Hi Mark! How are you doing today?

OK, and you?

OK as well :)

how can I help you today?

I have a question about FileProvider

I have a small app that takes pictures via an intent and saves the file URIs in a database. The storage is accessed using getExternalStoragePublicDirectory with picture directory and I am using the FileProvider.getUriForFile with name=“my_images” and path=“.” . Is it safe to do this? Because in your book you state that <external-path> can be used to serve files from getExternalStoragePublicDirectory, but some posts on StackOverflow state that FileProvider has no support for it.

<external-path> has worked since the beginning of FileProvider, for serving from the root of external storage

so, that should be safe

assuming that by getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(), you are referring to the method on android.os.Environment

yes, exactly

perfect, thanks, it was bugging me

Since there is no one yet...I have the last question

go right ahead!

I have a BottomNavigationView with fragments, one of the fragments contains photos, and before entering it I need to ask for external storage permission (because I am looking up the image directory and comparing it to my database). But I think because I am doing it just before leaving the activity, it only works with commitAllowingStateLoss

My Activity acts primarily as a container and a communication system between fragments

is it a bad approach? Or should I use my permission elsewhere and just use commit()

I guess I do not understand where you are leaving the activity

it sounds like you are switching between fragments in one activity

so, when the user taps on the navigation item to switch to the fragment that needs the permission, if you do not have the permission, hold off populating the fragment until the user grants permission

yeah, exactly...my bad, I am not leaving the activity, I am just switching fragments

if you wait to request the permission until navigation has completed, I would not expect you to need commitAllowingStateLoss()

that being said, if you are sure that there is no relevant state to lose, and you want to use commitAllowingStateLoss(), that is your call to make

personally, I view commitAllowingStateLoss() as a code smell, and would recommend trying to avoid it, using it only as a last resort

I understand I think the problem is that I check if the permission is granted and if it is, I launch my database verifying code and commit the fragment at the same time

what fragment are you committing?

The one that contains the photos, basically I check if the permission is granted, and if it is, I compare photos in the database with the photos in the directory and switch to my fragment

both actions happen at the same time, I believe that what's causing it

I do not completely understand your app and its flow, but I would consider doing the fragment switch first, then in the *new* fragment do the permission check, followed by the database I/O

I just read it and understood how confusing it was :D you are right, that way I don't have to worry about it. Maybe I'll request the permission before entering and upon entering run the database check

Thanks a lot Mark :)

Sorry if it was confusing, it's 1 in the morning, the day was long :)

FWIW, Saturday's office hours are friendlier for your time zone

That is true :)

Have a great evening Mark :)

you too!

See you later!