[android] 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?

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);
    }
}

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

Beware: some phones have 2 sdcards , an internal fixed one and a removable card. You can find the name of the last one via a standard app:"Mijn Bestanden" ( in English: "MyFiles" ? ) When I open this app (item:all files) the path of the open folder is "/sdcard" ,scrolling down there is an entry "external-sd" , clicking this opens the folder "/sdcard/external_sd/" . Suppose I want to open a text-file "MyBooks.txt" I would use something as :

   String Filename = "/mnt/sdcard/external_sd/MyBooks.txt" ;
   File file = new File(fname);...etc...

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.

package com.example.readfilefromexternalresource;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileReader;
import java.io.IOException;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.app.ActionBar;
import android.app.Fragment;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Environment;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.Toast;
import android.os.Build;

public class MainActivity extends Activity {
    private TextView textView;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
        textView = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.textView);
        String state = Environment.getExternalStorageState();

        if (!(state.equals(Environment.MEDIA_MOUNTED))) {
            Toast.makeText(this, "There is no any sd card", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();


        } else {
            BufferedReader reader = null;
            try {
                Toast.makeText(this, "Sd card available", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                File file = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory();
                File textFile = new File(file.getAbsolutePath()+File.separator + "chapter.xml");
                reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(textFile));
                StringBuilder textBuilder = new StringBuilder();
                String line;
                while((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
                    textBuilder.append(line);
                    textBuilder.append("\n");

                }
                textView.setText(textBuilder);

            } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
                // TODO: handle exception
                e.printStackTrace();
            } catch (IOException e) {
                // TODO Auto-generated catch block
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
            finally{
                if(reader != null){
                    try {
                        reader.close();
                    } catch (IOException e) {
                        // TODO Auto-generated catch block
                        e.printStackTrace();
                    }
                }
            }

        }
    }
}

BufferedReader br = null;
try {
        String fpath = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + <your file name>;
        try {
            br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(fpath));
        } catch (FileNotFoundException e1) {
            e1.printStackTrace();
        }
        String line = "";
        while ((line = br.readLine()) != null) {
         //Do something here 
        }