How to send a multipart form-data POST in Android with Volley

Question

Has anyone been able to accomplish sending a multipart form-data POST in Android with Volley yet  I have had no success trying to upload an image png using a POST request to our server and am curious if anyone has    I believe the default way to do this would be to override public byte   getPostBody   in the Request java class and attach the File there with a blank Header key for the boundary  However  converting my file to a String for the Map lt String  String gt  postParams and then having it encoded again seems obtuse and not really elegant   Also I ve been unsuccessful in my attempts  This is really the only thing holding us back from switching to this library   Anyway  all thoughts and answers are extremely appreciated  Thank you for your help

User · Answer

A very simple approach for the dev who just want to send POST parameters in multipart request.

Make the following changes in class which extends Request.java

First define these constants :

String BOUNDARY = "s2retfgsGSRFsERFGHfgdfgw734yhFHW567TYHSrf4yarg"; //This the boundary which is used by the server to split the post parameters.
String MULTIPART_FORMDATA = "multipart/form-data;boundary=" + BOUNDARY;

Add a helper function to create a post body for you :

private String createPostBody(Map<String, String> params) {
        StringBuilder sbPost = new StringBuilder();
        if (params != null) {
            for (String key : params.keySet()) {
                if (params.get(key) != null) {
                    sbPost.append("\r\n" + "--" + BOUNDARY + "\r\n");
                    sbPost.append("Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"" + key + "\"" + "\r\n\r\n");
                    sbPost.append(params.get(key).toString());
                }
            }
        }
        return sbPost.toString();
    }

Override getBody() and getBodyContentType

public String getBodyContentType() {
    return MULTIPART_FORMDATA;
}

public byte[] getBody() throws AuthFailureError {
        return createPostBody(getParams()).getBytes();
}

User · Answer

First answer on SO   I have encountered the same problem and found  alex  s code very helpful  I have made some simple modifications in order to pass in as many parameters as needed through HashMap  and have basically copied parseNetworkResponse   from StringRequest  I have searched online and so surprised to find out that such a common task is so rarely answered  Anyway  I wish the code could help   public class MultipartRequest extends Request lt String gt     private MultipartEntity entity   new MultipartEntity     private static final String FILE PART NAME    image    private final Response Listener lt String gt  mListener  private final File file  private final HashMap lt String  String gt  params   public MultipartRequest String url  Response Listener lt String gt  listener  Response ErrorListener errorListener  File file  HashMap lt String  String gt  params        super Method POST  url  errorListener        mListener   listener      this file   file      this params   params      buildMultipartEntity       private void buildMultipartEntity         entity addPart FILE PART NAME  new FileBody file        try               for   String key   params keySet                   entity addPart key  new StringBody params get key                         catch  UnsupportedEncodingException e                VolleyLog e  UnsupportedEncodingException              Override public String getBodyContentType         return entity getContentType   getValue        Override public byte   getBody   throws AuthFailureError       ByteArrayOutputStream bos   new ByteArrayOutputStream        try               entity writeTo bos             catch  IOException e                VolleyLog e  IOException writing to ByteArrayOutputStream              return bos toByteArray              copied from Android StringRequest class      Override protected Response lt String gt  parseNetworkResponse NetworkResponse response        String parsed      try           parsed   new String response data  HttpHeaderParser parseCharset response headers          catch  UnsupportedEncodingException e            parsed   new String response data             return Response success parsed  HttpHeaderParser parseCacheHeaders response        Override protected void deliverResponse String response        mListener onResponse response       And you may use the class as following       HashMap lt String  String gt  params   new HashMap lt String  String gt          params put  type    Some Param        params put  location    Some Param        params put  contact     Some Param          MultipartRequest mr   new MultipartRequest url  new Response Listener lt String gt               Override         public void onResponse String response                Log d  response   response                     new Response ErrorListener              Override         public void onErrorResponse VolleyError error                Log e  Volley Request Error   error getLocalizedMessage                       f  params        Volley newRequestQueue this  add mr

User · Answer

UPDATE 2015 08 26   If you don t want to use deprecated HttpEntity  here is my working sample code   tested with ASP Net WebAPI   MultipartActivity java  package com example volleyapp   import android app Activity  import android content Context  import android graphics Bitmap  import android graphics drawable BitmapDrawable  import android graphics drawable Drawable  import android os Bundle  import android support v4 content ContextCompat  import android view Menu  import android view MenuItem   import com android volley AuthFailureError  import com android volley NetworkResponse  import com android volley Response  import com android volley VolleyError  import com example volleyapp BaseVolleyRequest  import com example volleyapp VolleySingleton   import java io ByteArrayInputStream  import java io ByteArrayOutputStream  import java io DataOutputStream  import java io IOException   public class MultipartActivity extends Activity        final Context mContext   this      String mimeType      DataOutputStream dos   null      String lineEnd     r n       String boundary    apiclient-    System currentTimeMillis        String twoHyphens    --       int bytesRead  bytesAvailable  bufferSize      byte   buffer      int maxBufferSize   1024   1024        Override     protected void onCreate Bundle savedInstanceState            super onCreate savedInstanceState           setContentView R layout activity multipart                         Drawable drawable   ContextCompat getDrawable mContext  R drawable ic action file attachment light           Bitmap bitmap     BitmapDrawable  drawable  getBitmap            ByteArrayOutputStream byteArrayOutputStream   new ByteArrayOutputStream            bitmap compress Bitmap CompressFormat PNG  100  byteArrayOutputStream           final byte   bitmapData   byteArrayOutputStream toByteArray            String url    http   192 168 1 100 api postfile            mimeType    multipart form-data boundary     boundary           BaseVolleyRequest baseVolleyRequest   new BaseVolleyRequest 1  url  new Response Listener lt NetworkResponse gt                   Override             public void onResponse NetworkResponse response                              new Response ErrorListener                  Override             public void onErrorResponse VolleyError error                                             Override             public String getBodyContentType                     return mimeType                              Override             public byte   getBody   throws AuthFailureError                   ByteArrayOutputStream bos   new ByteArrayOutputStream                    dos   new DataOutputStream bos                   try                       dos writeBytes twoHyphens   boundary   lineEnd                       dos writeBytes  Content-Disposition  form-data  name   uploaded file   filename                                    ic action file attachment light png           lineEnd                       dos writeBytes lineEnd                       ByteArrayInputStream fileInputStream   new ByteArrayInputStream bitmapData                       bytesAvailable   fileInputStream available                         bufferSize   Math min bytesAvailable  maxBufferSize                       buffer   new byte bufferSize                           read file and write it into form                        bytesRead   fileInputStream read buffer  0  bufferSize                        while  bytesRead  gt  0                            dos write buffer  0  bufferSize                           bytesAvailable   fileInputStream available                            bufferSize   Math min bytesAvailable  maxBufferSize                           bytesRead   fileInputStream read buffer  0  bufferSize                                                 send multipart form data necesssary after file data                        dos writeBytes lineEnd                       dos writeBytes twoHyphens   boundary   twoHyphens   lineEnd                        return bos toByteArray                       catch  IOException e                        e printStackTrace                                      return bitmapData                                    VolleySingleton getInstance mContext  addToRequestQueue baseVolleyRequest                Override     public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu Menu menu               Inflate the menu  this adds items to the action bar if it is present          getMenuInflater   inflate R menu menu multipart  menu           return true              Override     public boolean onOptionsItemSelected MenuItem item               Handle action bar item clicks here  The action bar will            automatically handle clicks on the Home Up button  so long            as you specify a parent activity in AndroidManifest xml          int id   item getItemId               noinspection SimplifiableIfStatement         if  id    R id action settings                return true                     return super onOptionsItemSelected item             BaseVolleyRequest java   package com example volleyapp   import com android volley NetworkResponse  import com android volley ParseError  import com android volley Request  import com android volley Response  import com android volley VolleyError  import com android volley toolbox HttpHeaderParser  import com google gson JsonSyntaxException    public class BaseVolleyRequest extends Request lt NetworkResponse gt         private final Response Listener lt NetworkResponse gt  mListener      private final Response ErrorListener mErrorListener       public BaseVolleyRequest String url  Response Listener lt NetworkResponse gt  listener  Response ErrorListener errorListener            super 0  url  errorListener           this mListener   listener          this mErrorListener   errorListener             public BaseVolleyRequest int method  String url  Response Listener lt NetworkResponse gt  listener  Response ErrorListener errorListener            super method  url  errorListener           this mListener   listener          this mErrorListener   errorListener              Override     protected Response lt NetworkResponse gt  parseNetworkResponse NetworkResponse response            try               return Response success                      response                      HttpHeaderParser parseCacheHeaders response              catch  JsonSyntaxException e                return Response error new ParseError e              catch  Exception e                return Response error new ParseError e                          Override     protected void deliverResponse NetworkResponse response            mListener onResponse response               Override     protected VolleyError parseNetworkError VolleyError volleyError            return super parseNetworkError volleyError               Override     public void deliverError VolleyError error            mErrorListener onErrorResponse error             END OF UPDATE  This is my working sample code  only tested with small-size files    public class FileUploadActivity extends Activity        private final Context mContext   this      HttpEntity httpEntity        Override     protected void onCreate Bundle savedInstanceState            super onCreate savedInstanceState           setContentView R layout activity file upload               Drawable drawable   getResources   getDrawable R drawable ic action home           if  drawable    null                Bitmap bitmap     BitmapDrawable  drawable  getBitmap                ByteArrayOutputStream stream   new ByteArrayOutputStream                bitmap compress Bitmap CompressFormat PNG  100  stream               final byte   bitmapdata   stream toByteArray                String url    http   10 0 2 2 api fileupload               MultipartEntityBuilder builder   MultipartEntityBuilder create                builder setMode HttpMultipartMode BROWSER COMPATIBLE                   Add binary body             if  bitmapdata    null                    ContentType contentType   ContentType create  image png                    String fileName    ic action home png                   builder addBinaryBody  file   bitmapdata  contentType  fileName                   httpEntity   builder build                     MyRequest myRequest   new MyRequest Request Method POST  url  new Response Listener lt NetworkResponse gt                           Override                     public void onResponse NetworkResponse response                            try                                                           String jsonString   new String response data                                      HttpHeaderParser parseCharset response headers                                Toast makeText mContext  jsonString  Toast LENGTH SHORT  show                              catch  Exception e                                e printStackTrace                                                                       new Response ErrorListener                          Override                     public void onErrorResponse VolleyError error                            Toast makeText mContext  error toString    Toast LENGTH SHORT  show                                                                                            Override                     public String getBodyContentType                             return httpEntity getContentType   getValue                                                Override                     public byte   getBody   throws AuthFailureError                           ByteArrayOutputStream bos   new ByteArrayOutputStream                            try                               httpEntity writeTo bos                             catch  IOException e                                VolleyLog e  IOException writing to ByteArrayOutputStream                                                      return bos toByteArray                                                              MySingleton getInstance this  addToRequestQueue myRequest                                             public class MyRequest extends Request lt NetworkResponse gt

User · Answer

Another solution  very light with high performance with payload large   Android Asynchronous Http Client library   http   loopj com android-async-http   private static AsyncHttpClient client   new AsyncHttpClient     private void uploadFileExecute File file         RequestParams params   new RequestParams         try   params put  photo   file     catch  FileNotFoundException e          client post getUrl    params           new AsyncHttpResponseHandler                  public void onSuccess String result                     Log d TAG  uploadFile response    result                                public void onFailure Throwable arg0  String errorMsg                     Log d TAG  uploadFile ERROR

User · Answer

Complete Multipart Request with Upload Progress   import java io ByteArrayOutputStream  import java io File  import java io FilterOutputStream  import java io IOException  import java io OutputStream  import java io UnsupportedEncodingException  import java util HashMap  import java util Map   import org apache http HttpEntity  import org apache http entity ContentType  import org apache http entity mime HttpMultipartMode  import org apache http entity mime MultipartEntityBuilder  import org apache http entity mime content FileBody  import org apache http util CharsetUtils   import com android volley AuthFailureError  import com android volley NetworkResponse  import com android volley Request  import com android volley Response  import com android volley VolleyLog  import com beusoft app AppContext   public class MultipartRequest extends Request lt String gt         MultipartEntityBuilder entity   MultipartEntityBuilder create        HttpEntity httpentity      private String FILE PART NAME    files        private final Response Listener lt String gt  mListener      private final File mFilePart      private final Map lt String  String gt  mStringPart      private Map lt String  String gt  headerParams      private final MultipartProgressListener multipartProgressListener      private long fileLength   0L       public MultipartRequest String url  Response ErrorListener errorListener              Response Listener lt String gt  listener  File file  long fileLength              Map lt String  String gt  mStringPart              final Map lt String  String gt  headerParams  String partName              MultipartProgressListener progLitener            super Method POST  url  errorListener            this mListener   listener          this mFilePart   file          this fileLength   fileLength          this mStringPart   mStringPart          this headerParams   headerParams          this FILE PART NAME   partName          this multipartProgressListener   progLitener           entity setMode HttpMultipartMode BROWSER COMPATIBLE           try               entity setCharset CharsetUtils get  UTF-8               catch  UnsupportedEncodingException e                e printStackTrace                      buildMultipartEntity            httpentity   entity build                  public void addStringBody String param  String value           if  mStringPart    null           mStringPart put param  value                          private void buildMultipartEntity             entity addPart FILE PART NAME  new FileBody mFilePart  ContentType create  image gif    mFilePart getName              if  mStringPart    null                for  Map Entry lt String  String gt  entry   mStringPart entrySet                      entity addTextBody entry getKey    entry getValue                                         Override     public String getBodyContentType             return httpentity getContentType   getValue                Override     public byte   getBody   throws AuthFailureError           ByteArrayOutputStream bos   new ByteArrayOutputStream            try               httpentity writeTo new CountingOutputStream bos  fileLength                      multipartProgressListener              catch  IOException e                VolleyLog e  IOException writing to ByteArrayOutputStream                      return bos toByteArray                Override     protected Response lt String gt  parseNetworkResponse NetworkResponse response             try               System out println  Network Response    new String response data   UTF-8                 return Response success new String response data   UTF-8                        getCacheEntry               catch  UnsupportedEncodingException e                e printStackTrace                   fuck it  it should never happen though             return Response success new String response data   getCacheEntry                           Override     protected void deliverResponse String response            mListener onResponse response            Override getHeaders   if you want to put anything in header      public static interface MultipartProgressListener           void transferred long transfered  int progress              public static class CountingOutputStream extends FilterOutputStream           private final MultipartProgressListener progListener          private long transferred          private long fileLength           public CountingOutputStream final OutputStream out  long fileLength                  final MultipartProgressListener listener                super out               this fileLength   fileLength              this progListener   listener              this transferred   0                     public void write byte   b  int off  int len  throws IOException               out write b  off  len               if  progListener    null                    this transferred    len                  int prog    int   transferred   100   fileLength                   this progListener transferred this transferred  prog                                    public void write int b  throws IOException               out write b               if  progListener    null                    this transferred                    int prog    int   transferred   100   fileLength                   this progListener transferred this transferred  prog                                      Sample Usage  protected  lt T gt  void uploadFile final String tag  final String url              final File file  final String partName                       final Map lt String  String gt  headerParams              final Response Listener lt String gt  resultDelivery              final Response ErrorListener errorListener              MultipartProgressListener progListener            AZNetworkRetryPolicy retryPolicy   new AZNetworkRetryPolicy             MultipartRequest mr   new MultipartRequest url  errorListener                  resultDelivery  file  file length    null  headerParams                  partName  progListener            mr setRetryPolicy retryPolicy           mr setTag tag            Volley newRequestQueue this  add mr

User · Answer

Here is Simple Solution And Complete Example for Uploading File Using Volley Android   1  Gradle Import   compile  dev dworks libs volleyplus      2 Now Create a Class RequestManager  public class RequestManager       private static RequestManager mRequestManager                 Queue which Manages the Network Requests  -              private static RequestQueue mRequestQueue         ImageLoader Instance      private RequestManager                 public static RequestManager get Context context             if  mRequestManager    null              mRequestManager   new RequestManager             return mRequestManager                         param context application context             public static RequestQueue getnstance Context context             if  mRequestQueue    null                mRequestQueue   Volley newRequestQueue context                      return mRequestQueue               3 Now Create a Class to handle Request for uploading File WebService  public class WebService       private RequestQueue mRequestQueue      private static WebService apiRequests   null       public static WebService getInstance             if  apiRequests    null                apiRequests   new WebService                return apiRequests                    return apiRequests            public void updateProfile Context context  String doc name  String doc type  String appliance id  File file  Response Listener lt String gt  listener  Response ErrorListener errorListener            SimpleMultiPartRequest request   new SimpleMultiPartRequest Request Method POST   YOUR URL HERE   listener  errorListener             request setParams data           mRequestQueue   RequestManager getnstance context           request addMultipartParam  token    text    tdfysghfhsdfh            request addMultipartParam  parameter 1    text   doc name           request addMultipartParam  dparameter 2    text   doc type           request addMultipartParam  parameter 3    text   appliance id               request addFile  document file   file getPath              request setFixedStreamingMode true           mRequestQueue add request             4  And Now Call The method Like This to Hit the service   public class Main2Activity extends AppCompatActivity implements Response ErrorListener  Response Listener lt String gt         Override     protected void onCreate Bundle savedInstanceState            super onCreate savedInstanceState           setContentView R layout activity main2           Button button  Button findViewById R id button           button setOnClickListener new View OnClickListener                  Override             public void onClick View v                    uploadData                                         private void uploadData             WebService getInstance   updateProfile getActivity     appl doc    appliance    1   mChoosenFile  this  this               Override     public void onErrorResponse VolleyError error                 Override     public void onResponse String response           Your response here

User · Answer

This is my way of doing it  It may be useful to others    private void updateType           Log i TAG  updateType         StringRequest request   new StringRequest Request Method POST  url  new Response Listener lt String gt                 Override          public void onResponse String response                    running on main thread-------              try                    JSONObject res   new JSONObject response                    res getString  result                     System out println  Response     res getString  result                        else                       CustomTast ct new CustomTast context                        ct showCustomAlert  Network Server Disconnected  R drawable disconnect                                      catch  Exception e                     e printStackTrace                        Log e  Response       gt      e getMessage                                       new Response ErrorListener               Override          public void onErrorResponse VolleyError volleyError                    running on main thread-------              VolleyLog d TAG   Error      volleyError getMessage                                    protected Map lt String  String gt  getParams                  HashMap lt String  String gt  hashMapParams   new HashMap lt String  String gt                  hashMapParams put  key    value                 hashMapParams put  key    value                 hashMapParams put  key    value                  hashMapParams put  key    value                 System out println  Hashmap     hashMapParams                return hashMapParams                          AppController getInstance   addToRequestQueue request

User · Answer

As mentioned in the presentation at the I O  about 4 05   Volley  is terrible  for large payloads  As I understand it that means not to use Volley for receiving sending  big  files  Looking at the code it seems that it is not even designed to handle multipart form data  e g  Request java has getBodyContentType   with hardcoded  application x-www-form-urlencoded   HttpClientStack  createHttpRequest   can handle only byte    etc      Probably you will be able to create implementation that can handle multipart but If I were you I will just use HttpClient directly with MultipartEntity like       HttpPost req   new HttpPost composeTargetUrl         MultipartEntity entity   new MultipartEntity        entity addPart POST IMAGE VAR NAME  new FileBody toUpload        try           entity addPart POST SESSION VAR NAME  new StringBody uploadSessionId          catch  UnsupportedEncodingException e            throw new RuntimeException e             req setEntity entity     You may need newer HttpClient  i e  not the built-in  or even better  use Volley with newer HttpClient

User · Answer

I might be wrong on this but I think you need to implement your own com android volley toolbox HttpStack for this because the default ones  HurlStack if version   Gingerbread or HttpClientStack  don t deal with multipart form-data    Edit   And indeed I was wrong  I was able to do it using MultipartEntity in Request like this   public class MultipartRequest extends Request lt String gt         private MultipartEntity entity   new MultipartEntity         private static final String FILE PART NAME    file       private static final String STRING PART NAME    text        private final Response Listener lt String gt  mListener      private final File mFilePart      private final String mStringPart       public MultipartRequest String url  Response ErrorListener errorListener  Response Listener lt String gt  listener  File file  String stringPart                super Method POST  url  errorListener            mListener   listener          mFilePart   file          mStringPart   stringPart          buildMultipartEntity               private void buildMultipartEntity                 entity addPart FILE PART NAME  new FileBody mFilePart            try                       entity addPart STRING PART NAME  new StringBody mStringPart                      catch  UnsupportedEncodingException e                        VolleyLog e  UnsupportedEncodingException                          Override     public String getBodyContentType                 return entity getContentType   getValue                Override     public byte   getBody   throws AuthFailureError               ByteArrayOutputStream bos   new ByteArrayOutputStream            try                       entity writeTo bos                     catch  IOException e                        VolleyLog e  IOException writing to ByteArrayOutputStream                      return bos toByteArray                Override     protected Response lt String gt  parseNetworkResponse NetworkResponse response                return Response success  Uploaded   getCacheEntry                 Override     protected void deliverResponse String response                mListener onResponse response             It s pretty raw but I tried it with an image and a simple string and it works  The response is a placeholder  doesn t make much sense to return a Response String in this case  I had problems using apache httpmime to use MultipartEntity so I used this https   code google com p httpclientandroidlib  don t know if there s a better way  Hope it helps   Edit  You can use httpmime without using httpclientandroidlib  the only dependency is httpcore

[android] How to send a “multipart/form-data” POST in Android with Volley

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