How do I get a file system path from an OPEN_DOCUMENT intent?

Question

I'm building an android app in which I have to read a file from the Downloads folder of my Motorola G 2015 phone running Android Marshmallow (API v23).

To achieve this I'd like to choose the file via an OPEN_DOCUMENT or GET_CONTENT intent to leverage existing file-browsers on the user's phone, rather than implementing my own.

My manifest declares :

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />

I have tried to receive the result from the intent like this:

@Override
public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
    switch (item.getItemId()) {
        case action_choose_file:
            Intent chooseFile;
            Intent intent;
            chooseFile = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT);
            chooseFile.setType("application/epub+zip");
            intent = Intent.createChooser(chooseFile, "Choose a file");
            startActivityForResult(intent, ACTIVITY_CHOOSE_FILE);
            return true;
        .....
    }
}

To process the result I do this:

 protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    switch (requestCode) {
        case ACTIVITY_CHOOSE_FILE: {
            if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
                Uri uri = data.getData();
                String filePath = uri.getPath();
                final InputStream in = new FileInputStream(filePath);
            }
            break;
    ....
    }
}

However new FileInputStream fails with a ENOENT - file does not exist exception, and logging filePath reveals that it's value is something like /documents/2055 rather than the real filepath.

I suspect that I need something like querying DocumentProvider , but I could not find a case similar to mine. It's worth mentioning that a couple of years ago my code used to work pretty much like this so I suspect something changed about the way android handles file access.

How do I access a file from the Downloads location of my android phone?

Answer 1

How do I get a file system path from an OPEN_DOCUMENT intent?

You don't. There is no requirement that there be a file for that Uri , let alone one that you can access.

However new FileInputStream fails with a ENOENT- file does not exist exception, and logging filePath reveals that it's value is something like /documents/2055 rather than the real filepath.

Use a ContentResolver and openInputStream() and/or openOutputStream() to get a stream on the data represented by that Uri .

How do I access a file from the Downloads location of my android phone?

Either use an existing file-browsing library , or write your own file-browsing UI. The Storage Access Framework ( ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT and kin) is for allowing the user to choose the content from where the user has chosen to store it, whether that be in a Downloads/ directory, or Google Drive, or Dropbox, or anywhere else.