String to ArrayList with HashMAP

Question

I have a string [{Label_0=Mobile, Phone_0=[phone]}], stored in ArrayList within HashMap, I need to assign it to another Arraylist to fetch values but getting a syntax error

List<HashMap<String, String>> phonesArr = new ArrayList<HashMap<String, String>>();
HashMap<String, String> phoneDict = new HashMap<String, String>();
 phoneDict.put(String.format("Label_%d", locali1),PTYPE);
 phoneDict.put(String.format("Phone_%d", locali1),phoneNumber);
 phonesArr.add(phoneDict);

There is a reason why I am storing it in a array because phone Numbers can be multiple for one contacts.

 ArrayList<HashMap<String, String>> _allPeoplesDictArr = new ArrayList<HashMap<String, String>>();
 HashMap<String, String> personDict = new HashMap<String, String>();
 personDict.put("PhoneNumbers", phonesArr.toString()) //// Value stored as array to string
 // [{Label_0=Mobile, Phone_0=[phone]}]
 _allPeoplesDictArr.add(personDict);
 for (int j = 0; j < _allPeoplesDictArr.size(); j++) {
 String localPhoneStr = _allPeoplesDictArr.get(j)
 .get("PhoneNumbers");
 Log.d("localPhoneStr", localPhoneStr); /// I dont want to retrieve it as string 
 List<HashMap<String, String>> localPhoneArr = _allPeoplesDictArr.get(j).get("PhoneNumbers"); //// I want to retrieve it as array but getting syntax error.
 if (localPhoneArr.size() > 0) {
 for (int k = 0; k < localPhoneArr.size(); k++) {
 HashMap<String, String> userDict = new HashMap<String, String>();
 userDict.put(
 "label",
 localPhoneArr.get(k).get(
 String.format("Label_%d", k)));
 userDict.put(
 "value",
 localPhoneArr.get(k).get(
 String.format("Phone_%d", k)));
 }
 }
 }
 I am getting syntax error at grabing values that is now as a JSON `[{Label_0=Mobile, Phone_0=[phone]}]`
 List<HashMap<String, String>> localPhoneArr = _allPeoplesDictArr.get(j).get("PhoneNumbers");

• Jon Skeet: It would be much easier to help you if you'd show a short but complete example demonstrating the problem. We don't know the type of _allPeoplesDictArr at the moment, for example.
• super-qua: Is _allPeoplesDictArr now a List<String> or a List<HashMap<String, String>>? Because you have String localPhoneStr = _allPeoplesDictArr.get(j).get("PhoneNumbers"); and List<HashMap<String, String>> localPhoneArr = _allPeoplesDictArr.get(j).get("PhoneNumbers");
• user366584: I have updated my question for better understanding _allPeoplesDictArr.get(j).get("PhoneNumbers"); this contains arraylist with Hash but I am unable to retrives its values.
• user366584: @super-qua I know it is HashMap<String, String> instead of HashMap<String, List<HashMap<String, String>>>, but I isnt there any way to rectify my problem with the current assignment?

Answer 1

The line List<HashMap<String, String>> localPhoneArr = _allPeoplesDictArr.get(j).get("PhoneNumbers"); is giving you the syntax error, because it is a String. If you want to make an Array out of it, you have to parse the JSON String. You can find the documentation here

It should look something like this

String localPhoneStr = _allPeoplesDictArr.get(j).get("PhoneNumbers");
JSONArray phoneArray = new JSONArray(localPhoneStr);
for(int i=0; i<phoneArray.length(); i++){
 JSONObject phone = phoneArray.getJSONObject(i);
 userDict.put("label", phone.getString(String.format("Label_%d", i)));
 userDict.put("value", phone.getString(String.format("Phone_%d", i)));
}

• user366584: Thanks Mate for the logic as I like it , I will try and hoping that it will work as per my needs.
• user366584: A small modification required as userDict.put("label", phone.getString(String.format("Label_%d", i))); userDict.put("value", phone.getString(String.format("Phone_%d", i)))
• super-qua: Glad it helped you. I updated the answer to include your modifications for others to see them