Passing binary blob through a content provider

Question

I have a content provider that is custom to my set of Android applications, and one of the things it needs to expose is a small (20-30 KiB) byte array. The URI for these blobs looks like:

content://my.authority/blob/#

where # is the row number; the resulting cursor has the standard _id column and a data column. I'm using a MatrixCursor in the provider's query() method:

byte[] byteData = getMyByteData();
MatrixCursor mc = new MatrixCursor(COLUMNS);
mc.addRow(new Object[] { id, byteData });

Later, in the application consuming the data, I do:

Cursor c = managedQuery(uri, null, null, null, null);
c.moveToFirst();
byte[] data = c.getBlob(c.getColumnIndexOrThrow("data"));

However, data does not contain the contents of my original byte array; rather, it contains something like [B@435cc518, which looks more like the address of the array than the contents. I tried wrapping the byte array in an implementation of java.sql.Blob, figuring that it might be looking for that since the content provider subsystem was written to be easy to use with SQLite, but it didn't help.

Has anyone gotten this to work? If the data was in the file system, there are methods in ContentProvider that I could use to provide a marshalled InputStream to the client, but the data I'm trying to send back lives as a resource in the content provider's APK.

Soma

BTW I am targeting a fairly old version (android-3) if it matters. – Soma

I understand you solved this issue. Any chance you share it with the rest of us? – Choate

Answer 1

You won't be able to use a MatrixCursor to send the byte array. This is because it depends on AbstractCursor#fillWindow method which fills the CursorWindow using Object#toString. So what is happening is that the byte array toString method is being called and it's storing that instead of the contents of the byte array which is what you want. The only way around this I can see is to implement your own Cursor that will fill the CursorWindow appropriately for a byte array.

Scarfskin

Thanks, I was afraid toString was what was going on at some level. I was hoping to not have to implement my own Cursor, but that's the path I'll go down. – Soma

Did you implement your own cursor? I would be very interested in your work! – Hynda

Answer 2

Get the MatrixCursor from Ice Cream Sandwich sources. It implements getBlob correctly.

Modified source code is below, if you want to use it. You can use it in Android 1.6+ projects.

/*
 * Copyright (C) 2007 The Android Open Source Project
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

package yuku.androidsdk.android.database.icsmatrixcursor;

import android.database.*;

import java.util.*;

/**
 * A mutable cursor implementation backed by an array of {@code Object}s. Use
 * {@link #newRow()} to add rows. Automatically expands internal capacity
 * as needed.
 */
public class MatrixCursor extends AbstractCursor {

    private final String[] columnNames;
    private Object[] data;
    private int rowCount = 0;
    private final int columnCount;

    /**
     * Constructs a new cursor with the given initial capacity.
     *
     * @param columnNames names of the columns, the ordering of which
     *  determines column ordering elsewhere in this cursor
     * @param initialCapacity in rows
     */
    public MatrixCursor(String[] columnNames, int initialCapacity) {
        this.columnNames = columnNames;
        this.columnCount = columnNames.length;

        if (initialCapacity < 1) {
            initialCapacity = 1;
        }

        this.data = new Object[columnCount * initialCapacity];
    }

    /**
     * Constructs a new cursor.
     *
     * @param columnNames names of the columns, the ordering of which
     *  determines column ordering elsewhere in this cursor
     */
    public MatrixCursor(String[] columnNames) {
        this(columnNames, 16);
    }

    /**
     * Gets value at the given column for the current row.
     */
    private Object get(int column) {
        if (column < 0 || column >= columnCount) {
            throw new CursorIndexOutOfBoundsException("Requested column: "
                    + column + ", # of columns: " +  columnCount);
        }
        if (mPos < 0) {
            throw new CursorIndexOutOfBoundsException("Before first row.");
        }
        if (mPos >= rowCount) {
            throw new CursorIndexOutOfBoundsException("After last row.");
        }
        return data[mPos * columnCount + column];
    }

    /**
     * Adds a new row to the end and returns a builder for that row. Not safe
     * for concurrent use.
     *
     * @return builder which can be used to set the column values for the new
     *  row
     */
    public RowBuilder newRow() {
        rowCount++;
        int endIndex = rowCount * columnCount;
        ensureCapacity(endIndex);
        int start = endIndex - columnCount;
        return new RowBuilder(start, endIndex);
    }

    /**
     * Adds a new row to the end with the given column values. Not safe
     * for concurrent use.
     *
     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if {@code columnValues.length !=
     *  columnNames.length}
     * @param columnValues in the same order as the the column names specified
     *  at cursor construction time
     */
    public void addRow(Object[] columnValues) {
        if (columnValues.length != columnCount) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("columnNames.length = "
                    + columnCount + ", columnValues.length = "
                    + columnValues.length);
        }

        int start = rowCount++ * columnCount;
        ensureCapacity(start + columnCount);
        System.arraycopy(columnValues, 0, data, start, columnCount);
    }

    /**
     * Adds a new row to the end with the given column values. Not safe
     * for concurrent use.
     *
     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if {@code columnValues.size() !=
     *  columnNames.length}
     * @param columnValues in the same order as the the column names specified
     *  at cursor construction time
     */
    public void addRow(Iterable<?> columnValues) {
        int start = rowCount * columnCount;
        int end = start + columnCount;
        ensureCapacity(end);

        if (columnValues instanceof ArrayList<?>) {
            addRow((ArrayList<?>) columnValues, start);
            return;
        }

        int current = start;
        Object[] localData = data;
        for (Object columnValue : columnValues) {
            if (current == end) {
                // TODO: null out row?
                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                        "columnValues.size() > columnNames.length");
            }
            localData[current++] = columnValue;
        }

        if (current != end) {
            // TODO: null out row?
            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                    "columnValues.size() < columnNames.length");
        }

        // Increase row count here in case we encounter an exception.
        rowCount++;
    }

    /** Optimization for {@link ArrayList}. */
    private void addRow(ArrayList<?> columnValues, int start) {
        int size = columnValues.size();
        if (size != columnCount) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("columnNames.length = "
                    + columnCount + ", columnValues.size() = " + size);
        }

        rowCount++;
        Object[] localData = data;
        for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
            localData[start + i] = columnValues.get(i);
        }
    }

    /** Ensures that this cursor has enough capacity. */
    private void ensureCapacity(int size) {
        if (size > data.length) {
            Object[] oldData = this.data;
            int newSize = data.length * 2;
            if (newSize < size) {
                newSize = size;
            }
            this.data = new Object[newSize];
            System.arraycopy(oldData, 0, this.data, 0, oldData.length);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Builds a row, starting from the left-most column and adding one column
     * value at a time. Follows the same ordering as the column names specified
     * at cursor construction time.
     */
    public class RowBuilder {

        private int index;
        private final int endIndex;

        RowBuilder(int index, int endIndex) {
            this.index = index;
            this.endIndex = endIndex;
        }

        /**
         * Sets the next column value in this row.
         *
         * @throws CursorIndexOutOfBoundsException if you try to add too many
         *  values
         * @return this builder to support chaining
         */
        public RowBuilder add(Object columnValue) {
            if (index == endIndex) {
                throw new CursorIndexOutOfBoundsException(
                        "No more columns left.");
            }

            data[index++] = columnValue;
            return this;
        }
    }

    // AbstractCursor implementation.

    @Override
    public int getCount() {
        return rowCount;
    }

    @Override
    public String[] getColumnNames() {
        return columnNames;
    }

    @Override
    public String getString(int column) {
        Object value = get(column);
        if (value == null) return null;
        return value.toString();
    }

    @Override
    public short getShort(int column) {
        Object value = get(column);
        if (value == null) return 0;
        if (value instanceof Number) return ((Number) value).shortValue();
        return Short.parseShort(value.toString());
    }

    @Override
    public int getInt(int column) {
        Object value = get(column);
        if (value == null) return 0;
        if (value instanceof Number) return ((Number) value).intValue();
        return Integer.parseInt(value.toString());
    }

    @Override
    public long getLong(int column) {
        Object value = get(column);
        if (value == null) return 0;
        if (value instanceof Number) return ((Number) value).longValue();
        return Long.parseLong(value.toString());
    }

    @Override
    public float getFloat(int column) {
        Object value = get(column);
        if (value == null) return 0.0f;
        if (value instanceof Number) return ((Number) value).floatValue();
        return Float.parseFloat(value.toString());
    }

    @Override
    public double getDouble(int column) {
        Object value = get(column);
        if (value == null) return 0.0d;
        if (value instanceof Number) return ((Number) value).doubleValue();
        return Double.parseDouble(value.toString());
    }

    @Override
    public byte[] getBlob(int column) {
        Object value = get(column);
        return (byte[]) value;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isNull(int column) {
        return get(column) == null;
    }
}

Checklist

Answer 3

You need to override fillWindow in your AbstractCursor implementation. Here's one that works on a content provider for JUST BLOBS

        public void fillWindow(int position, CursorWindow window) {
            if (position < 0 || position >= getCount()) {
                return;
            }
            window.acquireReference();
            try {
                int oldpos = mPos;
                mPos = position - 1;
                window.clear();
                window.setStartPosition(position);
                int columnNum = getColumnCount();
                window.setNumColumns(columnNum);
                while (moveToNext() && window.allocRow()) {            
                    for (int i = 0; i < columnNum; i++) {
                        byte [] field = getBlob(i);
                        if (field != null) {
                            if (!window.putBlob(field, mPos, i)) {
                                window.freeLastRow();
                                break;
                            }
                        } else {
                            if (!window.putNull(mPos, i)) {
                                window.freeLastRow();
                                break;
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }

                mPos = oldpos;
            } catch (IllegalStateException e){
                // simply ignore it
            } finally {
                window.releaseReference();
            }
        }

Adenine