SharedPreferences strage. getSharedPreferences not working

Question

Please, help me. I dont know what is wrong with this code:

import android.appwidget.AppWidgetProvider;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;

public class WeatherWidget extends AppWidgetProvider {

static SharedPreferences settings = getSharedPreferences("weather_prefs", 0);

public void onUpdate()
{
    settings.getString("location", "N/A");
}
}

In the line "static SharedPreferences..." I get an error:

The method getSharedPreferences(String, int) is undefined for the type WeatherWidget

Why its undefined method if its class method?

Answer 1

The getSharedPreferences method is not available for an AppWidgetProvider because it's not a Context. This link explains a bit more: Get preferences in AppWidget Provider

Answer 2

You need a Context object to get shared preference reference:

// add to WeatherWidget:
@Override
public void onEnabled(Context ctx)
{
    settings = ctx.getSharedPreferences("weather_prefs", 0);
}

Answer 3

Send the context as a parameter from the activity class to the non-activity class

In your Activity class:

function_name( getApplicationContext() ); // calling
(or simply)
function_name( this ); // calling

In your Non Activity class: (where no context exists)

public void fun_name(Context ctx)
{
    settings = ctx.getSharedPreferences("pref", 0);
}

Answer 4

I used this code to get shared preferences object in AppWidgetProvider:

SharedPreferences prefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(context);
        if (prefs == null)
            throw new NullPointerException("prefs");
prefs.getInt(....);