How to get the file path from a URI that points to a PDF document?

Question

Right now, my code opens the default download view and it only shows the PDF files that I downloaded. I select a PDF file and I get the following:

Contents: //com.android.providers.downloads.documents/document/1171

I want to do this:

/storage/emulated/0/Download/ch22Databases.pdf

My question is: how do I do this in Android?

My code is:

public void PDF() { PDF = (Button) findViewById(R.id.FindPDFBtn);//Finds the button in design and put it into a button variable. PDF.setOnClickListener(//Listens for a button click. new View.OnClickListener() {//Creates a new click listener. @Override public void onClick(View v) {//does what ever code is in here when the button is clicked Intent intent = new Intent(); intent.setType("application/pdf"); intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT); startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent, "Select a PDF "), SELECT_PDF); } } ); } @Override public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) { super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data); //PDF if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) { if (requestCode == SELECT_PDF) { Uri selectedUri_PDF = data.getData(); SelectedPDF = getPDFPath(selectedUri_PDF); } } } public String getPDFPath(Uri uri) { String[] projection = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA }; Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(uri, projection, null, null, null); int column_index = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA); cursor.moveToFirst(); return cursor.getString(column_index); } 

Answer 1

Add this snippet below to your getPDFPath method:

 public String getPDFPath(Uri uri){ final String id = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri); final Uri contentUri = ContentUris.withAppendedId( Uri.parse("content://downloads/public_downloads"), Long.valueOf(id)); String[] projection = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA }; Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(contentUri, projection, null, null, null); int column_index = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA); cursor.moveToFirst(); return cursor.getString(column_index); } 

In your case, this code is intended specifically for documents from DownloadProvider , for subsequent verification check Paul Burke answer . I personally use its aFileChooser library to avoid such problems.

Answer 2

Below are two solutions

1) You can use the code below. It can process files of any type and from any folder.

 private String getPath(final Uri uri) { final boolean isKitKat = Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT; if(isKitKat) { // MediaStore (and general) return getForApi19(uri); } else if ("content".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) { // Return the remote address if (isGooglePhotosUri(uri)) return uri.getLastPathSegment(); return getDataColumn(uri, null, null); } // File else if ("file".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) { return uri.getPath(); } return null; } @TargetApi(19) private String getForApi19(Uri uri) { Log.e(tag, "+++ API 19 URI :: " + uri); if (DocumentsContract.isDocumentUri(this, uri)) { Log.e(tag, "+++ Document URI"); // ExternalStorageProvider if (isExternalStorageDocument(uri)) { Log.e(tag, "+++ External Document URI"); final String docId = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri); final String[] split = docId.split(":"); final String type = split[0]; if ("primary".equalsIgnoreCase(type)) { Log.e(tag, "+++ Primary External Document URI"); return Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/" + split[1]; } // TODO handle non-primary volumes } // DownloadsProvider else if (isDownloadsDocument(uri)) { Log.e(tag, "+++ Downloads External Document URI"); final String id = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri); final Uri contentUri = ContentUris.withAppendedId( Uri.parse("content://downloads/public_downloads"), Long.valueOf(id)); return getDataColumn(contentUri, null, null); } // MediaProvider else if (isMediaDocument(uri)) { Log.e(tag, "+++ Media Document URI"); final String docId = DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri); final String[] split = docId.split(":"); final String type = split[0]; Uri contentUri = null; if ("image".equals(type)) { Log.e(tag, "+++ Image Media Document URI"); contentUri = MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI; } else if ("video".equals(type)) { Log.e(tag, "+++ Video Media Document URI"); contentUri = MediaStore.Video.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI; } else if ("audio".equals(type)) { Log.e(tag, "+++ Audio Media Document URI"); contentUri = MediaStore.Audio.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI; } final String selection = "_id=?"; final String[] selectionArgs = new String[] { split[1] }; return getDataColumn(contentUri, selection, selectionArgs); } } else if ("content".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) { Log.e(tag, "+++ No DOCUMENT URI :: CONTENT "); // Return the remote address if (isGooglePhotosUri(uri)) return uri.getLastPathSegment(); return getDataColumn(uri, null, null); } // File else if ("file".equalsIgnoreCase(uri.getScheme())) { Log.e(tag, "+++ No DOCUMENT URI :: FILE "); 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 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 String getDataColumn(Uri uri, String selection, String[] selectionArgs) { Cursor cursor = null; final String column = "_data"; final String[] projection = { column }; try { cursor = 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()); } 

This is the best solution for viewing files.

Hope this helps.

Another way

2) Another solution I found is

Add dependency to build.gradle module: application

 compile 'in.gauriinfotech:commons:1.0.8' 

Then in your code use

 String fullPath = Commons.getPath(uri, context); 

Make sure you add permission below in Manifest.xml

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

Answer 3

My question is: how to do this in Android?

No. ACTION_GET_CONTENT has little to do with files.

If you absolutely need a file, use the file selection library , not ACTION_GET_CONTENT .

If you want to use ACTION_GET_CONTENT , stop trying to get the file system path. Use ContentResolver and openInputStream() to read the contents of the content if the Uri has a file , content or android.resource schema. Use the HTTP client API if Uri has an http or https scheme.

Answer 4

Uri uri = intent.getData ();

  String uriString = uri.toString(); File myFile = new File(uriString); final String path = myFile.getAbsolutePath(); String displayName = null; if (uriString.startsWith("content://")) { Cursor cursor = null; try { cursor = getActivity().getContentResolver().query(uri, null, null, null, null); if (cursor != null && cursor.moveToFirst()) { displayName = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME)); tvFile.setVisibility ( View.VISIBLE ); tvFile.setText ( displayName ); final String finalDisplayName = displayName; tvFile.setOnClickListener ( new View.OnClickListener () { @Override public void onClick(View v) { File dir = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory(); File yourFile = new File(dir, path+ finalDisplayName ); Toast.makeText ( getActivity (),"hiiiii"+yourFile,Toast.LENGTH_SHORT ).show (); } } ); //Toast.makeText ( getActivity (),"hii"+displayName,Toast.LENGTH_LONG ).show (); } } finally { cursor.close(); } } else if (uriString.startsWith("file://")) { displayName = myFile.getName(); // Toast.makeText ( getActivity (),"hii"+displayName,Toast.LENGTH_LONG ).show (); } 

Answer 5

I believe that these 2 code examples will help at least someone just as many of them have helped me through this platform. Thanks to stack overflow.

 // method 1 to get the file path from Uri public String getPath(Uri uri) { Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(uri, null, null, null, null); cursor.moveToFirst(); String document_id = cursor.getString(0); document_id = document_id.substring(document_id.lastIndexOf(":") + 1); cursor.close(); cursor = getContentResolver().query(android.provider.MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, null, MediaStore.Images.Media._ID + " = ? ", new String[] { document_id }, null); cursor.moveToFirst(); String path = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA)); cursor.close(); return path; } // method2 to get the file path from uri public String getAnyFilePath(File f, Uri uri){ Intent data; uri = data.getData(); String uriToString = uri.toString(); f = new File(uriToString); String docPath = f.getAbsolutePath(); return docPath; } 

Answer 6

These two lines worked for me

 File dir = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory(); File yourFile = new File(dir, path+ finalDisplayName );