Can't access file in the raw folder

Question

I'm new to Android development. I have a test.txt file in the res\\raw folder. For some reason, I'm not able to access it.

Here's the code I'm using just to test. How come file.exists() returns false ?

final String path = "android.resource://" + getActivity().getPackageName() + "/raw/test.txt";
final Uri uri = Uri.parse(path);

final File file = new File(uri.getPath());
boolean exists = file.exists(); // Returns false.

By the way, I need to get the Uri of the file. I need that in order to be able to use an existing function that accepts a Uri as an argument.

Answer 1

How come file.exists() returns false?

First, a resource is a file on your development machine. It is not a file on the device.

Second, getPath() on Uri simply returns the path portion of the Uri . In your case, that is /raw/test.txt . If the Uri were the https URL of your question, the path would be /questions/56090894/cant-access-file-in-the-raw-folder . Neither of those would be valid filesystem paths on any Android device. You cannot take semi-random strings, pass them to the File constructor, and expect them to have meaning.

I need to get the Uri of the file

If you really mean "get a Uri for the resource", you are welcome to try your uri . The android.resource scheme is a bit obscure, and so there is a good chance that the function that you are using will not support it.

In that case, you will need to:

• Open an InputStream on your raw resource ( getResources().openRawResource() on a Context )
• Open a FileOutputStream on some file that you control (eg, in getCacheDir() )
• Copy the bytes from the InputStream to the OutputStream
• Try Uri.fromFile() to create a Uri for the library

It is also possible that the function is expecting some other sort of Uri . Since we do not know what function this is, we cannot review its documentation (if it has any) and tell you what it may or may not be expecting.