4

I'm using 

final Intent notice = new Intent();
notice.setType("text/plain");
notice.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, "My Subject");
notice.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "My Text");

try {
  getContext().startActivity(Intent.createChooser(notice, "Send..."));
} catch(final android.content.ActivityNotFoundException ex) {
  Toast.makeText(getContext(), "There are no email clients installed.", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
} catch(final SecurityException ex) {
  Toast.makeText(getContext(), "Sorry, application does not have permissions to send to this destination.", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
} // try/catch

as indicated in How can I send emails from my Android application?

But, there are some applications, if chosen by the user, that will crash the application with a SecurityException, as the current application does not have enough privileges to send the intend:

02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255): java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: starting Intent { typ=text/plain flg=0x3000000 cmp=com.google.android.gm/.AutoSendActivity (has extras) } from ProcessRecord{4084ca60 20255:com.example.myapp/10065} (pid=20255, uid=10065) requires com.google.android.gm.permission.AUTO_SEND
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1322)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1276)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.app.ActivityManagerProxy.startActivity(ActivityManagerNative.java:1351)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.app.Instrumentation.execStartActivity(Instrumentation.java:1374)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.app.Activity.startActivityForResult(Activity.java:2827)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.app.Activity.startActivity(Activity.java:2933)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at com.android.internal.app.ResolverActivity.onIntentSelected(ResolverActivity.java:203)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at com.android.internal.app.ResolverActivity.onClick(ResolverActivity.java:117)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at com.android.internal.app.AlertController$AlertParams$3.onItemClick(AlertController.java:873)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.widget.AdapterView.performItemClick(AdapterView.java:284)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.widget.ListView.performItemClick(ListView.java:3513)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.widget.AbsListView$PerformClick.run(AbsListView.java:1812)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:587)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:92)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:130)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:3683)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:507)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:839)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:597)
02-05 23:11:33.417: E/AndroidRuntime(20255):    at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)

As you can see, the exception is not touching any of my code directly. I don't want to add the missing permission to the manifest (I don't know which other applications will show up in the chooser), but simply handle the SecurityException and notify the user. Where would I do so?

I'm on Android 2.3.6 in this case.

Thanks in advance!

Community
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Martin C.
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1 Answers1

4

But, there are some applications, if chosen by the user, that will crash the application with a SecurityException, as the current application does not have enough privileges to send the intend

That's a bug in the other app. No app should support a generic Intent action like ACTION_SEND and require a custom permission. I really recommend you write this up and post it to http://b.android.com, with whatever other information you can supply to reproduce this error. I'm not sure what app it is you ran into (the package suggests perhaps Gmail), but it's clearly a Google-produced app.

I don't want to add the missing permission to the manifest (I don't know which other applications will show up in the chooser)

Not to mention that the permission in question is not in the SDK.

but simply handle the SecurityException and notify the user. Where would I do so?

The key question is: is this exception actually occurring in your process?

If the answer is yes, then Thread and setDefaultUncaughtExceptionHandler() will be where you find out about the problem. You may already using this to tie in a crash reporter (e.g., ACRA).

If the answer is no, then you are out of luck.

CommonsWare
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  • It actually is "Google Mail", the "Gmail" works fine (whatever the difference is). I will write the bug-report and I will try the uncaught-exception handler. It force-closes my preferences page and my process, so I suppose it _is_ happening in my process. Let's try it out :) Thank you very much for your input! – Martin C. Feb 05 '12 at 23:00
  • Setting an uncaught exception handler (either default) or for the main thread will simply cause a complete lockup of the Chooser. My handler is being called, but regardless of what I do, the Chooser keeps hanging in the foreground. I will remove the handler and let my app crash, which is actually better than having the hanging Chooser. – Martin C. Feb 05 '12 at 23:23
  • @MartinC.: Push come to shove, roll your own chooser, using `PackageManager` and `queryIntentActivities()`. – CommonsWare Feb 06 '12 at 00:52