fix ankidroid#15772: implemented .avi video playback

We implemented .avi video playback by checking the
type of file being imported. If the user has set the
advanced preference to enable this workaround,
if the file is in fact an .avi file, we use ffmpeg to
decode the file, enabling android webview media
player to playback the file
Co-authored-by: Bernardo Galante
[email protected]

AnkiDroid/build.gradle

@@ -326,6 +326,7 @@ dependencies {
     implementation libs.nanohttpd
     implementation libs.kotlinx.serialization.json
     implementation libs.seismic
+    implementation 'com.arthenica:mobile-ffmpeg-full-gpl:4.4.LTS'
 
     debugImplementation libs.androidx.fragment.testing.manifest
 

AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/NoteEditor.kt

@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ class NoteEditor : AnkiActivity(), DeckSelectionListener, SubtitleListener, Tags
                 // Import field media
                 // This goes before setting formattedValue to update
                 // media paths with the checksum when they have the same name
-                NoteService.importMediaToDirectory(col, field)
+                NoteService.importMediaToDirectory(this, col, field)
                 // Completely replace text for text fields (because current text was passed in)
                 val formattedValue = field.formattedValue
                 if (field.type === EFieldType.TEXT) {

AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/analytics/UsageAnalytics.kt

@@ -556,6 +556,7 @@ object UsageAnalytics {
         "noteEditorNewlineReplace", // Replace newlines with HTML
         "autoFocusTypeInAnswer", // Focus ‘type in answer’
         "mediaImportAllowAllFiles", // Allow all files in media imports
+        "mediaForceAviDecoding", // Force AVI decoding
         "providerEnabled", // Enable AnkiDroid API
         // App bar buttons
         "reset_custom_buttons",

AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/servicelayer/NoteService.kt

@@ -19,15 +19,19 @@
 
 package com.ichi2.anki.servicelayer
 
+import android.content.Context
 import android.os.Bundle
 import androidx.annotation.CheckResult
 import androidx.annotation.VisibleForTesting
+import com.arthenica.mobileffmpeg.Config
+import com.arthenica.mobileffmpeg.FFmpeg
 import com.ichi2.anki.CollectionManager.withCol
 import com.ichi2.anki.CrashReportService
 import com.ichi2.anki.FieldEditText
 import com.ichi2.anki.multimediacard.IMultimediaEditableNote
 import com.ichi2.anki.multimediacard.fields.*
 import com.ichi2.anki.multimediacard.impl.MultimediaEditableNote
+import com.ichi2.anki.preferences.sharedPrefs
 import com.ichi2.libanki.Card
 import com.ichi2.libanki.Collection
 import com.ichi2.libanki.Consts
@@ -117,7 +121,7 @@ object NoteService {
      *
      * @param field
      */
-    fun importMediaToDirectory(col: Collection, field: IField?) {
+    fun importMediaToDirectory(context: Context, col: Collection, field: IField?) {
         var tmpMediaPath: String? = null
         when (field!!.type) {
             EFieldType.AUDIO_RECORDING, EFieldType.MEDIA_CLIP -> tmpMediaPath = field.audioPath
@@ -127,13 +131,28 @@ object NoteService {
         }
         if (tmpMediaPath != null) {
             try {
-                val inFile = File(tmpMediaPath)
+                var inFile = File(tmpMediaPath)
                 if (inFile.exists() && inFile.length() > 0) {
+                    // Check if AVI decoding is forced by user preferences
+                    val forceAviConversion = context.sharedPrefs().getBoolean("mediaForceAviDecoding", false)
+
+                    if (forceAviConversion && inFile.extension == "avi") {
+                        // Convert AVI to MP4
+                        val outFile = File(inFile.parent, inFile.nameWithoutExtension + "Converted.mp4")
+                        val success = convertVideoToMp4(inFile.absolutePath, outFile.absolutePath)
+
+                        if (success) {
+                            inFile = outFile
+                        } else {
+                            Timber.e("Failed to convert AVI to MP4: $inFile")
+                        }
+                    }
+
                     val fname = col.media.addFile(inFile)
                     val outFile = File(col.media.dir, fname)
                     Timber.v("""File "%s" should be copied to "%s""", fname, outFile)
                     if (field.hasTemporaryMedia && outFile.absolutePath != tmpMediaPath) {
-                        // Delete original
+                        // Delete original file if it was copied to media directory
                         inFile.delete()
                     }
                     when (field.type) {
@@ -227,6 +246,109 @@ object NoteService {
         return nonNewOrLearningCards.average { it.ivl }?.toInt()
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Converts a video file from AVI format to MP4 format using FFmpeg.
+     *
+     * The conversion is done synchronously, ideally should be done in a background thread.
+     * @param inputPath The path to the input AVI file.
+     * @param outputPath The path where the output MP4 file should be saved.
+     * @return A boolean indicating whether the conversion was successful.
+     */
+    fun convertVideoToMp4(inputPath: String, outputPath: String): Boolean {
+        Timber.i("Starting video conversion from AVI to MP4")
+        Timber.d("Input path: $inputPath")
+        Timber.d("Output path: $outputPath")
+
+        if (!validateFilePath(inputPath)) {
+            Timber.e("Invalid input file path: $inputPath")
+            return false
+        }
+
+        if (!validateOutputPath(outputPath)) {
+            Timber.e("Invalid output file path: $outputPath")
+            return false
+        }
+
+        val command = buildFFmpegCommand(inputPath, outputPath)
+        Timber.d("FFmpeg command: $command")
+
+        // Execute synchronously
+        val returnCode = FFmpeg.execute(command)
+
+        val commandOutput = Config.getLastCommandOutput()
+        Timber.d("FFmpeg command output: $commandOutput")
+
+        return handleFFmpegReturnCode(returnCode, inputPath, outputPath)
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Validates the input file path.
+     *
+     * @param path The file path to validate.
+     * @return A boolean indicating whether the file path is valid.
+     */
+    private fun validateFilePath(path: String): Boolean {
+        val file = File(path)
+
+        return file.exists() && file.isFile
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Validates the output file path.
+     *
+     * @param path The file path to validate.
+     * @return A boolean indicating whether the file path is valid.
+     */
+    private fun validateOutputPath(path: String): Boolean {
+        val file = File(path)
+        val parentDir = file.parentFile
+
+        return parentDir != null && parentDir.exists() && parentDir.isDirectory
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Builds the FFmpeg command for converting AVI to MP4.
+     *
+     * Uses H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec.
+     * The ultrafast preset is used for faster conversion along with the
+     * -y flag to overwrite the output file if it already exists.
+     *
+     * @param inputPath The path to the input AVI file.
+     * @param outputPath The path where the output MP4 file should be saved.
+     * @return The constructed FFmpeg command as a string.
+     */
+    private fun buildFFmpegCommand(inputPath: String, outputPath: String): String {
+        return "-i $inputPath -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast -c:a aac -y $outputPath"
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Handles the FFmpeg return code and logs the appropriate messages.
+     *
+     * @param returnCode The return code from the FFmpeg execution.
+     * @param inputPath The path to the input AVI file.
+     * @param outputPath The path where the output MP4 file should be saved.
+     * @return A boolean indicating whether the conversion was successful.
+     */
+    private fun handleFFmpegReturnCode(returnCode: Int, inputPath: String, outputPath: String): Boolean {
+        return when (returnCode) {
+            Config.RETURN_CODE_SUCCESS -> {
+                Timber.d("Video conversion successful: $inputPath to $outputPath")
+                true
+            }
+
+            Config.RETURN_CODE_CANCEL -> {
+                Timber.d("Video conversion cancelled")
+                false
+            }
+
+            else -> {
+                val error = Config.getLastCommandOutput()
+                Timber.e("Video conversion failed with return code $returnCode: $error")
+                false
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     interface NoteField {
         val ord: Int
 

AnkiDroid/src/main/res/values/10-preferences.xml

@@ -189,6 +189,9 @@
     <!-- Allow all files in media imports -->
     <string name="media_import_allow_all_files" maxLength="41">Allow all files in media imports</string>
     <string name="media_import_allow_all_files_summ">If Android doesn’t recognize a media file</string>
+    <!-- Force avi multimedia format decoding -->
+    <string name="media_force_avi_decoding" maxLength="41">Force .avi file decoding</string>
+    <string name="media_force_avi_decoding_summ">Enable .avi files to be decoded into mp4 for playback.</string>
     <!-- Custom sync server settings -->
     <string name="custom_sync_server_title" maxLength="41">Custom sync server</string>
     <string name="custom_sync_server_summary_none_of_the_two_servers_used"

AnkiDroid/src/main/res/values/preferences.xml

@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@
     <string name="type_in_answer_focus_key">autoFocusTypeInAnswer</string>
     <string name="exit_via_double_tap_back_key">exitViaDoubleTapBack</string>
     <string name="media_import_allow_all_files_key">mediaImportAllowAllFiles</string>
+    <string name="media_force_avi_decoding_key">mediaForceAviDecoding</string>
     <string name="pref_cat_plugins_key">category_plugins</string>
     <string name="enable_api_key">providerEnabled</string>
     <string name="thirdparty_apps_key">thirdpartyapps_link</string>

AnkiDroid/src/main/res/xml/preferences_advanced.xml

@@ -88,6 +88,12 @@
                 android:key="@string/media_import_allow_all_files_key"
                 android:summary="@string/media_import_allow_all_files_summ"
                 android:title="@string/media_import_allow_all_files" />
+            <!-- Workaround for #15772 -->
+            <SwitchPreferenceCompat
+                android:defaultValue="false"
+                android:key="@string/media_force_avi_decoding_key"
+                android:summary="@string/media_force_avi_decoding_summ"
+                android:title="@string/media_force_avi_decoding" />
         </PreferenceCategory>
         <PreferenceCategory
             android:key="@string/pref_cat_plugins_key"