Pick any kind of file via an Intent in Android
AndroidFileAndroid IntentIntentfilterAndroid Problem Overview
I would like to start an intentchooser for apps which can return any kind of file
Currently I use (which I copied from the Android email source code for file attachment)
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_OPENABLE);
intent.setType("*/*");
Intent i = Intent.createChooser(intent, "File");
startActivityForResult(i, CHOOSE_FILE_REQUESTCODE);
But it only shows "Gallery" and "Music player" on my Galaxy S2. There is a file explorer on this device and I would like it to appear in the list. I would also like the camera app to show in the list, so that the user can shoot a picture and send it through my app. If I install Astro file manager it will respond to that intent, too. My customers are Galaxy SII owners only and I don't want to force them to install Astro file manager given that they already have a basic but sufficient file manager.
Any idea of how I could achieve this ? I am pretty sure that I already saw the default file manager appear in such a menu to pick a file, but I can't remember in which app.
Android Solutions
Solution 1 - Android
Not for camera but for other files..
In my device I have ES File Explorer
installed and This simply thing works in my case..
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
intent.setType("file/*");
startActivityForResult(intent, PICKFILE_REQUEST_CODE);
Solution 2 - Android
Samsung file explorer needs not only custom action (com.sec.android.app.myfiles.PICK_DATA), but also category part (Intent.CATEGORY_DEFAULT) and mime-type should be passed as extra.
Intent intent = new Intent("com.sec.android.app.myfiles.PICK_DATA");
intent.putExtra("CONTENT_TYPE", "*/*");
intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_DEFAULT);
You can also use this action for opening multiple files: com.sec.android.app.myfiles.PICK_DATA_MULTIPLE Anyway here is my solution which works on Samsung and other devices:
public void openFile(String mimeType) {
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
intent.setType(mimeType);
intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_OPENABLE);
// special intent for Samsung file manager
Intent sIntent = new Intent("com.sec.android.app.myfiles.PICK_DATA");
// if you want any file type, you can skip next line
sIntent.putExtra("CONTENT_TYPE", mimeType);
sIntent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_DEFAULT);
Intent chooserIntent;
if (getPackageManager().resolveActivity(sIntent, 0) != null){
// it is device with Samsung file manager
chooserIntent = Intent.createChooser(sIntent, "Open file");
chooserIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_INITIAL_INTENTS, new Intent[] { intent});
} else {
chooserIntent = Intent.createChooser(intent, "Open file");
}
try {
startActivityForResult(chooserIntent, CHOOSE_FILE_REQUESTCODE);
} catch (android.content.ActivityNotFoundException ex) {
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "No suitable File Manager was found.", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
}
This solution works well for me, and maybe will be useful for someone else.
Solution 3 - Android
this work for me on galaxy note its show contacts, file managers installed on device, gallery, music player
private void openFile(Int CODE) {
Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
i.setType("*/*");
startActivityForResult(intent, CODE);
}
here get path in onActivityResult
of activity.
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
String Fpath = data.getDataString();
// do somthing...
super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
}
Solution 4 - Android
This gives me the best result:
Intent intent;
if (android.os.Build.MANUFACTURER.equalsIgnoreCase("samsung")) {
intent = new Intent("com.sec.android.app.myfiles.PICK_DATA");
intent.putExtra("CONTENT_TYPE", "*/*");
intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_DEFAULT);
} else {
String[] mimeTypes =
{"application/msword", "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document", // .doc & .docx
"application/vnd.ms-powerpoint", "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation", // .ppt & .pptx
"application/vnd.ms-excel", "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet", // .xls & .xlsx
"text/plain",
"application/pdf",
"application/zip", "application/vnd.android.package-archive"};
intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT); // or ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT
intent.setType("*/*");
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_MIME_TYPES, mimeTypes);
intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_OPENABLE);
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_LOCAL_ONLY, true);
}
Solution 5 - Android
Turns out the Samsung file explorer uses a custom action. This is why I could see the Samsung file explorer when looking for a file from the samsung apps, but not from mine.
The action is "com.sec.android.app.myfiles.PICK_DATA"
I created a custom Activity Picker which displays activities filtering both intents.
Solution 6 - Android
If you want to know this, it exists an open source library called aFileDialog that it is an small and easy to use which provides a file picker.
The difference with another file chooser's libraries for Android is that aFileDialog gives you the option to open the file chooser as a Dialog and as an Activity.
It also lets you to select folders, create files, filter files using regular expressions and show confirmation dialogs.
Solution 7 - Android
The other answers are not incorrect. However, now there are more options for opening files. For example, if you want the app to have long term, permanent acess to a file, you can use ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT
instead. Refer to the official documentation: Open files using storage access framework. Also refer to this answer.