for-loop should wait for future - flutter

Question

I have a list of userIDs and I want to get a value from the database for each user and write it to a new list. But the for loop doesn't wait for the future and throws the error "Unhandled Exception: RangeError (index): Invalid value: Valid value range is empty: 0"
List userIDs = ["gsdgsgsgda32", "gwerszhgda7h", "fsdgz675ehds"];
Future <dynamic> getList() async {
List items=[];
for (var i = 0; i < userIDs.length; i++) {
items[i] = await getUserItems(userIDs[i]);
}
return items;
}
Future <String?> getUserItems(String? _userID) async {
String? userItem=" ";
final FirebaseApp testApp = Firebase.app();
final FirebaseDatabase database = FirebaseDatabase.instanceFor(app: testApp);
database.ref().child('users').child(_userID!).once().then((pdata) {
userItem = pdata.snapshot.child('item').value as String?;
});
return userItem;
}

Answer 1

This is not problem with future. List items is empty so when you call items[0] = 3; there is no items[0] and you get RangeError. Proper way to add element to list is call items.add(3)
So your code should look like this:
List userIDs = ["gsdgsgsgda32", "gwerszhgda7h", "fsdgz675ehds"];
Future <dynamic> getList() async {
List items=[];
for (var i = 0; i < userIDs.length; i++) {
final item = await getUserItems(userIDs[i]);
items.add(item);
}
return items;
}
Future <String?> getUserItems(String? _userID) async {
String? userItem=" ";
final FirebaseApp testApp = Firebase.app();
final FirebaseDatabase database = FirebaseDatabase.instanceFor(app: testApp);
database.ref().child('users').child(_userID!).once().then((pdata) {
userItem = pdata.snapshot.child('item').value as String?;
});
return userItem;
}

Answer 2

By using .then you are telling dart to continue running and come back when the Future completes.
Instead you should use await inside getUserItems.
You have to fiddle around a bit but here's a suggestion to start with:
Future <String?> getUserItems(String? _userID) async {
String? userItem=" ";
final FirebaseApp testApp = Firebase.app();
final FirebaseDatabase database = FirebaseDatabase.instanceFor(app: testApp);
userItem = (await database.ref().child('users').child(_userID!).once()).snapshot.child('item').value as String?
return userItem;
}
Also using String? for userItem and setting it to " " is a bit of an anti pattern. Since you allow it to be nullable i'd suggest having it as null writing your logic around that.

Answer 3

Try to use it like this
Future <dynamic> getList() async {
List items=[];
userIDs.forEach((item) async {
items.add(await getUserItems(item));
});
return items;
}