Flutter: How to make a sequence of http requests on a widget before build method - flutter

Question

I have 3 classes: Users, Posts and Comments. User has many Posts and
Posts has many Comments.
I want that all data to be fetched before the widget's build method is called.
I tryed to use initState() to do this:
class FetchDataExample extends StatefulWidget {
final User _user;
FetchDataExample(this._user);
#override
_State createState() => _State(_user);
}
class _State extends State<FetchDataExample> {
final User _user;
_State(this._user);
#override
void initState() {
_user.setPosts();
super.initState();
}
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
print(this._user.posts[0]);
return Container(
);
}
}
In User class I have:
void setPosts() async {
String url = 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts?userId=' + this.id.toString();
var request = Requester.get(url); // Returns a Future<Response>
await request.then((value) => this.posts = Post.jsonToPosts(json.decode(value.body)));
this.posts.forEach((post) => post.setComments());
print(this.posts[0]);
}
The 'setComments()' has the same logic.
I have two prints:
Inside build that returns null;
Inside setPosts the returns Instance of 'Post';
So, by the time that Build method is called in the widget, the initState has not finished yet.
I need it be finished, does anyone know how can I do that?

Answer 1

You can use a FutureBuilder to build a widget by using latest result from a future.
And also you can combile multiple futures into a single one using Future.wait method.
Here is a sample code:
_getPageData() async {
var _combinedFutures = await Future.wait([setPosts, setComments]);
//do stuff with data
}
...
#override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return FutureBuilder(
future:_getPageData(),
builder: (context, snapshot) {
return Container();
}),
);
});