In this tutorial I will write an Android class that can be used to upload a File (image, mp3, mp4, text file...) from an android device to a Http web server along with a title and a description using the POST method, I will also write the server side code to read the data sent by our android class.
First we need to have the permission to access internet, so we have to add this line to the
AndroidManifest.xml (just after the application section)
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
I will call our class (HttpFileUpload), so just create the file HttpFileUpload.java and copy the code below and set your package name (the 1st line):
package my.package.name;
import java.io.DataOutputStream;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;
import android.util.Log;
public class HttpFileUpload implements Runnable{
URL connectURL;
String responseString;
String Title;
String Description;
byte[ ] dataToServer;
FileInputStream fileInputStream = null;
HttpFileUpload(String urlString, String vTitle, String vDesc){
try{
connectURL = new URL(urlString);
Title= vTitle;
Description = vDesc;
}catch(Exception ex){
Log.i("HttpFileUpload","URL Malformatted");
}
}
void Send_Now(FileInputStream fStream){
fileInputStream = fStream;
Sending();
}
void Sending(){
String iFileName = "ovicam_temp_vid.mp4";
String lineEnd = "\r\n";
String twoHyphens = "--";
String boundary = "*****";
String Tag="fSnd";
try
{
Log.e(Tag,"Starting Http File Sending to URL");
// Open a HTTP connection to the URL
HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection)connectURL.openConnection();
// Allow Inputs
conn.setDoInput(true);
// Allow Outputs
conn.setDoOutput(true);
// Don't use a cached copy.
conn.setUseCaches(false);
// Use a post method.
conn.setRequestMethod("POST");
conn.setRequestProperty("Connection", "Keep-Alive");
conn.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "multipart/form-data;boundary="+boundary);
DataOutputStream dos = new DataOutputStream(conn.getOutputStream());
dos.writeBytes(twoHyphens + boundary + lineEnd);
dos.writeBytes("Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"title\""+ lineEnd);
dos.writeBytes(lineEnd);
dos.writeBytes(Title);
dos.writeBytes(lineEnd);
dos.writeBytes(twoHyphens + boundary + lineEnd);
dos.writeBytes("Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"description\""+ lineEnd);
dos.writeBytes(lineEnd);
dos.writeBytes(Description);
dos.writeBytes(lineEnd);
dos.writeBytes(twoHyphens + boundary + lineEnd);
dos.writeBytes("Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"uploadedfile\";filename=\"" + iFileName +"\"" + lineEnd);
dos.writeBytes(lineEnd);
Log.e(Tag,"Headers are written");
// create a buffer of maximum size
int bytesAvailable = fileInputStream.available();
int maxBufferSize = 1024;
int bufferSize = Math.min(bytesAvailable, maxBufferSize);
byte[ ] buffer = new byte[bufferSize];
// read file and write it into form...
int bytesRead = fileInputStream.read(buffer, 0, bufferSize);
while (bytesRead > 0)
{
dos.write(buffer, 0, bufferSize);
bytesAvailable = fileInputStream.available();
bufferSize = Math.min(bytesAvailable,maxBufferSize);
bytesRead = fileInputStream.read(buffer, 0,bufferSize);
}
dos.writeBytes(lineEnd);
dos.writeBytes(twoHyphens + boundary + twoHyphens + lineEnd);
// close streams
fileInputStream.close();
dos.flush();
Log.e(Tag,"File Sent, Response: "+String.valueOf(conn.getResponseCode()));
InputStream is = conn.getInputStream();
// retrieve the response from server
int ch;
StringBuffer b =new StringBuffer();
while( ( ch = is.read() ) != -1 ){ b.append( (char)ch ); }
String s=b.toString();
Log.i("Response",s);
dos.close();
}
catch (MalformedURLException ex)
{
Log.e(Tag, "URL error: " + ex.getMessage(), ex);
}
catch (IOException ioe)
{
Log.e(Tag, "IO error: " + ioe.getMessage(), ioe);
}
}
@Override
public void run() {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
}
}
Here’s the function to call the HttpFileUpload and Start sending the file and the data :
public void UploadFile(){
try {
// Set your file path here
FileInputStream fstrm = new FileInputStream(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().toString()+"/DCIM/file.mp4");
// Set your server page url (and the file title/description)
HttpFileUpload hfu = new HttpFileUpload("http://www.myurl.com/fileup.aspx", "my file title","my file description");
hfu.Send_Now(fstrm);
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
// Error: File not found
}
}
And here’s the server side code to read the File and the data (title and description). In this example the language used is c# .net, but the web server can be any language: php, asp, vb aspx, java…
protected void Page_Init(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string vTitle = "";
string vDesc = "";
string FilePath = Server.MapPath("/files/cur_file.mp4");
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(Request.Form["title"]))
{
vTitle = Request.Form["title"];
}
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(Request.Form["description"]))
{
vDesc = Request.Form["description"];
}
HttpFileCollection MyFileCollection = Request.Files;
if (MyFileCollection.Count > 0)
{
// Save the File
MyFileCollection[0].SaveAs(FilePath);
}
}
Have fun and don't hesitate to ask me any questions or send me your thoughts.