How can I share files in my app's private data directory?

[Anke]

@Michael_Wood

I have tried saving the file to the path given by Anke's ASD extension but this doesn't work.

What does not work?
Show your blocks.

[patel]

@patel

why using these blocks I can not share the file ?

The blocks was correct, but file1 was in legacy mode, when unchecked no problem to find file for sharing

[Michael_Wood]

Thanks very much for all your suggestions. However I have still not succeeded.

The blocks I've been using for my experiments are along these lines (the app name is FE3):

If I put test.txt in TextBox1_SaveFileName, what should I put in TextBox2_ShareFileName?

(If the filename in TextBox1 is prefaced by / (/test.txt) then there is no problem: /sdcard/test.txt in TextBox2 works and I can share the file. But apparently (http://appinventor.mit.edu/blogs/evan/2020/08/08/file-path-updates-android-10) this will no longer be allowed in later versions of Android.)

The experiments described below are done on Android 8.1.0 but I think my experiments with Android 10 were similar.

I've tried putting the following in TextBox2:

test.txt

/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/appinventor.ai_mickofemsworth.FE3/files/test.txt
(This is based on Anke's ASD extension.)

file:///emulated/0/Android/data/appinventor.ai_mickofemsworth.FE3/files/test.txt

These all resulted in file not found errors.

This is based on the assumption that the ASD is the same as the private directory. Taifun says this is not so, so I found a path for the private directory somewhere (one of Anke's posts?):
/data/user/0/appinventor.ai_mickofemsworth.FE3/files/test.txt
which resulted in a different error: "failed to find configured root that contains .../data/data/app...

I also tried putting
storage/emulated/0/Android/data/appinventor.ai_mickofemsworth.FE3/files/test.txt
in TextBox1_SaveFile - this produced a file could not be created error.

Any ideas? Thanks!

[patel]

it seems you didn't read this discussion

[Michael_Wood]

I'm slightly confused about which discussion you are referring to. One of your posts is about saving a file called /test.txt or /a.txt. This isn't a problem because I can share using /sdcard/test.txt. The problem is when there's no / so the file is stored in the app's private directory.

[Taifun]

@Michael_Wood

I've tried putting the following in TextBox2:

test.txt

you might want to read starting from here again

How can I share files in my app's private data directory?

you are storing the file to the private app directory but you are trying to share it from the application specific directory, which is different you might want to save the file to the ASD, you can use a method rom @Anke's extension for this... Taifun Trying to push the limits! Snippets, Tutorials and Extensions from Pura Vida Apps by [image] Taifun.

Taifun

[patel]

@Anke

The Sharing component cannot share a file from the Private dir.

@Michael, See post 11 and 13, you have to save in ASD, not in private dir

[Michael_Wood]

I've tried saving to the ASD with this block:

but this does not work. I'm not sure what you (Taifun) mean: I only found three blocks in Anke's extension. I tried running the create ASD directory block before the SaveFile block but that still led to a could not create file error.

[Michael_Wood]

I am BTW @Michael_Wood.

[Taifun]

you have to remove /storage/emulated/0 from the result provided by the AppSpecificDirectory method to get a relative path as explained by @Anke here

How can I share files in my app's private data directory?

There is a bug with the Sharing component. → @ewpatton It needs the absolute path, but the File.AfterFileSaved event returns the relative path. Therefore try this: [grafik]

I agree it is a bit "complicated"...

it helps to be familiar with Do it... , see also tip 4 here App Inventor: How to Learn | Pura Vida Apps
see also Live Development, Testing, and Debugging Tools

Taifun

[Michael_Wood]

I have just tried this by putting t1 in TextBox1_SaveFile in the app with the blocks in post 20 above, and
/Android/data/appinventor.ai_mickofemsworth.FE3/files/t1
in TextBox2_ShareFile.
Have I got this right? I'm afraid it doesn't work.
(I'm not using the AI Companion and Do it because this just adds another layer of complication, and by putting suggestions in textboxes I can easily check if something works.)
Thanks for your help!

[patel]

When saving you don't need extension you can use /filename, you need it only when sharing

[Anke]

@Michael_Wood

Have I got this right? I'm afraid it doesn't work.

Try this APK:

fileSaveShare.apk

It should work on all Android versions.

[Taifun]

@Michael_Wood

Have I got this right? I'm afraid it doesn't work.

without seeing your blocks how can anyone help?

@Michael_Wood

(I'm not using the AI Companion and Do it because this just adds another layer of complication,

you are currently using the community as debugger... and you started asking on Oct 22, now is Nov 6...
using the companion app and Do it would help you to find out what you are doing much faster (in minutes not in days)

Taifun

[Michael_Wood]

Many thanks Anke. The apk seems to work as I can share the file and it is not saved in the root directory. I initially thought that as the file saved is /filename.txt (with the /) it would be saved in the root directory which will not be allowed in later versions of Android. But I'm obviously wrong. I will use your blocks to experiment when I've got more time tomorrow. Thanks again!

[Michael_Wood]

I really thought I'd tried the suggested path for saving in pre-10 versions of Android, but I obviously made a mistake because it works today. I think I've got the hang of it now. I'll post a summary of the answer to my original question in the next day or so.

In the meantime I've got just one further question - where do I find the ApiLevel block?

Thanks again.

[patel]

@Michael_Wood

where do I find the ApiLevel block?

you need this extension

Get the API Level of the device

This is an extension to get the API level of the device from the Android version that is currently running. de.bodymindpower.GetApiLevel.aix (4.8 KB) That's all: [grafik] Update (Dec. 30, 2021, ver 3): GetApiLevel_3.aix (5.0 KB) [grafik]

[MohamedTamer]

Please don't post direct download links to extensions, give a link to the extension's topic instead:

@patel

you need this extension
direct download link removed, see the answer from @mohamed_tamer below

[Michael_Wood]

So the answer to my question is that I can't share files in the app's private directory, but I can share them from the app specific directory. To do this I need to save a file as
/filename.txt in Android 10
and as
/Android/data/appinventor.ai_mickofemsworth.FE4/files/filename.txt in earlier versions of Android.
In both cases the file path for sharing is
/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/appinventor.ai_mickofemsworth.FE4/files/filename.txt
(The app name is FE4 and my username is mickofemsworth.)

I wonder why I didn't think of this!

My version of Anke's blocks is:

This seems to work well on Android 10 and 8.10.

Many thanks for all your help.