How can I convert image uri to file path in android kitkat while maintaining compatibility lower than api 19?

Question

My app selects an image taken by the system's camera and obtain its Uri from onActivityResult method, from here i would like to convert the Uri to android standard file path so that i will be able to check its orientation by passing the file path to Exifinterface's constructor and execute getAttributeInt to receive a value and then decide on how many degrees to rotate the image.

I found a sample code here on stackoverflow that has the capability to convert the image uri to file path. but the problem is, it uses DocumentContract class which is added in api level 19 onwards but my app needs to support lower version than API level 19. How can I do this? Or atleast have an alternative solution for getting the orientation of the image.

Kartheek · Answer 1 · 2015-06-25T06:03:47.443

Use the following method to get the file path from the Uri. Here you need to pass the context and the uri and it maintains the compatibility for pre-Kitkat.

public String getRealPathFromURI(Context context, Uri contentUri) {

        String res = "";
        String[] proj = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA };
        Cursor cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(contentUri, proj, null, null, null);
        if (cursor != null) {
            if (cursor.moveToFirst()) {
                int column_index = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA);
                res = cursor.getString(column_index);
            }
            cursor.close();
        } else {
            Log.d(TAG, "Cursor is null");
            return contentUri.getPath();
        }
        return res;
    }

Updated for Camera : The above solution is working for Uri returned for the Gallery Intent. For the camera intent use the below code.

public File getOutputMediaFile() {
        // To be safe, you should check that the SDCard is mounted
        // using Environment.getExternalStorageState() before doing this.

        File mediaStorageDir;
        // If the externam directory is writable then then return the External
        // pictures directory.
        if (isExternalStorageWritable()) {
            mediaStorageDir = new File(Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES)
                    .getAbsolutePath() + File.separator + IConstants.CUSTOM_PROFILE_PIC_PATH);
        } else {
            mediaStorageDir = Environment.getDownloadCacheDirectory();
        }
        // Create the storage directory if it does not exist
        if (!mediaStorageDir.exists()) {
            if (!mediaStorageDir.mkdirs()) {
                Log.d("MyCameraApp", "failed to create directory");
                return null;
            }
        }
        // Create a media file name
        String timeStamp = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd_HHmmss", Locale.getDefault()).format(new Date());
        File mediaFile;
        mediaFile = new File(mediaStorageDir.getPath() + File.separator + "IMG_" + timeStamp + ".jpg");
        return mediaFile;
    }

Create a global variable selectedImage for storing the image path.

private Uri getOutputMediaFileUri() {
    File mediaFile = Utilities.getInstance().getOutputMediaFile();
    selectedImage = mediaFile.getAbsolutePath();
    return Uri.fromFile(mediaFile);
}

Now call the Camera intent using the following method.

public void dispatchCameraIntent(View view) {
        Intent takePictureIntent = new Intent(MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE);
        // If there any applications that can handle this intent then call the intent.
        if (takePictureIntent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
            Uri fileUri = getOutputMediaFileUri();
            Log.d(TAG, "camera Uri : " + fileUri);
            takePictureIntent.putExtra(MediaStore.EXTRA_OUTPUT, fileUri);

            startActivityForResult(takePictureIntent, CAMERA_PICKER);
        }
    }

In OnActivityResult use the selectedImage as the file path.

this while return null if the device that you are running on is KitKat version — Earwin delos Santos, Jun 25 '15 at 05:17
Im sorry but this is not working for me, it returns null. @Kartheek how did you do it? — Earwin delos Santos, Jun 25 '15 at 05:32
Have you tried for some other images? does it returning null for all the images or for some images.? — Kartheek, Jun 25 '15 at 05:44
Yes it is returning null for all the images, because I try to log if the string returned is null. but this line is not executed : Log.d(TAG, "Cursor is null"); I don't find "Cursor is null" on my logcat but the string returned is null. @Kartheek — Earwin delos Santos, Jun 25 '15 at 05:51
Sorry i thought you are asking for gallery, Now I have updated my answer for camera @EarwindelosSantos — Kartheek, Jun 25 '15 at 06:05
the selection of image is not for camera only nor gallery but all images in my device. I used Intent.ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT for kitkat version and Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT for lower versions. the intent's type is "image*/" @Kartheek — Earwin delos Santos, Jun 25 '15 at 06:18

How can I convert image uri to file path in android kitkat while maintaining compatibility lower than api 19?

1 Answers1