reading an html file that was added to the media list

[Gary]

Howdy

You can load a html file in with your other Media. Once it is there, you can read it with the WebViewer with this url

  file:///mnt/sdcard/AppInventor/assets/test.html

Source and pictures soon

Gary

[Gary]

https://plus.google.com/u/0/100632474408684291425/posts/FyDGRXhkuPy

I loaded the html file like we load other media files. Then start adb shell.

On my Linux PC I changed directory to the Android sdk and got into the shell on the device where I installed the app

  cd opt/android-sdk-linux_r20/android-sdk-linux/platform-tools

  ./adb shell

you location may differ

from there I looked in /mnt/sdcard/AppInventor/assets and there was my html file

This gives you a way to get html locally. It is not a full up web server, but it will do the trick for html that does not need a web server.

[Gary]

and while we are talking about it...

http://developer.android.com/guide/google/play/expansion-files.html

"Google Play currently requires that your APK file be no more than 50MB. "
...
"Google Play hosts the expansion files for your application and serves them to the device at no cost to you."

One of my hopes is that we will be able to have expansion files by the time I get to V1.5. That gives us 4GB. wow

and I am working with OAuth. I have hopes that we can use Google Drive to put stuff... in the cloud and then get at it with Drive running on the device. I just tested

load an html file on my pc (I got the file from a windows partition on linux) into Google Drive

and view it on my phone

OAuth lets us do more with services that have the nice REST interfaces like Google Drive.

[Taifun]

as already mentioned here https://groups.google.com/d/msg/appinventor/gY8B6Bbk3Ug/wXoWdPTx-y4J

html is not supported to upload as media file to AI, see the supported types here: http://beta.appinventor.mit.edu/learn/reference/other/media.html

to that directory you mentioned you only have access during development... the images you can display directly without filepath, correct? but the html files not, this is why it does not work anymore after packaging and running on another device, you have to access the files from inside AI (i.e. without filepath), what you are doing is to access them from outside

there is only this way: download the files form the internet on first run...

Taifun
puravidaapps.com

[Gary]

On Friday, August 3, 2012 8:38:47 AM UTC-5, Taifun wrote:

as already mentioned here https://groups.google.com/d/msg/appinventor/gY8B6Bbk3Ug/wXoWdPTx-y4J

I do not read that group. Thanks for the pointer.

 

html is not supported to upload as media file to AI, see the supported types here: http://beta.appinventor.mit.edu/learn/reference/other/media.html

to that directory you mentioned you only have access during development... the images you can display directly without filepath, correct? but the html files not, this is why it does not work anymore after packaging and running on another device, you have to access the files from inside AI (i.e. without filepath), what you are doing is to access them from outside

I just looked and the file is still there

but

the app did not come up.

hmmm

[Taifun]

of course you also can test it on the same device, but in this case do not forget to delete the assets in the mentioned folder, else you will access these development files from your packaged app...
Taifun

[Gary]

It did not come up when I tried the installed app

the app did not show anything???

I tried activity starter also. no luck

hmmm

no spare time

back to what I was doing originally - OAuth etc.

Gary

[Gary]

We have source...

I think being able to get at files locally is a good idea.

That sounds like a big security hole, 

but very useful.

The expansion files may be the way to go. Back to that.

Gary

[Gary]

change the url to file:///android_asset/test.html

as best I can tell ;-) that reads the content of your app's asset folder.

[Taifun]

it works! you are a genius!
 see also here https://groups.google.com/d/msg/appinventor/gY8B6Bbk3Ug/FCQZgwvyUNkJ
Taifun

[Gary]

:-)

It took a team, Scott and the Canadian lady to get us going, me to come up with the solution that works great in development, Taifun to point out it did NOT work when you install an apk clean and me to be thorough and do some more looking!

Sooooo

This works in development

  file:///mnt/sdcard/AppInventor/assets/test.html

because App Inventor puts the file in an assets folder when it loads

and this works from the apk

  file:///android_asset/test.html

because like all good android apps, it's assets are in the apk and the android browser can get at them using that url.

-----

and 

with great power comes great responsibility 

It is a nice technique for putting good docs up.

I want to look into the WebView on Android with Java and Javascript talking with each other (after V1.5)

It may open up a security hole???

and the page is not on a web server. Lot's of stuff will work, some may not. (something to test after V2.0?)

so,

spread the word

let folks know they can follow up in the ai4a getting set up and connected group https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/usgsuacwai

and let us know here how it works for you.

Gary

[Taifun]

It may open up a security hole???

why? could you explain?
Taifun

[Dennis A.]

worth reposting here...

If this is doing what I think it's doing..

.. it makes me dizzy thinking about what I could be thinking doing with this..

;-)

downloaded to my GN 7 tablet... works fine..

congrats to you guys.. ya'll are amazing...

Dennis

 

[Taifun]

file:///android_asset/test.html
-> this works on all devices

file:///android_asset/test.html#down
file:///android_asset/test.html?parameter
-> both work only on devices with Android 2.x, but not on Android 3.x, 4.x, see also here https://groups.google.com/d/topic/ai4a/fCCfLsRRnXA/discussion

why is that? anybody has another idea how to pass parameters to the embedded HTML/JavaScript which also works with Android 3.x/4.x?
Taifun

attached a simple HTML example which tries to jump directly to an anchor in the document

[Scott Ferguson]

I can confirm that on the ASUS Transformer TF-101, Android 4.x that both a) file:///android_asset/hello.html#down and  b) file://localhost/android_asset/hello.html#down throw the 'Webpage not available' error for the packaged apk,

and  file://localhost/android_asset/hello.html  does work when you leave off the #down bookmark link. 

[Taifun]

as a workaround we can download the html file on first run of the app, see here http://puravidaapps.com/table2.php
Taifun

[Scott Ferguson]

Nice solution that should work with the #down bookmark suffix as well.

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[Jomebrew]

I found that downloading the file requires me to calculate some sort of hash on the file to be sure it is intact and not corrupt.