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I want to access and work on my remote documents (such as .docx, .xlsx, etc... and pdfs) from within my apps. For this, I have created a cifs mount point from a network sdcard (NTFS v3.1) to my android device in directory /mnt/routersd ; the problem is that some apps such as WPS Office or Adobe Reader don't offer directory list with access to root directories (Ofcourse, the device is rooted). My question is that how these apps can be enabled to explore root directory list such as /mnt/routersd in order for me to open my remote office documents and pdfs through those apps.

I want my mountpoint to be shown in WPS Office directory listing

I want my mountpoint to be shown in WPS Office directory listing.

Or, to be shown in Adobe Reader directory explorer

Or, to be shown in Adobe Reader directory explorer.

As you see, the pictures in the mountpoint is displayed by QuickPic

As you see, the pictures in the mountpoint is displayed by QuickPic.

Also, X-plore file explorer can explorer the mountpoint and do copy/delete operations in there

Also, X-plore file explorer can explorer the mountpoint and do copy/delete operations in there.

So, how can I open my remote docs (/mnt/routersd) from within WPS Office and Adobe Reader apps?

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    Try symlinks as a workaround? – jiggunjer Jan 20 '16 at 7:25
  • @jiggunjer, as I am novice user, please elaborate and how it is created for my case. – DavidDe Jan 20 '16 at 10:32
  • if you have a terminal/console app you can use ln to make links between files and folders. Similar to right-click -> make shortcut in windows. Create the link in a folder you can see access/see and connect it to a folder you can't select. – jiggunjer Jan 20 '16 at 10:37
  • in console navigate to your visible directory (cd /your/dir) then create the link with ln -s /path/to/invisible/folder mylink where mylink is the name you want for the symlink. – jiggunjer Jan 20 '16 at 10:41
  • @jiggunjer , I'm trying this code: busybox ln -s /mnt/routersd/ /mnt/shell/emulated/0/routersd ; and receiving error ln: /mnt/shell/emulated/0/routersd: Function not implemented. What is this error for? – DavidDe Jan 20 '16 at 16:01
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Through my research, I couldn't find a way to create a symbolic link in '/sdcard' (my android internal storage) from /mnt/routersd (mountpoint to //192.168.x.x/sdcard); as filesystem for /sdcard in android doesn't support symbolic links.

I also tried busybox mount -o bind /mnt/routersd/ /sdcard/mylink but mylink couldn't be browsed by the said apps (those apps find mylink as an empty directory).

Eventually, I created the symbolic link in my external sdcard, namely sdcard1 (NTFS v3.1), successfully (recent NTFS versions support symbolic links); as follows : busybox ln -s "/mnt/routersd/" "/storage/sdcard1/mylink"

As Adobe Reader, WPS Office, and many other apps can browse into external sdcard, mylink can be visible in their dicrectory list happily. Now, I can successfully browse my remote files and work on them from within the said apps.

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