Question

I am trying to use a cursor with a managed query to filter media content on the device

String[] dirs = new String[] {"%"+ dir + "%"};

String[] musicdata = { BaseColumns._ID,
        MediaColumns.DATA,
        MediaColumns.DISPLAY_NAME,
        MediaColumns.SIZE };

musiccursor = getActivity().getContentResolver().query(
        MediaStore.Audio.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, 
        musicdata, 
        MediaColumns.DATA + " like ? ", 
        dirs, 
        MediaColumns.DATA + " asc");

The where clause of the query uses a directory that is passed to it in order to filter for music within that folder and sub folders.

What I would like to do is also include a “not like” within the same query.

The reason for doing this is that the user has the ability to exclude a folder from a list view, and that is stored in an array and written to a file in order to retain the selection. I would like the cursor query to take these exclusions into account whilst still being linked to the folder that they pass through to it.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

In answer to my own query, here is the code:

         //Build the where clause
         StringBuilder where = new StringBuilder();

         //first add in all values from the exclusion array
         for (int i = 0; i < excludedFolders.size(); i++) {
         where.append(MediaColumns.DATA + " not like ? ");
         where.append(" AND ");
         }
         //then add in the final like clause, e.g. the folder the user selected
         where.append(MediaColumns.DATA + " like ? ");

         //convert it to a string
         String selection = where.toString();

         System.out.println(selection);
         ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

         //Build the arguments.  the array is set to the size of the exlcusion list, plus 1 for the fodler selected
         String[] dirs = new String[excludedFolders.size()+1]; 
         System.out.println(excludedFolders.size()+1);
         //first add in a value for each excluded folder
         for (int i = 0; i < excludedFolders.size(); i++) {
                dirs[i] = "%" + excludedFolders.get(i) + "%";
                System.out.println(i + " " + dirs[i]);
            }
         //add the argument value for the like element of the query 
         dirs[excludedFolders.size()]="%"+ dir + "%";
         System.out.println("excludedFolders.size() " + dirs[excludedFolders.size()]);  
         //start building the cursor
         String[] musicdata = { BaseColumns._ID,
                MediaColumns.DATA,
                MediaColumns.DISPLAY_NAME,
                MediaColumns.SIZE };
         //run the query             
         musiccursor = getActivity().getContentResolver().query(
                    MediaStore.Audio.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI, 
                    musicdata, 
                    selection,
                    dirs, 
                    MediaColumns.DATA+ " asc");
         //done