I finally solved the messy file structure of Android!

While everyone has their own idea of a nice file system, it
helps everyone if one person can get a specific system to work!

I've done that.

I want to show my current solution so that you can benefit.
Also, you can suggest improvements.

I can't change the internal sdcard Android file structure except to
create symbolic links to the external sdcard where appropriate,
which is what I have effectively done below.

Here's the file structure that you can make ahead of time:
/storage/extSdCard/data/
/storage/extSdCard/tmp/

These are created somehow by Android, so you can't avoid them:
/storage/extSdCard/Android
/storage/extSdCard/LOST.DIR
/storage/extSdCard/.android_secure

In the "data" directory, you can create these managed directories:
./data/audio/{audiobook,mic,music,phone,podcast,ringtone}
./data/doc/{docx,excel,memo,pdf,ppt}
./data/download
./data/map/{gpx,kml}
./data/pic/{camera,snapshot}
./data/software/apk
./data/video

To tell Android to *use* those locations, install this freewa
Redirect File Organizer by Xavier Tobin (handles all the folders above)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ectsfree&hl=en

There are only two steps in toto:
1. Define your desired file system -- this is the hardest step!
2. Link everything to that system -- this is the easiest step!

The linking itself only has two steps:
a. Link all the programs that don't allow linking in their settings
b. Link all the programs that do allow linking in their settings

Link all the programs that don't allow linking in their settings
0. Install Redirect File Organizer (freeware for multiple redirects):
Redirect File Organizer by Xavier Tobin (this redirects many folders for free)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ectsfree&hl=en
a. Install & open: Redirect File Organizer by Xavier Tobin
b. Check that "Background Service" = checked by default
c. Press "Folder Redirect"
d. Source folder: sdcard0/Download/
e. Destination folder: /storage/exSdCard/data/download/
f. Press the "Create Folder Redirect" button
1. DCIM:
src: /storage/emulated/0/DCIM
dst: /storage/extSdCard/data/pic
2. Documents:
src: /storage/emulated/0/Documents
dst: /storage/exSdCard/data/doc
3. Download:
src: /storage/emulated/0/Download
dst: /storage/extSdCard/data/download
4. EasyVoiceRecorder:
src: /storage/emulated/0/EasyVoiceRecorder
dst: /storage/extSdCard/data/audio/mic/EasyVoiceRecorder
5. MyTrails gpx:
src: /storage/emulated/0/MyTrails/gpx
dst: /storage/extSdCard/data/map/track/gpx
6. MyTracks kml:
src: /storage/emulated/0/MyTracks/kml
dst: /storage/extSdCard/data/map/track/kml
7. Ringtones:
src: /storage/emulated/0/Ringtones
dst: /storage/exSdCard/data/audio/ringtone
8. Screenshots:
src: /storage/emulated/0/Pictures/Screenshots
dst: /storage/extSdCard/data/pic/screenshot
9. Sounds:
src: /storage/emulated/0/Sounds
dst: /storage/extSdCard/data/audio/mic/sound
10. If you know of other apps to move, just suggest them.

Link all the programs that do allow linking in their settings
1. App Backup & Resto Settings Edit Backup Path
FROM: /storage/emulated/0/App_Backup_Restore
TO: /storage/extSdCard/data/software/apk
2. AutomaticCallRecorder: Settings Recording Path
FROM: /storage/emulated/0/CallRecordings/
TO: /storage/extSdCard/data/audio/phone/call
3. GTVoiceNotes:
Settings Recording folder
FROM: /sdcard/GTVoiceNotes
TO: /storage/extSdCard/data/audio/mic/GTVoiceNotes
(it will create the folder on its own)
0. DONOTUSE: Camera: Settings Storage Memorycard
Unfortunately you get no granularity other than
FROM: /storage/emulated/0/DCIM
TO: /storage/extSdCard/DCIM
So just make sure that the Camera is set to:
Camera: Settings Storage device
0. DONOTUSE: (default) Voice Recorder:
Unfortunately you get no granularity other than
Settings Storage (Device or Memorycard)
So just make sure that the recorder is set to:
Recorder: Settings Storage device
0. DONOTUSE: CameraFV5
FROM: "DCIM/CameaFV5 folder"
It only has three choices, one of which is "custom" but it doesn't
internal, external, or custom (but custom doesn't seem to work)

The whole point is to keep a logical file hierarchy on the external
sdcard, which I have been able to do above. Any advice is appreciated,
but, let's not argue over the "specific" hierarchy I chose, as that
is the hardest thing to come up with, but, since everyone may wish to
organize their socks differently, the actual organization is not an
important point.

The important thing is that you *can* organize your files on Android!
If you know of improvements, let me know!

Jim Jansen wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:

I finally solved the messy file structure of Android!

While everyone has their own idea of a nice file system, it
helps everyone if one person can get a specific system to work!

I've done that.

I want to show my current solution so that you can benefit.
Also, you can suggest improvements.

Thank you for sharing!

--
Q: Why did the WASP cross the road?
A: To get to the middle.

On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 06:27:22 -0500, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:

Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for recognizing that it can help all of us.

The hardest (and most controversial) part is always how "I" organize
my socks versus how anyone else organizes theirs.

The second hardest part was finding a free app that created the
symbolic links. At first, I tried a few "crippleware" apps, that
only created one to three links, but I needed more than what they
could offer for free:

This only allows 1 folder redirect (before asking you to pay):
URSafe Media Redirector by Venator Software Media & Video
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ediaredirector

This also only allows 1 folder redirect (before asking you to pay):
Photo & File Redirect by Nicola Rosada
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...direct&hl =en

This at least allows 3 folder redirects (before asking you to pay):
Automatic File Mover FREE by CM Apps
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...=filemover.tst

In fact, I had used those 3 apps above and needed *more* links, so I
stumbled upon Xavier Tobin's app merely in trying to find another
free crippleware app that allowed more links:

Redirect File Organizer by Xavier Tobin (this redirects many folders for free)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ectsfree&hl=en

Once I realized that Redirect File Organizer did everything I needed,
I started over again and deleted everything and did it all with just
that one app. Hooray!

By the way, could there have been an even *simpler* way to move folders.

Perhaps I could have just used a terminal and typed in a symbolic link?
"ln -s /oldfilespec /newfilespec".

Does anyone here know whether it could have been that simple?
$ mv /storage/DCIM /storage/extSdCard/data/pic/DCIM
$ ln -s /storage/extSdCard/data/pic/DCIM /storage/DCIM

Jim Jansen writes:


By the way, could there have been an even *simpler* way to move folders.

Perhaps I could have just used a terminal and typed in a symbolic link?
"ln -s /oldfilespec /newfilespec".

Does anyone here know whether it could have been that simple?
$ mv /storage/DCIM /storage/extSdCard/data/pic/DCIM
$ ln -s /storage/extSdCard/data/pic/DCIM /storage/DCIM

FAT (fat16, fat32, vfat) filesystems do not support symbolic (or hard) links.

If you can format your external card as ext2, ext3 or ext4, it
may work with Android (since the underlying kernel is linux).

On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 16:40:43 +0000, Scott Lurndal wrote:

FAT (fat16, fat32, vfat) filesystems do not support symbolic (or hard) links.

If you can format your external card as ext2, ext3 or ext4, it
may work with Android (since the underlying kernel is linux).

Thank you for that suggestion.

My external SD card is 134GB so it must be exfat, which you didn't
list above so I wasn't sure if the card allowed symbolic links.

Googling, I find this article:
Does or will exFAT support symlinks?
http://earthwithsun.com/questions/23...pport-symlinks
Which implies that exfat does not support symbolic links.

I also was unsure what the file system of the default Android internal
sdcard was, so I googled and found that it's amazingly difficult to find
an article that describes what the Android default file system is.

I found this which implies that Android defaults to yaffs2 and vfat,
depending on what part of the Android file system we're looking at:
What is Android's file system?
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2...ds-file-system

Since we're looking at moving things from the internal sdcard to the
external sdcard, it seems that the internal file system is "vfat".

If the internal card is vfat and the external card is exfat, neither of
which apparently support symbolic links, then, I see exactly why you
said that "ln -s" wouldn't work. Too bad. It would be so easy if it did.

I wonder how the "Redirect File Organizer" app manages to run, in
effect, a symbolic link?

Anyway, it works, so, here's my suggested method for storing on the
external sd card all your important data, which then can be easily
backed up over your local WiFi network (I abhor the cloud for a
variety of reasons) to your hard disk drive or directly to DVD or
other hard media.

1. Write down on paper your desired file system, with the rule
being that all data that you want to back up later, should be
under a single directory at some point high up.
2. Manually consider each of your apps, one by one, & note which
apps store data you want to keep and backup later.
(We'll call these the "important" apps.)
3. Make sure that each "important app" has a logical place to
store its data on your external SD card. Usually that means
you need to modify the hierarchy you defined in step 1 above.
4. Install "Redirect File Organizer" on our Android device.
5. One by one, for each "important app", redirect its data to
the corresponding location on your external SD card.
(Almost always you'll find you need to re-organize your
hierarchy, e.g., I went through a half dozen iterations myself,
and I'm very experienced at organizing Windows & Linux file
system hierarchies).
6. When it comes time to back up the data, you can easily just
back up your "data" hierarchy, confident that you have just
what you need (no more, no less).

It's (almost) perfect!

On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 17:21:06 +0000, Jim Jansen wrote:

I also was unsure what the file system of the default Android internal
sdcard was, so I googled and found that it's amazingly difficult to find
an article that describes what the Android default file system is.

BTW, while I was googling to find that the Android default file system
is both vfat (for /sdcard0) and yaffs2 (for everything else), I found
this nice article which explains the *organization* of the Android
partitions.

Android File System Structure/Architecture/Layout Details
http://techblogon.com/android-file-s...ayout-details/

Android consists of six partitions:
/boot == e.g., the android kernel
/system == e.g., the android os
/recovery == e.g., a backup boot recovery area
/data == e.g., contains your applications
/cache == e.g., frequently accessed data
/misc == e.g., on/off system settings
And two sd-card partitions:
/sdcard == e.g., user data
/sd-ext == e.g., more user data