Flutter: Is it ok to use notifier constructor to pass initial value in riverpod? - flutter

I have a TaskEditor screen and a TaskEditorController which extends Notifier. State is a Task model. I want to make the default value of TaskEditorController as the Task I get as navigation params from another screen. To achieve that, this is what I am doing. Though this is working fine, I am little concerned over the practice.
class TaskEditorController extends Notifier<Task> {
TaskEditorController(this._initialTask);
final Task _initialTask;
#override
Task build() {
return _initialTask.copyWith();
}
}
final taskEditControllerProvider = NotifierProvider.autoDispose<TaskEditorController, Task>(
(() => throw UnimplementedError()));
And this how I am overriding it.
class TaskEditor extends HookConsumerWidget {
const TaskEditor(this._task);
final Task _task;
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context, WidgetRef ref) {
return ProviderScope(
overrides: [
taskEditControllerProvider
.overrideWith(() => TaskEditorController(_task))
],

This is "alright". There's nothing inherently wrong with doing this.
But this approach is a bit discouraged. Relying on overriding providers within the widget tree is considered as "advanced" and "should be avoided if possible".
Chances are there's a different solution to your problem which does not involve such practice.

Related

Best practice for passing param Riverpod's providers only once

I just want to build a Provider which asks params only one and inits correctly.
Since I am just passing params only once, I don't prefer to use .family methods.
I prefer to use .autoDispose which considered the better way.
Here my tryouts:
I tried to make my own .init() method. But it's disposing as soon as method called if it's .autodispose() and the widget not started to listen my provider yet (that's expected). Therefore I couldn't consider a safe way to do that.
I tried .overrideWith() method in a widget basis. But it's neither worked nor I am sure that it's best practice.
Here is my simple code:
class MyHomePage extends ConsumerWidget {
const MyHomePage({super.key});
final myString = 'Hey';
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context, WidgetRef ref) {
//Not worked
ProviderContainer(
overrides: [messageProvider.overrideWith(() => ViewModel(myString))]);
return Scaffold(
body: ProviderScope(
//Not worked either
overrides: [messageProvider.overrideWith(() => ViewModel(myString))],
child: Center(
//I just didn't use .when to shorter code
child: Text(ref.watch(messageProvider).value!.counter.toString()),
),
),
);
}
}
final messageProvider = AsyncNotifierProvider.autoDispose<ViewModel, Model>(
() => throw UnimplementedError());
class ViewModel extends AutoDisposeAsyncNotifier<Model> {
final String param;
ViewModel(this.param);
#override
FutureOr<Model> build() {
//Make some fetch with param, (only once!)
return Model(param.length);
}
}
When I run that. It gives UnimplementedError
Waiting your suggestions & fixes. Thanks in advance!
Expected:
Works properly.
#riverpod
ViewModel myViewModel(MyViewModelRef ref, String param){
return ViewModel(param);
}
This is autoDispose by default in Riverpod 2. If you don't want to auto dispose you can use #Riverpod(keepalive:true) instead of #riverpod
If you don't want to pass the param to the provider, you can eliminate it and hardcode the value to the ViewModel, but at that point, if there are no other dependencies, might as well make it a public final variable in some file, since it looks like this is a singleton that never changes so it is questionable what you'd achieve by making it a Riverpod provider.

Which is better when using provider instance in a new widget?

Let's say I've written my code as below.
I've got a provider called SampleProvider, and I'm using it in my main widget.
class SampleProvider extends ChangeNotifier {}
class MainWidget extends StatelessWidget {
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
SampleProvider provider = Provider.of<SampleProvider>(context);
}
}
And then, I want to make a new widget and use this provider in the new widget.
There will be two choices.
First, I just instantiate another provider in the new widget as below.
class NewWidget extends StatelessWidget {
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
SampleProvider provider = Provider.of<SampleProvider>(context);
}
}
Or, I can send it from the main widget to the new widget as a constructor parameter.
Like this:
class NewWidget extends StatelessWidget {
final SampleProvider provider;
NewWidget(this.provider);
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
}
}
I guess the first option is better because flutter draws a widget based on its build context, but I'm not sure.
I've googled it quite long, but there was no success.
Can anybody tell me whether I am right or wrong? Or Do they have no difference?
Prefer the first solution, it's easier to refactor.
Suppose you need move NewWidget in your widget tree, you also need to modify the "paramter pass" code if you choose second solution, which is not necessary with first solution.
One of Provider pacakage's purpose is avoid passing parameter deep in the widget tree by the way.
Depend on preference not like first or second one.
Have an exception when obtaining Providers inside initState. What can I do?
This exception happens because you're trying to listen to a provider from a life-cycle that will never ever be called again.
It means that you either should use another life-cycle (build), or explicitly specify that you do not care about updates.
As such, instead of:
initState() {
super.initState();
print(context.watch<Foo>().value);
}
you can do:
Value value;
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
final value = context.watch<Foo>.value;
if (value != this.value) {
this.value = value;
print(value);
}
}
which will print value whenever it changes (and only when it changes).
Alternatively, you can do:
initState() {
super.initState();
print(context.read<Foo>().value);
}
SRC: https://github.com/rrousselGit/provider#i-have-an-exception-when-obtaining-providers-inside-initstate-what-can-i-do
Yes, I believe the first option is the better way, of the top of my head I can't think of any situation in which you would prefer the second option to the first.
If you don't use new widget as children of any other widget , first choice is better .
otherwise , second is better .

Is it ok to nest ConsumerWidgets in riverpods?

In Riverpods, is it ok to nest ConsumerWidgets? Something like this? I want to do so to keep my apis separated, but it feels like it might slow down performance?
class Foo1 extends ConsumerWidget {
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context, ScopedReader watch) {
// watch something
return Container(
child: Foo2(),
);
}
}
class Foo2 extends ConsumerWidget {
#override
// watch something
Widget build(BuildContext context, ScopedReader watch) {
return Container();
}
}
This is completely and totally fine. It would not be strange if most or all widgets in your application were ConsumerWidgets.
As long as you only watch providers when/where needed, you have nothing to be concerned about.
There are many ways to optimize rebuilds. For example, creating providers that only expose one aspect of state your widget may depend on or using Consumer to only rebuild certain children when the value exposed by a provider changes. If you're using hooks, you can use select which is super handy for conditionally rebuilding.

How to use Provider/Consumer when extending a class

To start, I'm new to Flutter, so I am completely open to the possibility that my problem stems from a fundamental misunderstanding, but here is my question:
I am trying to get a good understanding of how to use Provider in conjunction with with the get_it package.
I think I understand how to use the Provider pattern in the standard case, by which I mean creating a unique class with a view and a view_model. Where I seem to have become lost is when I design a custom widget as a base template class and then extend that widget so that it can be tailored for use in a specific class view, I'm not seeing how to connect it to the Provider pattern because the base class doesn't know in advance which view_model it needs to listen to.
Below I will provide short example of what I am doing in the standard case, where things seem to work fine, and then I will show a short example of how I am trying to build the custom widget and extend it...
Here is the sample standard way in which I am using the Provider pattern with get_it, in which everything seems to work just fine:
class MyScreenView extends StatefulWidget{
#override
_ProfileEditScreenViewState createState() => _ProfileEditScreenViewState();
}
class _MyScreenViewState extends State<MyScreenView>{
final MyScreenViewModel model = serviceLocator<MyScreenViewModel>();
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return ChangeNotifierProvider<MyScreenViewModel>(
create: (context) => model,
child: Material(
color: Colors.white,
child: Consumer<MyScreenViewModel>(
builder: (context,model,child) => Text(model.someText),
),
),
);
}
}
class MyScreenViewModel extends ChangeNotifier{
String? _someText;
MyScreenViewModel() {
this._someText= 'Sample Text';
}
String get someText=> _someText;
set someText(String value) {
_someText= value;
notifyListeners();
}
}
Here is an example of how I am trying to build a base class, but am uncertain as to how I go about connecting it to Provider: (The idea here is that the below widget would be part of a more complex widget that would have a view_model where the state for the overall widget would be maintained)
class BaseCheckBoxTile extends StatefulWidget{
bool isChecked;
Function(bool) checkBoxOnChanged;
BaseCheckBoxTile({this.isChecked = false, required this.checkBoxOnChanged});
#override
_BaseCheckBoxTileState createState() => _BaseCheckBoxTileState();
}
class _BaseCheckBoxTileState extends State<BaseCheckBoxTile>{
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return SizedBox(
child: Checkbox(value: widget.isChecked,onChanged: widget.checkBoxOnChanged,),
);
}
}
class CustomCheckBoxTile extends BaseCheckBoxTile{
bool isChecked;
Function(bool) checkBoxOnChanged;
CustomCheckBoxTile({this.isChecked =false, required this.checkBoxOnChanged})
:super(isChecked: isChecked, checkBoxOnChanged: checkBoxOnChanged);
}
My instinct is to want to put something in my _BaseCheckBoxTileState that gives me access to the larger widget's view_model, like what I do in the first example with:
"MyScreenViewModel model = serviceLocator<MyScreenViewModel>(); "
If I had that, then I could assign the values in my _BaseCheckBoxTileState by referring to the model instead of widget (e.g., model.isChecked instead of widget.isChecked). The model would obviously extend ChangeNotifier, and the view that is making use of the custom widget would wrap the widget in a Consumer. However, the _BaseCheckBoxTileState doesn't know what view_model to listen to.
Would I accomplish this by putting some generic Type or Object in for my View_Model which could be assigned when the class is built? Or am I approaching this in a completely wrong way?

Controlling State from outside of a StatefulWidget

I'm trying to understand the best practice for controlling a StatefulWidget's state outside of that Widgets State.
I have the following interface defined.
abstract class StartupView {
Stream<String> get onAppSelected;
set showActivity(bool activity);
set message(String message);
}
I would like to create a StatefulWidget StartupPage that implements this interface. I expect the Widget to do the following:
When a button is pressed it would send an event over the onAppSelected stream. A controller would listen to this event and perform some action ( DB call, service request, etc ).
The controller can call showActivity or set message to have the view show progress with a message.
Because a Stateful Widget does not expose its State as a property, I don't know the best approach for accessing and modifying the State's attributes.
The way I would expect to use this would be something like this:
Widget createStartupPage() {
var page = new StartupPage();
page.onAppSelected.listen((app) {
page.showActivity = true;
//Do some work
page.showActivity = false;
});
}
I've thought about instantiating the Widget by passing in the state I want it to return in createState() but that feels wrong.
Some background on why we have this approach: We currently have a Dart web application. For view-controller separation, testability, and forward-thinking towards Flutter, we decided that we would create an interface for every view in our application. This would allow a WebComponent or a Flutter Widget to implement this interface and leave all of the controller logic the same.
There are multiple ways to interact with other stateful widgets.
1. findAncestorStateOfType
The first and most straightforward is through context.findAncestorStateOfType method.
Usually wrapped in a static method of the Stateful subclass like this :
class MyState extends StatefulWidget {
static of(BuildContext context, {bool root = false}) => root
? context.findRootAncestorStateOfType<_MyStateState>()
: context.findAncestorStateOfType<_MyStateState>();
#override
_MyStateState createState() => _MyStateState();
}
class _MyStateState extends State<MyState> {
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Container();
}
}
This is how Navigator works for example.
Pro:
Easiest solution
Con:
Tempted to access State properties or manually call setState
Requires to expose State subclass
Don't use this method when you want to access a variable. As your widget may not reload when that variable change.
2. Listenable, Stream and/or InheritedWidget
Sometimes instead of a method, you may want to access some properties. The thing is, you most likely want your widgets to update whenever that value changes over time.
In this situation, dart offer Stream and Sink. And flutter adds on the top of it InheritedWidget and Listenable such as ValueNotifier. They all do relatively the same thing: subscribing to a value change event when coupled with a StreamBuilder/context.dependOnInheritedWidgetOfExactType/AnimatedBuilder.
This is the go-to solution when you want your State to expose some properties. I won't cover all the possibilities but here's a small example using InheritedWidget :
First, we have an InheritedWidget that expose a count :
class Count extends InheritedWidget {
static of(BuildContext context) =>
context.dependOnInheritedWidgetOfExactType<Count>();
final int count;
Count({Key key, #required Widget child, #required this.count})
: assert(count != null),
super(key: key, child: child);
#override
bool updateShouldNotify(Count oldWidget) {
return this.count != oldWidget.count;
}
}
Then we have our State that instantiate this InheritedWidget
class _MyStateState extends State<MyState> {
int count = 0;
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Count(
count: count,
child: Scaffold(
body: CountBody(),
floatingActionButton: FloatingActionButton(
onPressed: () {
setState(() {
count++;
});
},
),
),
);
}
}
Finally, we have our CountBody that fetch this exposed count
class CountBody extends StatelessWidget {
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Center(
child: Text(Count.of(context).count.toString()),
);
}
}
Pros:
More performant than findAncestorStateOfType
Stream alternative is dart only (works with web) and is strongly integrated in the language (keywords such as await for or async*)
Automic reload of the children when the value change
Cons:
More boilerplate
Stream can be complicated
3. Notifications
Instead of directly calling methods on State, you can send a Notification from your widget. And make State subscribe to these notifications.
An example of Notification would be :
class MyNotification extends Notification {
final String title;
const MyNotification({this.title});
}
To dispatch the notification simply call dispatch(context) on your notification instance and it will bubble up.
MyNotification(title: "Foo")..dispatch(context)
Note: you need put above line of code inside a class, otherwise no context, can NOT call notification.
Any given widget can listen to notifications dispatched by their children using NotificationListener<T> :
class _MyStateState extends State<MyState> {
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return NotificationListener<MyNotification>(
onNotification: onTitlePush,
child: Container(),
);
}
bool onTitlePush(MyNotification notification) {
print("New item ${notification.title}");
// true meaning processed, no following notification bubbling.
return true;
}
}
An example would be Scrollable, which can dispatch ScrollNotification including start/end/overscroll. Then used by Scrollbar to know scroll information without having access to ScrollController
Pros:
Cool reactive API. We don't directly do stuff on State. It's State that subscribes to events triggered by its children
More than one widget can subscribe to that same notification
Prevents children from accessing unwanted State properties
Cons:
May not fit your use-case
Requires more boilerplate
You can expose the state's widget with a static method, a few of the flutter examples do it this way and I've started using it as well:
class StartupPage extends StatefulWidget {
static StartupPageState of(BuildContext context) => context.ancestorStateOfType(const TypeMatcher<StartupPageState>());
#override
StartupPageState createState() => new StartupPageState();
}
class StartupPageState extends State<StartupPage> {
...
}
You can then access the state by calling StartupPage.of(context).doSomething();.
The caveat here is that you need to have a BuildContext with that page somewhere in its tree.
There is another common used approach to have access to State's properties/methods:
class StartupPage extends StatefulWidget {
StartupPage({Key key}) : super(key: key);
#override
StartupPageState createState() => StartupPageState();
}
// Make class public!
class StartupPageState extends State<StartupPage> {
int someStateProperty;
void someStateMethod() {}
}
// Somewhere where inside class where `StartupPage` will be used
final startupPageKey = GlobalKey<StartupPageState>();
// Somewhere where the `StartupPage` will be opened
final startupPage = StartupPage(key: startupPageKey);
Navigator.push(context, MaterialPageRoute(builder: (_) => startupPage);
// Somewhere where you need have access to state
startupPageKey.currentState.someStateProperty = 1;
startupPageKey.currentState.someStateMethod();
I do:
class StartupPage extends StatefulWidget {
StartupPageState state;
#override
StartupPageState createState() {
this.state = new StartupPageState();
return this.state;
}
}
class DetectedAnimationState extends State<DetectedAnimation> {
And outside just startupPage.state
While trying to solve a similar problem, I discovered that ancestorStateOfType() and TypeMatcher have been deprecated. Instead, one has to use findAncestorStateOfType(). However as per the documentation, "calling this method is relatively expensive". The documentation for the findAncestorStateOfType() method can be found here.
In any case, to use findAncestorStateOfType(), the following can be implemented (this is a modification of the correct answer using the findAncestorStateOfType() method):
class StartupPage extends StatefulWidget {
static _StartupPageState of(BuildContext context) => context.findAncestorStateOfType<_StartupPageState>();
#override
_StartupPageState createState() => new _StartupPageState();
}
class _StartupPageState extends State<StartupPage> {
...
}
The state can be accessed in the same way as described in the correct answer (using StartupPage.of(context).yourFunction()). I wanted to update the post with the new method.
You can use eventify
This library provide mechanism to register for event notifications with emitter
or publisher and get notified in the event of an event.
You can do something like:
// Import the library
import 'package:eventify/eventify.dart';
final EventEmitter emitter = new EventEmitter();
var controlNumber = 50;
List<Widget> buttonsGenerator() {
final List<Widget> buttons = new List<Widget>();
for (var i = 0; i < controlNumber; i++) {
widgets.add(new MaterialButton(
// Generate 10 Buttons afterwards
onPressed: () {
controlNumber = 10;
emitter.emit("updateButtonsList", null, "");
},
);
}
}
class AState extends State<ofYourWidget> {
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
List<Widget> buttons_list = buttonsGenerator();
emitter.on('updateButtonsList', null, (event, event_context) {
setState(() {
buttons_list = buttonsGenerator();
});
});
}
...
}
I can't think of anything which can't be achieved by event driven programming. You are limitless!
"Freedom cannot be bestowed — it must be achieved."
- Elbert Hubbard
Have you considered lifting the state to the parent widget? It is a common, though less ideal than Redux, way to manage state in React as far as I know, and this repository shows how to apply the concept to a Flutter app.