How to save files in External Storage Public Directory DOCUMENTS on Android 4.1.2

Question

i want to save a file on my Android 4.1.2 smartphone in the documents directory.

This code snippet:

File file = new File(Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_DOCUMENTS),"test.txt");

throws this exception:

E/AndroidRuntime﹕ FATAL EXCEPTION: main
java.lang.NoSuchFieldError: android.os.Environment.DIRECTORY_DOCUMENTS

While this one is working:

File file = new File(Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS),"test.txt"); 

But i want to save my file in my documents directory, not in downloads. Ive read DIRECTORY_DOCUMENTS is only available in Android 4.4 and higher. But there is also a documents direcotry on my smartphone. So, is there no solution to save it in documents?

Thx for answers

Pebbles

Answer 1

You are not able to access DIRECTORY_DOCUMENTS becuase it is not there in Android 4.1.2. Which means, though there is a Documents directory in your external storage, it is not pointed to by DIRECTORY_DOCUMENTS (since it is non-existent). To solve this, you have to create the directory if it is not present and get the path to that folder manually.

File docsFolder = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/Documents");
boolean isPresent = true;
if (!docsFolder.exists()) {
    isPresent = docsFolder.mkdir();
}
if (isPresent) {
    File file = new File(docsFolder.getAbsolutePath(),"test.txt"); 
} else {
    // Failure
}

Answer 2

The folder is present in older Versions (from Api 1) of Android but the field DIRECTORY_DOCUMENTS is available first in Version 4.4 (Api 19 - Kitkat).

Solution for me was to use Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/Documents" instead DIRECTORY_DOCUMENTS for older Android Versions.