If you create files for exporting via USB cable to desktop using MTP protocol, may be a problem that newly created files are not immediately visible in the file explorer running on the connected desktop PC. To to make new files visible, you need to call MediaScannerConnection:
File file = new File(Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(
Environment.DIRECTORY_DOCUMENTS), "theDocument.txt");
FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(file)
... (write the document)
out.close()
MediaScannerConnection.scanFile(this, new String[] {file.getPath()}, null, null);
context.sendBroadcast(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE,
Uri.fromFile(file)));
This MediaScannerConnection call code works for files only, not for directories. The problem is described in this Android bug report. This may be fixed for some version in the future, or on some devices.