android - Accessing custom content provider from different app

Question

Hello i have created an android app that uses a custom content provider named CustomCP, it implements all methods and everything works fine while managing data inside the app, but when i try to access it from another app i keep getting an error of " Failed to find provider info for com.example.customcp.

I have declared my content provider in the manifest file of the first app as

<provider android:name="com.example.CustomCP"      android:authorities="com.example.customcp"/>

I try to call the provider in the second's application start up activity

public class app2 extends Activity {

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
        Uri kUri = Uri.parse("content://com.example.customcp/key");
        Cursor c = managedQuery(kUri, null, null, null, null);
}
}

So the question is simple , is it possible to access a custom content provider from multiple applications?

Answer 1

Yes, it's possible to access a custom content provider from another app. Using your terminology we'll call the content provider CustomCP and the other app AppA. (AppA is the one that wants to access to the provider). This approach is proven to work:

1. Specify the desired content provider (CustomCP) from within AppA by using a ContentProviderClient:

   Uri yourURI = Uri.parse("content://com.example.customcp/YourDatabase"); ContentProviderClient yourCR = getContentResolver().acquireContentProviderClient(yourURI);

2. Access the content provider as you would normally from App A. For example:

   yourCursor = yourCR.query(yourURI, null, null, null, null);

   Note: you must either enclose the code within a try/catch block or include a "throws RemoteException" since the provider is not in App A.

3. CustomCP's Manifest must specify the provider, include the permissions allowed (e.g., read and/or write), and the provider must be exported. Here's an example:

   <provider
       android:name="your.package.contentprovider.YourProvider"
       android:authorities="YourAuthority"
       android:readPermission="android.permission.permRead"
       android:exported="true" >
    </provider>