Hint class Hints

A tooltip, a persistent hint or a programmatic callout attached to child.

One widget covers all three, because they differ only in what opens them:

// A tooltip.
Hint(
  message: 'Delete this shift',
  triggers: const <HintTrigger>{HintTrigger.longPress, HintTrigger.hover},
  child: IconButton(icon: const Icon(Icons.delete), onPressed: _delete),
)

// A hint on a disabled control — the case other packages cannot do.
Hint(
  message: 'You need an active shift to check in',
  child: ElevatedButton(onPressed: null, child: const Text('Check in')),
)

// A programmatic hint.
Hint(
  controller: _controller,
  triggers: const <HintTrigger>{HintTrigger.manual},
  message: 'Saved',
  child: saveButton,
)

Why it works on disabled widgets

Triggers are recognised from a Listener, which reads raw pointer events and never enters the gesture arena. That has two consequences, both of them the point of this package:

a child that ignores pointers — ElevatedButton(onPressed: null) — does not stop the hint from seeing the touch, and
a child that does handle pointers keeps its gesture: the hint never competes for it, so wrapping an enabled button changes nothing about how that button behaves.

The one case this cannot win is an IgnorePointer or AbsorbPointer above the hint in the tree: it stops the pointer before it ever reaches the hint. Put the Hint outside the IgnorePointer instead:

// Does not work: the hint never sees the pointer.
IgnorePointer(child: Hint(message: '...', child: button))

// Works.
Hint(message: '...', child: IgnorePointer(child: button))

Overlay lifetime

The bubble is shown with an OverlayPortal, so its lifetime is tied to this widget's element. Popping the route mid-tooltip takes the bubble with it; there is no OverlayEntry left behind to leak.

Inheritance

Constructors

Hint({required Widget child, String? message, String? title, HintContentBuilder? contentBuilder, HintController? controller, Set<HintTrigger> triggers = const <HintTrigger>{HintTrigger.longPress, HintTrigger.hover}, HintDirection direction = HintDirection.auto, HintThemeData? theme, bool absorbChildInput = false, bool interactive = false, bool exclusive = true, bool dismissOnTapOutside = true, Duration waitDuration = Duration.zero, Duration? showDuration, Color? barrierColor, bool followTarget = false, String? semanticsLabel, bool excludeFromSemantics = false, String? showOnce, String? analyticsId, MouseCursor? mouseCursor, bool followPointer = false, VoidCallback? onShow, VoidCallback? onDismiss, Key? key}): Creates a hint attached to child.
const

Properties

absorbChildInput → bool: Inserts a transparent hit layer above child.
final
analyticsId → String?: A stable identifier reported to a HintObserver.
final
barrierColor → Color?: Paints a full-screen scrim behind the bubble.
final
child → Widget: The widget the hint is attached to and points at.
final
contentBuilder → HintContentBuilder?: Builds arbitrary bubble content.
final
controller → HintController?: Drives the hint programmatically. See HintController.
final
direction → HintDirection: Which side of the target the bubble prefers. See HintDirection.
final
dismissOnTapOutside → bool: Whether a pointer down outside the bubble dismisses it.
final
excludeFromSemantics → bool: Whether to skip adding a semantic tooltip to the target.
final
exclusive → bool: Whether opening this hint closes any other open hint.
final
followPointer → bool: Anchors the bubble to the pointer instead of to the target.
final
followTarget → bool: Re-measures the target every frame instead of on scroll and resize.
final
hashCode → int: The hash code for this object.
no setterinherited
interactive → bool: Whether the pointer may move from the target into the bubble without dismissing it.
final
key → Key?: Controls how one widget replaces another widget in the tree.
finalinherited
message → String?: The bubble's body text.
final
mouseCursor → MouseCursor?: The cursor shown while the pointer is over the target.
final
onDismiss → VoidCallback?: Called when the hint closes, for any reason.
final
onShow → VoidCallback?: Called when the hint opens. Useful for onboarding funnels.
final
runtimeType → Type: A representation of the runtime type of the object.
no setterinherited
semanticsLabel → String?: Overrides the text a screen reader gets, in both places the hint speaks: the target's semantic tooltip, and the open bubble.
final
showDuration → Duration?: Auto-hide delay. Null keeps the hint open until something closes it.
final
showOnce → String?: Shows this hint only the first time, ever, under this key.
final
theme → HintThemeData?: Per-instance visual overrides, merged over the ambient theme field by field.
final
title → String?: An optional bold line above message.
final
triggers → Set<HintTrigger>: What opens the hint. See HintTrigger.
final
waitDuration → Duration: How long the pointer must rest on the target before a hover shows the hint.
final

Methods

createElement() → StatefulElement: Creates a StatefulElement to manage this widget's location in the tree.
inherited
createState() → State<Hint>: Creates the mutable state for this widget at a given location in the tree.
override
debugDescribeChildren() → List<DiagnosticsNode>: Returns a list of DiagnosticsNode objects describing this node's children.
inherited
debugFillProperties(DiagnosticPropertiesBuilder properties) → void: Add additional properties associated with the node.
inherited
noSuchMethod(Invocation invocation) → dynamic: Invoked when a nonexistent method or property is accessed.
inherited
toDiagnosticsNode({String? name, DiagnosticsTreeStyle? style}) → DiagnosticsNode: Returns a debug representation of the object that is used by debugging tools and by DiagnosticsNode.toStringDeep.
inherited
toString({DiagnosticLevel minLevel = DiagnosticLevel.info}) → String: A string representation of this object.
inherited
toStringDeep({String prefixLineOne = '', String? prefixOtherLines, DiagnosticLevel minLevel = DiagnosticLevel.debug, int wrapWidth = 65}) → String: Returns a string representation of this node and its descendants.
inherited
toStringShallow({String joiner = ', ', DiagnosticLevel minLevel = DiagnosticLevel.debug}) → String: Returns a one-line detailed description of the object.
inherited
toStringShort() → String: A short, textual description of this widget.
inherited

Operators

operator ==(Object other) → bool: The equality operator.
inherited