I am using a ArrayList to add the values to be displayed in listview.
List values = new ArrayList();
ListView listView1 = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.listView1);
String listValue = null;
ArrayAdapter adapter;
Adding values using add(), I will have a string in listValue
values.add(listValue);
Setting the adapter
adapter = new ArrayAdapter(getBaseContext(),android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, android.R.id.text1, values);
listView1.setAdapter(adapter);
When I need to change the data in the listView1, I just clear the values using clear()
values.clear();
Then, again set the adapter
adapter = new ArrayAdapter(getBaseContext(),android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, android.R.id.text1, values);
listView1.setAdapter(adapter);
Hope this help you. But I think this is not a way to do. We should use the notifyDataSetChanged().