How to combine two array list and show in a listview in android

Question

I want to combine two ArrayList into a single one.

My first arraylist looks like this:

{a,s,d,f,g,h,......}

My second arraylist looks like this:

{z,x,c,v,b,.....}

Then I want to combine both to be as

 {a,s,d,f,g,h,.....,z,x,c,v,b.....}

First List is

ArrayList<String> firstname1 = new ArrayList<String>();

Where as the second list is as

ArrayList<String> first = new ArrayList<String>();

Now I want to combine all this together and I want it to be listed out in list view. How to do this?

• Egor: Then why don't you just add second list's items to the first list? Use listOne.addAll(listTwo)
• Michael Myers: Why did you roll back the question twice? It ended up with Sathya's revision anyway.
• Siva K: i am sorry it just happened like an accident....

Answer 1

Combine two ArrayList into a single one

firstname1.addAll(first);

Please refer this article for sample code to concat two lists.

How to show these items in list view :

your layout should be ( as I used main.xml)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_marginTop="0dip"
android:background="@android:color/transparent">
 <ListView
 android:id="@+id/custom_list_view"
 android:layout_width="fill_parent"
 android:layout_height="fill_parent"
 android:cacheColorHint="#00000000"
 android:fastScrollEnabled="true"
 android:background="@android:color/transparent"
 android:fadeScrollbars="true"
 android:layout_gravity="top"
 android:padding="2dp">
 </ListView>
</LinearLayout> 

and now Activity as CustomListView.java

public class CustomListView extends Activity {
 ArrayList<String> firstname1;
 ArrayList<String> first;
 /** Called when the activity is first created. */
 @Override
 public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
 super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
 setContentView(R.layout.main);
 firstname1 = new ArrayList<String>();
 first = new ArrayList<String>();
 //Let both array list having some data
 firstname1.add("firstname1_data1");
 firstname1.add("firstname1_data2");
 firstname1.add("firstname1_data3");
 firstname1.add("firstname1_data4");
 firstname1.add("firstname1_data5");
 firstname1.add("firstname1_data6");
 firstname1.add("firstname1_data7");
 firstname1.add("firstname1_data8");
 firstname1.add("firstname1_data9");
 firstname1.add("firstname1_data10");
 first.add("first_data1");
 first.add("first_data2");
 first.add("first_data3");
 first.add("first_data4");
 first.add("first_data5");
 first.add("first_data6");
 first.add("first_data7");
 first.add("first_data8");
 first.add("first_data9");
 first.add("first_data10");
 //Now copying value of first to firstname, as your requirement
 //Please refer http://www.java-examples.com/append-all-elements-other-collection-java-arraylist-example for sample code to concat two lists.
 firstname1.addAll(first);
 //Lets show your data into list view
 // Get a handle to the list view
 ListView lv = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.custom_list_view);
 lv.setAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String>(CustomListView.this,
 android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, firstname1));
 //Please refer http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/ListView.html for details of setAdapter()
 }
}

Happy coding.

• Dr.jacky: What about two different data type?
• Pankaj Kumar: @Mr.Hyde ArrayList can not contain data with different data type. So you can not do it.

Answer 2

List<String> a = new ArrayList<String>();
a.add("bla");
a.add("bla");
a.add("bla");
List<String> b = new ArrayList<String>();
b.add("Boo");
b.add("Boo");
b.add("Boo");
// Append content of a to b
b.addAll(a);
// New list containing a union b
List<String> union = new ArrayList<String>(a);
union.addAll(b);

To show that in a list view, you will need an adapter along with a list view. I recommend you read the Android Developer guide's tutorial about ListView: Hello ListView

public class HelloListView extends ListActivity {
 @Override
 public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
 super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
 List<String> b = new ArrayList<String>();
 b.add("Boo");
 b.add("Boo");
 b.add("Boo");
 setListAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String>(this,
 android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, b));
 }
}

Answer 3

if both the List (like List<String> and List<Integer>) have different data types

List<String> stringsList= new ArrayList<>();
stringsList.add("A string");
stringsList.add("another string");
stringsList.add("and one more");
List<Integer> integersList = new ArrayList<>();
integersList.add(1337);
integersList.add(1338);
integersList.add(1339);
// New list containing all the items form
// stringsList and integersList
List<Object> allIWeHave= new ArrayList<>();
allIWeHave.addAll(stringsList);
allIWeHave.addAll(integersList);
//while fetching you check either item is Integer or String
if(allIWeHave.get(0) instanceof Integer){
//Integer value
}else{
//String value
}