How do I turn a String into a file so that I can share it in Android?

Question

I have an android app which uses

final JSONArray jsonArray1 = jsonArray;
JSONObject export = jsonArray1.getJSONObject(index);

to get a JSON object and I then Use a sharing intent:

Intent ShareIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
ShareIntent.setType("text/plain");
ShareIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, "THE SUBJECT");
ShareIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "THE CONTENT IS " + export);
startActivity(Intent.createChooser(ShareIntent, "Send the object via"));

and it works fine, however, it shares the JSON object as plain text.

I understand why it does that.

How could I change it so that the JSON Object is shared as a file preferably a JSON file that would be for example attached to an Email.

Thanks in advance

possible duplicate of https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26382765/attach-json-file-to-email-intent-in-android — twenk11k, Jun 03 '19 at 22:09

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 12 '20 at 07:06

Add the following permission to your manifest

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

    <provider
        android:name="android.support.v4.content.FileProvider"
        android:authorities="${applicationId}.provider"
        android:exported="false"
        android:grantUriPermissions="true">
        <meta-data
            android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS"
            android:resource="@xml/provider_paths"/>
    </provider>

    .....
</application>

Create the provider-paths.xml file under res/xml and put the following code in it:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<paths xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <files-path name="my_file_path" path="." />
</paths>

You can create a file and then write the jsonobject to it i.e.

StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();

File tempFolder = new File(MainActivity.this.getFilesDir(), "temp");
if (!tempFolder.exists()) {
    tempFolder.mkdir();
}

JSONObject export = new JSONObject();
try {
    export.put("name", "my-name");
    export.put("age", "20");
} catch (JSONException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

File file = null;
try {
    Writer wrt = null;
    file = new File(tempFolder, "myJsonFile.json");
    wrt = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(file));
    wrt.write(export.toString());
    wrt.close();
} catch (Exception e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

Intent shareIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
shareIntent.setType("file/text/plain");

Uri fileUri = FileProvider.getUriForFile(MainActivity.this, BuildConfig.APPLICATION_ID + ".provider",
        file);

shareIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "THE CONTENT IS " + export.toString());
shareIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, fileUri);
shareIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);
shareIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION);
startActivity(Intent.createChooser(shareIntent, "Send the object via"));

try {

    File f = new File(MainActivity.this.getFilesDir() + "/temp/myJsonFile.json");
    InputStream inputStream = new DataInputStream(new FileInputStream(f));
    BufferedReader bufferedReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(inputStream));
    String str;
    str = bufferedReader.readLine();
    stringBuilder.append(str);

    tvAccountName.setText(stringBuilder.toString());

} catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

//then delete the file or you can delete the tempFolder instead;
if(file!=null)file.delete();

The intent is opening in my case and is sharing in my apps e.g. Whatsapp and Telegram. To explain it a bit, Android no longer allows file:// to be attached to Intents, check this. Therefore, you need to use File provider to achieve this as is documented in their website.

Ok cool, but when I put it in, the share intent does not start — Koos, Jun 04 '19 at 05:37
Apologies. I forgot that external apps are sometimes not allowed to write to external storage. I have edited the answer to reflect what I have tried and I see that it works. you can use the code that I have supplied to do a test. — Vinyl, Jun 04 '19 at 06:24

How do I turn a String into a file so that I can share it in Android?

1 Answers1