Related
Having invoked a directory selector on Android with:
val intent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT_TREE)
intent.addFlags(
Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION
or Intent.FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION
or Intent.FLAG_GRANT_PERSISTABLE_URI_PERMISSION
or Intent.FLAG_GRANT_PREFIX_URI_PERMISSION
)
activity?.startActivityForResult(intent, REQUEST_CODE_FOLDER_PERMISSION)
And having obtained the URI of said route in onActivityResult(), being the URI of the form (example in case of having chosen a folder named backup in the root of the external storage):
content://com.android.externalstorage.documents/tree/primary:backup
At this point, how do you write a file to that location? After researching various answers on how to write files using the Media Store API, all the examples I've seen use constants to refer to already existing media directories, but in my case I want to create a new document (which is a JSON file) in the directory chosen by the user.
You will not use the MediaStore to save a file if you obtained an uri using ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT_TREE to get permission for a folder.
Just continue to use Storage Access Framework and implement DocumentFile.createFile().
Pretty basic exercise for learning SAF.
If you want to use the MediaStore to save a file then you do not have the user to select a folder first.
Thanks to #CommonsWare for pointing me in the right direction:
var outputStream: OutputStream? = null
try {
val uri = Uri.parse(path)
val document = DocumentFile.fromTreeUri(context, uri)
val file = document?.createFile(mimeType, filename)
?: throw Exception("Created file is null, cannot continue")
val fileUri = file.uri
val contentResolver = context.contentResolver
outputStream = contentResolver.openOutputStream(fileUri)
val bytes = content.toByteArray()
outputStream?.write(bytes)
outputStream?.flush()
} catch (e: Exception) {
// Handle error
} finally {
outputStream?.close()
}
According to the docs file path access is granted in Android R:
Starting in Android 11, apps that have the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission can read a device's media files using direct file paths and native libraries. This new capability allows your app to work more smoothly with third-party media libraries.
The problem is that I can't get the file path from MediaStore, so how are we supposed to read a file path that we can't access/retrieve? Is there a way, I'm not aware of, that we can get the file path from MediaStore?
Furthermore, the docs say the following:
All Files Access
Some apps have a core use case that requires broad file access, such as file management or backup & restore operations. They can get All Files Access by doing the following:
Declare the MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission.
Direct users to a system settings page where they can enable the Allow access to manage all files option for your app.
This permission grants the following:
Read access and write access to all files within shared storage.
Access to the contents of the MediaStore.Files table.
But I do not need all file access, I only want the user to select a video from MediaStore and pass the file path to FFmpeg(it requires a file path). I know that I can no longer use the _data column to retrieve a file path.
Please note:
I know a Uri is returned from MediaStore and does not point to a file.
I know that I can copy the file to my application directory and pass that to FFmpeg, but I could do that before Android R.
I can not pass FileDescriptor to FFmpeg and I can not use /proc/self/fd/ (I get /proc/7828/fd/70: Permission denied when selecting a file from the SD Card), have a look at this issue.
So what am I supposed to do, am I missing something? What was meant with can read a device's media files using direct file paths and native libraries?
After asking a question on issuetracker, I've come to the following conclusions:
On Android R, the File restrictions that were added in Android Q is removed. So we can once again access File objects.
If you are targeting Android 10 > and you want to access/use file paths, you will have to add/keep the following in your manifest:
android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true"
This is to ensure that file paths are working on Android 10(Q). On Android R this attribute will be ignored.
Don't use DATA column for inserting or updating into Media Store, use DISPLAY_NAME and RELATIVE_PATH, here is an example:
ContentValues valuesvideos;
valuesvideos = new ContentValues();
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.RELATIVE_PATH, "Movies/" + "YourFolder");
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.TITLE, "SomeName");
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.DISPLAY_NAME, "SomeName");
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.MIME_TYPE, "video/mp4");
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.DATE_ADDED, System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000);
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.DATE_TAKEN, System.currentTimeMillis());
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.IS_PENDING, 1);
ContentResolver resolver = getContentResolver();
Uri collection = MediaStore.Video.Media.getContentUri(MediaStore.VOLUME_EXTERNAL_PRIMARY);
Uri uriSavedVideo = resolver.insert(collection, valuesvideos);
You can no longer use the ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT_TREE or the ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT intent action to request that the user select individual files from Android/data/,Android/obb/and all sub-directories.
It is recommended to only use File objects when you need to perform "seeking", like when using FFmpeg, for example.
You can only use the data column to access files that are on the disk. You should handle I/O Exceptions accordingly.
If you want to access a File or want a file path from a Uri that was returned from MediaStore, I've created a library that handles all the exceptions you might get. This includes all files on the disk, internal and removable disk. When selecting a File from Dropbox, for example, the File will be copied to your applications directory where you have full access, the copied file path will then be returned.
If you are targeting to Android 11 API, you cannot directly get access to the file paths, as there are many restrictions in API 30(Android R). As scoped storage API was introduced in Android 10(API 29), the storage is now divided into scoped storage (private storage) and shared storage (public storage). Scoped storage is a kind you can only have access to the files that are created in your scoped storage directory(i.e. /Android/data/ or /Android/media/<your-package-name>). You cannot access files from shared storage (i.e. internal storage/external SD card storage etc.)
The shared storage is again further divided into Media and Download collection. Media collection stores Image, Audio and Video files. Download collection would take care of non-media files.
To learn in more details about scoped storage and shared storage refer this link: Scoped Storage in Android 10 & Android 11 .
If you are dealing with Media files (i.e. Images, Videos, Audio) you can get the file path by Using Media Store API that having support to API 30(Android 11). and If you are dealing with non-media files(i.e. documents and other files) you can get the file path by using file Uri.
Note: If you are using the file or Uri util classes (such as RealPathUtil, FilePathUtils etc.) to get the file path, here you can get the desired file path but you cannot read that file, as it will throw an exception of Read Access (as Permission denied) in Android 11, as you cannot read the files that are created by another application.
So to achieve this scenario of getting the file path in Android 11(API 30), It a recommended to copy the file into the cache directory of your application using File Uri and get the path of the file access from cache directory.
Here in my scenario I have used both APIs to get the file access in Android 11. To get the file path of the media files (i.e. Images, Videos, Audio), I've used the Media Store API (Refer this link: Media Store API Example - Access media files from shared storage ), and to get the file path of the non-media files (i.e. Documents and other files), I've used fileDescriptor.
File Descriptor Example:
I have created the system dialog file picker to pick the file.
private fun openDocumentAction() {
val mimetypes = arrayOf(
"application/*", //"audio/*",
"font/*", //"image/*",
"message/*",
"model/*",
"multipart/*",
"text/*"
)
// you can customize the mime types as per your choice.
// Choose a directory using the system's file picker.
val intent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT).apply {
addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_OPENABLE)
//type = "application/pdf" //only pdf files
type = "*/*"
putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_MIME_TYPES, mimetypes)
addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION)
addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION)
// Optionally, specify a URI for the directory that should be opened in
// the system file picker when it loads.
//putExtra(DocumentsContract.EXTRA_INITIAL_URI, pickerInitialUri)
}
startActivityForResult(intent, RC_SAF_NON_MEDIA)
}
And handled the result of file picker in onActivityResult method of the activity. Get the file URI at here.
override fun onActivityResult(requestCode: Int, resultCode: Int, data: Intent?) {
super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data)
when (requestCode) {
RC_SAF_NON_MEDIA -> {
//document selection by SAF(Storage Access Framework) for Android 11
if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
// The result data contains a URI for the document or directory that
// the user selected.
data?.data?.also { uri ->
//Permission needed if you want to retain access even after reboot
contentResolver.takePersistableUriPermission(uri, Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION)
// Perform operations on the document using its URI.
val path = makeFileCopyInCacheDir(uri)
Log.e(localClassName, "onActivityResult: path ${path.toString()} ")
}
}
}
}
}
Pass the file URI to the below method to get the file path. This method will create a file object at cache directory of your application and from that location you can easily get Read access to that file.
private fun makeFileCopyInCacheDir(contentUri :Uri) : String? {
try {
val filePathColumn = arrayOf(
//Base File
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns._ID,
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns.TITLE,
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns.DATA,
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns.SIZE,
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns.DATE_ADDED,
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns.DISPLAY_NAME,
//Normal File
MediaStore.MediaColumns.DATA,
MediaStore.MediaColumns.MIME_TYPE,
MediaStore.MediaColumns.DISPLAY_NAME
)
//val contentUri = FileProvider.getUriForFile(context, "${BuildConfig.APPLICATION_ID}.provider", File(mediaUrl))
val returnCursor = contentUri.let { contentResolver.query(it, filePathColumn, null, null, null) }
if (returnCursor!=null) {
returnCursor.moveToFirst()
val nameIndex = returnCursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME)
val name = returnCursor.getString(nameIndex)
val file = File(cacheDir, name)
val inputStream = contentResolver.openInputStream(contentUri)
val outputStream = FileOutputStream(file)
var read = 0
val maxBufferSize = 1 * 1024 * 1024
val bytesAvailable = inputStream!!.available()
//int bufferSize = 1024;
val bufferSize = Math.min(bytesAvailable, maxBufferSize)
val buffers = ByteArray(bufferSize)
while (inputStream.read(buffers).also { read = it } != -1) {
outputStream.write(buffers, 0, read)
}
inputStream.close()
outputStream.close()
Log.e("File Path", "Path " + file.path)
Log.e("File Size", "Size " + file.length())
return file.absolutePath
}
} catch (ex: Exception) {
Log.e("Exception", ex.message!!)
}
return contentUri.let { UriPathUtils().getRealPathFromURI(this, it).toString() }
}
Note: You can use this method to get file path for both media files (Images, Videos, Audio) and non-media files (Documents and other files) as well. Just need to pass a file Uri.
For getting path, i'm coping file with fileDescriptor to new path & i use that path.
Finding File Name:
private static String copyFileAndGetPath(Context context, Uri realUri, String id) {
final String selection = "_id=?";
final String[] selectionArgs = new String[]{id};
String path = null;
Cursor cursor = null;
try {
final String[] projection = {"_display_name"};
cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(realUri, projection, selection, selectionArgs,
null);
cursor.moveToFirst();
final String fileName = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow("_display_name"));
File file = new File(context.getCacheDir(), fileName);
FileUtils.saveAnswerFileFromUri(realUri, file, context);
path = file.getAbsolutePath();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} finally {
if (cursor != null)
cursor.close();
}
return path;
}
Copy With File Descriptor:
fun saveAnswerFileFromUri(uri: Uri, destFile: File?, context: Context) {
try {
val pfd: ParcelFileDescriptor =
context.contentResolver.openFileDescriptor(uri, "r")!!
if (pfd != null) {
val fd: FileDescriptor = pfd.getFileDescriptor()
val fileInputStream: InputStream = FileInputStream(fd)
val fileOutputStream: OutputStream = FileOutputStream(destFile)
val buffer = ByteArray(1024)
var length: Int
while (fileInputStream.read(buffer).also { length = it } > 0) {
fileOutputStream.write(buffer, 0, length)
}
fileOutputStream.flush()
fileInputStream.close()
fileOutputStream.close()
pfd.close()
}
} catch (e: IOException) {
Timber.w(e)
}
}
This question already has answers here:
Android Kotlin: Getting a FileNotFoundException with filename chosen from file picker?
(5 answers)
Android - Get real path of a .txt file selected from the file explorer
(1 answer)
Closed 1 year ago.
I'm using file picker to let users decide where to extract specific files. After updating Android API, my app is having problem for getting path of exported file whenever users try to extract file into specific folder via file picker because it returns different uri data from before. When user picks folder where Android system allows, my app creates new file, and copies byte data of specific file into that newly created file.
Copying byte data works fine, but after copying, to notice users that extracting process was successful, I show toast message like Extracted 123.png | Downloads/myPicture/123.png. I just got path by splitting uri path with : letter, but now uri path doesn't contain format like before. Below is how I handle extracting
if(result.resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
val data = result.data
if(data != null) {
val file = current
val uri = data.data
if(uri == null || file == null) {
StaticStore.showShortMessage(this, getString(R.string.file_extract_cant))
} else {
val pfd = contentResolver.openFileDescriptor(uri, "w")
if(pfd != null) {
val fos = FileOutputStream(pfd.fileDescriptor)
val ins = file.data.stream
val b = ByteArray(65536)
var len: Int
while(ins.read(b).also { len = it } != -1) {
fos.write(b, 0, len)
}
ins.close()
fos.close()
val path = uri.path
if(path == null) {
StaticStore.showShortMessage(this, getString(R.string.file_extract_semi).replace("_",file.name))
return#registerForActivityResult
}
val f = File(path)
val p = f.absolutePath.split(":")[1]
StaticStore.showShortMessage(this, getString(R.string.file_extract_success).replace("_",file.name).replace("-",p))
} else {
StaticStore.showShortMessage(this, getString(R.string.file_extract_cant))
}
}
}
}
Getting extracted file's name isn't problem, but getting path to newly create file is problem. It worked before updating Android API because f.absolutePath returned real path to created file. I can't remember properly what f.absolutePath returned because it's been long time since I made this, but it contained full path next to : letter, so I just splitted text and got path from there. Now f.absolutePath returns document/357 or like this. Number keeps changing (increasing, especially) whenever I try to extract file like document/358, document/359, etc, but it's surely not path where I decided to export. uri itself also returns format like content://com.android.providers.downloads.documents/document/363 as String
Was there any changes for file picker?
Is there any way to get full path of created file properly?
You're not supposed to try to get a File's path from a Uri. You just use the Uri itself as your reference to the file's location.
Besides, the user selected the location themselves, so they already know where it is.
According to the docs file path access is granted in Android R:
Starting in Android 11, apps that have the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission can read a device's media files using direct file paths and native libraries. This new capability allows your app to work more smoothly with third-party media libraries.
The problem is that I can't get the file path from MediaStore, so how are we supposed to read a file path that we can't access/retrieve? Is there a way, I'm not aware of, that we can get the file path from MediaStore?
Furthermore, the docs say the following:
All Files Access
Some apps have a core use case that requires broad file access, such as file management or backup & restore operations. They can get All Files Access by doing the following:
Declare the MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission.
Direct users to a system settings page where they can enable the Allow access to manage all files option for your app.
This permission grants the following:
Read access and write access to all files within shared storage.
Access to the contents of the MediaStore.Files table.
But I do not need all file access, I only want the user to select a video from MediaStore and pass the file path to FFmpeg(it requires a file path). I know that I can no longer use the _data column to retrieve a file path.
Please note:
I know a Uri is returned from MediaStore and does not point to a file.
I know that I can copy the file to my application directory and pass that to FFmpeg, but I could do that before Android R.
I can not pass FileDescriptor to FFmpeg and I can not use /proc/self/fd/ (I get /proc/7828/fd/70: Permission denied when selecting a file from the SD Card), have a look at this issue.
So what am I supposed to do, am I missing something? What was meant with can read a device's media files using direct file paths and native libraries?
After asking a question on issuetracker, I've come to the following conclusions:
On Android R, the File restrictions that were added in Android Q is removed. So we can once again access File objects.
If you are targeting Android 10 > and you want to access/use file paths, you will have to add/keep the following in your manifest:
android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true"
This is to ensure that file paths are working on Android 10(Q). On Android R this attribute will be ignored.
Don't use DATA column for inserting or updating into Media Store, use DISPLAY_NAME and RELATIVE_PATH, here is an example:
ContentValues valuesvideos;
valuesvideos = new ContentValues();
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.RELATIVE_PATH, "Movies/" + "YourFolder");
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.TITLE, "SomeName");
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.DISPLAY_NAME, "SomeName");
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.MIME_TYPE, "video/mp4");
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.DATE_ADDED, System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000);
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.DATE_TAKEN, System.currentTimeMillis());
valuesvideos.put(MediaStore.Video.Media.IS_PENDING, 1);
ContentResolver resolver = getContentResolver();
Uri collection = MediaStore.Video.Media.getContentUri(MediaStore.VOLUME_EXTERNAL_PRIMARY);
Uri uriSavedVideo = resolver.insert(collection, valuesvideos);
You can no longer use the ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT_TREE or the ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT intent action to request that the user select individual files from Android/data/,Android/obb/and all sub-directories.
It is recommended to only use File objects when you need to perform "seeking", like when using FFmpeg, for example.
You can only use the data column to access files that are on the disk. You should handle I/O Exceptions accordingly.
If you want to access a File or want a file path from a Uri that was returned from MediaStore, I've created a library that handles all the exceptions you might get. This includes all files on the disk, internal and removable disk. When selecting a File from Dropbox, for example, the File will be copied to your applications directory where you have full access, the copied file path will then be returned.
If you are targeting to Android 11 API, you cannot directly get access to the file paths, as there are many restrictions in API 30(Android R). As scoped storage API was introduced in Android 10(API 29), the storage is now divided into scoped storage (private storage) and shared storage (public storage). Scoped storage is a kind you can only have access to the files that are created in your scoped storage directory(i.e. /Android/data/ or /Android/media/<your-package-name>). You cannot access files from shared storage (i.e. internal storage/external SD card storage etc.)
The shared storage is again further divided into Media and Download collection. Media collection stores Image, Audio and Video files. Download collection would take care of non-media files.
To learn in more details about scoped storage and shared storage refer this link: Scoped Storage in Android 10 & Android 11 .
If you are dealing with Media files (i.e. Images, Videos, Audio) you can get the file path by Using Media Store API that having support to API 30(Android 11). and If you are dealing with non-media files(i.e. documents and other files) you can get the file path by using file Uri.
Note: If you are using the file or Uri util classes (such as RealPathUtil, FilePathUtils etc.) to get the file path, here you can get the desired file path but you cannot read that file, as it will throw an exception of Read Access (as Permission denied) in Android 11, as you cannot read the files that are created by another application.
So to achieve this scenario of getting the file path in Android 11(API 30), It a recommended to copy the file into the cache directory of your application using File Uri and get the path of the file access from cache directory.
Here in my scenario I have used both APIs to get the file access in Android 11. To get the file path of the media files (i.e. Images, Videos, Audio), I've used the Media Store API (Refer this link: Media Store API Example - Access media files from shared storage ), and to get the file path of the non-media files (i.e. Documents and other files), I've used fileDescriptor.
File Descriptor Example:
I have created the system dialog file picker to pick the file.
private fun openDocumentAction() {
val mimetypes = arrayOf(
"application/*", //"audio/*",
"font/*", //"image/*",
"message/*",
"model/*",
"multipart/*",
"text/*"
)
// you can customize the mime types as per your choice.
// Choose a directory using the system's file picker.
val intent = Intent(Intent.ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT).apply {
addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_OPENABLE)
//type = "application/pdf" //only pdf files
type = "*/*"
putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_MIME_TYPES, mimetypes)
addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION)
addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION)
// Optionally, specify a URI for the directory that should be opened in
// the system file picker when it loads.
//putExtra(DocumentsContract.EXTRA_INITIAL_URI, pickerInitialUri)
}
startActivityForResult(intent, RC_SAF_NON_MEDIA)
}
And handled the result of file picker in onActivityResult method of the activity. Get the file URI at here.
override fun onActivityResult(requestCode: Int, resultCode: Int, data: Intent?) {
super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data)
when (requestCode) {
RC_SAF_NON_MEDIA -> {
//document selection by SAF(Storage Access Framework) for Android 11
if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
// The result data contains a URI for the document or directory that
// the user selected.
data?.data?.also { uri ->
//Permission needed if you want to retain access even after reboot
contentResolver.takePersistableUriPermission(uri, Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION)
// Perform operations on the document using its URI.
val path = makeFileCopyInCacheDir(uri)
Log.e(localClassName, "onActivityResult: path ${path.toString()} ")
}
}
}
}
}
Pass the file URI to the below method to get the file path. This method will create a file object at cache directory of your application and from that location you can easily get Read access to that file.
private fun makeFileCopyInCacheDir(contentUri :Uri) : String? {
try {
val filePathColumn = arrayOf(
//Base File
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns._ID,
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns.TITLE,
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns.DATA,
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns.SIZE,
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns.DATE_ADDED,
MediaStore.Files.FileColumns.DISPLAY_NAME,
//Normal File
MediaStore.MediaColumns.DATA,
MediaStore.MediaColumns.MIME_TYPE,
MediaStore.MediaColumns.DISPLAY_NAME
)
//val contentUri = FileProvider.getUriForFile(context, "${BuildConfig.APPLICATION_ID}.provider", File(mediaUrl))
val returnCursor = contentUri.let { contentResolver.query(it, filePathColumn, null, null, null) }
if (returnCursor!=null) {
returnCursor.moveToFirst()
val nameIndex = returnCursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME)
val name = returnCursor.getString(nameIndex)
val file = File(cacheDir, name)
val inputStream = contentResolver.openInputStream(contentUri)
val outputStream = FileOutputStream(file)
var read = 0
val maxBufferSize = 1 * 1024 * 1024
val bytesAvailable = inputStream!!.available()
//int bufferSize = 1024;
val bufferSize = Math.min(bytesAvailable, maxBufferSize)
val buffers = ByteArray(bufferSize)
while (inputStream.read(buffers).also { read = it } != -1) {
outputStream.write(buffers, 0, read)
}
inputStream.close()
outputStream.close()
Log.e("File Path", "Path " + file.path)
Log.e("File Size", "Size " + file.length())
return file.absolutePath
}
} catch (ex: Exception) {
Log.e("Exception", ex.message!!)
}
return contentUri.let { UriPathUtils().getRealPathFromURI(this, it).toString() }
}
Note: You can use this method to get file path for both media files (Images, Videos, Audio) and non-media files (Documents and other files) as well. Just need to pass a file Uri.
For getting path, i'm coping file with fileDescriptor to new path & i use that path.
Finding File Name:
private static String copyFileAndGetPath(Context context, Uri realUri, String id) {
final String selection = "_id=?";
final String[] selectionArgs = new String[]{id};
String path = null;
Cursor cursor = null;
try {
final String[] projection = {"_display_name"};
cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(realUri, projection, selection, selectionArgs,
null);
cursor.moveToFirst();
final String fileName = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow("_display_name"));
File file = new File(context.getCacheDir(), fileName);
FileUtils.saveAnswerFileFromUri(realUri, file, context);
path = file.getAbsolutePath();
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} finally {
if (cursor != null)
cursor.close();
}
return path;
}
Copy With File Descriptor:
fun saveAnswerFileFromUri(uri: Uri, destFile: File?, context: Context) {
try {
val pfd: ParcelFileDescriptor =
context.contentResolver.openFileDescriptor(uri, "r")!!
if (pfd != null) {
val fd: FileDescriptor = pfd.getFileDescriptor()
val fileInputStream: InputStream = FileInputStream(fd)
val fileOutputStream: OutputStream = FileOutputStream(destFile)
val buffer = ByteArray(1024)
var length: Int
while (fileInputStream.read(buffer).also { length = it } > 0) {
fileOutputStream.write(buffer, 0, length)
}
fileOutputStream.flush()
fileInputStream.close()
fileOutputStream.close()
pfd.close()
}
} catch (e: IOException) {
Timber.w(e)
}
}
As getExternalStoragePublicDirectory has been deprecated in Android Q, and the recommendation is to use other means. then how can we specify that we want to store the generated photos from a camera app into the DCIM folder, or a custom sub-folder within the DCIM?
The documentation states that the next 3 options are the new preferred alternatives:
Context#getExternalFilesDir(String)
Intent#ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT
MediaStore
Option 1 is out of the questions as it would mean that the photos get deleted if the app gets uninstalled.
Option 2 is also not a choice, as it would require the user to pick the location through the SAF file explorer.
We are left with option 3, the MediaStore; but at the time of this question there is no documentation on how to use it as a replacement for getExternalStoragePublicDirectory in Android Q.
Based on the docs, use DCIM/... for the RELATIVE_PATH, where ... is whatever your custom subdirectory would be. So, you would wind up with something like this:
val resolver = context.contentResolver
val contentValues = ContentValues().apply {
put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.DISPLAY_NAME, "CuteKitten001")
put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.MIME_TYPE, "image/jpeg")
put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.RELATIVE_PATH, "DCIM/PerracoLabs")
}
val uri = resolver.insert(MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, contentValues)
resolver.openOutputStream(uri).use {
// TODO something with the stream
}
Note that since RELATIVE_PATH is new to API Level 29, you would need to use this approach on newer devices and use getExternalStoragePublicDirectory() on older ones.
#CommonsWare answer is amazing. But for those who want it in Java, you need to try this:
ContentResolver resolver = context.getContentResolver();
ContentValues contentValues = new ContentValues();
contentValues.put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.DISPLAY_NAME, name);
contentValues.put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.MIME_TYPE, mimeType);
contentValues.put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.RELATIVE_PATH, Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS);
Uri uri = resolver.insert(MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, contentValues);
As per the suggestion of #SamChen the code should look like this for text files:
Uri uri = resolver.insert(MediaStore.Files.getContentUri("external"), contentValues);
Because we wouldn't want txt files lingering in the Images folder.
So, the place where I have mimeType, you enter the mime type you want. For example if you wanted txt (#Panache) you should replace mimeType with this string: "text/plain". Here is a list of mime types: https://www.freeformatter.com/mime-types-list.html
Also, where I have the variable name, you replace it with the name of the file in your case.
Apps targeting Android Q - API 29+ disabled storage access by default due to security issues. If you want to enable it to add the following attribute in the AndroidManifest.xml:
<manifest ... >
<!-- This attribute is "false" by default for Android Q or higher -->
<application android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true" ... >
...
</application>
</manifest>
then you have to use getExternalStorageDirectory() instead of getExternalStoragePublicDirectory().
Example: If you want to create a directory in the internal storage if not exists.
File mediaStorageDir = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/SampleFolder");
// Create the storage directory if it does not exist
if (! mediaStorageDir.exists()){
if (! mediaStorageDir.mkdirs()){
Log.d("error", "failed to create directory");
}
}
import android.content.ContentValues
import android.net.Uri
import android.os.Build
import android.os.Bundle
import android.provider.MediaStore
import android.util.Log
import android.widget.Button
import android.widget.EditText
import android.widget.TextView
import androidx.annotation.RequiresApi
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
class MyActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
#RequiresApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.Q)
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
setContentView(R.layout.activity_mine)
val editText: EditText = findViewById(R.id.edt)
val write: Button = findViewById(R.id.Output)
val read: Button = findViewById(R.id.Input)
val textView: TextView = findViewById(R.id.textView)
val resolver = this.contentResolver
val contentValues = ContentValues().apply {
put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.DISPLAY_NAME, "myDoc1")
put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.MIME_TYPE, "text/plain")
put(MediaStore.MediaColumns.RELATIVE_PATH, "Documents")
}
val uri: Uri? = resolver.insert(MediaStore.Files.getContentUri("external"), contentValues)
Log.d("Uri", "$uri")
write.setOnClickListener {
val edt : String = editText.text.toString()
if (uri != null) {
resolver.openOutputStream(uri).use {
it?.write("$edt".toByteArray())
it?.close()
}
}
}
read.setOnClickListener {
if (uri != null) {
resolver.openInputStream(uri).use {
val data = ByteArray(50)
it?.read(data)
textView.text = String(data)
}
}
}
}
}
Here, I am storing a text file in phone's Document folder by writing text into edit text and by clicking button 'Write' it will save the file with the text written.
On clicking button 'Read' it will bring the text from that file and then display it in the text view.
It will not run on devices that are below android Q or android 10 as RELATIVE_PATH can only be used in these versions.
For Xamarin.Android the following code from a published project could help:
Java.IO.File jFolder;
if ((int)Android.OS.Build.VERSION.SdkInt >= 29)
{
jFolder = new Java.IO.File(Android.App.Application.Context.GetExternalFilesDir(Environment.DirectoryDcim), "Camera");
}
else
{
jFolder = new Java.IO.File(Environment.GetExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DirectoryDcim), "Camera");
}
if (!jFolder.Exists())
jFolder.Mkdirs();
var filename = GenerateJpgFileName();
var jFile = new Java.IO.File(jFolder, filename);
var fullFilename = jFile.AbsoluteFile.ToString();
using (var output = new System.IO.FileStream(fullFilename, System.IO.FileMode.Create))
{
outputBitmap.Compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.Jpeg, 90, output);
output.Close();
}
Not using permissions in Android, it's done in from the shared project using Xamarin.Essentials.
If you want to save your file in a app specific external storage, yes you can use context.getExternalFilesDir(). Many answers point out that.
However, this is not the answer of this question because getExternalFilesDir() is app specific external storage, getExternalStoragePublicDirectory() is shared storage.
For example, you want to save a downloaded pdf file to "Shared" Download directory. How do you do that ? For api 29 and above, you can do that without no permission.
For api 28 and below, you need getExternalStoragePublicDirectory() method but it is deprecated. What if you don't want to use that deprecated method? Then you can use SAF file explorer(Intent#ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT). As said in the question, this requires the user to pick the location manually.
This is what Google wants exactly. To improve user privacy, direct access to shared/external storage devices is deprecated.
When an app targets Build.VERSION_CODES.Q, the path returned from this
method is no longer directly accessible to apps. Apps can continue to
access content stored on shared/external storage by migrating to
alternatives such as Context#getExternalFilesDir(String), MediaStore,
or Intent#ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT.
Details are given in the following link:
https://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/Environment#getExternalStorageDirectory()
Generally I used this way :
var data: File =Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory
(Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS)
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.Q) {
data = getExternalFilesDir(Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS)!!
}