cordova.file is undefined in ionic project for android

Question

I'm trying to build an ionic app for android . I need to read a file from the sdcard for which I'm using ngcordova plugin . I have required ngCordova in the angular module in app.js I am injecting the ngcordova before the cordova.js in my index.html . Installed it using

cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-file

I have injected $cordovaFile in my controller.

Whenever I try to read a file using the below code, I get the error, cannot read property externalDataDirectory of undefined

      $ionicPlatform.ready(function() {
            console.log('cordova.file.externalDataDirectory: ' + cordova.file.externalDataDirectory);
            myFsRootDirectory1 = 'file:///storage/emulated/0/'; // path for tablet
            myFsRootDirectory2 = 'file:///storage/sdcard0/'; // path for phone
            fileTransferDir = cordova.file.externalDataDirectory;
            if (fileTransferDir.indexOf(myFsRootDirectory1) === 0) {
                fileDir = fileTransferDir.replace(myFsRootDirectory1, '');
            }
            if (fileTransferDir.indexOf(myFsRootDirectory2) === 0) {
                fileDir = fileTransferDir.replace(myFsRootDirectory2, '');
            }
            console.log('Android FILETRANSFERDIR: ' + fileTransferDir);
            console.log('Android FILEDIR: ' + fileDir);

            $cordovaFile.readAsText(fileDir + 'a.csv').then(function(result) {
                    console.log('readAsText: ', result);
                    alert(result)
                })
                .catch(function(err) {
                    alert(err)
                });
        })

I have tried to print the cordova as well, but it does not contain the file object

     $ionicPlatform.ready(function() {
        alert(angular.toJson(window.cordova))
    })

I have also done build cordova android removed and added the cordova plugin rm cordova-plugin-file cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-file

Here are the versions:

"ionic": "driftyco/ionic-bower#1.3.1",
"ngCordova": "^0.1.27-alpha"

I'm testing this on the device and building a new apk each time for testing, not in webview .

Please help me resolve this issue or if you could recommend me a different method to get around this issue, that would be great!

Thanks for the answers

Answer 1

Updated the config.xml file with any extra plugin configuration, maybe this solves the problem you are facing. Check the plugin documentation for more information.

<preference name="AndroidPersistentFileLocation" value="Compatibility" />             
<preference name="AndroidExtraFilesystems" value="sdcard,cache" />

More information Plugin website

Update - try following

npm update -g
cordova -v
cordova platform list
cordova platform update ios (or whatever platforms)
cordova platform list
cordova plugin list
-- now either do a cordova plugin remove/add for each plugin to update
-- OR with ionic use ionic state reset and it will install all from package.json