Ms-appdata Protocol in Windows Store Apps

Introduction

In this article I describe how to create a Windows Store App for the ms-appdata protocol using JavaScript. Your HTML can use the ms-appdata protocol to refer to media (images, audio, and video) in the Application Data folder. This app load images from the Local, Roaming, and Temp folders.

I assume you can create a simple Windows Store App using JavaScript. For more help visit Simple Windows Store Apps using JavaScript.

To start the creation of the app, add two JavaScript pages by right-clicking on the js folder in the Solution Explorer and select Add > new item > JavaScript Page and then give an appropriate name. In the same way, add one HTML page to your project.

ms-appdata-in windows-store-apps.jpg

Write the following code in default.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

    <meta charset="utf-8" />

    <title>SDK apps</title>

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="//Microsoft.WinJS.1.0/css/ui-light.css" />

    <script src="//Microsoft.WinJS.1.0/js/base.js"></script>

    <script src="//Microsoft.WinJS.1.0/js/ui.js"></script>

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/default.css" />

    <script src="/js/script1.js"></script>

    <script src="/js/default.js"></script>

</head>

<body role="application" style="background-color: lightcoral">

    <center><div id="rootGrid">

        <div id="content">

            <h1 id="featureLabel"></h1>

            <div id="contentHost"></div>

        </div>

       </div></center>

</body>

</html>

Write the following code in default.js:
 

(function () {

    "use strict";

    var appsTitle = "";

    var pages = [

                { url: "page.html" }

    ];

    function activated(eventObject) {

        if (eventObject.detail.kind === Windows.ApplicationModel.Activation.ActivationKind.launch) {

            eventObject.setPromise(WinJS.UI.processAll().then(function () {

                var url = WinJS.Application.sessionState.lastUrl || pages[0].url;

                return WinJS.Navigation.navigate(url);

            }));

        }

    }

    WinJS.Navigation.addEventListener("navigated", function (eventObject) {

        var url = eventObject.detail.location;

        var host = document.getElementById("contentHost");

        host.winControl && host.winControl.unload && host.winControl.unload();

        WinJS.Utilities.empty(host);

        eventObject.detail.setPromise(WinJS.UI.Pages.render(url, host, eventObject.detail.state).then(function () {

            WinJS.Application.sessionState.lastUrl = url;

        }));

    });

    WinJS.Namespace.define("app", {

        appsTitle: appsTitle,

        pages: pages

    });

    WinJS.Application.addEventListener("activated", activated, false);

    WinJS.Application.start();

})(); 


Write the following code in page.html:
 

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

    <title></title>

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/default.css" />

    <script src="/js/script.js"></script>

</head>

<body>

    <div data-win-control="app.pageInput">

    </div>

    <div data-win-control="app.pageOutput">

        <div id="imagesOutput">

            <div id="imagesLocal"></div>

            <div id="imagesTemp"></div>

            <div id="imagesRoaming"></div>

        </div>

    </div>

</body>

</html>


Write the following code in script.js:

(function () {

    "use strict";

    var page = WinJS.UI.Pages.define("page.html", {

        ready: function (element, options) {

            copyImageToAppDataFolder("appDataLocal.jpg", Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.current.localFolder).done(function () {

                appendImage("Local");

            }, imagesAsyncError);

 

            copyImageToAppDataFolder("appDataTemp.jpg", Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.current.temporaryFolder).done(function () {

                appendImage("Temp");

            }, imagesAsyncError);

 

            copyImageToAppDataFolder("appDataRoaming.jpg", Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.current.roamingFolder).done(function () {

                appendImage("Roaming");

            }, imagesAsyncError);

        }

    });

 

    function imagesAsyncError(error) {

        app.displayError(error);

    }

 

    function copyImageToAppDataFolder(imageName, folder) {

        return Windows.Storage.StorageFile.getFileFromApplicationUriAsync(Windows.Foundation.Uri("ms-appx:///images/" + imageName))

            .then(function (file) {

                return file.copyAsync(folder, imageName, Windows.Storage.NameCollisionOption.replaceExisting);

            });

    }

    function appendImage(folder) {

        var image = document.createElement("img");

        image.src = "ms-appdata:///" + folder + "/appData" + folder + ".jpg";

        image.alt = folder;

        document.getElementById("images" + folder).appendChild(image);

    }

})();


Write the following code in script1.js:

(
function () {

    var pageOutput = WinJS.Class.define(

        function (element, options) {

            element.winControl = this;

            this.element = element;

            new WinJS.Utilities.QueryCollection(element)

                        .setAttribute("role", "region")

                        .setAttribute("aria-labelledby", "outputLabel")

                        .setAttribute("aria-live", "assertive");

            element.id = "output";

 

            this._addOutputLabel(element);

            this._addStatusOutput(element);

        }, {

            _addOutputLabel: function (element) {

                var label = document.createElement("h2");

                label.id = "outputLabel";

                label.textContent = "Output";

                element.parentNode.insertBefore(label, element);

            },

            _addStatusOutput: function (element) {

                var statusDiv = document.createElement("div");

                statusDiv.id = "statusMessage";

                element.insertBefore(statusDiv, element.childNodes[0]);

            }

        }

    );

    var currentpageUrl = null;

    WinJS.Navigation.addEventListener("navigating", function (evt) {

        currentpageUrl = evt.detail.location;

    });

 

    WinJS.log = function (message, tag, type) {

        var statusDiv = document.getElementById("statusMessage");

    };

    function activated(e) {

        WinJS.Utilities.query("#featureLabel")[0].textContent = app.appsTitle;

    }

 

    WinJS.Application.addEventListener("activated", activated, false);

    WinJS.Namespace.define("app", {

 

        pageOutput: pageOutput

    });

})(); 

Output:

ms-appdata-in windows-store-appss.jpg

Summary

In this app I described the ms-appdata protocol in a Windows Store App using JavaScript. I hope this article has helped you to understand this topic. Please share if you know more about this. Your feedback and constructive contributions are welcome.

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