App Inventor Extensions

Properties

Returns whether Warnings should be suppressed

Specifies whether Warnings should be suppressed

Methods

Copy file.
Use this method to copy small files, for large files use the CopyAsync method instead. Prefix the filename with / (i.e. relative path) to copy a file on the SD card. For instance /myFile.txt will copy the file /mnt/sdcard/myFile.txt. To copy assets packaged with an application (also works for the Companion) start the fromFilename with // (two slashes). However you can't copy files to the assets. If a fileName starts with file:/// you can specify a complete path to the file.

Copy file (asynchronously).
Use this method to copy large files. The copy process is finished after the Copied event fires. Prefix the filename with / (i.e. relative path) to copy a file on the SD card. For instance /myFile.txt will copy the file /mnt/sdcard/myFile.txt. To copy assets packaged with an application (also works for the Companion) start the fromFilename with // (two slashes). However you can't copy files to the assets. If a fileName starts with file:/// you can specify a complete path to the file.

Thank you Haider for being the sponsor of this method!

Move file.
Use this method to move small files, for large files use the MoveAsync method instead. Prefix the filename with / (i.e. relative path) to move a file on the SD card. For instance /myFile.txt will move the file /mnt/sdcard/myFile.txt. You can't move files from or to the assets. If a fileName starts with file:/// you can specify a complete path to the file.

Thank you Haider for being the sponsor of this method!

Move file (asynchronously).
Use this method to move large files. The move process is finished after the Moved event fires. Prefix the filename with / (i.e. relative path) to move a file on the SD card. For instance /myFile.txt will move the file /mnt/sdcard/myFile.txt. You can't move files from or to the assets If a fileName starts with file:/// you can specify a complete path to the file.

Thank you Haider for being the sponsor of this method!

Delete file.
Prefix the filename with / (i.e. relative path) to delete a file on the SD card. For instance /myFile.txt will delete the file /mnt/sdcard/myFile.txt. You can't delete files stored in the assets! If a fileName starts with file:/// you can specify a complete path to the file.

Note: To delete a file from an external sdcard is currently an experimental feature, see also this thread.

Return a list of subdirectories of a given directory.
The complete path to these subdirectories is provided. If a directory starts with file:/// you can specify a complete path to the directory. The result list does NOT include subdirectories of subdirectories.

Checks whether a file or directory exists.
Prefix the filename with / (i.e. relative path) to look for the file on the SD card. For instance /myFile.txt will look for the file /mnt/sdcard/myFile.txt. To read assets packaged with an application (also works for the Companion) start the filename with // (two slashes). If a fileOrDirectoryName starts with file:/// you can specify a complete path to the file of directory."

Return a list of filenames of a given directory.
Use this method for specific directories to get back a result immediately. To get a list for a complete device or sdcard, which may take a few seconds, use the FileListAsync method instead.
The complete path to these files is provided. You can filter by extension. To get a list of all files, use * as extension. If a directory starts with file:/// you can specify a complete path to the directory. To include files of all subdirectories, set includeSubdirectories to true, else to false.
Thank you Shorty for being the sponsor of the includeSubdirectories option.

Create a list of filenames of a given directory.
The result will be provided in the AfterFileListAsync event.
The complete path to these files is provided. You can filter by extension. To get a list of all files, use * as extension. If a directory starts with file:/// you can specify a complete path to the directory. To include files of all subdirectories, set includeSubdirectories to true, else to false.
Thank you Shorty for being the sponsor of the includeSubdirectories option.

Return a list of filenames from the assets (also works for the Companion).
Note: during development, you will get all files stored in directory /AppInventor/assets. You might want to delete this directory before starting the companion app...
Thank you Paolo for being the sponsor of this method.

Checks whether it is a file or directory.
Prefix the filename with / (i.e. relative path) to look for the file on the SD card. For instance /myFile.txt will look for the file /mnt/sdcard/myFile.txt. If fileOrDirectoryName starts with file:/// you can specify a complete path to the file or directory.

Return file length of a file.
Prefix the filename with / (i.e. relative path) to look for the file on the SD card. For instance /myFile.txt will look for the file /mnt/sdcard/myFile.txt. To read assets packaged with an application (also works for the Companion) start the filename with // (two slashes). If a fileName starts with file:/// you can specify a complete path to the file.

Get path and filename from media content uri
Thank you Matthew for being the sponsor of this block.

Get content uri from filename

Return a list of available storage directories.
The method uses this snippet. Thank you HendraWD and Dmitriy
Thank you Hussein for being the sponsor of this method!

Return available size of given storage directory in Bytes.
To get the value in KB, divide by 1024. To get the value in MB, divide by another 1024. To get the value in GB, divide by another 1024.

Minimum API Level for this method is API Level 9 (Android 2.3)
Thank you Hussein for being the sponsor of this method and thank you SteveJG for your additional tests!

Creates the application specific directory /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/<packageName>/files in case it does not exist.

Returns the application specific directory /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/<packageName>/files you can use to read or write files without READ_ or WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission.

Events

Event indicating that creating a list of files of a given directory has finished.

Event indicating that copying a file has finished, which was started using the CopyAsync method.
In case everything went fine, parameter successful is true. In case an error occurred, parameter successful is false and parameter response will provide an error message.

Thank you Haider for being the sponsor of this event!

Event indicating that moving a file has finished, which was started using the MoveAsync method.
In case everything went fine, parameter successful is true. In case an error occurred, parameter successful is false and parameter response will provide an error message.

Thank you Haider for being the sponsor of this event!

Example Use

Example App: Test Copy and Delete blocks

Example App: Test FileList blocks

Example App: Test Available Storage Size blocks

Example App: Jukebox

Get a list of all music files of the Music directory of your device and play your music in random order.
Jukebox image by Pixabay. Thank you!

Questions and Answers

Q1: Very helpful component! How to get a file list on External SDCard? I can do only on phone memory?
A: use the full path to the directory, example: file:///storage/extSdCard/myDirectory or file:///storage/sdcard1/myDirectory or file:///storage/ext_sd/myDirectory. The full path to the external sdcard is device dependent and might be different for your device...

Q2: Please advise me how to delete a file location that retrieve from ActivityStarter.ResultUri. For ex. the result is content://media/external/image/media/7004 How can we know the real file path?
A: This is a "content uri". Thank you Matthew for being the sponsor of the GetFileName method.

Q3: Concerning the FileList method: Is there a way to exclude sub directories? I would like to target JUST the root.
A: This is currently not possible, the FileList method returns a list of filenames of a given directory including all subdirectories. However I could add that as option after having received a donation of 10 USD. Thank you Shorty for being the sponsor of that option.

Q4: Is there a way to delete a folder? Do you plan to implement this in your File Extension component, perhaps with a sponsorship?
A: I did not implement this to prevent people deleting a complete sdcard unintentionally. See this thread how to delete a folder.

For questions about App Inventor,
please ask in the App Inventor community.Thank you.

Terms and Conditions

• Have fun and use this extension in your App Inventor projects! Pura Vida!
• THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
• This is is the only authorized place to download this extension. It is not allowed to host this extension somewhere else and offer it for others to download, be it on another website or market place or similar. The reason is, everybody should be able to have the opportunity to donate something in case you like my work. You are allowed to provide a link to this site, so others can download the extension here. You will find the most up to date version always here including documentation and usage examples. Thank you for your kind understanding.

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Thank you! Taifun
 

Download TaifunFile extension (aix file)

Download Test Copy and Delete (aia file)
Download Test FileList (aia file)
Download FileListFromAssets Test (aia file)
Download Available Storage Size Test (aia file)
Download Jukebox V2 (aia file)
Note: the Jukebox Example V2 also provides blocks to ask for now necessary permissions. Thank you Anke!

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