apache / apache/cordova-plugin-file

Directory read returns broken FileEntry objects

Open
#653 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
bug platform: android platform: browser
Dominant language
JavaScript
Stars
744
Forks
754
Avg merge
3d 4h
Merged PRs (30d)
1

Description

# Bug Report

## Problem

### What is expected to happen?
I should be able to read a FileEntry's metadata no matter how I got hold of the object

### What does actually happen?
I retrieving the FileEntry handle directly via `resolveLocalFilesystemURL` I can call getMetadata() on the returned object without an issue; but if I obtain the handle by reading the parent (root) directory, the call will result in NOT_FOUND_ERR`

### Command or Code

I am running the below code in the `deviceready` event handler:
```
console.log('Running cordova-' + cordova.platformId + '@' + cordova.version);

function errorHandler(e) {
console.error("Error: ", e);
}

function testFileMetadataRead() {
console.log("Successful file write...");

window.resolveLocalFileSystemURL(cordova.file.dataDirectory + "/test.txt", function(file) {
console.log("Contructor of FILE handle", file.constructor);
file.getMetadata(
function (m) { console.log("Getting FILE metadata", file, m) },
function (e) { console.log("Error getting FILE metadata", e) }
);
}, errorHandler);

window.resolveLocalFileSystemURL(cordova.file.dataDirectory, function(dir) {
dir.createReader().readEntries(function (entries) {
entries.forEach(function(entry) {
console.log("Contructor of DIRECTORY ENTRY handle", entry.constructor);
entry.getMetadata(
function (m) { console.log("Getting DIR ENTRY metadata", file, m) },
function (e) { console.log("Error getting DIR ENTRY metadata", e) }
);
});
}, function (e) { console.log("Error listing directory", e) });
}, errorHandler);
}

window.resolveLocalFileSystemURL(cordova.file.dataDirectory, function(dir) {
dir.getFile("test.txt", { create: true, exclusive: false }, function (fileEntry) {
fileEntry.createWriter(function (fileWriter) {
fileWriter.onwriteend = testFileMetadataRead;
fileWriter.onerror = function (e) { console.log("Error writing FILE", e) };

const blob = new Blob(["The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog!"], { type: 'text/plain' });
fileWriter.write(blob);
});
},
function (e) { console.log("Error creating new file", e) });
}, errorHandler);
```

## Result
```
Running cordova-browser@7.0.0 bundle.js:480:13
Successful file write... bundle.js:509:17

Contructor of FILE handle
function FileEntry(name, fullPath, fileSystem, nativeURL)
bundle.js:512:21

Getting FILE metadata
Object { isFile: true, isDirectory: false, name: "test.txt", fullPath: "/test.txt", filesystem: {…}, nativeURL: null }
Object { modificationTime: Date Sun Mar 22 2026 16:13:17 GMT+0000 (Greenwich Mean Time), size: 44 }
bundle.js:514:40

Contructor of DIRECTORY ENTRY handle
function FileEntry(name, fullPath, fileSystem, nativeURL)
bundle.js:522:29

Error getting DIR ENTRY metadata
Object { code: 1 }
bundle.js:525:48
```

### Environment, Platform, Device

Using Cordova Browser for testing on Linux Mint 22.3.

### Version information

cordova-browser@7.0.0
cordova-plugin-file@8.1.3
cordova-plugin-webpack@1.0.5

## Checklist

- [x] I searched for existing GitHub issues
- [x] I updated all Cordova tooling to most recent version
- [x] I included all the necessary information above

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start in the deviceready reproduction using resolveLocalFileSystemURL, createReader().readEntries(), and getMetadata(), comparing the directly resolved FileEntry with the entry returned from the directory. Reproduce with the listed Cordova Browser and file-plugin versions; done means metadata retrieval succeeds for both handles without NOT_FOUND_ERR.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
mobile-dev
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
55/100

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