How can I create a Dart Function from a String? - dart

I have a List<String> of Dart function names. For example, ['func1', 'func2', 'func3']. I want to call each function in the List. How can I go from a String to a Function? The following code does not work, but conceptually it does what I want:
var func1 = Function('func1');
See how it creates a Function from 'func1'.
Edit: I need to deal with Strings because I read the list of functions from a file.

I don't think Dart allows that at the moment (for objects you could use dart:mirrors, but it's currently marked as an unstable library).
An alternative is to use a Map to associate the strings with the functions, as in:
void foo() {
print('foo');
}
void bar() {
print('bar');
}
void main() {
var functions = {
'foo': foo,
'bar': bar
};
// calling foo()
functions['foo']();
// or
var b = functions['bar'];
b();
}

Related

What does Function declared without curly braces means in Dart?

I saw a tutorial where he declared a function like this:
class Person {
String name;
Function(String name) doingHobby;
}
What does it mean? how is it differ with common Function with bracket?
This also not even looks like arrow function.
Thanks.
It means that doingHobby is a variable which is allowed to point to as function which returns dynamic (if we don't specify any return value, Dart will assume dynamic which basically means it is allowed to return anything including void) and takes one String argument.
Here is an example where I assign a void Function(String) to it using a constructor and later calls this function by using the doingHobby variable:
class Person {
String name;
void Function(String name) doingHobby;
Person(this.name, this.doingHobby);
}
void main() {
final person = Person(
'Jakob',
(hobby) => print('Doing $hobby'),
);
person.doingHobby('playing football'); // Doing playing football
}

Equivalent of tuples in Dart [duplicate]

Is there a way to return several values in a function return statement (other than returning an object) like we can do in Go (or some other languages)?
For example, in Go we can do:
func vals() (int, int) {
return 3, 7
}
Can this be done in Dart? Something like this:
int, String foo() {
return 42, "foobar";
}
Dart doesn't support multiple return values.
You can return an array,
List foo() {
return [42, "foobar"];
}
or if you want the values be typed use a Tuple class like the package https://pub.dartlang.org/packages/tuple provides.
See also either for a way to return a value or an error.
I'd like to add that one of the main use-cases for multiple return values in Go is error handling which Dart handle's in its own way with Exceptions and failed promises.
Of course this leaves a few other use-cases, so let's see how code looks when using explicit tuples:
import 'package:tuple/tuple.dart';
Tuple2<int, String> demo() {
return new Tuple2(42, "life is good");
}
void main() {
final result = demo();
if (result.item1 > 20) {
print(result.item2);
}
}
Not quite as concise, but it's clean and expressive code. What I like most about it is that it doesn't need to change much once your quick experimental project really takes off and you start adding features and need to add more structure to keep on top of things.
class FormatResult {
bool changed;
String result;
FormatResult(this.changed, this.result);
}
FormatResult powerFormatter(String text) {
bool changed = false;
String result = text;
// secret implementation magic
// ...
return new FormatResult(changed, result);
}
void main() {
String draftCode = "print('Hello World.');";
final reformatted = powerFormatter(draftCode);
if (reformatted.changed) {
// some expensive operation involving servers in the cloud.
}
}
So, yes, it's not much of an improvement over Java, but it works, it is clear, and reasonably efficient for building UIs. And I really like how I can quickly hack things together (sometimes starting on DartPad in a break at work) and then add structure later when I know that the project will live on and grow.
Create a class:
import 'dart:core';
class Tuple<T1, T2> {
final T1 item1;
final T2 item2;
Tuple({
this.item1,
this.item2,
});
factory Tuple.fromJson(Map<String, dynamic> json) {
return Tuple(
item1: json['item1'],
item2: json['item2'],
);
}
}
Call it however you want!
Tuple<double, double>(i1, i2);
or
Tuple<double, double>.fromJson(jsonData);
You can create a class to return multiple values
Ej:
class NewClass {
final int number;
final String text;
NewClass(this.number, this.text);
}
Function that generates the values:
NewClass buildValues() {
return NewClass(42, 'foobar');
}
Print:
void printValues() {
print('${this.buildValues().number} ${this.buildValues().text}');
// 42 foobar
}
The proper way to return multiple values would be to store those values in a class, whether your own custom class or a Tuple. However, defining a separate class for every function is very inconvenient, and using Tuples can be error-prone since the members won't have meaningful names.
Another (admittedly gross and not very Dart-istic) approach is try to mimic the output-parameter approach typically used by C and C++. For example:
class OutputParameter<T> {
T value;
OutputParameter(this.value);
}
void foo(
OutputParameter<int> intOut,
OutputParameter<String>? optionalStringOut,
) {
intOut.value = 42;
optionalStringOut?.value = 'foobar';
}
void main() {
var theInt = OutputParameter(0);
var theString = OutputParameter('');
foo(theInt, theString);
print(theInt.value); // Prints: 42
print(theString.value); // Prints: foobar
}
It certainly can be a bit inconvenient for callers to have to use variable.value everywhere, but in some cases it might be worth the trade-off.
you can use dartz package for Returning multiple data types
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yMXUC4W1cc&t=110s
Dart is finalizing records, a fancier tuple essentially.
Should be in a stable release a month from the time of writing.
I'll try to update, it's already available with experiments flags.
you can use Set<Object> for returning multiple values,
Set<object> foo() {
return {'my string',0}
}
print(foo().first) //prints 'my string'
print(foo().last) //prints 0
In this type of situation in Dart, an easy solution could return a list then accessing the returned list as per your requirement. You can access the specific value by the index or the whole list by a simple for loop.
List func() {
return [false, 30, "Ashraful"];
}
void main() {
final list = func();
// to access specific list item
var item = list[2];
// to check runtime type
print(item.runtimeType);
// to access the whole list
for(int i=0; i<list.length; i++) {
print(list[i]);
}
}

Dart create class instance by string with class name

I want to invoke functions of a class by their names inside a string. I know my best option are Mirrors.
var ref = reflect(new TestClass());
ref.invoke(Symbol("test"), []);
It works fine, I can call the function test by a string. But I also want to put "TestClass" inside a string. Is it possible somehow ?
var ref = reflect("TestClass");
ref.invoke(Symbol("test"), []);
Jonas
You can do something like this:
import 'dart:mirrors';
class MyClass {
static void myMethod() {
print('Hello World');
}
}
void main() {
callStaticMethodOnClass('MyClass', 'myMethod'); // Hello World
}
void callStaticMethodOnClass(String className, String methodName) {
final classSymbol = Symbol(className);
final methodSymbol = Symbol(methodName);
(currentMirrorSystem().isolate.rootLibrary.declarations[classSymbol]
as ClassMirror)
.invoke(methodSymbol, <dynamic>[]);
}
Note, that this implementation does require that myMethod is static since we are never creating any object but only operate directly on the class itself. You can create new objects from the class by calling newInstance on the ClassMirror but you will then need to call the constructor.
But I hope this is enough. If not, please ask and I can try add some more examples.

How can I use Reflection (Mirrors) to access the method names in a Dart Class?

I need to "fetch" the methods in a Dart Class.
How can I do this?
And I want to be able to call the methods.
May I see an example?
Here's an easy copy-pasteable code sample:
import 'dart:mirrors';
import 'dart:io';
main() {
var im = reflect(new File('test')); // Retrieve the InstanceMirror of some class instance.
im.type.methods.values.forEach((MethodMirror method) => print(method.simpleName));
}
Output is:
existsSync
_delete
exists
directory
_getDecodedLines
readAsTextSync
readAsBytesSync
readAsLinesSync
_directory
throwIfError
lastModifiedSync
readAsLines
open
_ensureFileService
deleteSync
delete
_exists
length
openInputStream
create
_create
readAsText
_openStdioSync
openOutputStream
_fullPath
_lastModified
fullPathSync
readAsBytes
lastModified
_openStdio
_open
openSync
lengthSync
directorySync
fullPath
createSync
_lengthFromName
Here is a basic example:
(Note: You will want to have a (very) up to date version of the SDK for this, this was done in Dart Editor version 0.2.1_r14167, Dart SDK version 0.2.1.2_r14167 Nov 2, 2012)
My most sincere Thanks to Gilad of the Google Dart Team for providing this example!
#import('dart:mirrors');
class MyClass {
String _test;
String get test => _test;
set test(String paramVal) => _test = paramVal;
void my_method() {
}
void print_test(){
print("test string is: ${_test}");
}
MyClass(String test) {
_test = test;
}
}
main() {
MyClass myClass = new MyClass("Make my day, PUNK.");
myClass.print_test();
//ClassMirror myClassMirror = reflect(myClass).type;
InstanceMirror myClassInstanceMirror = reflect(myClass);
ClassMirror MyClassMirror = myClassInstanceMirror.type;
Map<String, MethodMirror> map = MyClassMirror.methods;
print("map = ${map}");
map.values.forEach( (MethodMirror mm){
myClassInstanceMirror.invoke(mm.simpleName,[]);
});
}
Concerning Reflection I have just written a couple of "Helper Functions" for fetching a LIST of the method names (not a Map) and invoking the method... all I can say for sure is that it works right now. There are likely technical reasons for not doing it this way - but in my case this does not run in a complex environment. However, I do think they nicely mask over a lot of details that not everybody is going to want to deal with.
Here's a functioning demonstration with and without the Helper functions:
#import('dart:mirrors');
class MyClass {
String _test;
String get test => _test;
set test(String paramVal) => _test = paramVal;
void my_method1(){print("in method1");}
void my_method2(){print("in method2");}
void print_test(){
print("test string is: ${_test}");
}
MyClass(String test) {
_test = test;
}
}
//Helper Methods
InstanceMirror hMr;
List REFLECT_methods(Object myClass) {hMr=reflect(myClass);return(hMr.type.methods.values);}
REFLECT_invoke(MethodMirror mm){hMr.invoke(mm.simpleName, []);}
main() {
MyClass myClass = new MyClass("Make my day, PUNK.");
print("\n=======Using Raw Reflection================");
InstanceMirror myClassInstanceMirror = reflect(myClass);
ClassMirror MyClassMirror = myClassInstanceMirror.type;
Map<String, MethodMirror> map1 = MyClassMirror.methods;
map1.values.forEach( (MethodMirror mm){
myClassInstanceMirror.invoke(mm.simpleName,[]);
});
print("\n==========Using Helper functions=============");
List list2 = REFLECT_methods(myClass);
list2.forEach((method){
REFLECT_invoke(method);
});
}

Does the Dart programming language have an equivalent to Javascript's "prototype"?

In Dart, is it possible for a function to have a prototype associated with it?
Example Javascript code:
doStuff.prototype.isDefined = true; //is there anything like Javascript's function prototypes in Dart?
function doStuff(){
console.log("The function doStuff was called!");
}
Is it possible to do the equivalent of this in Dart (i.e., create a list of properties for each function?)
Two things to address here:
First, Dart doesn't have prototypes or prototypal inheritance, and instead uses classical inheritance. Rather than a prototype, objects have a class, and instead of a prototype chain, objects have superclasses.
Second, for your specific case, I think we'd have to see more of what you need to do to figure out the idiomatic way to do it in Dart. It should soon be possible to emulate functions with objects so that you can invoke an object and still have state and other methods associated with it.
See this article for more: http://www.dartlang.org/articles/emulating-functions/
When that capability lands you'll be able to do this:
class DoStuff {
bool isDefined = true;
call() => print("The function doStuff was called!");
}
var doStuff = new DoStuff();
main() => doStuff();
Which works if you have a fixed set of metadata about your function that you need to keep track of. It's slightly different from JavaScript because each instance of the function in Dart will have its own state for isDefined. I'm not sure if it's possible or easy to get multiple instances of the function in JavasScript, but you might need to make isDefined static so that the value is shared across all instances.
Dart does not allow you to add or remove member variables from an instance of a class at runtime. Rewriting your example in Dart it might look something like this:
class doStuff {
bool isDefined;
doStuff() {
isDefined = true;
}
void stuff() {
print('The function stuff was called!');
}
}
main() {
new doStuff().stuff();
}
If you wanted to add a property bag to a class in Dart you would write:
class PropertyObject {
Map<String, Dynamic> properties;
PropertyObject() {
properties = new Map<String, Dynamic>();
}
Dynamic operator[](String K) => properties[K];
void operator[]=(String K, Dynamic V) => properties[K] = V;
}
main() {
PropertyObject bag = new PropertyObject();
bag['foo'] = 'world';
print('Hello ${bag['foo']}');
}
Note that you can't access map properties using the '.' operator.

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