Extension package for background_downloader that adds SqlitePersistentStorage to the downloader, backed by SQLite, instead of the LocalStorePersistentStorage that is used by the downloader by default.

To use SqlitePersistentStorage, pass an instance to the downloader on the very first call: FileDownloader(persistentStorage: SqlitePersistentStorage());

About SQLite storage

PersistentStorage to back the database in the downloader, using an SQLite database as its own backend. Uses the sqflite package, so is limited to platforms supported by that package.

Data is stored in simple tables, one for each data type, with each table having a 'taskId' column, and a 'objectJsonMap' column where the object of that data type is stored in JSON string format.

The SqlitePersistentStorage can be constructed with a list of migration options, and an optional PersistentStorageMigrator to execute the migration from one of those options to this object.

A constructed SqlitePersistentStorage can be passed to the FileDownloader constructor to set the persistent storage to be used. It must be set on the very first call to FileDownloader only.

Migration

The package also comes with more migration options, including from Flutter Downloader

Migration from Flutter Downloader

Key differences with Flutter Downloader:

  • Every download or upload task is an object (e.g. DownloadTask) that defines how the task needs to be executed. The object is passed back to you when you receive status and progress updates, and is the key object in the downloader

  • When you define a task, a few things are quite different:

    • You set your filepath not as an absolute path, but as a combination of a baseDirectory (an enum), a subdirectory (a String) and a filename (a String)
    • If you want the filename to be provided by the server, call withSuggestedFilename on the task you define, before starting the download. Alternatively, set the filename field of the task to DownloadTask.suggestedFilename, but you'll have to get the actual filename from the task provided to you in status or progress updates. Task fields are final, so the task where you set the filename to DownloadTask.suggestedFilename will never change.
    • By default, a task only generates status updates, not progress updates. If you want both, set the task's updates field to Updates.statusAndProgress
    • You can only download to an app-specific directory (one of the BaseDirectory values). After download completes, you can move a file to shared storage, such as the Android Downloads directory, using moveToSharedStorage

  • Callbacks can be registered, just like with Flutter Downloader, but prefer using FileDownloader().updates.listen and listen to updates in a more Flutter-like way. Note that you should only listen to this updates stream once, so you need to create a singleton object (or BLOC) where this happens. If you try to listen only on certain pages/screens in your app you will miss updates, leading to inconsistent state

  • You can enqueue a task, like with Flutter Downloader, but you can also call result = await FileDownloader().download(task) and wait for a download to complete with a result

  • Notifications work very differently. You have to configure notifications (for all tasks, a group, or one specific task) before calling enqueue or download

  • By default, there is no database where task status is maintained, as you get status updates along the way. If you do want to track tasks, call trackTasks, and use the database field to query the database. There are different options for the backing database, and migration from the Flutter Downloader database is partially supported, see below.

  • On Android, you can choose to use external storage instead of the default internal storage. This is a configuration, and can only be set at the application level, so you either use internal or external storage for all downloads and uploads. See the configuration document for important details and limitations.

Migration of the persistent storage used in background_downloader

The downloader uses persistent storage to store things like paused tasks and resume data. If you invoke trackTasks, then TaskRecord objects are also stored in this persistent storage. The database object serves as an interface to this persistent storage, but you can change the type of persistent storage that 'backs' the database.

The default persistent storage is a modified version of the Localstore package - a simple filesystem based storage solution that is available on all platforms. You can use a different persistent storage by passing an alternative (that implements the PersistentStorage interface) as the persistentStorage argument to your very first call to FileDownloader.

SQLite persistent storage

One such alternative, SqlitePersistentStorage, is included in the package (and adds a dependency to the sqflite package). This storage supports migrations from Localstore and from the Flutter Downloader SQLite database. To activate migration, pass the desired migrations to the constructor of the SqlitePersistentStorage, then pass the object to the FileDownloader:

final sqlStorage = SqlitePersistentStorage(migrationOptions: ['local_store', 'flutter_downloader']);
FileDownloader(persistentStorage: sqlStorage);
// start using the FileDownloader

When used this way, the downloader will attempt to migrate data from either Localstore or Flutter Downloader to the new SQLite database, when it is created.

Only Flutter Downloader entries that are complete, failed or canceled will be migrated to the background downloader, and only the fields taskId, url, filename, headers and time_created migrate. We attempt to reconstruct the file destination (stored in savedDir), provided it points to an app-specific location. If the location is external (e.g. Downloads) then the record will be skipped and not migrated. The migration is experimental, so please test thoroughly before relying on this for your existing app.

The SQLite database has an additional method retrieveTaskRecords that takes SQL-like where and whereArgs arguments, allowing you to query the SQLite database with TaskRecords directly. Supported columns:

  • taskId
  • url
  • filename
  • group
  • metaData
  • creationTime (as an integer representing seconds since the epoch - not milliseconds)
  • status (as an integer, the index into the TaskStatus enum)
  • progress

You only use these fields to query - the returned value is a list of TaskRecord objects. The retrieveTaskRecords method is only available on the SqlitePersistentStorage object that you created and passed to the FileDownloader. It is not part of the FileDownloader().database functionality (because not all backing databases allow a query like this), and you should continue to use the database object wherever possible, to ensure compatibility with future upgrades. Future changes to SqlitePersistentStorage may not be considered breaking changes, as they do not affect the default.

Other storage and migration

If you already have an SQLite database that you use to keep track of things, you may want to use that to also store the downloader's data. You can extend SqlitePersistentStorage or implement the PersistentStorage interface in the class you already have. Likewise, if you want to implement storage in Hive or some other solution, make sure to implement PersistentStorage and perhaps share your solution with the community!

If you want to add migration capability to your own PersistentStorage class, then use the PersistentStorageMigrator and/or extend that with functionality beyond Localstore and Flutter Downloader. The documentation shows you how this can be done.

Libraries

background_downloader_sql