webview does not download file

Question

Good day all, i have made an app but i have hit a wall. when you visit a website using a desktop browser like firefox or chrome and click on the download link it starts downloading the file, but when i open the same page in my android app that displays the page using webview and click on a download link nothing happens at all, it just sits there like it does not know what to do with that link. if you could help me out it would be a huge help and get me back on track again.

this is the download link i use for a pdf file on my site:

<img src="images/Art1.jpg" width="80" height="166" /><a href="m2.pdf">Download</a>

this is my main.xml file for my android app:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <WebView  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:id="@+id/webview"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent" 
    />

please i will be most gratefull if anyone can help point me on the right path.

package com.jeffonlinelibrary;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Window;
import android.webkit.WebChromeClient;
import android.webkit.WebView;
import android.webkit.WebViewClient;

public class WebPageLoader extends Activity
{
    final Activity activity = this;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
    {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        this.getWindow().requestFeature(Window.FEATURE_PROGRESS);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
        WebView webView = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.webview);
        webView.getSettings().setJavaScriptEnabled(true);

        webView.setWebChromeClient(new WebChromeClient() {
            public void onProgressChanged(WebView view, int progress)
            {
                activity.setTitle("Loading...");
                activity.setProgress(progress * 100);

                if(progress == 100)
                    activity.setTitle(R.string.app_name);
            }
        });

        webView.setWebViewClient(new WebViewClient() {
            @Override
            public void onReceivedError(WebView view, int errorCode, String description, String failingUrl)
            {
                // Handle the error
            }

            @Override
            public boolean shouldOverrideUrlLoading(WebView view, String url)
            {
                view.loadUrl(url);
                return true;
            }
        });

        webView.setDownloadListener(new DownloadListener() {

            public void onDownloadStart(String url, String userAgent,
                    String contentDisposition, String mimetype,
                    long contentLength) {
                // handle download, here we use brower to download, also you can try other approach.
                Uri uri = Uri.parse(url);
                Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, uri);
                startActivity(intent);
            }
        });

        webView.loadUrl("http://jeffonlinelibrary.comuv.com/jeffOnlinelibraryApp");
    }
}

Answer 1

Set DownloadListener to your WebView. And use Brower app or DownloadManager to download the file.

    webview.setDownloadListener(new DownloadListener() {
        @Override
        public void onDownloadStart(String url, String userAgent,
                String contentDisposition, String mimetype,
                long contentLength) {
            // handle download, here we use brower to download, also you can try other approach.
            Uri uri = Uri.parse(url);
            Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, uri);
            startActivity(intent);
        }
    });