dynamic_library 0.9.0

Dart library for improving the process of loading dynamic libraries (with OS-specific load checks)

dynamic_library

NOTE: This package is currently released under 0.*.* version semantics and should not be considered to have a stable API until version 1.*.*

This Dart package is focused on providing better experiences related to DynamicLibrary usage in Dart and Flutter projects. This package is used internally at Pieces.app and Runtime.dev

We considered using the dylib package but found it insufficient to provide descriptive errors when working with dynamic libraries on Dart and Flutter Applications. Dynamic libraries could fail to load for any one of the following reasons:

• The file doesn't exist
• The directory doesn't exist that we are searching in
• The dynamic library is missing dependencies

The implementation of DynamicLibrary in the dart standard library fails to say essentially anything other than 'DynamicLibrary fails to load'. When deploying multiple dynamic libraries across multiple platforms, we really need traceability to know if the dynamic library doesn't exist, isn't in the right place or is missing dependencies to better inform the developer on proper debugging steps or work scope estimation.

Project Layout

This package follows the traditional dart package layout:

• example - example usage
• lib - source code
• test - tests

This project also has more source code is are used to verify the unique requirements of dynamic libraries for Flutter applications + Dart applications. These tests are currently not in CI/CD and are checked manually for releases, but this will be resolved in the future.

• flutter_example/ - flutter application to use to test out dynamic library loading in a bundled application
• rust_*/ - the rust folders are used to build dynamic libraries for testing

Usage

TODO: Include snippets and examples

Note: It is recommended to not use searchPaths when using this library in compiled applications as there are a lot of cross-platform variables to consider in your application. This searchPaths parameter is more useful for running dart code in a development environment (with binaries in various locations), instead of in production environments.

Contributing

This package is maintained on Github