Loading html file from local folder into webview

Question

I'm new to Android development.

I want to load a html file into a webview.

Note that there are so many relevant questions on SO like this, but they all deal with getting **.html* from assets folder.

But I want to load html file from local folder, say "D://abc.html" because if my html is around 10Mb then corresponding apk size also goes upto 10mb.

Any help appreciated.

EDIT

I tried webView.loadUrl("file:///D:/Projects/myWebsite/index.html");

but it gives Web page not available and File not found error.

score 47 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

47

You can use:


   WebView webView = // ...

   webView.loadUrl("file:///myPath/myFile.html");

In an Android application, files can be read from 3 types of locations:

Internal storage: Each app has its own, file names are relative to this location. URL takes form file:///myFolder/myFile.html
External storage: Needs permission and may not always be available. Get the root folder by calling Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory(). So, construct the URL using: String url = "file:///" + Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().toString() + File.separator + "myFolder/myFile.html"
Assets: Stored in the apk. Read-only access. URL takes form file:///android_asset/myFolder/myFile.html (See also Loading an Android Resource into a WebView)

edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

Community

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answered Apr 19 '12 at 07:51

Tony the Pony

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`webView1.loadUrl("file:///C:/Users/myName/Desktop/e-magzine/index.html");` but it gives `Web page not available. File not found` message. – GAMA Apr 19 '12 at 08:41
4

Android is a Linux implementation, so Windows-style paths won't work. Your path is relative to the home folder of your app, but I'll look for a reference that discusses this further – Tony the Pony Apr 19 '12 at 10:22
I got what you said. So going by this logic, `file:///` should be referring to root folder of project. So how do I use files from external resources i.e. from local drive? – GAMA Apr 19 '12 at 10:24
Instead of a "local drive," there are 3 types of file locations in Android. I've updated my answer with examples on constructing the URL for each. – Tony the Pony Apr 19 '12 at 10:38
But in any case, my html files and corresponding resources i.e. images, videos, etc. will be placed **within the folder** and hence *.apk size will be approx. equal to size of HTML which can go upto 50Mb also. – GAMA Apr 19 '12 at 10:54
When you deploy content with your app, you'll either have to put it in the apk or download it after the app is installed. I assume you are trying to test your app in the emulator, and don't want the hassle of packaging up a large apk for each debug run? – Tony the Pony Apr 19 '12 at 10:58
hmmmm. So the easier way would be put it into the assets? Also rendering of HTML into the webview is not that simplistic. I need to set initial scale to 50 in order to view the content properly – GAMA Apr 19 '12 at 11:04
let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/10272/discussion-between-tony-the-pony-and-gama) – Tony the Pony Apr 19 '12 at 11:08

Toni Gamez · Answer 2 · 2014-03-11T11:34:21.433

5

In Android 4.4 KitKat, a "Not allowed to load local resource: file:///.." is thrown. arise when loadURL and the only alternative I've found is "loadDataWithBaseURL".

webView.loadDataWithBaseURL("file:///android_asset/demo/",
                             tmpDocumentText,"text/html", "UTF-8", null);

edited Mar 11 '14 at 11:34

answered Mar 11 '14 at 10:43

Toni Gamez

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`wbHelp.loadUrl("file:///android_asset/Help.html");` works in 5.1+ not sure if you need write external storage if it's internal – behelit Jul 28 '16 at 01:20

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 19 '12 at 07:50

3

WebView has loadData method http://developer.android.com/reference/android/webkit/WebView.html

All you need to do is reading the file into String then feed it to WebView using loadData.

answered Apr 19 '12 at 07:50

RobGThai

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score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Dec 28 '21 at 11:07

either one can use this way to load file specifically if the file is present within android studio project (pls note android_res is res folder actually and should not be replaced)

webView.loadUrl("file:///android_res/drawable/FILENAME.EXTENSION");

but if that is not working please try another way of loading file like

webView.loadDataWithBaseURL("file:///android_asset/demo/",tmpDocumentText,
                         "text/html", "UTF-8", null);

Loading html file from local folder into webview

EDIT

4 Answers4

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