How can I read a text file from the SD card in Android?

I am new to Android development.

I need to read a text file from the SD card and display that text file. Is there any way to view a text file directly in Android or else how can I read and display the contents of a text file?

Solution 1:

In your layout you'll need something to display the text. A TextView is the obvious choice. So you'll have something like this:

<TextView 
    android:id="@+id/text_view" 
    android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"/>

And your code will look like this:

//Find the directory for the SD Card using the API
//*Don't* hardcode "/sdcard"
File sdcard = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory();

//Get the text file
File file = new File(sdcard,"file.txt");

//Read text from file
StringBuilder text = new StringBuilder();

try {
    BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(file));
    String line;

    while ((line = br.readLine()) != null) {
        text.append(line);
        text.append('\n');
    }
    br.close();
}
catch (IOException e) {
    //You'll need to add proper error handling here
}

//Find the view by its id
TextView tv = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.text_view);

//Set the text
tv.setText(text);

This could go in the onCreate() method of your Activity, or somewhere else depending on just what it is you want to do.

Solution 2:

In response to

Don't hardcode /sdcard/

Sometimes we HAVE TO hardcode it as in some phone models the API method returns the internal phone memory.

Known types: HTC One X and Samsung S3.

Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().getAbsolutePath() gives a different path - Android

Solution 3:

You should have READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission for reading sdcard. Add permission in manifest.xml

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

From android 6.0 or higher, your app must ask user to grant the dangerous permissions at runtime. Please refer this link Permissions overview

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.M) {
    if (checkSelfPermission(Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
        ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(this, new String[]{Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE}, 0);
    }
}