Choosing the right data storage alternative

I'm coding an android app for parsing sms messages. I need different rules for different countries and idea is to define rules for my country and later open source project so other users can contribute with rules for their countries. XML format is the most convenient in my opinion for defining these rules.

So I have an app which reeds rules from XML file stored in res/raw and users will later be able to update that set of rules or download rules for some other country when those become available.

As I said I have put existing XML files in res/raw, but the problem is when users download new or changed set of rules application can not change or store files in resources (correct me if I'm wrong).

So I have two options now, and I don't like either one. I would like to hear your opinions on the matter.

a) I 开发者_StackOverflow中文版can keep XML files as local files, but then I must read in default rules from res/raw and copy them into file system on application installation, or keep track of two separate bunch of files. Is it possible to preinclude files on file system when installing an app?

b) I can keep XML code in database, but also copy it from files at install time. Or even worse code XML as String in class to insert it on install?

I apologize if question is too long or unclear, English is not my native language and this is my first question.

I'm not sure if i understood you right, but you could store the XML-file in the internal data storage of the application. --> http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/data/data-storage.html

If you want to attach a first Version of the XML-file on install, store it in the ressources first and copy it to the internal data storage after install. On updates of the XML file you can just overwrite this file in the internal data storage.

Hope i could help you, this is my first answer on stackoverflow. I'm sorry if i just told you things you already knew.