SharedPreferences: History saved but why not Favourite?

Question

I use the following code to save words to History in my dictionary app:

@Override
public void onPause()
{
    super.onPause();
    saveHistoryToPreferences();
}

public void saveHistoryToPreferences()
{
    if (prefs.getBoolean("saveHistory", true) && mWordHistory != null && mWordHistory.size() >= 1)
    {
        StringBuilder sbHistory = new StringBuilder();
        for (String item : mWordHistory)
        {
            sbHistory.append(item);
            sbHistory.append(",");
        }           
        String strHistory = sbHistory.substring(0, sbHistory.length()-1);
        SharedPreferences.Editor editor = prefs.edit();
        editor.putString("history", strHistory);
        editor.commit();
        //Log.i(CONTENT_TAG,"history = " + strHistory);
        Log.i(CONTENT_TAG,"History saved!");
    }
}

public void loadHistoryFromPreferences()
{
    if (prefs.getBoolean("saveHistory", true))
    {
        String strHistory = prefs.getString("history", "");
        Log.i(CONTENT_TAG, "History loaded");
        if (strHistory != null && !strHistory.equals(""))
        {
            mWordHistory = new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList(strHistory.split(",")));
        }
        else
        {
            if (mWordHistory == null)
            {
                mWordHistory = new ArrayList<String>();
            }
            else
            {
                mWordHistory.clear();
            }
        }
    }
    else
    {
        if (mWordHistory == null)
        {
            mWordHistory = new ArrayList<String>();
        }
        else
        {
            mWordHistory.clear();
        }
    }
}

Everything is working fine with History.

Now I want to adapt this code to save favourite words. Almost every code lines are the same, the only difference is that the adapted code (without onPause()) is placed under:

  btnAddFavourite.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
    @Override
    public void onClick(View v)
    //The code is here...
    }

But it is not working and the favourite words are not saved as in the case of History.

Can you guys there help? Thank you very much.

Answer 1

I am modifying my answer for this StackOverflow link.
You can save multiple favorites in a single preference by adding numerous favorites in a single string, each favorite item separated by comma. Then you can use convertStringToArray method to convert it into String Array. Here is the full source code.
Use MyUtility Methods to save multiple favorite items.

btnAddFavourite.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
    @Override
    public void onClick(View v)

                MyUtility.addFavoriteItem(MyActivity.this, "Sports");
                MyUtility.addFavoriteItem(MyActivity.this, "Entertainment");
    }

get String array of all favorites saved

String[] favorites = MyUtility.getFavoriteList(this);// returns {"Sports","Entertainment"};

Save these methods in separate Utility class

 public abstract class MyUtility {

    public static boolean addFavoriteItem(Activity activity,String favoriteItem){
        //Get previous favorite items
        String favoriteList = getStringFromPreferences(activity,null,"favorites");
        // Append new Favorite item
        if(favoriteList!=null){
            favoriteList = favoriteList+","+favoriteItem;
        }else{
            favoriteList = favoriteItem;
        }
        // Save in Shared Preferences
        return putStringInPreferences(activity,favoriteList,"favorites");
    }
    public static String[] getFavoriteList(Activity activity){
        String favoriteList = getStringFromPreferences(activity,null,"favorites");
        return convertStringToArray(favoriteList);
    }
    private static boolean putStringInPreferences(Activity activity,String nick,String key){
        SharedPreferences sharedPreferences = activity.getPreferences(Activity.MODE_PRIVATE);
        SharedPreferences.Editor editor = sharedPreferences.edit();
        editor.putString(key, nick);
        editor.commit();                        
        return true;        
    }
    private static String getStringFromPreferences(Activity activity,String defaultValue,String key){
        SharedPreferences sharedPreferences = activity.getPreferences(Activity.MODE_PRIVATE);
        String temp = sharedPreferences.getString(key, defaultValue);
        return temp;        
    }

    private static String[] convertStringToArray(String str){
        String[] arr = str.split(",");
        return arr;
    }
}

If you have to add extra favorites. Then get favorite string from SharedPreference and append comma+favorite item and save it back into SharedPreference.
* You can use any other string for separator instead of comma.