Firebase Storage Example

In a previous tutorial we learnt about Firebase Storage. But I didn’t cover retrieval of the uploaded files from Firebase Storage. So here is another Firebase Storage Example. In this tutorial we will learn Uploading Files to Firebase Storage and Retrieving Uploaded Files from Firebase Storage. So lets start this Firebase Storage Example.

If you are dealing with PDF Files Follow this Tutorial
Firebase Storage Upload and Download PDF Files

Table of Contents

1 Firebase Storage Example Video Demo
2 Firebase Storage Example

Firebase Storage Example Video Demo

You can watch this video to know what we are going to build in this tutorial.

As always the first step is creating a new Android Studio Project.

Creating a New Project

I have just created a project named FirebaseUpload.
In the project we will be uploading images to Firebase Storage and then we will fetch back the uploaded images to display them into RecyclerView.
So now we will setup firebase storage to our project.

Setting Up Firebase Storage and Firebase Database

We will upload the images to Firebase Storage and in the Firebase Database we will store the image URL. For this we need to setup both in our project.
Go to tools -> firebase

Now you will see an Assistant Window, you can setup Firebase Database from here.

The same way you can setup Firebase Storage.

If you are confused about this step go through the last Firebase Storage Tutorial where I explained it in detail.

Creating Layout

Now we need to build the following layout for activity_main.xml.

firebase storage example — activity_main.xml

We have the following components in the above layout.
Choose Button: We will tap this button to choose an image from the gallery.
EditText Enter Name: In this EditText we will put the label for the chosen image.
ImageView: The middle area (you cann’t see it in the layout because it is blank ImageView) contains an ImageView where we will display the chosen image.
Upload Button: Tapping this button will upload the selected image to Firebase Storage.
TextView Uploads: Tapping this TextView will open another activity where we will display the uploaded images with labels.
You can use the following xml code to build the above layout.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"

xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"

android:id="@+id/activity_main"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="match_parent"

android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"

android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"

android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"

android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"

tools:context="net.simplifiedcoding.firebaseupload.MainActivity">

<LinearLayout

android:id="@+id/linearLayout"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:orientation="horizontal">

<Button

android:id="@+id/buttonChoose"

android:layout_width="wrap_content"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:layout_weight="1"

android:text="Choose" />

<EditText

android:id="@+id/editText"

android:layout_width="wrap_content"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:layout_weight="4"

android:hint="Enter name for Image" />

</LinearLayout>

<ImageView

android:id="@+id/imageView"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"

android:layout_alignParentStart="true"

android:layout_below="@+id/linearLayout" />

<LinearLayout

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"

android:orientation="vertical">

<Button

android:id="@+id/buttonUpload"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:layout_weight="1"

android:text="Upload" />

<TextView

android:id="@+id/textViewShow"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:padding="10dp"

android:text="View Uploads"

android:textAlignment="center"

android:textColor="@color/colorPrimary"

android:textStyle="bold" />

</LinearLayout>

</RelativeLayout>

Defining Firebase Constants

Create a java class named Constants.java and define the following.

package net.simplifiedcoding.firebaseupload;

/**

* Created by Belal on 2/23/2017.

public class Constants {

public static final String STORAGE_PATH_UPLOADS = "uploads/";

public static final String DATABASE_PATH_UPLOADS = "uploads";

}

Defining View Objects and Constants

Come inside MainActivity.java and define the following objects and constants.

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements View.OnClickListener{

//constant to track image chooser intent

private static final int PICK_IMAGE_REQUEST = 234;

//view objects

private Button buttonChoose;

private Button buttonUpload;

private EditText editTextName;

private TextView textViewShow;

private ImageView imageView;

//uri to store file

private Uri filePath;

//firebase objects

private StorageReference storageReference;

private DatabaseReference mDatabase;

Now inside onCreate() we will initialize the the objects and attach click listeners.

@Override

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

buttonChoose = (Button) findViewById(R.id.buttonChoose);

buttonUpload = (Button) findViewById(R.id.buttonUpload);

imageView = (ImageView) findViewById(R.id.imageView);

editTextName = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.editText);

textViewShow = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textViewShow);

storageReference = FirebaseStorage.getInstance().getReference();

mDatabase = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().getReference(Constants.DATABASE_PATH_UPLOADS);

buttonChoose.setOnClickListener(this);

buttonUpload.setOnClickListener(this);

textViewShow.setOnClickListener(this);

}

Adding File Chooser

Define a new method showFileChooser().

private void showFileChooser() {

Intent intent = new Intent();

intent.setType("image/*");

intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);

startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent, "Select Picture"), PICK_IMAGE_REQUEST);

}

Now we need to handle the Intent result. For this we will override the method onActivityResult().

@Override

protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {

super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);

if (requestCode == PICK_IMAGE_REQUEST && resultCode == RESULT_OK && data != null && data.getData() != null) {

filePath = data.getData();

try {

Bitmap bitmap = MediaStore.Images.Media.getBitmap(getContentResolver(), filePath);

imageView.setImageBitmap(bitmap);

} catch (IOException e) {

e.printStackTrace();

}

Now we will call the method showFileChooser() when the choose image button is clicked. For this come inside the overriden method onClick() and write the following code.

@Override

public void onClick(View view) {

if (view == buttonChoose) {

showFileChooser();

} else if (view == buttonUpload) {

} else if (view == textViewShow) {

}

Now try running the application and you will see that choose image is working fine.

Now we will code the upload functionality.

Uploading File to Firebase Storage and Saving URL to Firebase Database

Building Database Model

First we will create a class to store the Image data to Firebase Database. So create a class named Upload.java.

package net.simplifiedcoding.firebaseupload;

import com.google.firebase.database.IgnoreExtraProperties;

/**

* Created by Belal on 2/23/2017.

@IgnoreExtraProperties

public class Upload{

public String name;

public String url;

// Default constructor required for calls to

// DataSnapshot.getValue(User.class)

public Upload() {

}

public Upload(String name, String url) {

this.name = name;

this.url= url;

}

public String getName() {

return name;

}

public String getUrl() {

return url;

}

Getting Selected File Extension

We will rename the file to a unique name as if we upload the file with same name then files would be overwritten. So after renaming the file the extension should remain the same. So inside MainActivity.java create a method getFileExtension() and it will return as the extension of the selected file by taking Uri object.

public String getFileExtension(Uri uri) {

ContentResolver cR = getContentResolver();

MimeTypeMap mime = MimeTypeMap.getSingleton();

return mime.getExtensionFromMimeType(cR.getType(uri));

}

Uploading the File to Firebase Storage

Now we will create a method inside MainActivity.java that will upload the selected file to Firebase Storage. So create a method name uploadFile() and write the following code.

private void uploadFile() {

//checking if file is available

if (filePath != null) {

//displaying progress dialog while image is uploading

final ProgressDialog progressDialog = new ProgressDialog(this);

progressDialog.setTitle("Uploading");

progressDialog.show();

//getting the storage reference

StorageReference sRef = storageReference.child(Constants.STORAGE_PATH_UPLOADS + System.currentTimeMillis() + "." + getFileExtension(filePath));

//adding the file to reference

sRef.putFile(filePath)

.addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<UploadTask.TaskSnapshot>() {

@Override

public void onSuccess(UploadTask.TaskSnapshot taskSnapshot) {

//dismissing the progress dialog

progressDialog.dismiss();

//displaying success toast

Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "File Uploaded ", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

//creating the upload object to store uploaded image details

Upload upload = new Upload(editTextName.getText().toString().trim(), taskSnapshot.getDownloadUrl().toString());

//adding an upload to firebase database

String uploadId = mDatabase.push().getKey();

mDatabase.child(uploadId).setValue(upload);

}

})

.addOnFailureListener(new OnFailureListener() {

@Override

public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception exception) {

progressDialog.dismiss();

Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), exception.getMessage(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

}

})

.addOnProgressListener(new OnProgressListener<UploadTask.TaskSnapshot>() {

@Override

public void onProgress(UploadTask.TaskSnapshot taskSnapshot) {

//displaying the upload progress

double progress = (100.0 * taskSnapshot.getBytesTransferred()) / taskSnapshot.getTotalByteCount();

progressDialog.setMessage("Uploaded " + ((int) progress) + "%...");

}

});

} else {

//display an error if no file is selected

}

Now we need to call this method on Upload Button Click. So modify onClick() method as below.

@Override

public void onClick(View view) {

if (view == buttonChoose) {

showFileChooser();

} else if (view == buttonUpload) {

uploadFile();

} else if (view == textViewShow) {

}

Now try running your application and upload will work.

Retrieving Files from Firebase Storage

Now we will create a new activity where we display all the uploaded images with labels.
So create a new activity named ShowImagesActivity and inside the layout file of this activity we will create a RecyclerView.

Adding RecyclerView and CardView

First we need to add dependencies for RecyclerView and CardView.
Go to File -> Project Structure and go to dependencies tab. Here click on plus icon and select Library dependency.

Now here you need to find and add RecyclerView and CardView.

Now sync your project.

Adding Glide

We also need to add Glide Library. As we need to fetch images from the URL and for this I will be using Glide Library.
So just modify dependencies block of your app level build.gradle file as below.

dependencies {

compile fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs')

androidTestCompile('com.android.support.test.espresso:espresso-core:2.2.2', {

exclude group: 'com.android.support', module: 'support-annotations'

})

compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:25.2.0'

compile 'com.google.firebase:firebase-storage:10.2.0'

compile 'com.google.firebase:firebase-auth:10.2.0'

compile 'com.google.firebase:firebase-database:10.2.0'

testCompile 'junit:junit:4.12'

compile 'com.android.support:recyclerview-v7:25.2.0'

compile 'com.android.support:cardview-v7:25.2.0'

//adding glid library

compile 'com.github.bumptech.glide:glide:3.7.0'

}

Now sync the project with gradle.

Creating RecyclerView Layout

Now we will design the layout for our RecyclerView. It will contain an ImageView and a TextView inside a CardView. So create a new layout resource file named layout_images.xml.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:orientation="vertical">

<android.support.v7.widget.CardView

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:layout_margin="8dp"

android:padding="8dp">

<RelativeLayout

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:minHeight="100dp">

<TextView

android:id="@+id/textViewName"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:text="Name"

android:textAlignment="center" />

<ImageView

android:id="@+id/imageView"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:layout_below="@id/textViewName" />

</RelativeLayout>

</android.support.v7.widget.CardView>

</LinearLayout>

So our layout for RecyclerView is ready. Now we will create an Adapter.

Creating RecyclerView Adapter

Create a class named MyAdapter.java and write the following code.

package net.simplifiedcoding.firebaseupload;

import android.content.Context;

import android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView;

import android.view.LayoutInflater;

import android.view.View;

import android.view.ViewGroup;

import android.widget.ImageView;

import android.widget.TextView;

import com.bumptech.glide.Glide;

import java.util.List;

/**

* Created by Belal on 2/23/2017.

public class MyAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<MyAdapter.ViewHolder> {

private Context context;

private List<Upload> uploads;

public MyAdapter(Context context, List<Upload> uploads) {

this.uploads = uploads;

this.context = context;

}

@Override

public ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {

View v = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext())

.inflate(R.layout.layout_images, parent, false);

ViewHolder viewHolder = new ViewHolder(v);

return viewHolder;

}

@Override

public void onBindViewHolder(ViewHolder holder, int position) {

Upload upload = uploads.get(position);

holder.textViewName.setText(upload.getName());

Glide.with(context).load(upload.getUrl()).into(holder.imageView);

}

@Override

public int getItemCount() {

return uploads.size();

}

class ViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {

public TextView textViewName;

public ImageView imageView;

public ViewHolder(View itemView) {

super(itemView);

textViewName = (TextView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.textViewName);

imageView = (ImageView) itemView.findViewById(R.id.imageView);

}

Now come inside layout file of this ShowImagesActivity and add a RecyclerView.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"

xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"

android:id="@+id/activity_show_images"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="match_parent"

android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"

android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"

android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"

android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"

tools:context="net.simplifiedcoding.firebaseupload.ShowImagesActivity">

<android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView

android:id="@+id/recyclerView"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content">

</android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView>

</RelativeLayout>

Now write the following code inside ShowImagesActivity.java

package net.simplifiedcoding.firebaseupload;

import android.app.ProgressDialog;

import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;

import android.os.Bundle;

import android.support.v7.widget.LinearLayoutManager;

import android.support.v7.widget.RecyclerView;

import android.util.Log;

import android.widget.Toast;

import com.google.firebase.database.DataSnapshot;

import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseError;

import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseReference;

import com.google.firebase.database.FirebaseDatabase;

import com.google.firebase.database.ValueEventListener;

import java.util.ArrayList;

import java.util.List;

public class ShowImagesActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

//recyclerview object

private RecyclerView recyclerView;

//adapter object

private RecyclerView.Adapter adapter;

//database reference

private DatabaseReference mDatabase;

//progress dialog

private ProgressDialog progressDialog;

//list to hold all the uploaded images

private List<Upload> uploads;

@Override

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

setContentView(R.layout.activity_show_images);

recyclerView = (RecyclerView) findViewById(R.id.recyclerView);

recyclerView.setHasFixedSize(true);

recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(this));

progressDialog = new ProgressDialog(this);

uploads = new ArrayList<>();

//displaying progress dialog while fetching images

progressDialog.setMessage("Please wait...");

progressDialog.show();

mDatabase = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().getReference(Constants.DATABASE_PATH_UPLOADS);

//adding an event listener to fetch values

mDatabase.addValueEventListener(new ValueEventListener() {

@Override

public void onDataChange(DataSnapshot snapshot) {

//dismissing the progress dialog

progressDialog.dismiss();

//iterating through all the values in database

for (DataSnapshot postSnapshot : snapshot.getChildren()) {

Upload upload = postSnapshot.getValue(Upload.class);

uploads.add(upload);

}

//creating adapter

adapter = new MyAdapter(getApplicationContext(), uploads);

//adding adapter to recyclerview

recyclerView.setAdapter(adapter);

}

@Override

public void onCancelled(DatabaseError databaseError) {

progressDialog.dismiss();

}

});

}

Thats it now just run your application and you will see all the fetched images in the next activity.

Bingo! Its working absolutely fine. Now if you are having troubles or confusions you can get my source code from the link given below.

[sociallocker id=1372] Firebase Storage Example Source Code Download [/sociallocker]

So thats it for Firebase Storage Example. If you are facing problems then let me know in the comment section and I will try to help you out. Also don’t forget to share this Firebase Storage Example if you found it useful. Thank You 🙂

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Nick

2 months ago

Hi. Source code link doesn’t work. Please help. Images don’t show in my app but they do get uploaded to firebase storage.

Author

Belal Khan

1 month ago

Reply to Nick

Unfortunately, the post is very old and I did not use github that time, and the source is removed from the drive. Also the post is obsolete, will update the tutorial soon.

Firebase Storage Example – Uploading and Retrieving Files

Firebase Storage Example Video Demo

Firebase Storage Example

Creating a New Project

Setting Up Firebase Storage and Firebase Database

Creating Layout

Defining Firebase Constants

Defining View Objects and Constants

Adding File Chooser

Uploading File to Firebase Storage and Saving URL to Firebase Database

Building Database Model

Getting Selected File Extension

Uploading the File to Firebase Storage

Retrieving Files from Firebase Storage

Adding RecyclerView and CardView

Adding Glide

Creating RecyclerView Layout

Creating RecyclerView Adapter

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