Failing to get actual file path from storage in android

Question

I have been trying to upload a file to a server using a multi-part API. To do this, I am firing an implicit intent so that the user can select a file from the device's storage. In onActivityResult, I do the following steps:

1. Get Uri from the Intent object
2. Get the file path from that fetched Uri
3. Create a File object from the file path
4. Call the API and upload the file

Now I am facing challenges in fetching the pdf file path in Step 2. I have gone through a lot of articles and found a piece of code that everyone has shared but is not working for all the devices. Here is the snippet:

public class FileUtils {
    private static Uri contentUri = null;

    /**
     * Get a file path from a Uri. This will get the the path for Storage Access
     * Framework Documents, as well as the _data field for the MediaStore and
     * other file-based ContentProviders.<br>
     * <br>
     *
     * @param context The context.
     * @param uri     The Uri to query.
     */
    @SuppressLint("NewApi")
    public static String getPath(final Context context, final Uri uri) {
        // check here to KITKAT or new version
        final boolean isKitKat = Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT;
        String selection = null;
        String[] selectionArgs = null;
        // DocumentProvider
        if (isKitKat && DocumentsContract.isDocumentUri(context, uri)) {
            // ExternalStorageProvider
            if (isExternalStorageDocument(uri)) {
                final String docId = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri);
                final String[] split = docId.split(":");
                final String type = split[0];

                String fullPath = getPathFromExtSD(split);
                if (fullPath != "") {
                    return fullPath;
                } else {
                    return null;
                }
            }

            // DownloadsProvider
            else if (isDownloadsDocument(uri)) {
                if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.M) {
                    final String id;
                    Cursor cursor = null;
                    try {
                        cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, new String[]{MediaStore.MediaColumns.DISPLAY_NAME}, null, null, null);
                        if (cursor != null && cursor.moveToFirst()) {
                            String fileName = cursor.getString(0);
                            String path = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().toString() + "/Download/" + fileName;
                            if (!TextUtils.isEmpty(path)) {
                                return path;
                            }
                        }
                    } finally {
                        if (cursor != null)
                            cursor.close();
                    }
                    id = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri);
                    if (!TextUtils.isEmpty(id)) {
                        if (id.startsWith("raw:")) {
                            return id.replaceFirst("raw:", "");
                        }
                        String[] contentUriPrefixesToTry = new String[]{
                                "content://downloads/public_downloads",
                                "content://downloads/my_downloads"
                        };
                        for (String contentUriPrefix : contentUriPrefixesToTry) {
                            try {
                                final Uri contentUri = ContentUris.withAppendedId(Uri.parse(contentUriPrefix), Long.valueOf(id));

                         /*   final Uri contentUri = ContentUris.withAppendedId(
                                    Uri.parse("content://downloads/public_downloads"), Long.valueOf(id));*/

                                return getDataColumn(context, contentUri, null, null);
                            } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
                                //In Android 8 and Android P the id is not a number
                                return uri.getPath().replaceFirst("^/document/raw:", "").replaceFirst("^raw:", "");
                            }
                        }


                    }

                } else {
                    final String id = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri);
                    final boolean isOreo = Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O;
                    if (id.startsWith("raw:")) {
                        return id.replaceFirst("raw:", "");
                    }
                    try {
                        contentUri = ContentUris.withAppendedId(
                                Uri.parse("content://downloads/public_downloads"), Long.valueOf(id));

                    } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
                        e.printStackTrace();
                    }
                    if (contentUri != null) {
                        return getDataColumn(context, contentUri, null, null);
                    }
                }


            }
            // MediaProvider
            else if (isMediaDocument(uri)) {
                final String docId = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri);
                final String[] split = docId.split(":");
                final String type = split[0];

                Uri contentUri = null;

                if ("image".equals(type)) {
                    contentUri = MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
                } else if ("video".equals(type)) {
                    contentUri = MediaStore.Video.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
                } else if ("audio".equals(type)) {
                    contentUri = MediaStore.Audio.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
                }
                  selection = "_id=?";
                 selectionArgs = new String[]{split[1]};


                return getDataColumn(context, contentUri, selection,
                        selectionArgs);
            } else if (isGoogleDriveUri(uri)) {
                return getDriveFilePath(uri, context);
            }
        }


        // MediaStore (and general)
        else if ("content".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) {

            if (isGooglePhotosUri(uri)) {
                return uri.getLastPathSegment();
            }

            if (isGoogleDriveUri(uri)) {
                return getDriveFilePath(uri, context);
            }
             if( Build.VERSION.SDK_INT == Build.VERSION_CODES.N)
             {
                // return getFilePathFromURI(context,uri);
                 return getMediaFilePathForN(uri, context);
                // return getRealPathFromURI(context,uri);
             }else
             {

                 return getDataColumn(context, uri, null, null);
             }


        }
        // File
        else if ("file".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) {
            return uri.getPath();
        }

        return null;
    }

    /**
     * Check if a file exists on device
     *
     * @param filePath The absolute file path
     */
    private static boolean fileExists(String filePath) {
        File file = new File(filePath);

        return file.exists();
    }


    /**
     * Get full file path from external storage
     *
     * @param pathData The storage type and the relative path
     */
    private static String getPathFromExtSD(String[] pathData) {
        final String type = pathData[0];
        final String relativePath = "/" + pathData[1];
        String fullPath = "";

        // on my Sony devices (4.4.4 & 5.1.1), `type` is a dynamic string
        // something like "71F8-2C0A", some kind of unique id per storage
        // don't know any API that can get the root path of that storage based on its id.
        //
        // so no "primary" type, but let the check here for other devices
        if ("primary".equalsIgnoreCase(type)) {
            fullPath = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + relativePath;
            if (fileExists(fullPath)) {
                return fullPath;
            }
        }

        // Environment.isExternalStorageRemovable() is `true` for external and internal storage
        // so we cannot relay on it.
        //
        // instead, for each possible path, check if file exists
        // we'll start with secondary storage as this could be our (physically) removable sd card
        fullPath = System.getenv("SECONDARY_STORAGE") + relativePath;
        if (fileExists(fullPath)) {
            return fullPath;
        }

        fullPath = System.getenv("EXTERNAL_STORAGE") + relativePath;
        if (fileExists(fullPath)) {
            return fullPath;
        }

        return fullPath;
    }

    private static String getDriveFilePath(Uri uri, Context context) {
        Uri returnUri = uri;
        Cursor returnCursor = context.getContentResolver().query(returnUri, null, null, null, null);
        /*
         * Get the column indexes of the data in the Cursor,
         *     * move to the first row in the Cursor, get the data,
         *     * and display it.
         * */
        int nameIndex = returnCursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME);
        int sizeIndex = returnCursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.SIZE);
        returnCursor.moveToFirst();
        String name = (returnCursor.getString(nameIndex));
        String size = (Long.toString(returnCursor.getLong(sizeIndex)));
        File file = new File(context.getCacheDir(), name);
        try {
            InputStream inputStream = context.getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);
            FileOutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream(file);
            int read = 0;
            int maxBufferSize = 1 * 1024 * 1024;
            int bytesAvailable = inputStream.available();

            //int bufferSize = 1024;
            int bufferSize = Math.min(bytesAvailable, maxBufferSize);

            final byte[] buffers = new byte[bufferSize];
            while ((read = inputStream.read(buffers)) != -1) {
                outputStream.write(buffers, 0, read);
            }
            Log.e("File Size", "Size " + file.length());
            inputStream.close();
            outputStream.close();
            Log.e("File Path", "Path " + file.getPath());
            Log.e("File Size", "Size " + file.length());
        } catch (Exception e) {
            Log.e("Exception", e.getMessage());
        }
        return file.getPath();
    }

    private static String getMediaFilePathForN(Uri uri, Context context) {
        Uri returnUri = uri;
        Cursor returnCursor = context.getContentResolver().query(returnUri, null, null, null, null);
        /*
         * Get the column indexes of the data in the Cursor,
         *     * move to the first row in the Cursor, get the data,
         *     * and display it.
         * */
        int nameIndex = returnCursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME);
        int sizeIndex = returnCursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.SIZE);
        returnCursor.moveToFirst();
        String name = (returnCursor.getString(nameIndex));
        String size = (Long.toString(returnCursor.getLong(sizeIndex)));
        File file = new File(context.getFilesDir(), name);
        try {
            InputStream inputStream = context.getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);
            FileOutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream(file);
            int read = 0;
            int maxBufferSize = 1 * 1024 * 1024;
            int bytesAvailable = inputStream.available();

            //int bufferSize = 1024;
            int bufferSize = Math.min(bytesAvailable, maxBufferSize);

            final byte[] buffers = new byte[bufferSize];
            while ((read = inputStream.read(buffers)) != -1) {
                outputStream.write(buffers, 0, read);
            }
            Log.e("File Size", "Size " + file.length());
            inputStream.close();
            outputStream.close();
            Log.e("File Path", "Path " + file.getPath());
            Log.e("File Size", "Size " + file.length());
        } catch (Exception e) {
            Log.e("Exception", e.getMessage());
        }
        return file.getPath();
    }


    private static String getDataColumn(Context context, Uri uri,
                                        String selection, String[] selectionArgs) {
        Cursor cursor = null;
        final String column = "_data";
        final String[] projection = {column};

        try {
            cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, projection,
                    selection, selectionArgs, null);

            if (cursor != null && cursor.moveToFirst()) {
                final int index = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(column);
                return cursor.getString(index);
            }
        } finally {
            if (cursor != null)
                cursor.close();
        }

        return null;
    }

    /**
     * @param uri - The Uri to check.
     * @return - Whether the Uri authority is ExternalStorageProvider.
     */
    private static boolean isExternalStorageDocument(Uri uri) {
        return "com.android.externalstorage.documents".equals(uri.getAuthority());
    }

    /**
     * @param uri - The Uri to check.
     * @return - Whether the Uri authority is DownloadsProvider.
     */
    private static boolean isDownloadsDocument(Uri uri) {
        return "com.android.providers.downloads.documents".equals(uri.getAuthority());
    }

    /**
     * @param uri - The Uri to check.
     * @return - Whether the Uri authority is MediaProvider.
     */
    private static boolean isMediaDocument(Uri uri) {
        return "com.android.providers.media.documents".equals(uri.getAuthority());
    }

    /**
     * @param uri - The Uri to check.
     * @return - Whether the Uri authority is Google Photos.
     */
    private static boolean isGooglePhotosUri(Uri uri) {
        return "com.google.android.apps.photos.content".equals(uri.getAuthority());
    }


    /**
     * @param uri The Uri to check.
     * @return Whether the Uri authority is Google Drive.
     */
    private static boolean isGoogleDriveUri(Uri uri) {
        return "com.google.android.apps.docs.storage".equals(uri.getAuthority()) || "com.google.android.apps.docs.storage.legacy".equals(uri.getAuthority());
    }


}

But this piece of code does not work on all devices. It tries to fetch the content from _data column(which stores the actual file path) using the content resolver.

After some hit and trial, I was able to fetch the path on some more devices by adding a case in the below piece of code:

else if (isMediaDocument(uri)){
      ...
      if ("image".equals(type)) {
            contentUri = MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
      } else if ("video".equals(type)) {
            contentUri = MediaStore.Video.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
      } else if ("audio".equals(type)) {
            contentUri = MediaStore.Audio.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
      } 
      // Below case is the new addition
      else if ("document".equals(type)) {
            contentUri = MediaStore.getMediaUri(context, uri);
      }
      ...
}

To solve for all the devices, I dug a bit deeper. Upon debugging further and fetching all the columns, I came to know that this _data is not present in some devices and that's where it fails and leads to a crash.

java.lang.IllegalStateException: java.io.FileNotFoundException: No root for document on this line of code contentUri = MediaStore.getMediaUri(context, uri);

Looking for a solution which solves for all the devices. Thanks !

Answer 1

Thanks to @momvart and https://stackoverflow.com/a/60538917/3876954

I was able to solve this problem. Here's the answer:

public class FileSelectionUtils {

public static void copyStream(InputStream source, OutputStream target) throws IOException {
    byte[] buf = new byte[8192];
    int length;
    while ((length = source.read(buf)) != -1) {
        target.write(buf, 0, length);
    }
}

public static Uri getFilePathFromUri(Context context, Uri uri) throws IOException {
    String fileName = getFileName(context, uri);
    File file = new File(context.getExternalCacheDir(), fileName);
    file.createNewFile();
    try (OutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream(file);
         InputStream inputStream = context.getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri)) {
        FileSelectionUtils.copyStream(inputStream, outputStream); //Simply reads input to output stream

        outputStream.flush();
    }
    return Uri.fromFile(file);
}

public static String getFileName(Context context, Uri uri) {
    String fileName = getFileNameFromCursor(context, uri);
    if (fileName == null) {
        String fileExtension = getFileExtension(context, uri);
        fileName = "temp_file" + (fileExtension != null ? "." + fileExtension : "");
    } else if (!fileName.contains(".")) {
        String fileExtension = getFileExtension(context, uri);
        fileName = fileName + "." + fileExtension;
    }
    return fileName;
}

public static String getFileExtension(Context context, Uri uri) {
    String fileType = context.getContentResolver().getType(uri);
    return MimeTypeMap.getSingleton().getExtensionFromMimeType(fileType);
}

public static String getFileNameFromCursor(Context context, Uri uri) {
    Cursor fileCursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, new String[]{OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME}, null, null, null);
    String fileName = null;
    if (fileCursor != null && fileCursor.moveToFirst()) {
        int cIndex = fileCursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME);
        if (cIndex != -1) {
            fileName = fileCursor.getString(cIndex);
        }
    }
    return fileName;
}
}