Flutter Helper Utils

Make Flutter development easier with Flutter Helper Utils! This toolkit is packed with helper methods and extensions that boost your productivity, helping you write less code and build apps faster.

Important Notes for Version 4.1.0+: We've refactored the Dart-specific utilities into a new package, dart_helper_utils, to allow Dart projects to use these utilities without depending on Flutter.

Future updates for Dart-specific utilities will be available in the dart_helper_utils changelog.
All the Dart-specific utilities documentation has been moved to the dart_helper_utils readme.
This package already exports dart_helper_utils, so there are no breaking changes in this version.

Featured
Extensions

Featured

ValueNotifier Supercharged

ValueNotifier is a simple class in Flutter that allows you to store a value and notify any listeners when the value changes.

This package enhances ValueNotifier with additional functionalities:

Starting from version 4.0.0, you can use a new set of extensions, helper methods, and specialized notifiers for better data handling:

Instantly create notifiers from any value with the intuitive .notifier extension (e.g., 10.notifier).
Specific data types using our type-safe notifiers like ListNotifier, BoolNotifier, IntNotifier, etc.
Use the .builder extension on any ValueListenable, Listenable, or List<Listenable> instance to create a ValueListenableBuilder, ListenableBuilder, or ListenablesBuilder respectively under the hood with a shorter and simpler syntax.
Complex data handling with collections. For example, ListNotifier, which acts like a normal list and ValueNotifier at the same time, allowing usage in for loops, in ValueListenableBuilder widgets, and automatic notifications when inner data changes (same goes for all notifier classes!).

Example:

final counter = 0.notifier;
counter.listenableBuilder((count) => Text('$count'));

counter.increment(); // Increment the counter easily

For more info about ValueNotifier, check the official Flutter documentation.

PlatformEnv class

A replacement for the dart:io Platform class. Key enhancements over the original Platform:

Eliminates errors caused by using dart:io functionality in web browsers.
Maintains a familiar API similar to the dart:io Platform class, making migration and usage effortless.
Handles system-specific properties like the number of processors, path separator, and local hostname, with sensible defaults on web platforms.

Example Usage:

print('TargetPlatform: ${PlatformEnv.targetPlatform}');
print('Is Web: ${PlatformEnv.isWeb}');
print('Is macOS: ${PlatformEnv.isMacOS}');
// and all other Platform getters are supported.

Adaptive UI

Create responsive layouts for different screen sizes and platforms (mobile, tablet, desktop).

Features

Efficient: Rebuilds only when the platform type changes.
Easy-to-use context extensions: Access platform/orientation information directly.
Customizable: Define your own breakpoints and helper extensions.
Layout builders: Convenient widgets for building adaptive UI.

Basic Usage

PlatformTypeProvider( // Wrap your app
  child: MyApp(),
); // optionally receive custom breakpoints.

@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
  final breakpoint = context.breakpoint; // rebuilds on change.
  return breakpoint.isMobile ? const MobileLayout() : const TabletLayout();
}

See the detailed documentation for adaptive ui to explore more.

Extensions

All the extensions included in the dart_helper_utils package plus:

Listenable & ValueNotifier

on ValueListenable

builder: Simplifies the creation of a ValueListenableBuilder widget that reacts to changes in a single ValueListenable.
- ```
final intNotifier = 0.notifier;
intNotifier.builder((value) => /* widget reacts to intNotifier changes */ );
```

on Listenable

.builder: Simplifies the creation of a ListenableBuilder widget that reacts to changes in any Listenable.

final scrollController = ScrollController();
scrollController.builder((context) => /* widget reacts to scrollController changes */ );

on List

.builder: Creates a ListenablesBuilder widget to efficiently manage and respond to changes in multiple Listenable objects simultaneously, including ValueNotifier, ChangeNotifier, and others. Customize rebuild behavior using the optional buildWhen and threshold parameters.
- ```
final myListeners = <Listenable>[textController, scrollController, anyNotifier];
myListeners.builder((context) => /* widget reacts to myListeners changes */ );
```

ValueNotifier Creation

.notifier: Converts a value of any type into the corresponding ValueNotifier type/subtype, enabling easy integration into reactive UI components.
- e.g., final intNotifier = 1.notifier creates an IntNotifier, aka ValueNotifier<int>.

UI & Design

Colors

toHex: Transforms a Color object into its corresponding hexadecimal string representation.
darken, lighten: Adjust color lightness.
shade, tint: Create variations by mixing with black/white.
contrast: Calculate contrast ratios between colors.
complementary: Find the opposite color on the color wheel.
blend: Mix colors.
grayscale, invert: Convert to grayscale or invert colors.
toColor: Creates a Color object from a valid hexadecimal color string "#FFFFFF".toColor().
isHexColor: Determines if a given string is a valid hexadecimal color representation "#FFFFFF".isHexColor().

ThemeData

isDark, isLight: Checks whether the current theme is in dark or light mode.
textTheme: Provides direct access to the TextTheme of the current theme.
displayLarge, displayMedium, displaySmall, etc.: Retrieve specific text styles from the theme, optimized for different display sizes.
displayLargeCopy, displayMediumCopy, displaySmallCopy, etc.: Retrieve copies of the specific text styles from the theme, allowing modifications without affecting the original theme.

TargetPlatform

All the above getters are available under both BuildContext instances and TargetPlatform instances.

Native Only Platforms

isMobile: true if running on a mobile device (iOS or Android) natively.
isIOS: true if running on iOS natively.
isAndroid: true if running on Android natively.
isDesktop: true if running on a desktop OS (Linux, macOS, Windows) natively.
isMacOS: true if running on macOS natively.
isWindows: true if running on Windows natively.
isLinux: true if running on Linux natively.
isApple: true if running on any Apple platform (macOS or iOS) natively.

Web Platforms

isMobileWeb: true if running on a mobile browser (iOS or Android).
isIOSWeb: true if running on iOS in a web browser.
isAndroidWeb: true if running on Android in a web browser.
isDesktopWeb: true if running on a desktop browser (Linux, macOS, Windows).
isMacOSWeb: true if running on macOS in a web browser.
isWindowsWeb: true if running on Windows in a web browser.
isLinuxWeb: true if running on Linux in a web browser.
isAppleWeb: true if running on an Apple platform (macOS or iOS) in a web browser.

BuildContext

Important Note: Avoid frequent use of context on actions that might call of(context), like theme. The widget registers itself as a dependency on the theme, meaning that if the theme changes (e.g., when switching between light/dark mode), all widgets using Theme.of(context), aka context.themeData, will rebuild, even if they don’t directly depend on the changed theme properties. It’s recommended to use final theme = context.themeData at the top of the widget tree only once.

For Themes

themeData: Get the current ThemeData.
txtTheme: Obtain the TextTheme.
brightness: Determine the theme's brightness.
sysBrightness: Determine the system's brightness.
isDark, isLight: Check if the theme is dark or light.
targetPlatform: Get the current TargetPlatform; all the getters mentioned in TargetPlatform are also available here.
withoutEffects(): Remove visual feedback effects (splash, highlight, hover, etc.) from a theme with customizations.

For MediaQuery

mq: Access MediaQueryData.
nullableMQ: Access MediaQueryData (nullable).
deviceOrientation: Get device orientation.
navigationMode: Get navigation mode.
padding, viewInsets: Get screen padding and insets.
screenDimensions: Get screen width and height.
additionalFeatures: Access additional features.

For FocusScope

focusScope: Get the nearest FocusScopeNode.
unFocus: Remove focus.
requestFocus: Request focus.
requestFocusCall: Request focus (using GestureTapCallback).
hasFocus: Check if a node has focus.
hasPrimaryFocus: Check if a node has primary focus.

popPage: Pop the current page.
popRoot: Pop to the root page.
navigator: Get the NavigatorState.
canPop: Check if you can pop the current page.
pPage: Push a new page.
pReplacement: Push and replace the current page.
pAndRemoveUntil: Push and remove pages until a condition is met.
pNamedAndRemoveUntil: Push a named route and remove pages until a condition is met.
pNamed: Push a named route.
pReplacementNamed: Push and replace the current page with a named route.
popUntil: Pop pages until a condition is met.
dismissActivePopup: Dismiss the active popup.

Widgets

Align

alignAtBottomCenter, alignAtTopLeft, alignAtBottomLeft, etc.: Align a widget within its parent using various alignment options.
alignXY: Align a widget using explicit x and y coordinates.
alignAtLERP: Align a widget using linear interpolation between two alignments.

Padding

paddingAll: Add padding on all sides of a widget.
paddingLTRB: Add padding with individual values for a left, top, right, and bottom.
paddingSymmetric: Add padding symmetrically for horizontal and vertical.
paddingOnly: Add padding to specific sides.

More widget extensions to be added soon.

List/Iterable Extensions

toRow: Convert a list of widgets into a Row.
toColumn: Convert a list of widgets into a Column.
toStack: Convert a list of widgets into a Stack.
toList: Convert an Iterable to a List.
toListView: Convert an Iterable to a ListView.

Contributions

Contributions to this package are welcome. If you have any suggestions, issues, or feature requests, please create a pull request in the repository.

License

flutter_helper_utils is available under the BSD 3-Clause License.