The question came into my mind when I've declared a final callback in a class, and the constructor can be declared as const, and trying to make a constant value of a function like so:
class MyClass {
final void Function() callback;
const MyClass(this.callback);
}
void example1() {
const foo = MyClass(() {});
}
This gives the error:
Why can I delcare a constant constructor in the first place? What would make an object of MyClass compile-time constant if no function value can be constant?
A simpler example:
typedef MyVoidCallback = void Function();
void example2() {
const MyVoidCallback bar = () {};
}
This gives the error:
Thank you in advance
It is because () {} is not a constant value, it is rather creating a new instance every time. All functions in dart inherit Function class which doesn't have const constructor.
However, since functions are top-level members in dart, you can pass them by name (like a variable). So if you define your function outside of any class such that it is a global function, you can pass it as a parameter value in a const constructor.
UPDATE from #randal-schwartz comment: Static functions inside a class can also be passed into these const constructors as parameters.
Below code should work:
class MyClass {
final void Function() callback;
const MyClass(this.callback);
}
void example1() {
const foo = MyClass(doWork);
}
void doWork() {
// TODO: do work
}
I'm trying to specify a function parameter as a generic type T:
enum MyEnum {
Foo,
Bar
}
class DbColumn {
final Function<T>(T value) serializer;
const DbColumn({this.serializer});
}
class MyClass {
static final DbColumn rating = DbColumn(
serializer: <MyEnum>(v) {
var i = v.index;
}
);
}
However when trying to access index on v I get this type error message:
The getter 'index' isn't defined for the type 'Object'.
Try importing the library that defines 'index', correcting the name to the name of an existing getter, or defining a getter or field named 'index'.
When I hover over v in VSC it says that it's of type MyEnum.
If I instead remove the generic type and do a cast like this it works as expected:
class DbColumn {
final Function(dynamic value) serializer;
const DbColumn({this.serializer});
}
class MyClass {
static final DbColumn rating = DbColumn(
serializer: (v) {
var casted = v as MyEnum;
var i = casted.index;
}
);
}
Why is the generic type not working as expected?
EDIT:
What is even weirder is that this example works too if I put it inside MyClass:
x<T>(Function(T) c) {}
y() {
x<MyEnum>((v) {
print(v.index); // No error given and type of v is MyEnum
});
}
EDIT 2: The same problem happens when overriding methods:
abstract class MyInterface {
int someFunction<T>(T value);
}
class MyClass implements MyInterface {
#override
someFunction<MyEnum>(v) {
return v.index; // Gives same error and no intellisense happens in VSC
}
}
Instead of making the function generic, declare the class as generic and it will work as expected. Like this :
enum MyEnum {
Foo,
Bar
}
class DbColumn<T> {
final Function(T value) serializer;
const DbColumn({this.serializer});
}
class MyClass {
static final DbColumn<MyEnum> rating = DbColumn(
serializer: (v) {
var i = v.index;
print('Index : $i');
}
);
}
void main() {
MyClass.rating.serializer(MyEnum.Bar);
}
OUTPUT :
Index : 1
Is it possible in Dart to store a callback function with return and argument type information? It appears I can do the following:
class MyClass {
void addCallback( callback( int ) )
{
_callback = callback;
}
var _callback;
}
But I thought it would be nice if _callback wasn't declared as var, and instead had information about its return and argument types. I couldn't find info on this in the docs, anyone know?
Dart 2 supports a function type syntax:
class MyClass {
void addCallback( callback( int ) )
{
_callback = callback;
}
void Function(int) _callback;
}
The Effective Dart Design Guide states that this form is preferred over typedefs.
You can typedef a Function signature like this:
typedef bool Filter(num x);
List<num> filterNumbers(List<num> numbers, Filter filter) {
return numbers.where(filter).toList();
}
For more great information like this, check out this article: https://www.dartlang.org/articles/idiomatic-dart/
I was wondering if is possible to create an instance of a generic type in Dart. In other languages like Java you could work around this using reflection, but I'm not sure if this is possible in Dart.
I have this class:
class GenericController <T extends RequestHandler> {
void processRequest() {
T t = new T(); // ERROR
}
}
I tried mezonis approach with the Activator and it works. But it is an expensive approach as it uses mirrors, which requires you to use "mirrorsUsed" if you don't want to have a 2-4MB js file.
This morning I had the idea to use a generic typedef as generator and thus get rid of reflection:
You define a method type like this: (Add params if necessary)
typedef S ItemCreator<S>();
or even better:
typedef ItemCreator<S> = S Function();
Then in the class that needs to create the new instances:
class PagedListData<T>{
...
ItemCreator<T> creator;
PagedListData(ItemCreator<T> this.creator) {
}
void performMagic() {
T item = creator();
...
}
}
Then you can instantiate the PagedList like this:
PagedListData<UserListItem> users
= new PagedListData<UserListItem>(()=> new UserListItem());
You don't lose the advantage of using generic because at declaration time you need to provide the target class anyway, so defining the creator method doesn't hurt.
You can use similar code:
import "dart:mirrors";
void main() {
var controller = new GenericController<Foo>();
controller.processRequest();
}
class GenericController<T extends RequestHandler> {
void processRequest() {
//T t = new T();
T t = Activator.createInstance(T);
t.tellAboutHimself();
}
}
class Foo extends RequestHandler {
void tellAboutHimself() {
print("Hello, I am 'Foo'");
}
}
abstract class RequestHandler {
void tellAboutHimself();
}
class Activator {
static createInstance(Type type, [Symbol constructor, List
arguments, Map<Symbol, dynamic> namedArguments]) {
if (type == null) {
throw new ArgumentError("type: $type");
}
if (constructor == null) {
constructor = const Symbol("");
}
if (arguments == null) {
arguments = const [];
}
var typeMirror = reflectType(type);
if (typeMirror is ClassMirror) {
return typeMirror.newInstance(constructor, arguments,
namedArguments).reflectee;
} else {
throw new ArgumentError("Cannot create the instance of the type '$type'.");
}
}
}
I don't know if this is still useful to anyone. But I have found an easy workaround. In the function you want to initialize the type T, pass an extra argument of type T Function(). This function should return an instance of T. Now whenever you want to create object of T, call the function.
class foo<T> {
void foo(T Function() creator) {
final t = creator();
// use t
}
}
P.S. inspired by Patrick's answer
2022 answer
Just came across this problem and found out that although instantiating using T() is still not possible, you can get the constructor of an object easier with SomeClass.new in dart>=2.15.
So what you could do is:
class MyClass<T> {
final T Function() creator;
MyClass(this.creator);
T getGenericInstance() {
return creator();
}
}
and when using it:
final myClass = MyClass<SomeOtherClass>(SomeOtherClass.new)
Nothing different but looks cleaner imo.
Here's my work around for this sad limitation
class RequestHandler {
static final _constructors = {
RequestHandler: () => RequestHandler(),
RequestHandler2: () => RequestHandler2(),
};
static RequestHandler create(Type type) {
return _constructors[type]();
}
}
class RequestHandler2 extends RequestHandler {}
class GenericController<T extends RequestHandler> {
void processRequest() {
//T t = new T(); // ERROR
T t = RequestHandler.create(T);
}
}
test() {
final controller = GenericController<RequestHandler2>();
controller.processRequest();
}
Sorry but as far as I know, a type parameter cannot be used to name a constructor in an instance creation expression in Dart.
Working with FLutter
typedef S ItemCreator<S>();
mixin SharedExtension<T> {
T getSPData(ItemCreator<T> creator) async {
return creator();
}
}
Abc a = sharedObj.getSPData(()=> Abc());
P.S. inspired by Patrick
simple like that.
import 'dart:mirrors';
void main(List<String> args) {
final a = A<B>();
final b1 = a.getInstance();
final b2 = a.getInstance();
print('${b1.value}|${b1.text}|${b1.hashCode}');
print('${b2.value}|${b2.text}|${b2.hashCode}');
}
class A<T extends B> {
static int count = 0;
T getInstance() {
return reflectClass(T).newInstance(
Symbol(''),
['Text ${++count}'],
{Symbol('value'): count},
).reflectee;
}
}
class B {
final int value;
final String text;
B(this.text, {required this.value});
}
Inspired by Patrick's answer, this is the factory I ended up with.
class ServiceFactory<T> {
static final Map<Type, dynamic> _cache = <String, dynamic>{};
static T getInstance<T>(T Function() creator) {
String typeName = T.toString();
return _cache.putIfAbsent(typeName, () => creator());
}
}
Then I would use it like this.
final authClient = ServiceFactory.getInstance<AuthenticationClient>(() => AuthenticationClient());
Warning: Erik made a very good point in the comment below that the same type name can exist in multiple packages and that will cause issues. As much as I dislike to force the user to pass in a string key (that way it's the consumer's responsibility to ensuring the uniqueness of the type name), that might be the only way.
If I have a class with a setter defined, how do I reference then generated method as a function from an instance of that class. The spec sort of suggests it would be the id of the variable + '=" (seems daft), but this doesn't parse.
So for example:
class Bar {
set foo(int value) {
//whatever
}
}
typedef F(int value);
void main() {
F f = new Bar().foo=; //Fails, but what should this be??
f(5);
}
The setter is named foo= but this is not something you can reference in the way you want. Even looking at dart:mirrors the MethodMirror (the mirror for object methods including setters) has no way of invoking it. You could easily rewrite this as:
class Bar {
set foo(int value) {
//whatever
}
}
typedef F(int value);
void main() {
Bar b = new Bar();
F f = (int value) => b.foo = value;
f(5);
}