linked_layouts 0.6.0

Create custom layout systems based on the multi-leader-multi-follower pattern.

0.6.0

This release contains a major refactor of the "layout clients" API surface. This is the biggest breaking change in this release.

• Renamed LayoutLinkClient to LayoutClient.

• Made layout clients self-contained.

  • Removed LayoutClient.renderObject property.
  • Removed the RenderObjectType type argument from all respective members of the library, so members like LayoutClient, LayoutLeaderClient, LayoutFollowerClient, LayoutLink, etc. don't need their render object type specified.
  • Added several new methods and getters that custom layout clients must implement, such as: attached, depth, markNeedsLayout, tryGetSize, tryGetTransformIn, etc., allowing for complete customization potential.

• Changed layout client types from mixins to pure interfaces.

  • Composition can no longer be achieved via the with keyword. Use implements instead.
  • This change applies to LayoutClient, LayoutLeaderClient, SlottedLayoutLeaderClient and LayoutFollowerClient.

• DefaultLayoutLeaderClient, DefaultSlottedLayoutLeaderClient, DefaultLayoutFollowerClient are now const-constructable.

  • Const-construction will rarely be used typically, but this change means that default layout clients are now fully immutable, allowing to cache them.
  • Added default const factory constructors to LayoutLeaderClient, SlottedLayoutLeaderClient and LayoutFollowerClient, which redirect to the default implementations respectively.

The following breaking changes were introduced in continuation of the layout clients refactor.

• LayoutLink.getTransformIn, LayoutLink.getOffsetIn and LayoutLeaderClient.scale deprecated elements have been removed.

  • Please use LayoutLeaderClient.tryGetTransformIn() or LayoutLeaderClient.tryGetPositionIn() instead.

• Removed RenderObjectWithLayoutLinkBaseMixin, RenderObjectWithOptionalLayoutLinkMixin, RenderObjectWithRequiredLayoutLinkMixin, RenderLayoutLeaderMixin, RenderLayoutFollowerMixin.

  • These APIs were removed due to them enforcing a strict property structure in consumer code.
  • A more manual (but flexible) approach should be preferred by applying the newly introduced LayoutLeaderRenderObjectMixin and LayoutFollowerRenderObjectMixin.

• Removed AbstractLayoutLeaderClientFactory, AbstractLayoutLeader, RenderAbstractLayoutLeader, CustomLayoutLeader building blocks in favor of the new, manual system.

  • It's preferred to use SingleLayoutLeader and SlottedLayoutLeader in most layout leader usecases.
  • When a custom leader is absolutely needed, apply the newly introduced LayoutLeaderRenderObjectMixin to a RenderBox subclass.

This update also contains the following minor changes.

• Made the layoutLink parameter in SingleLayoutLeader and SlottedLayoutLeader nullable.

  • Now it's possible to conditionally register a layout leader without the need of creating a custom render object.

• Made FrameCallbackScheduler.callback property private.

  • It was never supposed to be public.
  • This property can no longer be accesssed inside consumer code.

• Bumped minimum SDK versions to Dart 3.12 and Flutter 3.44.

• Refactored internal file structure.

0.5.4

• Improved fallback RenderBox size algorithm.

  • The resolver will attempt to access constraints and call getDryLayout() if other methods fail.
  • When constraints.isTight returns true, getDryLayout() will not be called, resulting in returning constraints.biggest early.
  • This still doesn't guarantee a size will be resolved.

• Actually fixed RenderFractionalTranslation paint transform not being applied even in the fallback callback.

  • This change introduces a manual static type check to handle RenderFractionalTranslation specifically, simulating its applyPaintTransform() call.
  • Custom fallback registry will be introduced in the future.
  • Please mind that the system currently fails to update the transform properly if an inactive RenderFractionalTranslation (e.g. in an inactive route) get resized - the size will not be updated, meaning the transform will remain the same until the render object becomes active again.

0.5.3

• Fixed fallback paint transform failing to apply because of method renames (stupid mistake).
  • Complex usecases, such as FractionTranslation (RenderFractionalTranslation) between leader and follower (e.g. in page routes), should now work properly again.
  • Please mind that fallback paint transform was never able to account for all usecases, such as using a Transform (RenderTransform) widget with alignment applied, or any other render objects that attempt to access RenderBox.size in RenderObject.applyPaintTransform() without modifying RenderObject.parentData of their child (children). This issue is unlikely to be solved in the near future.

0.5.2

• Added LayoutLeaderClient.tryGetTransformIn() and LayoutLeaderClient.tryGetPositionIn().

  • LayoutLink.getTransformIn() and LayoutLink.getOffsetIn() have been deprecated in favor of the new methods on LayoutLeaderClient. They will be removed in the 0.6.0 minor pre-release.

• Deprecated LayoutLeaderClient.scale getter in favor of LayoutLeaderClient.tryGetTransformIn() method.

  • Reverted LayoutLeaderClient.scale to use the old RenderView boundary logic, restoring behaviors broken in 0.5.1.
  • The deprecated getter uses incorrect logic: attempts to get the leader's scale in global coordinate space.
  • Migrating to LayoutLeaderClient.tryGetTransformIn() is highly advised, because the replacement returns a full transform from the leader to the specified render object (e.g. follower), avoiding hacky workarounds (i.e. RenderView boundaries).
  • LayoutLeaderClient.scale will be removed in the 0.6.0 minor pre-release.

• Fixed LayoutLeaderClient.size setter logic to handle detached render objects properly.

• Improved internal file structure.

0.5.1

• Added onClientDidLayout() method to LeaderLayoutLinkHandle.

  • Captures leader size and transform immediately upon completing layout.

• Optimized LayoutLink.getOffsetIn matrix calculations and tree traversals.

  • Implemented Lowest Common Ancestor (LCA) algorithm to find common parent nodes.
  • Added fast-paths for parent-child layout relationships.
  • Prunes upper-tree nodes above the LCA and avoids unnecessary matrix operations.

• Optimized leader transform tracking and validation performance.

  • Refactored leader validation logic into single-leader checks.
  • Removed redundant computation overhead when verifying layout state across multi-leader setups.

• Improved assertion efficiency in SlottedMultiLeaderLayoutLink.leaderForSlot.

• Improved re-scheduling logic in FrameCallbackScheduler.

• Improved changelog formatting.

0.5.0

• Fixed internal update order of RenderObjectWithOptionalLayoutLinkMixin.layoutLink, RenderObjectWithRequiredLayoutLinkMixin.layoutLink, RenderSlottedLayoutLeader.slot.

• Exposed public API LeaderLayoutLinkHandle to enforce encapsulation of didLeaderDoPaint and didLeaderDoLayout of LayoutLink. Access to those methods is now provided via LeaderLayoutLinkHandle instance methods.

• Exposed public API FollowerLayoutLinkHandle to encapsulate follower redepthing logic. Added a tryRedepthClient method.

• Introduced a shared RenderObjectWithLayoutLinkBaseMixin interface to make RenderObjectWithRequiredLayoutLinkMixin independant of RenderObjectWithOptionalLayoutLinkMixin.

• Declared LayoutLinkHandle final, and LayoutLink - base to prevent incorrect implementations.

• Added more documentation comments.

• Improved internal file structure.

0.4.0+1

• Added a proper package description to pubspec.yaml.

• Added placeholder package example.

0.4.0

• Extracted client registration logic from RenderLayout*Mixin into RenderObjectWith*LinkMixins.

• Added RenderObjectWithOptionalLayoutLinkMixin and renamed RenderObjectWithLayoutLinkMixin to RenderObjectWithRequiredLayoutLinkMixin.

• Added optional named schedulerBinding parameter to FrameCallbackScheduler for mocking purposes.

• Organized source file structure.

0.3.0

• Fixed RenderObject mutation error when attempting to schedule layout run during SchedulerPhase.persistentCallbacks.

• Optimized leader transforms and size checking.

• Added more user-friendly error messages across the library.

• Added registered leaders validation to LayoutLink.

• Internal code cleanup and refactoring.

0.2.0

• Fixed leader size not persisting across reattachments.

• Introduced RenderObjectWithLayoutLinkMixin.createLayoutClientInternal method to handle internal state. Implementers are expected to replace createLayoutClient with the new method.

• Refactored LayoutLeader into AbstractLayoutLeader and introduced SingleLayoutLeader and CustomLayoutLeader as replacements.

• Renamed LayoutLink.leaderOffsetIn to LayoutLink.getOffsetIn and made the method static.

• Fixed LayoutLeaderClient.scale wasn't DPI-aware. Now it looks for the nearest RenderView ancestor.

• Fixed LayoutLink transient frame callback was empty by mistake.

• Removed unnecessary assertions in LayoutLinkHandle.

0.1.0

• Initial version.