Passing Bitmap to Another activity ends in RunTimeException

Question

I am trying to pass Bitmap to another Activity, and I am displaying the same image from the other Activity using ImageView . And this is how I pass the Bitmap.

protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    // TODO Auto-generated method stub
    super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    if (resultCode == RESULT_OK && requestCode == CAMERA_RESULT) {

        File out = new File(getFilesDir(), "newImage.jpg");

        if(!out.exists()) {

            Toast.makeText(getBaseContext(),

                    "Error while capturing image", Toast.LENGTH_LONG)

                    .show();

            return;

        }

        Bitmap mBitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeFile(out.getAbsolutePath());

        Intent bitIntent = new Intent(this, CameraTake.class);
        bitIntent.putExtra("BitmapImage", mBitmap);
        startActivity(bitIntent);

And this is how I receive the value :

 Intent intent = getIntent();
    bitmap= (Bitmap)intent.getParcelableExtra("BitmapImage");
    ImageView im1 = (ImageView)findViewById(R.id.camOut);
    im1.setImageBitmap(bitmap);

And while running the App, here is the logcat I obtain :

> 10-17 08:32:11.241  16762-16762/obx.com.futurister E/AndroidRuntime﹕ FATAL EXCEPTION: main
    Process: obx.com.futurister, PID: 16762
    java.lang.RuntimeException: Failure delivering result ResultInfo{who=null, request=1, result=-1, data=Intent {  }} to activity {obx.com.futurister/obx.com.futurister.OptionChooser}: java.lang.RuntimeException: Failure from system
            at android.app.ActivityThread.deliverResults(ActivityThread.java:3699)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.handleSendResult(ActivityThread.java:3742)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.-wrap16(ActivityThread.java)
            at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1393)
            at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102)
            at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:148)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5417)
            at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:726)
            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:616)
     Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: Failure from system
            at android.app.Instrumentation.execStartActivity(Instrumentation.java:1514)
            at android.app.Activity.startActivityForResult(Activity.java:3917)
            at android.app.Activity.startActivityForResult(Activity.java:3877)
            at android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity.startActivityForResult(FragmentActivity.java:820)
            at android.app.Activity.startActivity(Activity.java:4200)
            at android.app.Activity.startActivity(Activity.java:4168)
            at obx.com.futurister.OptionChooser.onActivityResult(OptionChooser.java:75)
            at android.app.Activity.dispatchActivityResult(Activity.java:6428)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.deliverResults(ActivityThread.java:3695)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.handleSendResult(ActivityThread.java:3742)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.-wrap16(ActivityThread.java)
            at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1393)
            at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102)
            at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:148)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5417)
            at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:726)
            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:616)
     Caused by: android.os.TransactionTooLargeException: data parcel size 4915644 bytes
            at android.os.BinderProxy.transactNative(Native Method)
            at android.os.BinderProxy.transact(Binder.java:503)
            at android.app.ActivityManagerProxy.startActivity(ActivityManagerNative.java:2657)
            at android.app.Instrumentation.execStartActivity(Instrumentation.java:1507)
            at android.app.Activity.startActivityForResult(Activity.java:3917)
            at android.app.Activity.startActivityForResult(Activity.java:3877)
            at android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity.startActivityForResult(FragmentActivity.java:820)
            at android.app.Activity.startActivity(Activity.java:4200)
            at android.app.Activity.startActivity(Activity.java:4168)
            at obx.com.futurister.OptionChooser.onActivityResult(OptionChooser.java:75)
            at android.app.Activity.dispatchActivityResult(Activity.java:6428)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.deliverResults(ActivityThread.java:3695)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.handleSendResult(ActivityThread.java:3742)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.-wrap16(ActivityThread.java)
            at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1393)
            at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102)
            at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:148)
            at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5417)
            at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:726)
            at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:616)

In a similar question , the solution recommends to use image loading libraries, should I go for that, or can this be fixed easily? Looking for professional answers. Thanks

Answer 1

The root cause has been provided in the log:

Caused by: android.os.TransactionTooLargeException: data parcel size 4915644 bytes

The maximum cap for data transport by Intent is 1 MB, so there are a few ways to pass a bitmap:

1. Reduce bitmap size,this may or may not be a valid solution depending on your use case.
2. Chop up the bitmap for transportation and reassembles it on the receiving end, you'll probably need to write a service for it, and it's not terribly efficient. Did it once, not recommended.
3. Only passing the URI for the bitmap, and load it anew on the receiving Activity. This is how Intent asking Android camera app to take a picture works - the picture is saved to storage and only the URI of the stored file is returned.
4. If the 1st and 2nd Activities are in the same process, you can skip all of above and save the bitmap to a shared cache, where there are many, many libraries to accomplish that.