example:XML file saved at res/values/strings.xml : <? xml version = "1.0" encoding = "utf-8" ?>

<resources> 
    <string-array name = "planets_array" > 
        <item> Mercury </item> 
        <item> Venus </item> 
        <item> Earth </item> 
        <item> Mars </item> 
    </string-array> 
</resources>

This application code retrieves a string array:

Resources res = getResources () ; 
String [] planets = res . getStringArray ( R . array . planets_array );