How to force stateful widget redraw using keys? - flutter

Question

I'm making an app that pulls data from an API and displays it in a view (MVC style).
I need to figure out how to force my view widget to redraw itself. Right now I tried with ValueKeys and ObjectKeys but to no avail.
There's lots and lots of code so I am going to use snippets as much as possible to keep it clear. (If you need to see more code feel free to ask)
Here's my view widget:
class view extends StatefulWidget{
view({
Key key,
this.count = 0,
}) : super(key: key);
int count;
String _action='';
var _actionParams='';
var _data;
Function(String) callback;
void setAction(String newAction){
_action = newAction;
}
void setActionParams(String params){
_actionParams = jsonDecode(params);
}
void setData(String data){
_data = jsonDecode(data);
}
void incrementCounter(){
count++;
}
#override
_viewState createState() => _viewState();
}
class _viewState extends State<view>{
Object redrawObject = Object();
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
/*
switch(widget._action){
case '':
break;
default:
return null;
}
*/
return Text("Counter: "+widget.count.toString());
}
#override
void initState(){
this.redrawObject = widget.key;
super.initState();
}
}
You can see in the commented code that I am planning to change the way the view builds itself in function of the data that gets passed to it.
What I have tried so far is to pass a ValueKey/ObjectKey to the view from main.dart in a constructor and then changing the object at runtime. Unfortunately that did not work.
At the top of my main.dart(accessible from anywhere within main) I have this:
Object redraw = Object();
final dataView = new view(key: ObjectKey(redraw));
Then in the body of the homepage I have the view and a floating button right under.
If I press the button it should increment the counter inside the view and force it to redraw. Here's the code I have tried so far:
body: Center(
child: dataView
),
floatingActionButton: FloatingActionButton(
child: Icon(Icons.badge),
onPressed: (){
dataView.incrementCounter();
redraw = new Object();
},
),
From what I understand, if the object that was used as a key gets changed, then flutter should rebuild the state for the widget. So I'm setting my object to a new object but it's not working.
I also tried something like this:
onPressed: (){
setState((){
dataView.incrementCounter();
redraw = new Object();
});
},
Eventually I'd like to use a navigator in conjunction with my view widget (so that we have a back button) but I don't know if this is possible.
It feels a bit like I'm fighting with the framework. Is there a different paradigm I should use (like pages?) or is it possible for me to do it this way?
How do I force my view widget to get redrawn?

Answer 1

Using Göktuğ Vatandaş' answer and GlobalKeys I was able to figure it out.
I made a reDraw() function inside the state and then I called it from my main using a GlobalKey.
Note: Wrapping in a container and using a key for the container is not necessary. Calling setState() is enough to force a redraw.
Here's the new view widget:
import 'dart:convert';
import 'package:flutter/cupertino.dart';
GlobalKey<_viewState> viewKey = GlobalKey();
class view extends StatefulWidget{
view({
Key key,
this.count = 0,
}) : super(key: key);
int count;
String _action='';
var _actionParams='';
var _data;
Function(String) callback;
void setAction(String newAction){
_action = newAction;
}
void setActionParams(String params){
_actionParams = jsonDecode(params);
}
void setData(String data){
_data = jsonDecode(data);
}
void incrementCounter(){
count++;
}
#override
_viewState createState() => _viewState();
}
class _viewState extends State<view>{
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
/*
switch(widget._action){
case '':
break;
default:
return null;
}
*/
return Text("Counter: "+widget.count.toString());
}
#override
void initState(){
super.initState();
}
void reDraw(){
setState((){});
}
}
Here's where I declare the view widget in my main:
final dataView = new view(key: viewKey);
Here's where I call the reDraw() function:
floatingActionButton: FloatingActionButton(
child: Icon(Icons.badge),
onPressed: (){
dataView.incrementCounter();
viewKey.currentState.reDraw();
},
),
Thanks Göktuğ Vatandaş!

Answer 2

You can check flutter_phoenix's logic for redraw effect. I think its very useful or you can just use package itself. Basically it does what you trying to achive.
It creates a unique key in state.
Key _key = UniqueKey();
Injects it to a container.
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Container(
key: _key,
child: widget.child,
);
}
And when you call rebirth it just refresh key and that causes view to rebuild.
void restartApp() {
setState(() {
_key = UniqueKey();
});
}