton("Cancel", new DialogInterface.OnClickListener()
    {
        @Override
        public void onClick(DialogInterface dialog, int id)
        {
            dialog.cancel();
        }
    });

    AlertDialog alert = builder.create();
    alert.show();
    return true;
}

Answer 1

I'd like to store each selection made by the user to be used later. How do I do that?

Well, at the tactical level, in your onClick(), you could write the data to a SQLite database.

However, it feels like you're putting the proverbial cart before the equally proverbial horse. Unless you actually plan to do something with the data, don't badger the user with dialogs. If you know what you want to do with the data, what you want to do with it would seem to dictate your storage mechanism much more than the fact that it's an AlertDialog raised by an ItemizedOverlay.

Is using an AlertDialog in this manner a good idea? Are there better options?

There's nothing obviously wrong with it.

However, again, this question makes no sense outside of the larger picture. It's like asking a Web designer if using a pop-up window "in this manner is a good idea" -- that can only really be answered in the context of the overall look-and-feel and user experience of the site. So whether you should be using an AlertDialog or some sort of pop-up panel or some sort of animated slide-in panel or a completely separate activity or whatever is a question of how you want your app to look.

Answer 2

Well you could create a HashMap<OverLayItem, List<String>> or HashMap<OverLayItem, List<Boolean>> to store the setting for each item if you only need to access it in memory, or if you need more persistent store you can use either the preferences or a database or other means as explained in the link you provided. Then you'd update the hashmaps or your database in the positive onClick().