How do I open URLs, PDFs, etc. with the default apps?

Question

I am developing an Android application with Delphi XE5, and I would like to know how I can open a URL in the default browser, and a PDF file with the default reader. Developing for Windows, I used ShellExecute, but for Android and iOS what should I use?

Answer 1

For these kind pf task you can use the Intent class which is represented in Delphi by the JIntent interface.

Try these samples

Open a URL

uses
  Androidapi.JNI.GraphicsContentViewText,
  FMX.Helpers.Android;


procedure TForm3.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
  Intent: JIntent;
begin
  Intent := TJIntent.Create;
  Intent.setAction(TJIntent.JavaClass.ACTION_VIEW);
  Intent.setData(StrToJURI('http://www.google.com'));
  SharedActivity.startActivity(Intent);
end;

Open a PDF File

uses
  Androidapi.JNI.GraphicsContentViewText,
  Androidapi.JNI.JavaTypes,
  FMX.Helpers.Android;


procedure TForm3.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
  Intent: JIntent;
begin
  Intent := TJIntent.Create;
  Intent.setAction(TJIntent.JavaClass.ACTION_VIEW);
  Intent.setDataAndType(StrToJURI('filepath'),  StringToJString('application/pdf'));
  SharedActivity.startActivity(Intent);
end;

Answer 2

n00b here can't work out how to add a comment to the set of comments already posted against the previous answer, but I use this, which is another variation on the theme, using constructor parameters:

procedure LaunchURL(const URL: string);
var
  Intent: JIntent;
begin
  Intent := TJIntent.JavaClass.init(TJIntent.JavaClass.ACTION_VIEW,
    TJnet_Uri.JavaClass.parse(StringToJString(URL)));
  SharedActivity.startActivity(Intent);
end;