File Picker in React Native
Here is an example of File Picker in React Native. For picking a file or a document we will use a library called react-native-document-picker
. Which provides DocumentPicker
component which is very helpful to pick any type of document from your mobile memory.
How to Use Document Picker
react-native-document-picker
library provides a DocumentPicker
component in which you can set the file type you want to pick and accordingly it will provide you the option to choose the file.
File picker provides you the option to choose single or multiple files. Here is the code snippet of DocumentPicker we have used in this Example
To Pick a Single document or File
try {
const res = await DocumentPicker.pick({
type: [DocumentPicker.types.allFiles],
//There can me more options as well
// DocumentPicker.types.allFiles
// DocumentPicker.types.images
// DocumentPicker.types.plainText
// DocumentPicker.types.audio
// DocumentPicker.types.pdf
});
//Printing the log realted to the file
console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));
console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);
console.log('Type : ' + res.type);
console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);
console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);
//Setting the state to show single file attributes
this.setState({ singleFile: res });
} catch (err) {
//Handling any exception (If any)
if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {
//If user canceled the document selection
alert('Canceled from single doc picker');
} else {
//For Unknown Error
alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));
throw err;
}
}
To Pick Multiple documents or Files
try {
const results = await DocumentPicker.pickMultiple({
type: [DocumentPicker.types.images],
//There can me more options as well find above
});
for (const res of results) {
//Printing the log realted to the file
console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));
console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);
console.log('Type : ' + res.type);
console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);
console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);
}
//Setting the state to show multiple file attributes
this.setState({ multipleFile: results });
} catch (err) {
//Handling any exception (If any)
if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {
//If user canceled the document selection
alert('Canceled from multiple doc picker');
} else {
//For Unknown Error
alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));
throw err;
}
}
In this example below, we will open a File Picker on a click of a button and will show the selected File URI, File Type, Filename and File Size on the Text component. So Let’s get started with the Example.
To Make a React Native App
Getting started with React Native will help you to know more about the way you can make a React Native project. We are going to use react native command line interface to make our React Native App.
If you have previously installed a global react-native-cli package, please remove it as it may cause unexpected issues:
npm uninstall -g react-native-cli @react-native-community/cli
Run the following commands to create a new React Native project
npx react-native init ProjectName
If you want to start a new project with a specific React Native version, you can use the --version argument:
npx react-native init ProjectName --version X.XX.X
Note If the above command is failing, you may have old version of react-native
or react-native-cli
installed globally on your pc. Try uninstalling the cli and run the cli using npx.
This will make a project structure with an index file named App.js in your project directory.
Installation of Dependency
To use DocumentPicker
we need to install react-native-document-picker
package. To install this
Open the terminal and jump into your project
cd ProjectName
Run the following command
npm install react-native-document-picker --save
This command will copy all the dependencies into your node_module directory, You can find the directory in node_module
the directory named react-native-document-picker
.
CocoaPods Installation
Now we need to install pods
cd ios && pod install && cd ..
Permission to Access External Storage for Android
We are going to access external storage so we need to add some permission to the AndroidManifest.xml
file.
So we are going to add the following permissions in the AndroidManifest.xml
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
Permission | Purpose |
---|---|
READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE | To Read the content of the SD card |
For more about the permission, you can see this post.
Code for the File Picker in React Native
Open App.js in any code editor and the Replace the code with the following code
App.js
// Example of File Picker in React Native
// https://aboutreact.com/file-picker-in-react-native/
// Import React
import React, {useState} from 'react';
// Import required components
import {
SafeAreaView,
StyleSheet,
Text,
View,
TouchableOpacity,
ScrollView,
Image,
} from 'react-native';
// Import Document Picker
import DocumentPicker from 'react-native-document-picker';
const App = () => {
const [singleFile, setSingleFile] = useState('');
const [multipleFile, setMultipleFile] = useState([]);
const selectOneFile = async () => {
//Opening Document Picker for selection of one file
try {
const res = await DocumentPicker.pick({
type: [DocumentPicker.types.allFiles],
//There can me more options as well
// DocumentPicker.types.allFiles
// DocumentPicker.types.images
// DocumentPicker.types.plainText
// DocumentPicker.types.audio
// DocumentPicker.types.pdf
});
//Printing the log realted to the file
console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));
console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);
console.log('Type : ' + res.type);
console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);
console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);
//Setting the state to show single file attributes
setSingleFile(res);
} catch (err) {
//Handling any exception (If any)
if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {
//If user canceled the document selection
alert('Canceled from single doc picker');
} else {
//For Unknown Error
alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));
throw err;
}
}
};
const selectMultipleFile = async () => {
//Opening Document Picker for selection of multiple file
try {
const results = await DocumentPicker.pickMultiple({
type: [DocumentPicker.types.images],
//There can me more options as well find above
});
for (const res of results) {
//Printing the log realted to the file
console.log('res : ' + JSON.stringify(res));
console.log('URI : ' + res.uri);
console.log('Type : ' + res.type);
console.log('File Name : ' + res.name);
console.log('File Size : ' + res.size);
}
//Setting the state to show multiple file attributes
setMultipleFile(results);
} catch (err) {
//Handling any exception (If any)
if (DocumentPicker.isCancel(err)) {
//If user canceled the document selection
alert('Canceled from multiple doc picker');
} else {
//For Unknown Error
alert('Unknown Error: ' + JSON.stringify(err));
throw err;
}
}
};
return (
<SafeAreaView style={{flex: 1}}>
<Text style={styles.titleText}>
Example of File Picker in React Native
</Text>
<View style={styles.container}>
{/*To show single file attribute*/}
<TouchableOpacity
activeOpacity={0.5}
style={styles.buttonStyle}
onPress={selectOneFile}>
{/*Single file selection button*/}
<Text style={{marginRight: 10, fontSize: 19}}>
Click here to pick one file
</Text>
<Image
source={{
uri: 'https://img.icons8.com/offices/40/000000/attach.png',
}}
style={styles.imageIconStyle}
/>
</TouchableOpacity>
{/*Showing the data of selected Single file*/}
<Text style={styles.textStyle}>
File Name: {singleFile.name ? singleFile.name : ''}
{'\n'}
Type: {singleFile.type ? singleFile.type : ''}
{'\n'}
File Size: {singleFile.size ? singleFile.size : ''}
{'\n'}
URI: {singleFile.uri ? singleFile.uri : ''}
{'\n'}
</Text>
<View
style={{
backgroundColor: 'grey',
height: 2,
margin: 10
}} />
{/*To multiple single file attribute*/}
<TouchableOpacity
activeOpacity={0.5}
style={styles.buttonStyle}
onPress={selectMultipleFile}>
{/*Multiple files selection button*/}
<Text style={{marginRight: 10, fontSize: 19}}>
Click here to pick multiple files
</Text>
<Image
source={{
uri: 'https://img.icons8.com/offices/40/000000/attach.png',
}}
style={styles.imageIconStyle}
/>
</TouchableOpacity>
<ScrollView>
{/*Showing the data of selected Multiple files*/}
{multipleFile.map((item, key) => (
<View key={key}>
<Text style={styles.textStyle}>
File Name: {item.name ? item.name : ''}
{'\n'}
Type: {item.type ? item.type : ''}
{'\n'}
File Size: {item.size ? item.size : ''}
{'\n'}
URI: {item.uri ? item.uri : ''}
{'\n'}
</Text>
</View>
))}
</ScrollView>
</View>
</SafeAreaView>
);
};
export default App;
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
container: {
flex: 1,
backgroundColor: '#fff',
padding: 16,
},
titleText: {
fontSize: 22,
fontWeight: 'bold',
textAlign: 'center',
paddingVertical: 20,
},
textStyle: {
backgroundColor: '#fff',
fontSize: 15,
marginTop: 16,
color: 'black',
},
buttonStyle: {
alignItems: 'center',
flexDirection: 'row',
backgroundColor: '#DDDDDD',
padding: 5,
},
imageIconStyle: {
height: 20,
width: 20,
resizeMode: 'stretch',
},
});
To Run the React Native App
Open the terminal again and jump into your project using.
cd ProjectName
1. Start Metro Bundler
First, you will need to start Metro, the JavaScript bundler that ships with React Native. To start Metro bundler run following command:
npx react-native start
Once you start Metro Bundler it will run forever on your terminal until you close it. Let Metro Bundler run in its own terminal. Open a new terminal and run the application.
2. Start React Native Application
To run the project on an Android Virtual Device or on real debugging device:
npx react-native run-android
or on the iOS Simulator by running (macOS only)
npx react-native run-ios
Output Screenshots
Android
IOS
As this file picker provides the iCloud pick also so before running the application for IOS. Open the project in Xcode and click on the project in the left sidebar and you will see many options in the workspace.
1. In the general tab, you have to choose your signing profile from XCode.
2. In the Capabilities tab, You can see the iCloud option which you have to turn on.
3. It will ask you to choose the development team. Select your development team.
4. Now we are ready go with iOS also
This is how you can pick a file from the React Native Application. If you have any doubts or you want to share something about the topic you can comment below or contact us here. There will be more posts coming soon. Stay tuned!
Hope you liked it. 🙂
Hi friend I am trying this example to pick multiple files but it is taking only one file not taking multiple. Could you please give the solution what went wrong?
You need to use long press to select multiple images then select all
Hi, Does anyone know how to open google drive and dropbox?
I think you should use react-native-google-drive-api-wrapper
Hi friend, I implemented this example in my application, but I am experiencing the following error
RNDocumentPicker: Native module is not available, make sure you have finished the installation process and rebuilt your app
despite using the solutions provided by other people on the internet, I am unable to make it work. May I know if you know how to solve this? Thank you!
Have you followed every step? This will not run in Expo environment.
Hi, i am beginner for react native that why using expo. Can you please guide for beginner how in expo we can do above feature.
Please waiting for your reply.
Thanks
You need to try something else for the Expo. You can use expo-document-picker
Hello Sir,
Great explanation.
But now I want to save the selected file to local db, using realm.
How will I do that?
I mean how to get the actual byte streams of the selected file?
Thanks.
Hi Rahul, You can use react-native-fs for that.
1. just install the package
2. Import it using
3. Use
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dc11oAdLsv4/YCgaspvH_HI/AAAAAAAAGsk/fIUdxQNaFXkfZjpVLrl9lQNRrreGvsK2gCK8BGAsYHg/s0/2021-02-13.jpg
HI I am getting the error after implementing this, please let me know the reason
Can you please share the error?
Hi.
I am trying to run your code but get this error.
Alert
Unknown Error: {“line”:119767,”column”:23,”sourceURL”:”http://10.10.12.206:19000/node_modules%5Cexpo%5CAppEntry.bundle?platform=android&dev=true&hot=false”}
What was wrong?