Develop Reference

Android: Get video from Gallery uri

I'm trying to get a video from the Android Gallery and get the full path, so I can upload the video in an app...
I'm displaying the gallery like this:
Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setType("video/*");
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
activity.startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent, context.getResources().getString(R.string.popup_menu_share_video_title)), Const.PICK_VIDEO_REQUEST);
I then extract the uri:
Uri selectedUri = data.getData();
String selectedPath = getRealPathFromURI(this, selectedUri);
And attempt to get the path:
public String getRealPathFromURI(Context context, Uri contentUri) {
Cursor cursor = null;
try {
String[] proj = { MediaStore.Video.Media.DATA };
cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(contentUri, proj, null, null, null);
int column_index = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Video.Media.DATA);
cursor.moveToFirst();
return cursor.getString(column_index);
} finally {
if (cursor != null) {
cursor.close();
}
}
}
But I can't seem the get the path...
I can see all the videos if I do this:
public static void dumpVideos(Context context ) {
Uri uri = MediaStore.Video.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
String[] projection = { MediaStore.Video.Media.DATA };
Cursor c = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, projection, null, null, null);
int vidsCount = 0;
if (c != null) {
vidsCount = c.getCount();
while (c.moveToNext()) {
Log.d("VIDEO", c.getString(0));
}
c.close();
}
Log.d("VIDEO", "Total count of videos: " + vidsCount);
}
So I'm thinking there must be some real simple step, that I'm missing...

I'm trying to get a video from the Android Gallery
First, there is no "Android Gallery". There are many apps that might be considered "gallery" apps. There are thousands of device models, and they will ship with a wide variety of "gallery" apps, in addition to those that the user installs.
Second, ACTION_GET_CONTENT is not somehow magically limited to "gallery" apps. Any app can elect to support ACTION_GET_CONTENT for video/*.
and get the full path
That is impossible. You have no way of knowing what app the user chooses to handle your ACTION_GET_CONTENT request. You have no way of knowing what sort of Uri you will get back. You have no way of knowing where the content identified by that Uri will be stored, as it does not have to be a file on the filesystem that you can access.
so I can upload the video in an app
Use openInputStream() on ContentResolver to get an InputStream on the content identified by the Uri. Then, either:
Use that stream directly with your preferred HTTP client API to upload the content, or
Use that stream to make a local file copy of the content, then use that file with your preferred HTTP client
And attempt to get the path:
At best, that code will work in very limited circumstances:
The app that the user chooses to handle your ACTION_GET_CONTENT request happens to return a content Uri from the MediaStore
That content happens to be on external storage, not removable storage
Since that will not cover all of your scenarios, get rid of that code.
I can see all the videos if I do this
No, you can get paths for some videos:
Not every video accessible via ACTION_GET_CONTENT will be known to the MediaStore
Not every video in the MediaStore will be on external storage, where you might be able to access it via filesystem APIs

you can solve this issue by using ACTION_PICK instead of ACTION_GET_CONTENT. I believe unless you need the functionality of adding pictures/videos from Dropbox etc. it's not worth it.If all you need is to get stuff from the gallery use this code:
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < 19) {
final Intent photoPickerIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_PICK);
photoPickerIntent.setType("image/* video/*");
startActivityForResult(photoPickerIntent, PICK_PHOTO_ACTIVITY_REQUEST_CODE);
} else {
final Intent photoPickerIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_PICK);
photoPickerIntent.setType("*/*");
photoPickerIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_MIME_TYPES, new String[]{"image/*", "video/*"});
startActivityForResult(photoPickerIntent, PICK_PHOTO_ACTIVITY_REQUEST_CODE);
}
I just tried the code you posted with ACTION_PICK and it works perfectly!

Getting file path from uri on emulator

I want to get file path from Uri for a video. The following method works fine when testing with a real device, however, it fails (returns null) when testing on emulator.
public String getRealPathFromURI(Context context, Uri contentUri) {
Cursor cursor = null;
try {
String[] proj = {MediaStore.Video.Media.DATA};
cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(contentUri, proj, null, null, null);
int column_index = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Video.Media.DATA);
cursor.moveToFirst();
return cursor.getString(column_index);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} finally {
if (cursor != null) {
cursor.close();
}
}
return null;
}
What is the correct way of getting file path from uri on emulator?

The following method works fine when testing with a real device
Only on the the device that you tried, and only for the app that you tried. Particularly on Android 4.4+, your approach will be unreliable. That is because a Uri is not a file. On older versions of Android, for a Uri from the MediaStore, your approach might work.
Nowadays, do not attempt to get a file for a Uri. Consume the Uri as you are supposed to, using methods on ContentResolver to get an InputStream, the MIME type, etc.
What is the correct way of getting file path from uri on emulator?
There is none. There does not have to be a file path associated with a Uri, let alone a path that your app is able to access using Java file I/O.

As CommonsWare mentioned, an Uri is NOT a File. The general way to deal with Uri is to use an inputstream and save the content as a file (assuming that's what you are looking for). What i typically do is
get the metadata associated with the Uri (to get title / type of data / size)
get the content via an input stream to save it on the device as a file.
Take a look at the "Examine document metadata" and "get an inputstream" on this page: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/document-provider.html

Correct way to choose a file for open

I am using this intent to open a chooser to pick up a file:
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
intent.setDataAndType(Uri.parse(getExternalFilesDir(null).toString()), "*/*");
intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_OPENABLE);
Intent chooser = Intent.createChooser(intent, "Choose File");
startActivityForResult(chooser, FILE_SELECT);
I don't fully understand it, but it works. I copied it from some example in the web
The result is an uri, but I find the processing of the uri, also copied from the example, too cumbersome
if(uri != null) {
if("content".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) {
String[] projection = {"_data"};
Cursor cursor = null;
try {
cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, projection, null, null, null);
int column_index = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow("_data");
if(cursor.moveToFirst()) {
return cursor.getString(column_index);
}
}
catch (Exception e) {}
} else if("file".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) {
return uri.getPath();
}
}
Is this the simplest way to let the user pick a file and get its path?
Why do I need to check if the uri is "content"? I just want to open a text or zipped file the user chose in the intent.
Can I ignore the "content" check, just assume "file" and simply use uri.getPath() ?
Edit I: Is there a way to force choosing with uri scheme "file"?

Yes. This is correct. You are basically starting an intent to get access to the native app. which in this case is the file system. The next would be a part of the onActivityResultData() which would then use the uri on the intent and get the contents of the file that has been selected.

I'm wondering if Android isn't trying to push us away from file paths and towards Uris. Try something like:
InputStream inputStream=contentResolver.openInputStream(uri);
InputStreamReader file = new InputStreamReader(inputStream);
int size = file.read(text,0,mMaxLen);

Move Image Taken With Camera Leaves Broken Link Unitl SD Card Remount

I have an application in which I can use the device's camera to take a picture. What I would like to do is to start the ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE intent without assigning an EXTRA_OUTPUT, and then move the file that is created in the default location to my own custom location using file.renameTo. My code is something like this:
/* Start camera activity without EXTRA_OUTPUT */
Intent intent = new Intent(MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE);
startActivityForResult(intent, _REQUESTCODE_ATTACH_CAMERA);
#Override
public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
switch(requestCode) {
case _REQUESTCODE_ATTACH_CAMERA:
/* Get path to most recently added image */
final String[] imageColumns = { MediaStore.Images.Media._ID, MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA };
final String imageOrderBy = MediaStore.Images.Media._ID + " DESC";
Cursor imageCursor = managedQuery(MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, imageColumns, null, null, imageOrderBy);
String fullPath = "";
if(imageCursor.moveToFirst()){
fullPath = imageCursor.getString(imageCursor.getColumnIndex(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA));
imageCursor.close();
}
File f = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory();
f = new File(f.getAbsolutePath() + File.separator + "DCIM" + File.separator + MY_APP_NAME;
if(!f.exists()) {
f.mkdirs();
}
/* Create new file based on name of most recently created image */
File oldFile = new File(fullPath);
String newPath = f.getAbsolutePath() + File.separator + oldFile.getName() ;
/* Move file with renameTo */
oldFile.renameTo(new File(newPath));
break;
...
}
}
}
All of this works quite well, however there is one strange thing that is occurring. In my app, I have another button that allows selecting an existing image from the phone's gallery. That code looks like this:
Intent galleryIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
galleryIntent.setType("image/*");
activity.startActivityForResult(galleryIntent, _REQUESTCODE_ATTACH_GALLERY);
This also works, but if I take a picture with the camera using the code posted above, and then try to select another image from the gallery, there will be blank "broken link" type items in the gallery that contain no content and are unselectable. These seem to correspond with photos taken and moved using renameTo; if I put in code in onActivityResult to post the filename to LogCat, the name that gets logged is the same as the name of the previously moved file that it corresponds to. Trying to create a File object or in any way access that filename, results in null objects and force closes.
The strange part is that there is no evidence of these "broken link" files in Eclipse DDMS, nor in the phone itself if I use Root Browser, and they disappear if I remount the SD Card.
The whole reason I am moving the images after capturing them with the camera is to avoid filling up the phone's gallery storage with unnecessary images. While these empty "broken link" type files don't appear to be taking up any storage space, they would still be very annoying to an end-user trying to browse through their gallery. Does anyone have any ideas on what is happening here or how to solve this problem?
EDIT:
Here is a photo showing what the gallery looks like with a "broken link" type image displayed. One of these will appear for every photo that is taken using my app, and they will all disappear if I remount the SD Card.

Thanks in part to this SO thread, I have discovered a solution. It actually makes sense that it would behave this way since there is a table kept for media content and so removing something without telling the table would definitely create a "broken link" type scenario.
The ultimate solution is to use contentResolver.delete to remove the reference to the file within the content resolver, but there are two different ways that I have found that will work.
/* Moving with renameTo */
//Use the same exact code as I had before (shortened for brevity) to move the file
oldFile.renameTo(newFile);
//Get URI from contentResolver using file Id from cursor
Uri oldUri = ContentUris.withAppendedId(MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, imageCursor.getString(imageCursor.getColumnIndex(MediaStore.Images.Media._ID)));
//Delete old file
getContentResolver().delete(oldUri, null, null);
Getting the URI in this way is necessary because it requires a reference to the image in the contentResolver rather than the path to its location in storage. This way might feel dirty to some since you are moving a file and then calling a delete function on that file in order to sort of trick the content resolver into removing the link to the file. If you would rather, you can do it without using renameTo so that the call to delete(...) actually does delete the image.
/* Moving with streams */
//Get streams
InputStream in = new FileInputStream(oldFile);
OutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(newFile);
byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
int bytesRead = 0;
//Read old file into new file
while((bytesRead = in.read(buffer)) > 0) {
out.write(buffer, 0, bytesRead);
}
//Get URI from contentResolver using file Id from cursor
Uri oldUri = ContentUris.withAppendedId(MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, imageCursor.getString(imageCursor.getColumnIndex(MediaStore.Images.Media._ID)));
//Delete old file
getContentResolver().delete(oldUri, null, null);
The call to contentResolver.delete is the same either way, I just wanted to point out that it will still work if the image has already been removed.
During this I discovered a solution to a problem that I didn't even realize that I had that I will post here as well in case anyone with this same problem comes across this in the future. In order to keep the image as selectable in the device gallery from the new location, you need to let the media scanner know that a change has been made. There are two ways that I found to do this:
/* This is the only way that I know of to handle multiple new files at once. I
really would use this sparingly, however, since it will rescan the entire
SD Card. Not only could this take a long time if the user has a lot of files
on their card, it will also show a notification so it is not exactly a
transparent operation. */
sendBroadcast(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MEDIA_MOUNTED, Uri.parse("file://" + Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory())));
/* You *could* do multiple files with this by passing in the path for each one
in the array of Strings, however an instance of this will get called for each
one rather than it doing them all at once. Likewise, your onScanCompleted
(if you choose to include one) will get called once for each file in the list.
So really, while this is much better for a small number of files, if you plan
on scanning a very large amount then the full rescan above would probably be
a better option. */
MediaScannerConnection.scanFile(context, new String[]{ newFilePathAsString }, null,
new MediaScannerConnection.OnScanCompletedListener() {
public void onScanCompleted(String path, Uri uri) {
//This executes when scanning is completed
}
}
);

Resolving the URI from different sources in Android while opening an image

My Android app opens images and makes manipulations on them. My Activity requests an image to be opened as follows:
Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setType("image/*");
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent,
"Complete action using"),
PICK_FROM_FILE);
On doing this, it launches a dialog with three to four options, like the ES File Explorer: Files, Gallery, etc.
I wish to read this as a Bitmap using BitmapFactory.decodeFile(path).
When I choose the file from ES File Explorer, the path is computed like this:
String path = imageData.getData().getPath();
However, this does not work for choosing an image from the Gallery or Files, where the value of path is /external/images/media/38 for example.
So I put a check, to convert such a path that begins with external using:
if (path.startsWith("/external")) {
path = getFilePathFromUri(imageData.getData());
}
private String getFilePathFromUri(Uri uri) {
Cursor cursor = managedQuery(uri,
new String[] { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA },
null, null, null);
int column_index = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA);
cursor.moveToFirst();
return cursor.getString(column_index);
}
This converts the above path to /mnt/sdcard/dcim/Camera/2011-11-13_15-33-24_304.jpg and now this works for BitmapFactory.decodeFile(path).
I understand that hardcoding such a check (/external) is not a good idea, is there a better, perhaps generic way to resolve the format of the URI returned in the Intent?

I understand that hardcoding such a check (/external) is not a good idea, is there a better, perhaps generic way to resolve the format of the URI returned in the intent?
imageData.getData() returns a Uri. If its path starts with file:// (this is what most file managers will return), then the uri represents a file. Another option is uri represents a content item (this is what Gallery will return), in this case its path starts with content:// and you should call ContentProvider for an actual image file path (as you do in your sample). So I think you could go with something like this:
Uri uri = imageData.getData();
String scheme = uri.getScheme();
if ("file".equals(scheme)) {
// process as a uri that points to a file
} else if ("content".equals(scheme)) {
// process as a uri that points to a content item
}

You can ask MediaStore to create your Bitmap from the Uri:
Bitmap bmp = MediaStore.Images.Media.getBitmap( getContext().getContentResolver(), uri );