Android file canRead() is always false on SD card

Asked Mar 22 '12 at 19:25

Active Mar 22 '12 at 19:25

Viewed 2,359 times

I am trying to read a file from the SD card, but finding that I don't have read permissions. I first get the public storage directory and list the files like so:

    File dir = Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS);
    File[] files = dir.listFiles();

Then I select one of the files and test to see if it is readable:

    Log.d(TAG, files[0].canRead());

This always displays false, and I'm not sure why. I am able to write to the directory (in fact it's the file that I've written that I want to read), and I've tried variations of

    files[0].setReadable(true);

and

    dir.setReadable(true);

with no luck. I also have

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

included in my Manifest file and made sure my device wasn't connected to anything (as suggested here), but that wasn't it.

I am able to pull the file from the device and read it in a text editor. Any ideas as to what this could be?

Stats: Using API 12 on Samsung Galaxy tablet.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:15

Community

asked Mar 22 '12 at 19:25

user1205577

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But what happens if you just go ahead and open & read it anyway? – Squonk Mar 22 '12 at 19:27
If you are using an actual phone to test try downloading Astro. The app is an actual file manager in android. So you can search if it is in there. – sdfwer Mar 22 '12 at 19:29
I get an IOException if I try to read it. If I open up the file manager I can see the file, and I can pull it onto the computer from DDMS in Eclipse. – user1205577 Mar 22 '12 at 19:32
Did you figure out the cause and solution for this? – gaurav jain Jan 05 '16 at 10:30
It's been a few years now but I don't believe I was ever able to resolve it. – user1205577 Jan 06 '16 at 15:28

Android file canRead() is always false on SD card

0 Answers0