I´m developing an app that is reading jpeg and pdf files from a configurable location on the filesystem.
Currently there is a running version implemented in WPF and now I´m trying to move to the new Windows Universal apps.
The following code works fine with WPF:
public IList<string> GetFilesByNumber(string path, string number)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(path))
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(path));
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(number))
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(number));
if (!Directory.Exists(path))
throw new DirectoryNotFoundException(path);
var files = Directory.GetFiles(path, \"*\" + number + \"*\",
SearchOption.AllDirectories);
if (files == null || files.Length == 0)
return null;
return files;
}
With using Universal Apps I ran into some problems:
Directory.Exists
is not available
- How can I read from directories outside of my app storage?
To read from an other directory outside the app storage I tried the following:
StorageFolder folder = StorageFolder.GetFolderFromPathAsync(\"D:\\\\texts\\\\\");
var fileTypeFilter = new string[] { \".pdf\", \".jpg\" };
QueryOptions queryOptions = new QueryOptions(CommonFileQuery.OrderBySearchRank, fileTypeFilter);
queryOptions.UserSearchFilter = \"142\";
StorageFileQueryResult queryResult = folder.CreateFileQueryWithOptions(queryOptions);
IReadOnlyList<StorageFile> files = queryResult.GetFilesAsync().GetResults();
The thing is: It isn´t working, but I get an exception:
An exception of type \'System.UnauthorizedAccessException\' occurred in TextManager.Universal.DataAccess.dll but was not handled in user code
Additional information: Access is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED))
I know that you have to configure some permissions in the manifest, but I can´t find one suitable for filesystem IO operations...
Did someone also have such problems/a possible solution?
Solution:
From the solutions that @Rico Suter gave me, I chosed the FutureAccessList in combination with the FolderPicker. It is also possible to access the entry with the Token after the program was restarted.
I can also recommend you the UX Guidlines and this Github sample.
Thank you very much!
In UWP apps, you can only access the following files and folders:
- Directories which are declared in the manifest file (e.g. Documents, Pictures, Videos folder)
- Directories and files which the user manually selected with the FileOpenPicker or FolderPicker
- Files from the FutureAccessList or MostRecentlyUsedList
- Files which are opened with a file extension association or via sharing
If you need access to all files in D:\\
, the user must manually pick the D:\\
drive using the FolderPicker, then you have access to everything in this drive...
UPDATE:
Windows 10 build 17134 (2018 April Update, version 1803) added additional file system access capabilities for UWP apps:
Any UWP app (either a regular windowed app or a console app) that declares an AppExecutionAlias
is now granted implicit access to the files and folders in the current working directory and downward, when it’s activated from a command line. The current working directory is from whatever file-system location the user chooses to execute your AppExecutionAlias.
The new broadFileSystemAccess
capability grants apps the same access to the file system as the user who is currently running the app without file-picker style prompts. This access can be set in the manifest in the following manner:
xmlns:rescap=\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/foundation/windows10/restrictedcapabilities\"
...
IgnorableNamespaces=\"uap mp uap5 rescap\">
...
<Capabilities>
<rescap:Capability Name=\"broadFileSystemAccess\" />
</Capabilities>
These changes and their intention are discussed at length in the MSDN Magazine article titled Universal Windows Platform - Closing UWP-Win32 Gaps. The articles notes the following:
If you declare any restricted capability, this triggers additional
scrutiny at the time you submit your package to the Store for
publication. ... You don’t need an AppExecutionAlias
if you have this
capability. Because this is such a powerful feature, Microsoft will
grant the capability only if the app developer provides compelling
reasons for the request, a description of how this will be used, and
an explanation of how this benefits the user.
further:
If you declare the broadFileSystemAccess
capability, you don’t need to
declare any of the more narrowly scoped file-system capabilities
(Documents, Pictures or Videos); indeed, an app must not declare both
broadFileSystemAccess
and any of the other three file-system
capabilities.
finally:
Even after the app has been granted the capability, there’s also a
runtime check, because this constitutes a privacy concern for the
user. Just like other privacy issues, the app will trigger a
user-consent prompt on first use. If the user chooses to deny
permission, the app must be resilient to this.
The accepted answer is no longer complete. It is now possible to declare broadFileSystemAccess
in the app manifest to arbitrarily read the file system.
The File Access Permissions page has details.
Note that the user can still revoke this permission via the settings app.
According to MSDN doc : \"The file picker allows an app to access files and folders, to attach files and folders, to open a file, and to save a file.\"
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh465182.aspx
You can read a file using the filepicker through a standard user interface.
Regards
this is not true:
Files which are opened with a file extension association or via sharing
try it, by opening files from mail (outlook) or from the desktop...
it simply does not work
you first have to grant the rights by the file picker.
so this ist sh...