android taking the screenshot and sharing it

Question

I am trying to add a share button to my app which takes the screenshot of screen and then shares it via Facebook etc. I have searched over internet. I also have searched Stack Overflow too; there are many threads related with this issue but I couldn't figure that out yet. What is confusing me is .. In every example the image's filepath is hardcoded. I did like that but it is not useful and dynamic. What I am trying to do is to take the screenshot of that moment and then share it, but when I give the filepath by myself it just takes that picture from a folder and shares that

public void clickButton(View v) {
    Intent shareIntent = new Intent(android.content.Intent.ACTION_SEND);

    //set the type  
    shareIntent.setType("image/png");

    //add a subject  
    shareIntent.putExtra(android.content.Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT,
            "CAR EXAMPLE");

    //build the body of the message to be shared  
    String shareMessage = "An app...";

    //add the message  
    shareIntent.putExtra(android.content.Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, shareMessage);

    //add the img
    shareIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM,
            Uri.parse("/storage/sdcard0/Tutorial_ScreenShot/screenshot0.jpg"));

    //start the chooser for sharing  
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(shareIntent, "Share"));
}

As you can see in the add image part I give the filepath by myself. So how to give a more dynamic behaviour to that .. I mean when I click the button my app's screen has to be saved in a folder and then I can share that without hardcoding its filepath.

Edited: After trying the solution below;

Well, thanks. I've called shareIt() right under onClick of a button it and application stops... Here is the log.

12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120): FATAL EXCEPTION: main
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120): Process: com.hede.namesurfer, PID: 14120   
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120): java.lang.NullPointerException
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at      
com.hede.namesurfer.MainActivity.share(MainActivity.java:161)
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at  
  com.hede.namesurfer.MainActivity$1.onClick(MainActivity.java:42)
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at 
android.view.View.performClick(View.java:4438)
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at 
android.view.View$PerformClick.run(View.java:18422)
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at 
android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:733)

12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at  
android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:95)
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at 
android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:136)
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at 
android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5017)
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at 
java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at
java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:515)
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at 
com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:779)
12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at    
com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:595)

12-28 15:53:01.660: E/AndroidRuntime(14120):    at    
dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
12-28 15:53:02.780: I/Process(14120): Sending signal. PID

[You will find your solution here](https://stackoverflow.com/a/44670639/7499305) — Rupesh K.C, Jun 21 '17 at 08:32

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 27 '18 at 04:54

Try this

public void shareit()
    {
        View view =  findViewById(R.id.layout);//your layout id
        view.getRootView();
        String state = Environment.getExternalStorageState();
        if (Environment.MEDIA_MOUNTED.equals(state)) 
        {
            File picDir  = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory()+ "/myPic");
            if (!picDir.exists())
            {
                picDir.mkdir();
            }
            view.setDrawingCacheEnabled(true);
            view.buildDrawingCache(true);
            Bitmap bitmap = view.getDrawingCache();
//          Date date = new Date();
            String fileName = "mylove" + ".jpg";
            File picFile = new File(picDir + "/" + fileName);
            try 
            {
                picFile.createNewFile();
                FileOutputStream picOut = new FileOutputStream(picFile);
                bitmap = Bitmap.createBitmap(bitmap, 0, 0, bitmap.getWidth(), (int)(bitmap.getHeight()/1.2));
                boolean saved = bitmap.compress(CompressFormat.JPEG, 100, picOut);
                if (saved) 
                {
                    Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Image saved to your device Pictures "+ "directory!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                } else 
                {
                    //Error
                }
                picOut.close();
            } 
            catch (Exception e) 
            {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
            view.destroyDrawingCache();

            // share via intent
            Intent sharingIntent = new Intent(android.content.Intent.ACTION_SEND);
            sharingIntent.setType("image/jpeg");
            sharingIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, Uri.parse(picFile.getAbsolutePath()));
            startActivity(Intent.createChooser(sharingIntent, "Share via"));
        } else {
            //Error

        }
    }

so in this scenario what is picDir and picFile ? probably it would say they could not resolved to a variable .. — regeme, Dec 25 '13 at 15:34
I think there is a problem with this line : sharingIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, Uri.parse(picFile.getAbsolutePath())); here picFile cannot be resloved.. — regeme, Dec 28 '13 at 14:16
The main problem is screenshot do not saved to anywhere so that it can not retrieve it as an image and share it i guess.. anyway thanks — regeme, Dec 28 '13 at 14:29

Rupesh K.C · Answer 2 · 2017-06-22T19:24:47.397

for screeshot

 public Bitmap takeScreenshot() {
View rootView = findViewById(android.R.id.content).getRootView();
rootView.setDrawingCacheEnabled(true);
return rootView.getDrawingCache(); }

for saving screenshot

private void saveBitmap(Bitmap bitmap) {
imagePath = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/scrnshot.png"); ////File imagePath
FileOutputStream fos;
try {
    fos = new FileOutputStream(imagePath);
    bitmap.compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.JPEG, 100, fos);
    fos.flush();
    fos.close();
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
    Log.e("GREC", e.getMessage(), e);
} catch (IOException e) {
    Log.e("GREC", e.getMessage(), e);
}}

and for sharing

private void shareIt() {
Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(imagePath);
Intent sharingIntent = new Intent(android.content.Intent.ACTION_SEND);
sharingIntent.setType("image/*");
String shareBody = "My highest score with screen shot";
sharingIntent.putExtra(android.content.Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, "My Catch score");
sharingIntent.putExtra(android.content.Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, shareBody);
sharingIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, uri);

startActivity(Intent.createChooser(sharingIntent, "Share via"));}

and add these method on click

shareScoreCatch.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
                        @Override
                        public void onClick(View v) {
                            Bitmap bitmap = takeScreenshot();
                            saveBitmap(bitmap);
                            shareIt();
                        }
                    });

and in manifest

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />

Note: will only work for targetSdkVersion < 24 due to permission requirements introduced in Android N. — Martin Sing, Sep 19 '17 at 07:08
@MartinSing you should tell us what permission requirements. — Brill Pappin, Jan 21 '21 at 15:11

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 21 '17 at 09:33

For anybody that may need a solution to this in the future, this is what I use in my apps. Tested and working on Android 4.0 to 7.1.

First, define the variable for the visible screen in your Activity:

    public View preView;

Then initiate the view to allow for a screenshot:

    preView = getWindow().getDecorView();

Then you can call the following method within your Activity upon clicking a button. I place this method in a headless class and reference it as needed.

public static void takeScreenShotAndShare(final Context context, View view, boolean incText, String text){
    try{

        File mPath = new File(context.getExternalFilesDir(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES), "screenshot.png");
        //File imageDirectory = new File(mPath, "screenshot.png");

        view.setDrawingCacheEnabled(true);
        Bitmap bitmap = Bitmap.createBitmap(view.getDrawingCache());
        view.setDrawingCacheEnabled(false);

        FileOutputStream fOut = new FileOutputStream(mPath);
        int quality = 100;
        bitmap.compress(Bitmap.CompressFormat.PNG, quality, fOut);
        fOut.flush();
        fOut.close();

        final Intent shareIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
        Uri pictureUri = Uri.fromFile(mPath);
        shareIntent.setType("image/*");
        if(incText){
            shareIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, text);
        }
        shareIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_STREAM, pictureUri);
        shareIntent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);
        context.startActivity(Intent.createChooser(shareIntent, "Share image using"));
    }catch (Throwable tr){
        Log.d(TAG, "Couldn't save screenshot", tr);
    }

}

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 03 '14 at 10:20

0

Try to add to your manifest file the line

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />

answered Jul 03 '14 at 10:20

Roman T.

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android taking the screenshot and sharing it

4 Answers4