React Native Module for setting up a FileProvider for File Sharing

This plugin is for generating and sharing contentURIs (content://...) from files stored in the internal storage area.

The files can reside in one of this places:

• files subdirectory of your app's internal storage area. This subdirectory is the same as the value returned by Context.getFilesDir().
• cache subdirectory of your app's internal storage area. The root path of this subdirectory is the same as the value returned by getCacheDir().
• root of the external storage area. The root path of this subdirectory is the same as the value returned by Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().
• root of your app's external storage area. The root path of this subdirectory is the same as the value returned by Context.getExternalFilesDir().
• root of your app's external cache area. The root path of this subdirectory is the same as the value returned by Context.getExternalCacheDir().

After generating a contentUri you can for example share the file with other Apps using react-native-share, etc.

Caution: the current state of react-native-share doesn't allow to use contentUris other than from the Image Library. Use my fork (https://github.com/Artirigo/react-native-share.git#sharing-content-uris) instead until it will be merged in.

Getting started

$ npm install react-native-file-provider --save

Mostly automatic installation

$ react-native link react-native-file-provider

Manual installation

Android

1. Append the following lines to android/settings.gradle:

   include ':react-native-file-provider'
   project(':react-native-file-provider').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, 	'../node_modules/react-native-file-provider/android')

2. Insert the following lines inside the dependencies block in android/app/build.gradle:

   compile project(':react-native-file-provider')

3. Import Package

   For React Native >= v0.29

   Update the MainApplication.java file to use the Plugin via the following changes:

   ...
   // 1. Import the plugin class.
   import com.artirigo.fileprovider.RNFileProviderPackage;
      
   public class MainApplication extends Application implements ReactApplication {
      
       private final ReactNativeHost mReactNativeHost = new ReactNativeHost(this) {
           ...   
           @Override
           protected List<ReactPackage> getPackages() {
               // 2. Instantiate an instance of the Plugin runtime and add it to the list of
               // existing packages.
               return Arrays.<ReactPackage>asList(
                   new MainReactPackage(),
                   new RNFileProviderPackage()
               );
           }
       };
   }

   For React Native v0.19 - v0.28

   Update the MainActivity.java file to use the Plugin via the following changes:

   ...
   // 1. Import the plugin class (if you used RNPM to install the plugin, this
   // should already be done for you automatically so you can skip this step).
   import com.artirigo.fileprovider.RNFileProviderPackage;
      
   public class MainActivity extends ReactActivity {    
       @Override
       protected List<ReactPackage> getPackages() {
           // 2. Instantiate an instance of the Plugin runtime and add it to the list of
           // existing packages.
           return Arrays.<ReactPackage>asList(
               new MainReactPackage(),
               new RNFileProviderPackage()
           );
       }
      
       ...
   }

Usage

Define FileProvider

Defining a FileProvider for your app requires an entry in your manifest. This entry specifies the authority to use in generating content URIs, as well as the name of an XML file that specifies the directories your app can share.

The following snippet shows you how to add the FileProvider to your AndroidManifest.xml

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.myapp">
    <application
        ...>
        <provider
            android:name="android.support.v4.content.FileProvider"
            android:authorities="com.example.myapp.fileprovider"
            android:grantUriPermissions="true"
            android:exported="false">
            <meta-data
                android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS"
                android:resource="@xml/file_paths" />
        </provider>
        ...
    </application>
</manifest>

Specify directories

Once you have added the FileProvider to your app manifest, you need to specify the directories that contain the files you want to share. To specify the directories, start by creating the file file_paths.xml in the res/xml/ subdirectory of your project.

In this file, specify the directories by adding an XML element for each directory. The following snippet shows you an example of the contents of res/xml/file_paths.xml. The snippet also demonstrates how to share a subdirectory of the files/ directory in your internal storage area:

<paths xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <files-path name="img" path="images/"/>
</paths>

For setting up other directories (cache, external storage, ...) follow the guide at https://developer.android.com/reference/android/support/v4/content/FileProvider.html

Get contentUri

Finally you can generate the contentUri.

import FileProvider from 'react-native-file-provider';
import { DocumentDirectoryPath } from 'react-native-fs';

if(FileProvider) {
    FileProvider.getUriForFile('com.example.myapp.fileprovider', `${DocumentDirectoryPath}/images/image.jpg`)
        .then((contentUri) => {
            console.log('contentUri', contentUri);
        });
}