Question

I am trying to open a .MSG file through my application. I tried with setting the MIMETYPE as vnd.ms-outlook, still i couldn’t able to open up the .MSG file as i expected, then i tried with attaching the same .MSG in email and opened in my device. It opened like a charm.

So my question is , How can i open up the .MSG file in android programmatically within the application.

Tried with following methods,

Method 1 : Setting the MIMETYPE manually

mimetype = "application/vnd.ms-outlook";

Method 2 : Fetching the MIMETYPE through MimeTypeMap

String extension = android.webkit.MimeTypeMap.getFileExtensionFromUrl(Uri.fromFile(file).toString());
String mimetype = android.webkit.MimeTypeMap.getSingleton().getMimeTypeFromExtension(extension); // extension is msg

Opening the .MSG file through another installed application

Log.i(TAG, "Extension :" + extension + "\n" + "MIME :" + mimetype); // Prints msg for extension and mimetype = application/vnd.ms-outlook for method 1 and null when i use method 2
intent.setDataAndType(Uri.fromFile(file),mimetype);
startActivity(intent);

The mimetype in Method 2 results null and the mimetype set explicitly too doesn’t work.

Could anybody share their thoughts on solving this issue.

Thanks.

Answer 1

You should use an intent to open the file with another app. Try this:

Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
i.setDataAndType(msgURI, mimeTypeString);
startActivity(i);

That should allow any app that has registered the MSG’s data type in its manifest to open it.