Word document is always Read-Only when opened with Intent

Question

I am trying to open and edit a word document located in my external storage in my Xamarin.Android App with MS-Word with this code:

File wordFile = new File(wordFilePath);
wordFile.SetWritable(true);

FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(wordFilePath);
fileInfo.IsReadOnly = false;

Android.Net.Uri uri = FileProvider.GetUriForFile(Context, Context.PackageName + ".provider", wordFile);

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.NewTask);
intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.GrantReadUriPermission);
intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.GrantWriteUriPermission);
intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.GrantPersistableUriPermission);
intent.SetAction(Intent.ActionView);

intent.SetData(uri);

Context.StartActivity(intent);

The problem is, that the file is always Read-Only. When I open the document via any file explorer (e.g. File Manager Pro) , it is not Read-Only and I can edit the file.

Am I missing any permission that i need to set in my app or FileProvider?

EDIT:

• I am logged in with my Office Account in the Android Word App
• Using WPS Office works just fine, so it has to be a special problem with MS-Word
• using intent.SetAction(Intent.ActionEdit); does not make a difference
• using intent.SetDataAndType(uri, "application/msword"); does not make a difference
• similar behavior using Google Docs: Using a FileExplorer I am able to open and edit the file. If I open the file with Google Docs through my app I can edit the file, but if I click Save, the app asks me to "Update the file to the new DOCX-Format". Then I can save the file to a new directory.
• The combination of ActionView & SetDataAndType as it is used in the file explorer does not work either

like this

intent.SetAction(Intent.ActionView);
intent.SetDataAndType(uri, "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document");

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Intent Comparision:

I used an Intent Intercept App to compare the intent from my app with the intent from a file explorer:

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My App (Word file is Read-Only):

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File-Explorer (Word file can be edited):

• using MIME-type from the file explorer intent.SetDataAndType(uri, "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document"); does not make a difference

Logarithmic

try to use Intent.ActionEdit instead of Intent.ActionView – Vivl

I already tried that, does not help – Logarithmic

intent.SetDataAndType(uri, "application/msword"); set type to have a try – Vivl

i tried that too – Logarithmic

Just to be clear... you tried replacing SetData() with SetDataAndType() and set your MIME type to that really long value from the second screenshot? (I'm not a Xamarin user, but I assume that they have a SetDataAndType() to match SetData(), the way we do in Java/Kotlin). If you have tried this, and it still did not work, you might want to update your question with the revised code and screenshots. – Naze

yes, I mentioned that in the last point below the screenshots – Logarithmic

but i added the new point in the edit section to make it clear :) – Logarithmic

it's launch flags 1000 0000 vs. 1300 0000, whatever 3 might be. – Tentation

You can refer the following for the writing purpose - https://mcmap.net/q/376767/-java-file-open-a-file-and-write-to-it-closed – Engross

@K.Dexter Try to launch only with intent.SetFlags(ActivityFlags.NewTask); Remove all AddFlags calls. Let us know if that helps. – Scintillation

Duplicated. #40157889 – Promulgate

@Scintillation your suggestion leads to an error in word: Can't open file | Try saving the file on the device and then opening it – Logarithmic

Just wrote a technical documentation what I still found out: github.com/cryptomator/cryptomator-android/issues/… Microsoft has to fix this problem as soon as possible! – Refinement

Answer 1

It seems to work if you use ActionEdit instead of ActionView, and NOT

intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.GrantPersistableUriPermission);

With this, I am able to open a .doc file that is editable, however, I am not able to save the file to the original location (in my app's sandbox). Word will always suggest saving a copy. After scratching my head for days, I suspect this is by design by Microsoft, not anything wrong in our code, though I can't be sure...

Endoderm