How to get a resource id with a known resource name?

java android android-resources
Aswan picture Aswan · Aug 13, 2010 · Viewed 212.7k times · Source

I want to access a resource like a String or a Drawable by its name and not its int id.

Which method would I use for this?

Answer

Maragues picture Maragues · Aug 13, 2010

If I understood right, this is what you want

int drawableResourceId = this.getResources().getIdentifier("nameOfDrawable", "drawable", this.getPackageName());

Where "this" is an Activity, written just to clarify.

In case you want a String in strings.xml or an identifier of a UI element, substitute "drawable"

int resourceId = this.getResources().getIdentifier("nameOfResource", "id", this.getPackageName());

I warn you, this way of obtaining identifiers is really slow, use only where needed.

Link to official documentation: Resources.getIdentifier(String name, String defType, String defPackage)

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