# A File Opener Plugin for Cordova
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@theankur/cordova-plugin-file-opener2) [](https://npm-stat.com/charts.html?package=@theankur/cordova-plugin-file-opener2)
This plugin will open a file on your device file system with its default application.
```js
cordova.plugins.fileOpener2.open(filePath, fileMIMEType, {
error: function () {},
success: function () {},
});
```
## Installation
```shell
$ cordova plugin add @theankur/cordova-plugin-file-opener2
```
### Optional variables
This plugin requires the Android support library v4. From release `2.1.0` the version of this can be set at installation. The minimum version is `24.1.0`. Default value is `27.+`. [Check out the latest version](https://developer.android.com/topic/libraries/support-library/revisions.html).
```shell
$ cordova plugin add @theankur/cordova-plugin-file-opener2 --variable ANDROID_SUPPORT_V4_VERSION="27.+"
```
If you are using the `cordova-android-support-gradle-release` plugin it should match the value you have set there.
## Requirements
The following platforms and versions are supported by the latest release:
- Android 4.4+ / iOS 9+ / Windows / Electron
- Cordova CLI 7.0 or higher
Cordova CLI 6.0 is supported by 2.0.19, but there are a number of issues, particularly with Android builds (see [232](https://github.com/pwlin/cordova-plugin-file-opener2/issues/232) [203](https://github.com/pwlin/cordova-plugin-file-opener2/issues/203) [207](https://github.com/pwlin/cordova-plugin-file-opener2/issues/207)). Using the [cordova-android-support-gradle-release](https://github.com/dpa99c/cordova-android-support-gradle-release) plugin may help.
### AndroidX Support
Currently if your project requires AndroidX support, you need to add the following two plugins to your project:
- [cordova-plugin-androidx](https://github.com/dpa99c/cordova-plugin-androidx/) and [cordova-plugin-androidx-adapter](https://github.com/dpa99c/cordova-plugin-androidx-adapter/)
```shell
$ cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-androidx
$ cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-androidx-adapter
```
Just adding these plugins should be enough and no further changes are necessary.
## fileOpener2.open(filePath, mimeType, options)
Opens a file
### Supported Platforms
- Android 4.4+
- iOS 9+
- Windows
- Electron
### Quick Examples
Open an APK install dialog:
```javascript
cordova.plugins.fileOpener2.open(
"/Downloads/gmail.apk",
"application/vnd.android.package-archive"
);
```
Open a PDF document with the default PDF reader and optional callback object:
```js
cordova.plugins.fileOpener2.open(
"/Download/starwars.pdf", // You can also use a Cordova-style file uri: cdvfile://localhost/persistent/Downloads/starwars.pdf
"application/pdf",
{
error: function (e) {
console.log(
"Error status: " + e.status + " - Error message: " + e.message
);
},
success: function () {
console.log("file opened successfully");
},
}
);
```
**Note on Electron:** Do not forget to enable Node.js in your app by adding `"nodeIntegration": true` to `platforms/electron/platform_www/cdv-electron-settings.json` file, See [Cordova-Electron documentation](https://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/latest/guide/platforms/electron/index.html#customizing-the-application's-window-options).
### Market place installation
Install From Market: to install an APK from a market place, such as Google Play or the App Store, you can use an `` tag in combination with the `market://` protocol:
```html
Install from Google Play
Install from App Store
```
or in code:
```js
window.open("[market:// or itms-apps:// link]", "_system");
```
## fileOpener2.showOpenWithDialog(filePath, mimeType, options)
Opens with system modal to open file with an already installed app.
### Supported Platforms
- Android 4.4+
- iOS 9+
### Quick Example
```js
cordova.plugins.fileOpener2.showOpenWithDialog(
"/Downloads/starwars.pdf", // You can also use a Cordova-style file uri: cdvfile://localhost/persistent/Downloads/starwars.pdf
"application/pdf",
{
error: function (e) {
console.log(
"Error status: " + e.status + " - Error message: " + e.message
);
},
success: function () {
console.log("file opened successfully");
},
position: [0, 0],
}
);
```
`position` array of coordinates from top-left device screen, use for iOS dialog positioning.
## fileOpener2.uninstall(packageId, callbackContext)
Uninstall a package with its ID.
**Note**: You need to add `` to your `AndroidManifest.xml`
### Supported Platforms
- Android 4.4+
### Quick Example
```js
cordova.plugins.fileOpener2.uninstall("com.zynga.FarmVille2CountryEscape", {
error: function (e) {
console.log("Error status: " + e.status + " - Error message: " + e.message);
},
success: function () {
console.log("Uninstall intent activity started.");
},
});
```
## fileOpener2.appIsInstalled(packageId, callbackContext)
Check if an app is already installed.
### Supported Platforms
- Android 4.4+
### Quick Example
```javascript
cordova.plugins.fileOpener2.appIsInstalled("com.adobe.reader", {
success: function (res) {
if (res.status === 0) {
console.log("Adobe Reader is not installed.");
} else {
console.log("Adobe Reader is installed.");
}
},
});
```
---
## Android APK installation limitation
The following limitations apply when opening an APK file for installation:
- On Android 8+, your application must have the `ACTION_INSTALL_PACKAGE` permission. You can add it by adding this to your app's `config.xml` file:
```xml
```
- Before Android 7, you can only install APKs from the "external" partition. For example, you can install from `cordova.file.externalDataDirectory`, but **not** from `cordova.file.dataDirectory`. Android 7+ does not have this limitation.
---
## SD card limitation on Android
It is not always possible to open a file from the SD Card using this plugin on Android. This is because the underlying Android library used [does not support serving files from secondary external storage devices](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40318116/fileprovider-and-secondary-external-storage). Whether or not your the SD card is treated as a secondary external device depends on your particular phone's set up.
---
## Notes
- For properly opening _any_ file, you must already have a suitable reader for that particular file type installed on your device. Otherwise this will not work.
- [It is reported](https://github.com/pwlin/cordova-plugin-file-opener2/issues/2#issuecomment-41295793) that in iOS, you might need to remove `` from your `config.xml`
- If you are wondering what MIME-type should you pass as the second argument to `open` function, [here is a list of all known MIME-types](http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/httpd/httpd/trunk/docs/conf/mime.types?view=co)
---