Android how to open a .doc extension file?

Question

Is there any possible way to open a .doc extension file?

Answer 1

Unlike iOS, Android itself does not support rendering .doc or .ppt files. You are looking for a public intent that allows your app to reuse other apps' activities to display these document types. But this will only work for a phone that has an app installed that supports this Intent.

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/intents/intents-filters.html

or if you have installed some app then use this Intent:

//Uri uri = Uri.parse("file://"+file.getAbsolutePath());
Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
String type = "application/msword";
intent.setDataAndType(Uri.fromFile(file), type);
startActivity(intent);  

Answer 2

Here is a method to take care of this for you:

public void openDocument(String name) {
    Intent intent = new Intent(android.content.Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
    File file = new File(name);
    String extension = android.webkit.MimeTypeMap.getFileExtensionFromUrl(Uri.fromFile(file).toString());
    String mimetype = android.webkit.MimeTypeMap.getSingleton().getMimeTypeFromExtension(extension);
    if (extension.equalsIgnoreCase("") || mimetype == null) {
        // if there is no extension or there is no definite mimetype, still try to open the file
        intent.setDataAndType(Uri.fromFile(file), "text/*");
    } else {
        intent.setDataAndType(Uri.fromFile(file), mimetype);            
    }
    // custom message for the intent
    startActivity(Intent.createChooser(intent, "Choose an Application:"));
}