Getting FileNotFoundException When Trying to Share MP3 File Using FileProvider

I'm trying to use a FileProvider to share an MP3 file stored in the raw folder of my app's internal storage and let a user use an audio-listening app of their choice to open the shared MP3 file.

However, with my code as written, I get a FileNotFoundException when I try to execute the intent with the content URI attached as data. This leads to everything else about the FileProvider system failing.

I created a MediaPlayer and had it open the MP3 file I want to share without a problem, so I know that the file exists and that my app is able to access it.

When debugging, I noticed that the content URI's path seems to get rid of the /files/ directory even though it's in the File that I use getUriFromFile on:

meditationFile: /data/user/0/com.example.selfcareapplication/files/raw/breathing_meditation.mp3

meditationFileContentUri: content://com.example.selfcareapplication.fileprovider/raw/breathing_meditation.mp3

Here is my code in my manifest file:

<provider
    android:name="android.support.v4.content.FileProvider"
    android:authorities="com.example.selfcareapplication.fileprovider"
    android:exported="false"
    android:grantUriPermissions="true">
    <meta-data
        android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS"
        android:resource="@xml/file_paths" />
</provider>

Here is the code where I try to use the FileProvider:

        Intent openMeditationFileIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
        File meditationPath = new File(this.getFilesDir(), "raw");
        File meditationFile = new File(meditationPath, "breathing_meditation.mp3");

        Uri meditationFileContentUri = FileProvider.getUriForFile(this.getApplicationContext(), "com.example.selfcareapplication.fileprovider", meditationFile);
        openMeditationFileIntent.setData(meditationFileContentUri);
        openMeditationFileIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION);

        if(openMeditationFileIntent.resolveActivity(getPackageManager()) != null) {
            startActivity(openMeditationFileIntent);
        } else {
            Log.d(LOG_TAG, "Could not resolve activity");
        }

Here is the log I get when I try to start the intent with the content URI attached:

2019-04-06 11:45:35.709 4972-4972/? D/MusicLifecycle: com.google.android.music.ui.playback.AudioPreviewActivity generated event: Activity created
2019-04-06 11:45:35.752 4972-4972/? W/MediaPlayer: Couldn't open content://com.example.selfcareapplication.fileprovider/raw/breathing_meditation.mp3: java.io.FileNotFoundException: open failed: ENOENT (No such file or directory)
2019-04-06 11:45:35.761 1844-2504/? W/ActivityManager: Permission Denial: opening provider android.support.v4.content.FileProvider from (null) (pid=1694, uid=1013) that is not exported from UID 10092
2019-04-06 11:45:35.766 1694-1776/? E/MediaPlayerService: Couldn't open fd for content://com.example.selfcareapplication.fileprovider/raw/breathing_meditation.mp3
2019-04-06 11:45:35.766 4972-4972/? E/MediaPlayerNative: Unable to create media player
2019-04-06 11:45:35.768 4972-4972/? D/AudioPreviewActivity: Failed to open file: java.io.IOException: setDataSource failed.: status=0x80000000
2019-04-06 11:45:35.810 1584-1626/? D/gralloc_ranchu: gralloc_alloc: Creating ashmem region of size 376832
2019-04-06 11:45:35.818 1584-1626/? D/gralloc_ranchu: gralloc_alloc: Creating ashmem region of size 376832
2019-04-06 11:45:35.820 1584-1626/? D/gralloc_ranchu: gralloc_alloc: Creating ashmem region of size 376832
2019-04-06 11:45:35.847 4972-4999/? D/EGL_emulation: eglMakeCurrent: 0xea7c5e60: ver 2 0 (tinfo 0xea7b1a10)
2019-04-06 11:45:35.901 4972-4972/? D/MusicLifecycle: com.google.android.music.ui.MusicUrlHandlerActivity generated event: Activity stopped
2019-04-06 11:45:35.931 4972-4972/? D/MusicLifecycle: com.google.android.music.ui.MusicUrlHandlerActivity generated event: Activity destroyed
2019-04-06 11:45:35.939 1684-2170/? D/gralloc_ranchu: gralloc_unregister_buffer: exiting HostConnection (is buffer-handling thread)
2019-04-06 11:45:35.941 1684-2170/? D/gralloc_ranchu: gralloc_unregister_buffer: exiting HostConnection (is buffer-handling thread)
2019-04-06 11:45:35.943 1684-2170/? D/gralloc_ranchu: gralloc_unregister_buffer: exiting HostConnection (is buffer-handling thread)
2019-04-06 11:45:35.944 1684-2170/? D/gralloc_ranchu: gralloc_unregister_buffer: exiting HostConnection (is buffer-handling thread)
2019-04-06 11:45:35.968 1844-3656/? I/MediaFocusControl: abandonAudioFocus() from uid/pid 10069/4972 clientId=android.media.AudioManager@32b5d4dcom.google.android.music.ui.playback.AudioPreviewActivity@6726002
2019-04-06 11:45:35.969 4972-4972/? D/MusicLifecycle: com.google.android.music.ui.playback.AudioPreviewActivity generated event: Activity destroyed
2019-04-06 11:45:36.091 1844-2247/? I/GnssLocationProvider: WakeLock acquired by sendMessage(REPORT_SV_STATUS, 0, com.android.server.location.GnssLocationProvider$SvStatusInfo@9a951f4)
2019-04-06 11:45:36.092 1844-1857/? I/GnssLocationProvider: WakeLock released by handleMessage(REPORT_SV_STATUS, 0, com.android.server.location.GnssLocationProvider$SvStatusInfo@9a951f4)
2019-04-06 11:45:36.175 4775-4775/? E/GoogleTagManager: Invalid macro: _gtm.loadEventEnabled
2019-04-06 11:45:36.319 1844-1857/? E/memtrack: Couldn't load memtrack module
2019-04-06 11:45:36.319 1844-1857/? W/android.os.Debug: failed to get memory consumption info: -1
2019-04-06 11:45:36.419 4775-5006/? E/GoogleTagManager: Invalid macro: _gtm.loadEventEnabled
2019-04-06 11:45:36.487 4775-4829/? I/MediaStoreImporter: Update: incremental Success: true Added music: 0 Updated music: 0 Deleted music: 0 Created playlists: 0 Updated playlists: 0 Deleted playlists: 0 Inserted playlist items: 0 Deleted playlist items: 0 Removed orphaned playlist items: 0 Total item count: 0
2019-04-06 11:45:36.491 4775-4775/? D/MusicLifecycle: com.google.android.music.download.EncapsulatedBroadcastReceiver$1 generated event: Broadcast received with context com.google.android.music.ui.PhoneMusicApplication@a0c548d and intent Intent { act=com.google.android.music.IMPORT_COMPLETE flg=0x10 }
2019-04-06 11:45:36.609 4775-5008/? E/GoogleTagManager: Invalid macro: _gtm.loadEventEnabled
2019-04-06 11:45:36.637 4775-5000/? E/GoogleTagManager: Unsupported Value Escaping: 3
2019-04-06 11:45:36.752 1844-1955/? E/TaskPersister: File error accessing recents directory (directory doesn't exist?).
2019-04-06 11:45:36.684 4775-5000/? E/GoogleTagManager: Unsupported Value Escaping: 3

I created /raw directory in /res and copied the .mp3 file there

That is on your development machine.

What exactly is the difference between creating a raw/ directory and creating a raw resource if you don't mind my asking?

The difference is that getFilesDir() is referring to locations on the Android device. The raw/ directory that you created is on your development machine.

Doesn't moving a file into the /res/raw folder turn it into a raw resource that you can reference with R.raw?

Yes. However, that is not what your code is doing. Your code is attempting to reference it using File. Raw resources are files on your development machine. They are not files on the device.

You need to copy the raw resource (getResources().openRawResource(), etc.) to a file, which you can then share using FileProvider.