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Standard Directories

Supported on Android, iOS, macOS, JVM targets

FileKit provides access to standard platform-specific directories:

// Get the application's files directory
val filesDir: PlatformFile = FileKit.filesDir

// Get the application's cache directory
val cacheDir: PlatformFile = FileKit.cacheDir

// Get the application's databases directory
val databasesDir: PlatformFile = FileKit.databasesDir

These directories are automatically created if they don’t exist and are properly sandboxed on each platform.

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Platform-specific Directory Behavior

Each platform maps these standard directories to different locations according to platform conventions:

Android

  • filesDir: Maps to context.filesDir, which is the app’s private internal storage
  • cacheDir: Maps to context.cacheDir, which is the app’s private cache directory
  • databasesDir: Maps to a databases subdirectory in the app’s internal storage

iOS

  • filesDir: Maps to the app’s Documents directory, which is backed up with iCloud
  • cacheDir: Maps to the app’s Caches directory, which isn’t backed up and may be cleared by the system
  • databasesDir: Maps to a databases subdirectory in the app’s Documents directory

macOS

  • filesDir: Maps to ~/Library/Application Support/<app-id>/, requiring FileKit initialization with an app ID
  • cacheDir: Maps to ~/Library/Caches/<app-id>/
  • databasesDir: Maps to a databases subdirectory in the application support directory

JVM (Desktop)

  • filesDir: Maps to platform-specific app data locations:
    • Linux: ~/.local/share/<app-id>/
    • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/<app-id>/
    • Windows: %APPDATA%/<app-id>/
  • cacheDir: Maps to platform-specific cache locations:
    • Linux: ~/.cache/<app-id>/
    • macOS: ~/Library/Caches/<app-id>/
    • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%/<app-id>/Cache/
  • databasesDir: Maps to a databases subdirectory within filesDir

On JVM and macOS platforms, you must initialize FileKit with an application ID before accessing these directories. See the Setup guide for details.

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Additional Directories

On some platforms, FileKit provides additional standard directories:

// macOS and JVM only
val picturesDir: PlatformFile = FileKit.picturesDir // Maps to user's Pictures directory

// JVM only
val downloadDir: PlatformFile = FileKit.downloadDir // Maps to user's Downloads directory

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Directory Usage Example

// Store app configuration
val configFile = FileKit.filesDir / "config.json"
configFile.writeString("{\"version\": 1}")

// Store temporary processing data
val tempFile = FileKit.cacheDir / "temp_data.bin"
tempFile.write(processingData)

```kotlin
// Access a database file
val dbFile = FileKit.databasesDir / "app.db" 
// Use the database file with your preferred database library

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Downloading files from web

Supported on JS and WASM targets

FileKit provides a convenient way to download files in web environments (JS and WASM targets). This functionality allows users to save files from your web application to their local device:

// Download from bytes
FileKit.download(bytes, "file.txt")

// Download from file
val file: PlatformFile = ...
FileKit.download(file, "file.txt")