I have an application which resides on the phone memory but downloads
large data to the SD card on first launch (the app needs to be able to
work without an internet connection most of the time)
When using the recommend directory given in Froyo it seems all files
on the SD card are deleted when I install a newer version of the .apk.
I'd preferably like the files removed on uninstall, but not on upgrade
since the files on the SD card aren't going to change between
application versions, and forcing the user to re-download a large file
that is independent of the application version does not seem
reasonable.
At the moment it seems I'm forced to use a different directory to the
recommended one in order to stop Froyo deleting all the files when the
application is upgraded.
Am I doing something wrong, or is this how it is supposed to work (I'm
guessing it is)? (Or perhaps I misunderstood what getExternalFilesDir
is for)
> I have an application which resides on the phone memory but downloads > large data to the SD card on first launch (the app needs to be able to > work without an internet connection most of the time)
> When using the recommend directory given in Froyo it seems all files > on the SD card are deleted when I install a newer version of the .apk. > I'd preferably like the files removed on uninstall, but not on upgrade > since the files on the SD card aren't going to change between > application versions, and forcing the user to re-download a large file > that is independent of the application version does not seem > reasonable.
> At the moment it seems I'm forced to use a different directory to the > recommended one in order to stop Froyo deleting all the files when the > application is upgraded.
> Am I doing something wrong, or is this how it is supposed to work (I'm > guessing it is)? (Or perhaps I misunderstood what getExternalFilesDir > is for)
> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Android Developers" group. > To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > android-developers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com<android-developers%2Bunsubs cribe@googlegroups.com> > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to provide private support, and so won't reply to such e-mails. All such questions should be posted on public forums, where I and others can see and answer them.
Absolutely. Things like my preferences and my DB are fine.
But since 2.2 if my large files are stored in the recommended
directory (from what I remember something like .../Android/data/
packagename/) then when I install a new version (currently I've only
tried through ADB and side-loading, NOT market - don't know if that
affects it) all of the files get erased.
Currently if this is the case I think I'm going to move to storing
data in .../data/packagename/ as I've seen a few other apps do this
and the less I mess up someone's SD card the better. At least a file-
copy and delete should be much quicker for the user than re-
downloading :)
But if you could check (or someone?) - I might be being an idiot. I
did however go through my code and make sure I didn't have a
deleteAllFiles() or something like that somewhere.
On Jul 24, 8:57 pm, Dianne Hackborn <hack...@android.com> wrote:
> Ergh... that may be a bug. :( To be clear, when doing the update your
> internal data is not being erased, but the data on the SD card is?
> On Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 10:11 AM, Joseph Earl <joseph.w.e...@gmail.com>wrote:
> > I have an application which resides on the phone memory but downloads
> > large data to the SD card on first launch (the app needs to be able to
> > work without an internet connection most of the time)
> > When using the recommend directory given in Froyo it seems all files
> > on the SD card are deleted when I install a newer version of the .apk.
> > I'd preferably like the files removed on uninstall, but not on upgrade
> > since the files on the SD card aren't going to change between
> > application versions, and forcing the user to re-download a large file
> > that is independent of the application version does not seem
> > reasonable.
> > At the moment it seems I'm forced to use a different directory to the
> > recommended one in order to stop Froyo deleting all the files when the
> > application is upgraded.
> > Am I doing something wrong, or is this how it is supposed to work (I'm
> > guessing it is)? (Or perhaps I misunderstood what getExternalFilesDir
> > is for)
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > Groups "Android Developers" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> > android-developers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com<android-developers%2Bunsubs cribe@googlegroups.com>
> > For more options, visit this group at
> >http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
> Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to
> provide private support, and so won't reply to such e-mails. All such
> questions should be posted on public forums, where I and others can see and
> answer them.
> Ergh... that may be a bug. :( To be clear, when doing the update your
> internal data is not being erased, but the data on the SD card is?
> On Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 10:11 AM, Joseph Earl <joseph.w.e...@gmail.com>wrote:
> > I have an application which resides on the phone memory but downloads
> > large data to the SD card on first launch (the app needs to be able to
> > work without an internet connection most of the time)
> > When using the recommend directory given in Froyo it seems all files
> > on the SD card are deleted when I install a newer version of the .apk.
> > I'd preferably like the files removed on uninstall, but not on upgrade
> > since the files on the SD card aren't going to change between
> > application versions, and forcing the user to re-download a large file
> > that is independent of the application version does not seem
> > reasonable.
> > At the moment it seems I'm forced to use a different directory to the
> > recommended one in order to stop Froyo deleting all the files when the
> > application is upgraded.
> > Am I doing something wrong, or is this how it is supposed to work (I'm
> > guessing it is)? (Or perhaps I misunderstood what getExternalFilesDir
> > is for)
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > Groups "Android Developers" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> > android-developers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com<android-developers%2Bunsubs cribe@googlegroups.com>
> > For more options, visit this group at
> >http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
> Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to
> provide private support, and so won't reply to such e-mails. All such
> questions should be posted on public forums, where I and others can see and
> answer them.
Hi John, thanks for the info, but essentially what I was hoping to
have was
1) Files on SD card NOT deleted during upgrade (they are independent
of the app version)
2) Files on SD card ARE deleted during final uninstall
However they get deleted in both those scenarios which is not useful
to me, as I cannot ask the user to re-download ~200MB of files again
if I need to release an upgrade to fix a bug or something.
On Jul 25, 3:10 am, john <john4...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If you're using API Level 8 or greater, use getExternalFilesDir(null)
> to save a File.
> It will be deleted when you upgrade to a newer version.
> On 7月25日, 上午3時57分, Dianne Hackborn <hack...@android.com> wrote:
> > Ergh... that may be a bug. :( To be clear, when doing the update your
> > internal data is not being erased, but the data on the SD card is?
> > On Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 10:11 AM, Joseph Earl <joseph.w.e...@gmail.com>wrote:
> > > I have an application which resides on the phone memory but downloads
> > > large data to the SD card on first launch (the app needs to be able to
> > > work without an internet connection most of the time)
> > > When using the recommend directory given in Froyo it seems all files
> > > on the SD card are deleted when I install a newer version of the .apk.
> > > I'd preferably like the files removed on uninstall, but not on upgrade
> > > since the files on the SD card aren't going to change between
> > > application versions, and forcing the user to re-download a large file
> > > that is independent of the application version does not seem
> > > reasonable.
> > > At the moment it seems I'm forced to use a different directory to the
> > > recommended one in order to stop Froyo deleting all the files when the
> > > application is upgraded.
> > > Am I doing something wrong, or is this how it is supposed to work (I'm
> > > guessing it is)? (Or perhaps I misunderstood what getExternalFilesDir
> > > is for)
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > > Groups "Android Developers" group.
> > > To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com
> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> > > android-developers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com<android-developers%2Bunsubs cribe@googlegroups.com>
> > > For more options, visit this group at
> > >http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
> > Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to
> > provide private support, and so won't reply to such e-mails. All such
> > questions should be posted on public forums, where I and others can see and
> > answer them.
I can't tell you when it will appear on various devices, but hopefully we can get it rolled out fairly quickly. (Note -- do expect to see devices updating to Froyo for a while without this patch, since there is a fairly long natural lag between code going in and builds being created with it and going through TA to be delivered to devices.)
On Sun, Jul 25, 2010 at 3:07 AM, Joseph Earl <joseph.w.e...@gmail.com>wrote:
> Hi John, thanks for the info, but essentially what I was hoping to > have was
> 1) Files on SD card NOT deleted during upgrade (they are independent > of the app version) > 2) Files on SD card ARE deleted during final uninstall
> However they get deleted in both those scenarios which is not useful > to me, as I cannot ask the user to re-download ~200MB of files again > if I need to release an upgrade to fix a bug or something.
> On Jul 25, 3:10 am, john <john4...@gmail.com> wrote: > > If you're using API Level 8 or greater, use getExternalFilesDir(null) > > to save a File.
> > It will be deleted when you upgrade to a newer version.
> > On 7月25日, 上午3時57分, Dianne Hackborn <hack...@android.com> wrote:
> > > Ergh... that may be a bug. :( To be clear, when doing the update your > > > internal data is not being erased, but the data on the SD card is?
> > > On Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 10:11 AM, Joseph Earl <joseph.w.e...@gmail.com > >wrote:
> > > > I have an application which resides on the phone memory but downloads > > > > large data to the SD card on first launch (the app needs to be able > to > > > > work without an internet connection most of the time)
> > > > When using the recommend directory given in Froyo it seems all files > > > > on the SD card are deleted when I install a newer version of the > .apk. > > > > I'd preferably like the files removed on uninstall, but not on > upgrade > > > > since the files on the SD card aren't going to change between > > > > application versions, and forcing the user to re-download a large > file > > > > that is independent of the application version does not seem > > > > reasonable.
> > > > At the moment it seems I'm forced to use a different directory to the > > > > recommended one in order to stop Froyo deleting all the files when > the > > > > application is upgraded.
> > > > Am I doing something wrong, or is this how it is supposed to work > (I'm > > > > guessing it is)? (Or perhaps I misunderstood what getExternalFilesDir > > > > is for)
> > > > -- > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > > > Groups "Android Developers" group. > > > > To post to this group, send email to > android-developers@googlegroups.com > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > > android-developers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com<android-developers%2Bunsubs cribe@googlegroups.com><android-developers%2Bunsubs > cribe@googlegroups.com> > > > > For more options, visit this group at > > > >http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
> > > Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time > to > > > provide private support, and so won't reply to such e-mails. All such > > > questions should be posted on public forums, where I and others can see > and > > > answer them.
> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Android Developers" group. > To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > android-developers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com<android-developers%2Bunsubs cribe@googlegroups.com> > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to provide private support, and so won't reply to such e-mails. All such questions should be posted on public forums, where I and others can see and answer them.
So this bug appears to still exist on the 2.2 devices that we work with on the market (Motorola Droid with the latest 2.2 OTA) and even on the Google API 2.2 SDK emulator. I think that it is wildly unreasonable that this bug is not reflected in the main documentation at
Would it be possible for the documentation to be updated to reflect the fact that you should only "write your data in the following directory: /Android/data/<package_name>/files/ " if you are building for an android environment which has the bug fixed (not sure if any such environments currently exist...)
We started using the appropriate directory path (.../Android/data/ packagename/) before 2.2 was rolled out in anticipation of taking advantage of it, meaning that we can no longer upgrade our application (from the 2.1 installed version) without completely wrecking the install, and I feel that it is unfortunate that despite the bug being identified in July the documentation was not updated to reflect this problem.
-Clayton Sims
On Jul 29, 6:37 pm, Dianne Hackborn <hack...@android.com> wrote:
> I can't tell you when it will appear on various devices, but hopefully we > can get it rolled out fairly quickly. (Note -- do expect to see devices > updating to Froyo for a while without this patch, since there is a fairly > long natural lag between code going in and builds being created with it and > going through TA to be delivered to devices.)
> On Sun, Jul 25, 2010 at 3:07 AM, Joseph Earl <joseph.w.e...@gmail.com>wrote:
> > Hi John, thanks for the info, but essentially what I was hoping to > > have was
> > 1) Files on SD card NOT deleted during upgrade (they are independent > > of the app version) > > 2) Files on SD card ARE deleted during final uninstall
> > However they get deleted in both those scenarios which is not useful > > to me, as I cannot ask the user to re-download ~200MB of files again > > if I need to release an upgrade to fix a bug or something.
> > On Jul 25, 3:10 am, john <john4...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > If you're using API Level 8 or greater, use getExternalFilesDir(null) > > > to save a File.
> > > It will be deleted when you upgrade to a newer version.
> > > On 7月25日, 上午3時57分, Dianne Hackborn <hack...@android.com> wrote:
> > > > Ergh... that may be a bug. :( To be clear, when doing the update your > > > > internal data is not being erased, but the data on the SD card is?
> > > > On Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 10:11 AM, Joseph Earl <joseph.w.e...@gmail.com > > >wrote:
> > > > > I have an application which resides on the phone memory but downloads > > > > > large data to the SD card on first launch (the app needs to be able > > to > > > > > work without an internet connection most of the time)
> > > > > When using the recommend directory given in Froyo it seems all files > > > > > on the SD card are deleted when I install a newer version of the > > .apk. > > > > > I'd preferably like the files removed on uninstall, but not on > > upgrade > > > > > since the files on the SD card aren't going to change between > > > > > application versions, and forcing the user to re-download a large > > file > > > > > that is independent of the application version does not seem > > > > > reasonable.
> > > > > At the moment it seems I'm forced to use a different directory to the > > > > > recommended one in order to stop Froyo deleting all the files when > > the > > > > > application is upgraded.
> > > > > Am I doing something wrong, or is this how it is supposed to work > > (I'm > > > > > guessing it is)? (Or perhaps I misunderstood what getExternalFilesDir > > > > > is for)
> > > > > -- > > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > > > > Groups "Android Developers" group. > > > > > To post to this group, send email to > > android-developers@googlegroups.com > > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > > > android-developers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com<android-developers%2Bunsubs cribe@googlegroups.com><android-developers%2Bunsubs > > cribe@googlegroups.com> > > > > > For more options, visit this group at > > > > >http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
> > > > Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time > > to > > > > provide private support, and so won't reply to such e-mails. All such > > > > questions should be posted on public forums, where I and others can see > > and > > > > answer them.
> > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups "Android Developers" group. > > To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > android-developers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com<android-developers%2Bunsubs cribe@googlegroups.com> > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
> Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to > provide private support, and so won't reply to such e-mails. All such > questions should be posted on public forums, where I and others can see and > answer them.
