Android Gallery on Android 4.4 (KitKat) returns di

Question

Before KitKat (or before the new Gallery) the Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT returned a URI like this

content://media/external/images/media/3951.

Using the ContentResolver and quering for MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA returned the file URL.

In KitKat however the Gallery returns a URI (via "Last") like this:

content://com.android.providers.media.documents/document/image:3951

How do I handle this?

Answer 1

Had the same problem, tried the solution above but though it worked generally, for some reason I was getting permission denial on Uri content provider for some images although I had the android.permission.MANAGE_DOCUMENTS permission added properly.

Anyway found other solution which is to force opening image gallery instead of KITKAT documents view with :

// KITKAT

i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_PICK,android.provider.MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI);
    startActivityForResult(i, CHOOSE_IMAGE_REQUEST);

and then load the image:

Uri selectedImageURI = data.getData();
input = c.getContentResolver().openInputStream(selectedImageURI);
                BitmapFactory.decodeStream(input , null, opts);

EDIT

ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT might require you to persist permissions flags etc and generally often results in Security Exceptions...

Other solution is to use the ACTION_GET_CONTENT combined with c.getContentResolver().openInputStream(selectedImageURI) which will work both on pre-KK and KK. Kitkat will use new documents view then and this solution will work with all apps like Photos, Gallery, File Explorer, Dropbox, Google Drive etc...) but remember that when using this solution you have to create image in your onActivityResult() and store it on SD Card for example. Recreating this image from saved uri on next app launch would throw Security Exception on content resolver even when you add permission flags as described in Google API docs (that's what happened when I did some testing)

Additionally the Android Developer API Guidelines suggest:

ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT is not intended to be a replacement for ACTION_GET_CONTENT. The one you should use depends on the needs of your app:

Use ACTION_GET_CONTENT if you want your app to simply read/import data. With this approach, the app imports a copy of the data, such as an image file.

Use ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT if you want your app to have long term, persistent access to documents owned by a document provider. An example would be a photo-editing app that lets users edit images stored in a document provider.

Answer 2

Try this:

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT <19){
    Intent intent = new Intent(); 
    intent.setType("image/jpeg");
    intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
    startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent, getResources().getString(R.string.select_picture)),GALLERY_INTENT_CALLED);
} else {
    Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT);
    intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_OPENABLE);
    intent.setType("image/jpeg");
    startActivityForResult(intent, GALLERY_KITKAT_INTENT_CALLED);
}

@Override
public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    if (resultCode != Activity.RESULT_OK) return;
    if (null == data) return;
    Uri originalUri = null;
    if (requestCode == GALLERY_INTENT_CALLED) {
        originalUri = data.getData();
    } else if (requestCode == GALLERY_KITKAT_INTENT_CALLED) {
        originalUri = data.getData();
        final int takeFlags = data.getFlags()
                & (Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION
                | Intent.FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION);
        // Check for the freshest data.
        getContentResolver().takePersistableUriPermission(originalUri, takeFlags);
    }

    loadSomeStreamAsynkTask(originalUri);

}

Probably need

@SuppressLint("NewApi")

for

takePersistableUriPermission

Answer 3

Just as Commonsware mentioned, you shouldn't assume, that the stream you get via ContentResolver is convertable into file.

What you really should do is to open the InputStream from the ContentProvider, then create a Bitmap out of it. And it works on 4.4 and earlier versions as well, no need for reflection.

    //cxt -> current context

    InputStream input;
    Bitmap bmp;
    try {
        input = cxt.getContentResolver().openInputStream(fileUri);
        bmp = BitmapFactory.decodeStream(input);
    } catch (FileNotFoundException e1) {

    }

Of course if you handle big images, you should load them with appropriate inSampleSize: http://developer.android.com/training/displaying-bitmaps/load-bitmap.html. But that's another topic.

Answer 4

Question

How to get an actual file path from a URI

Answer

To my knowledge, we don't need to get the file path from a URI because for most of the cases we can directly use the URI to get our work done (like 1. getting bitmap 2. Sending a file to the server, etc.)

1. Sending to the server

We can directly send the file to the server using just the URI.

Using the URI we can get InputStream, which we can directly send to the server using MultiPartEntity.

Example

/**
 * Used to form Multi Entity for a URI (URI pointing to some file, which we got from other application).
 *
 * @param uri     URI.
 * @param context Context.
 * @return Multi Part Entity.
 */
public MultipartEntity formMultiPartEntityForUri(final Uri uri, final Context context) {
    MultipartEntity multipartEntity = new MultipartEntity(HttpMultipartMode.BROWSER_COMPATIBLE, null, Charset.forName("UTF-8"));
    try {
        InputStream inputStream = mContext.getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);
        if (inputStream != null) {
            ContentBody contentBody = new InputStreamBody(inputStream, getFileNameFromUri(uri, context));
            multipartEntity.addPart("[YOUR_KEY]", contentBody);
        }
    }
    catch (Exception exp) {
        Log.e("TAG", exp.getMessage());
    }
    return multipartEntity;
}

/**
 * Used to get a file name from a URI.
 *
 * @param uri     URI.
 * @param context Context.
 * @return File name from URI.
 */
public String getFileNameFromUri(final Uri uri, final Context context) {

    String fileName = null;
    if (uri != null) {
        // Get file name.
        // File Scheme.
        if (ContentResolver.SCHEME_FILE.equals(uri.getScheme())) {
            File file = new File(uri.getPath());
            fileName = file.getName();
        }
        // Content Scheme.
        else if (ContentResolver.SCHEME_CONTENT.equals(uri.getScheme())) {
            Cursor returnCursor =
                    context.getContentResolver().query(uri, null, null, null, null);
            if (returnCursor != null && returnCursor.moveToFirst()) {
                int nameIndex = returnCursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME);
                fileName = returnCursor.getString(nameIndex);
                returnCursor.close();
            }
        }
    }
    return fileName;
}

2. Getting a BitMap from a URI

If the URI is pointing to image then we will get bitmap, else null:

/**
 * Used to create bitmap for the given URI.
 * <p>
 * 1. Convert the given URI to bitmap.
 * 2. Calculate ratio (depending on bitmap size) on how much we need to subSample the original bitmap.
 * 3. Create bitmap bitmap depending on the ration from URI.
 * 4. Reference - http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3879992/how-to-get-bitmap-from-an-uri
 *
 * @param context       Context.
 * @param uri           URI to the file.
 * @param bitmapSize Bitmap size required in PX.
 * @return Bitmap bitmap created for the given URI.
 * @throws IOException
 */
public static Bitmap createBitmapFromUri(final Context context, Uri uri, final int bitmapSize) throws IOException {

    // 1. Convert the given URI to bitmap.
    InputStream input = context.getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);
    BitmapFactory.Options onlyBoundsOptions = new BitmapFactory.Options();
    onlyBoundsOptions.inJustDecodeBounds = true;
    onlyBoundsOptions.inDither = true;//optional
    onlyBoundsOptions.inPreferredConfig = Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888;//optional
    BitmapFactory.decodeStream(input, null, onlyBoundsOptions);
    input.close();
    if ((onlyBoundsOptions.outWidth == -1) || (onlyBoundsOptions.outHeight == -1)) {
        return null;
    }

    // 2. Calculate ratio.
    int originalSize = (onlyBoundsOptions.outHeight > onlyBoundsOptions.outWidth) ? onlyBoundsOptions.outHeight : onlyBoundsOptions.outWidth;
    double ratio = (originalSize > bitmapSize) ? (originalSize / bitmapSize) : 1.0;

    // 3. Create bitmap.
    BitmapFactory.Options bitmapOptions = new BitmapFactory.Options();
    bitmapOptions.inSampleSize = getPowerOfTwoForSampleRatio(ratio);
    bitmapOptions.inDither = true;//optional
    bitmapOptions.inPreferredConfig = Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888;//optional
    input = context.getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);
    Bitmap bitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeStream(input, null, bitmapOptions);
    input.close();

    return bitmap;
}

/**
 * For Bitmap option inSampleSize - We need to give value in power of two.
 *
 * @param ratio Ratio to be rounded of to power of two.
 * @return Ratio rounded of to nearest power of two.
 */
private static int getPowerOfTwoForSampleRatio(final double ratio) {
    int k = Integer.highestOneBit((int) Math.floor(ratio));
    if (k == 0) return 1;
    else return k;
}

Comments

1. Android doesn't provide any methods to get file path from a URI, and in most of the above answers we have hard coded some constants, which may break in feature release (sorry, I may be wrong).
2. Before going directly going to a solution of the getting file path from a URI, try if you can solve your use case with a URI and Android default methods.

Reference

1. https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/content-provider-basics.html
2. https://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/ContentResolver.html
3. https://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-client-ga/httpmime/apidocs/org/apache/http/entity/mime/content/InputStreamBody.html

Answer 5

This requires no special permissions, and works with the Storage Access Framework, as well as the unofficial ContentProvider pattern (file path in _data field).

/**
 * 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.
 *
 * @param context The context.
 * @param uri The Uri to query.
 * @author paulburke
 */
public static String getPath(final Context context, final Uri uri) {

    final boolean isKitKat = Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT;

    // 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];

            if ("primary".equalsIgnoreCase(type)) {
                return Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/" + split[1];
            }

            // TODO handle non-primary volumes
        }
        // DownloadsProvider
        else if (isDownloadsDocument(uri)) {

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

            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;
            }

            final String selection = "_id=?";
            final String[] selectionArgs = new String[] {
                    split[1]
            };

            return getDataColumn(context, contentUri, selection, selectionArgs);
        }
    }
    // MediaStore (and general)
    else if ("content".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) {

        // Return the remote address
        if (isGooglePhotosUri(uri))
            return uri.getLastPathSegment();

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

    return null;
}

/**
 * Get the value of the data column for this Uri. This is useful for
 * MediaStore Uris, and other file-based ContentProviders.
 *
 * @param context The context.
 * @param uri The Uri to query.
 * @param selection (Optional) Filter used in the query.
 * @param selectionArgs (Optional) Selection arguments used in the query.
 * @return The value of the _data column, which is typically a file path.
 */
public 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.
 */
public 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.
 */
public 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.
 */
public 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.
 */
public static boolean isGooglePhotosUri(Uri uri) {
    return "com.google.android.apps.photos.content".equals(uri.getAuthority());
}

See an up-to-date version of this method here.

Answer 6

Building up on Paul Burke's answer I faced many problems resolving external SD card's URI path as most of the suggested "built-in" functions return paths which do not get resolved to files.

However, this is my approach of his // TODO handle non-primary volumes.

String resolvedPath = "";
File[] possibleExtSdComposites = context.getExternalFilesDirs(null);
for (File f : possibleExtSdComposites) {
    // Reset final path
    resolvedPath = "";

    // Construct list of folders
    ArrayList<String> extSdSplit = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(f.getPath().split("/")));

    // Look for folder "<your_application_id>"
    int idx = extSdSplit.indexOf(BuildConfig.APPLICATION_ID);

    // ASSUMPTION: Expected to be found at depth 2 (in this case ExtSdCard's root is /storage/0000-0000/) - e.g. /storage/0000-0000/Android/data/<your_application_id>/files
    ArrayList<String> hierarchyList = new ArrayList<>(extSdSplit.subList(0, idx - 2));

    // Construct list containing full possible path to the file
    hierarchyList.add(tail);
    String possibleFilePath = TextUtils.join("/", hierarchyList);

    // If file is found --> success
    if (idx != -1 && new File(possibleFilePath).exists()) {
        resolvedPath = possibleFilePath;
        break;
    }
}

if (!resolvedPath.equals("")) {
    return resolvedPath;
} else {
    return null;
}

Note it depends on hierarchy which might be different on every phone manufacturer - I have not tested them all (it worked well so far on Xperia Z3 API 23 and Samsung Galaxy A3 API 23).

Please confirm if it does not perform well elsewhere.