The getter was called on a null - flutter

Question

I am trying to show the progessbar until the data is fetched. At init state I have the api called. It shows the error as shown in the image and then the layouts are shown without showing the progress bar. I am new to flutter and could not get through this.
I have implemented as follows:
#override
void initState() {
super.initState();
getDetails();
}
GetDetails method
void getDetails() async {
setState(() {
_isLoading = true;
});
MenuDetailsResponse moreResponse = await getMenuDetails(widget.id);
if (moreResponse != null && moreResponse.data != null) {
setState(() {
details = moreResponse.data;
if (details.detail.maxQty != null) {
maxQtyController =
new TextEditingController(text: details.detail.maxQty.toString());
} else {
maxQtyController = new TextEditingController();
}
print(details);
_isLoading = false;
});
} else if (moreResponse != null) {
setState(() {
_isLoading = false;
});
showAlerts(context, "Sorry!!", moreResponse.message, AlertType.error);
} else {
setState(() {
_isLoading = false;
});
showAlerts(context, "Sorry!!",
"Something went wrong, Please try again later!!", AlertType.error);
}
}
Build Method:
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Scaffold(
appBar: AppBar(
backgroundColor: Colors.white,
iconTheme: IconThemeData(color: Theme.of(context).primaryColor),
title: Text(
"Menu Details",
style: TextStyle(color: Theme.of(context).primaryColor),
),
),
body: Stack(
children: <Widget>[
Opacity(
opacity: _isLoading
? 0.3
: 1, // You can reduce this when loading to give different effect
child: AbsorbPointer(
absorbing: _isLoading,
child: _buildLayout(),
),
),
Opacity(
opacity: _isLoading ? 1.0 : 0,
child: Center(
child: CircularProgressIndicator(
backgroundColor: Theme.of(context).primaryColor,
),
)),
],
),
);
}
BuildLayout widget
Widget _buildLayout() {
return Container(
margin: EdgeInsets.all(10),
child: Wrap(
children: <Widget>[
Column(
children: <Widget>[
SizedBox(height: 20),
Text(
"Enter max quantity for today",
style: TextStyle(color: Theme.of(context).primaryColor),
),
SizedBox(height: 20),
_buildTopItems(),
],
)
],
),
);
}
Widget topItems
Widget _buildTopItems() {
return Container(
margin: EdgeInsets.only(top: 10),
child: Wrap(
children: <Widget>[
Row(
mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.start,
crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.center,
children: <Widget>[
Container(
child: Image.network(
details.detail.image,
height: 150,
width: 150,
fit: BoxFit.fill,
),
),
SizedBox(
width: 10,
),
Expanded(
child: Column(
mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start,
children: <Widget>[
Text(
details.detail.name,
style: TextStyle(fontSize: 18),
),
SizedBox(height: 5),
Row(
children: <Widget>[
Text("Rs " + details.detail.price.toString(),
style: TextStyle(
decoration: TextDecoration.lineThrough)),
SizedBox(width: 5),
Text("Rs " + details.detail.discountPrice.toString(),
style: TextStyle(
fontSize: 17,
color: Theme.of(context).primaryColor,
))
],
),
SizedBox(height: 5),
Text(details.detail.foodtypedata.foodType),
SizedBox(height: 5),
StarRating(
rating: double.parse(details.detail.rating),
size: 24.0,
),
SizedBox(height: 5),
details.detail.status >= 1
? Text(
"Available",
style: TextStyle(
color: Theme.of(context).primaryColor),
)
: Text(
"UnAvailable",
style: TextStyle(color: Colors.red),
),
Text(
"- " + details.detail.createdAt,
textAlign: TextAlign.left,
),
],
))
]),
],
),
);
}

Answer 1

It appears to me that details is a class field and when build is called for the first time it will be null.
This happens because you are filling details on initState, but getDetails is an asynchronous call, so initState will execute and queue getDetails for later, as it's a Future, so it executes in the future, not right now. Right now Flutter goes to build and details is accessed there which is still null.
If you need data from a Future inside your build method, use a FutureBuilder.

Answer 2

I solved this by changing buildmethod as follows:
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Scaffold(
appBar: AppBar(
backgroundColor: Colors.white,
iconTheme: IconThemeData(color: Theme.of(context).primaryColor),
title: Text(
"Menu Details",
style: TextStyle(color: Theme.of(context).primaryColor),
),
),
body: _isLoading
? Center(
child: CircularProgressIndicator(
backgroundColor: Theme.of(context).primaryColor,
),
)
: _buildLayout()
);
}