B4J Tutorial Open external documents

jFX.ShowExternalDocument method allows you to open external documents with the default installed app.

It expects a single parameter which is the document or resource Uri (link).

You can use File.GetUri to get the Uri of a local file.

For example to open a local PDF document:

fx.ShowExternalDocument(File.GetUri("C:\Users\H\Documents", "Document.pdf"))

You can also use it with a non-local resource:

fx.ShowExternalDocument("http://www.b4x.com")

Caveats:
- This method doesn't throw any error if the resource cannot be opened.
- You cannot use this method with assets files (files added to the Files tab). It will only fail in Release mode when the files are packaged inside the jar.
You can use File.Copy to copy it from the assets folder and then open it.

This method was added in V1.00 beta 6.

 

[merlin2049er]

Can this be used to open up a folder? I'll give it a try.

 

[Erel]

Yes. It should work:

fx.ShowExternalDocument(File.GetUri(File.DirApp, ""))

 

[merlin2049er]

Oh OK, is there an equivalent way to open a folder in b4a?

 

[Erel]

No.

 

[merlin2049er]

OK, I'll worked around it.

 

[jmon]

Hi,

I am trying to open set a jpg file to an imageView. The Jpg file is on a server (Windows), but I get an error:

java.io.FileNotFoundException: file:\vfx-server-wds\WebServer\intranet\data_users\team1_jo.jpg (The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect)

This is my code:

            img.SetImage(fx.LoadImageSample(File.GetUri("//vfx-server-wds/WebServer/intranet/data_users", ""), _
                RS.GetString("teams.team_name").ToLowerCase & "_" & RS.GetString("user.nick").ToLowerCase & ".jpg", 32, 32))

The file is there. Can someone help me find what's wrong here?

 

[Erel]

Please start a new thread for this question. It is not related to this thread.

 

[ashrafidkaidek]

when i try:

fx.ShowExternalDocument(File.GetUri("C:\Users\H\Documents", "Document.pdf"))

I got the error "undeclared variable fx" ... pls let me know how fx should be declared

 

[Erel]

Is this a UI app?

fx is part of the default template. You can declare it yourself if it was deleted with:

Dim fx As jFX

 

[ashrafidkaidek]

Is this supported for B4A V2.7? because it is not working for me!

 

[Erel]

No. Only in B4J. This is B4J sub-forum.

 

[javiers]

Hi Erel, is it possible to display a PDF in WebView using this feature?

 

[Erel]

No. You can use it to open pdf documents with the default pdf viewer.

 

[javiers]

No. You can use it to open pdf documents with the default pdf viewer.

Thanks!

 

[mc73]

Tried using this method from inside a non-UI app, with no luck. I get:

Program started.
java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javafx/application/Application
   at anywheresoftware.b4a.BA.raiseEvent2(BA.java:114)
   at anywheresoftware.b4a.ShellBA.raiseEvent2(ShellBA.java:82)
   at anywheresoftware.b4a.BA.raiseEvent(BA.java:84)
   at b4j.example.main.main(main.java:28)
Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javafx/application/Application
   at anywheresoftware.b4j.objects.JFX.ShowExternalDocument(JFX.java:73)
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
   at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
   at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:606)
   at anywheresoftware.b4a.shell.Shell.runVoidMethod(Shell.java:606)
   at anywheresoftware.b4a.shell.Shell.raiseEventImpl(Shell.java:227)
   at anywheresoftware.b4a.shell.Shell.raiseEvent(Shell.java:156)
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
Program terminated (StartMessageLoop was not called).
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
   at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
   at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:606)
   at anywheresoftware.b4a.BA.raiseEvent2(BA.java:93)
   ... 3 more
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: javafx.application.Application
   at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:366)
   at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:355)
   at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
   at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:354)
   at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:425)
   at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:308)
   at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:358)
   ... 16 more

Is it only for a UI app?

 

[Erel]

Yes. You cannot use jFX from a non-UI application.

You can use jShell library to start other applications.

 

[MikeH]

Yes. It should work:

fx.ShowExternalDocument(File.GetUri(File.DirApp, ""))

Can`t get this to work in OSX but works fine in Windows.

I`ve tried different folders, different Macs, no change.

Anyone point me in the right direction please?

 

[Erel]

Use jShell and run "open" with the path as a parameter.

 

[Kevin]

I have made an app in B4J and I got some feedback from someone using Linux and Mac. On Linux (and maybe Mac), trying to open web pages or send emails apparently does not work. This does work on Windows though.

fx.ShowExternalDocument("https://mysite.com")

fx.ShowExternalDocument("mailto:[email protected]")

Apparently the mailto link is opening a blank browser window? She seems pretty tech-savvy so I don't believe it to be something like a lack of default application but I am not 100% sure.