Get Uri from file I just created (android)

Question

forgive me for what is probably a stupid question, but I really can't find the answer anywhere.

I need my program to save the contents of an EditText as an html file and share it with other applications. To do this, I need to write the file to internal storage and then get the URI to it. However, there is no information anywhere (that I could fine) on how to do that.

This is my code (Editor being the name of the Activity and myapp the package):

String filename = "Lorem ipsum.html";

            FileOutputStream outputStream;

            try {
                outputStream = openFileOutput(filename, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
                outputStream.write(Html.toHtml(textField.getText()).getBytes());
                outputStream.close();
                System.out.println(filename);
            } catch (Exception e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }

                Intent shareIntent = ShareCompat.IntentBuilder.from(Editor.this)
                        .setStream(FileProvider.getUriForFile(Editor.this, "com.myapp.fileprovider", new File(filename)))
                        .getIntent();
                shareIntent.setData(FileProvider.getUriForFile(Editor.this, "com.myapp.fileprovider", new File(filename)));
                shareIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);
            startActivity(shareIntent);

As far as I can tell, the file creation part works just fine; no exception is caught. However, the actual sharing part crashes with this error:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Failed to find configured root that contains /Lorem ipsum.html

I'm clearly doing something wrong when trying to find the URI, but I've been unable to find a solution. Following the official documentation did not help and I could find no examples of this specific problem.

If it matters, here is my fileprovider declaration:

<provider
        android:name="android.support.v4.content.FileProvider"
        android:authorities="com.myapp.fileprovider"
        android:exported="false"
        android:grantUriPermissions="true">
        <meta-data
            android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS"
            android:resource="@xml/paths" />
    </provider>

Thank you in advance for any help.

Nabin Bhandari · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-11T15:59:57.647

3

In your code:

FileProvider.getUriForFile(Editor.this, "com.myapp.fileprovider", new File(filename))

The third parameter is equivalent to:

new File("Lorem ipsum.html"");

which is invalid.

You should use the full path of the file as the parameter in the constructor of the File.

As commented by @Fatih you should use

new File(getFilesDir(), filename)

as the third parameter.

Also your authorities parameter in manifest should be corrected as:

android:authorities="${applicationId}.provider"

So your final statement will be:

Uri uri= FileProvider.getUriForFile(Editor.this,
        getApplicationContext().getPackageName() + ".provider",
        new File(Editor.this.getFilesDir(), filename));

edited Oct 11 '17 at 15:59

answered Oct 11 '17 at 15:10

Nabin Bhandari

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That's part of my problem though - I have no idea what the path is and how to find it – Giorgio Ghisotti Oct 11 '17 at 15:43
where is the file located in your phone? – Nabin Bhandari Oct 11 '17 at 15:43
I am trying to access the file I just created (with the code I posted), I don't know for sure where the app saves it. – Giorgio Ghisotti Oct 11 '17 at 15:46
Is there a way to specify the path where files are created? I couldn't find instructions on that, all I can find when looking for how to save files internally are examples with just the file name. – Giorgio Ghisotti Oct 11 '17 at 15:50
1

openFileOutput() saves file to internal folder of your app. To get folder to that file you should call getFilesDir(). It should be like this new File(getFilesDir(), fileName); – Thracian Oct 11 '17 at 15:51
I tried this, if fails with the same error, but the path is now /data/data/com.myapp/files/Lorem ipsum.html – Giorgio Ghisotti Oct 11 '17 at 15:56
... And path.xml should be properly configured – Selvin Oct 11 '17 at 16:05
Thank you, I found a mistake in the paths file. Now it works as intended. – Giorgio Ghisotti Oct 11 '17 at 16:09

CodeToLife · Answer 2 · 2018-04-22T13:00:46.150

In res/xml folder paths file change:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <paths> <files-path name="files" path="." /> </paths>

In case if authorities parameter in manifest is :

android:authorities="${applicationId}.provider"

And within the java code :

File file = new File(context.getFilesDir(), fileName);
Uri uri = FileProvider.getUriForFile(context, BuildConfig.APPLICATION_ID + ".provider", file);

Get Uri from file I just created (android)

2 Answers2