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The dnd package enables drag and drop functionality in Dart web applications, supporting both mouse and touch interactions. It provides a lightweight, flexible solution for implementing intuitive user interfaces where elements can be dragged and dropped across the screen. Ideal for building interactive layouts, sortable lists, or file upload zones, it integrates seamlessly with Flutter web projects. The package is open-source and maintained by marcojakob, offering developers an easy way to enhance web app interactivity without complex custom implementations.
Use cases
Sortable lists
File upload interfaces
Interactive dashboard widgets
Draggable component rearrangement
Web-based Kanban boards
Custom drag-and-drop forms
Key features
Mouse and touch support
Lightweight and easy to integrate
Cross-browser compatibility
Event-driven API
Supports multiple draggable items
Clean, minimalistic design
Suitable for
Web developers using Flutter
Apps requiring interactive UI components
Projects with drag-and-drop workflows
Prototyping interactive layouts
Educational or productivity web apps
Considerations
Limited to web platform
No native mobile support
Requires manual state management
Not optimized for high-frequency drag events
May need additional styling for visual feedback
Depends on external GitHub repository
Original README
Original README snapshot from the linked source repository. Visit the repository for the latest content.
Dart Drag and Drop
Drag and Drop for Dart web apps with mouse and touch support.
Dropzone events: dragEnter, dragOver, dragLeave, and drop
Drag avatars as visual indication of a drag operation:
Original element as drag avatar.
Clone as drag avatar.
Custom drag avatar.
Support for Shadow DOM (Web Components, Custom Elements, Polymer, etc.).
Much more... see examples.
Usage
Before you read the instructions below, you should take a look at the
examples.
Basic Set Up
Create a Draggable and give it some HTML elements; this will make them
draggable. You can either pass a single Element to the constructor or an
ElementList that is returned by querySelectorAll.
If you also want to drop somewhere, you'll need a Dropzone.
You'll most likely want some drag avatar to show the user that a drag is
going on. There are two predefined AvatarHandlers that you can use as follows.
But you could also provide your own implementation of AvatarHandler.
// Draggable with clone as avatar.Draggable draggable = Draggable(querySelectorAll('.draggable'),
avatarHandler: AvatarHandler.clone());
// Draggable with original element as avatar.Draggable draggable = Draggable(querySelectorAll('.draggable'),
avatarHandler: AvatarHandler.original());
Draggable Options
The following options can be passed as named parameters to the constructor of
Draggable:
avatarHandler: Is responsible for creating, position, and removing a drag
avatar. A drag avatar provides visual feedback during a drag operation. Here
are possible options (see above for an example):
null (the default) - will not create a drag avatar
AvatarHandler.original() - handler that uses the original
draggable as avatar. See OriginalAvatarHandler.
AvatarHandler.clone() - handler that uses a clone of the draggable
element as avatar. See CloneAvatarHandler.
A custom AvatarHandler - you can provide your own implementation of
AvatarHandler.
horizontalOnly: If set to true, only horizontal dragging is tracked.
This enables vertical touch dragging to be used for scrolling.
verticalOnly: If set to true, only vertical dragging is tracked.
This enables horizontal touch dragging to be used for scrolling.
handle: If handle query String is specified, it restricts the dragging from
starting unless it occurs on the specified element(s). Only elements that
descend from the draggables elements are permitted.
cancel: If cancel query String is specified, drag starting is prevented on
specified elements.
draggingClass: Is the css class set to the dragged element
during a drag. If set to null, no such css class is added.
draggingClassBody: Is the css class set to the html body tag
during a drag. If set to null, no such css class is added.
minDragStartDistance: Is the minimum distance in pixels that is needed
for a drag to start. Default is 4. This allows for clicks with tiny movement.
Draggable Events
Available event Streams on Draggable:
onDragStart: Fired when the user starts dragging. Note: onDragStart is fired not on touchStart or mouseDown but as
soon as there is a drag movement. When a drag is started an onDrag event
will also be fired.
onDrag: Fired periodically throughout the drag operation.
onDragEnd: Fired when the user ends the dragging. Note: Is also fired when the user clicks the 'esc'-key or the window loses focus.
Dropzone Options
The following options can be passed as named parameters to the constructor of
Dropzone:
acceptor: Is used to determine which Draggables will be accepted by
this Dropzone. If none is specified, all Draggables will be accepted.
overClass: Is the css class set to the dropzone element when an accepted
draggable is dragged over it. If set to null, no such css class is added.
invalidClass: Is the css class set to the dropzone element when a not-accepted
draggable is dragged over it. If set to null, no such css class is added.
Dropzone Events
Available event Streams on Dropzone:
onDragEnter: Fired when a Draggable enters this Dropzone.
onDragOver: Fired periodically while a Draggable is moved over a Dropzone.
onDragLeave: Fired when a Draggable leaves this Dropzone.
onDrop: Fired when a Draggable is dropped inside this Dropzone.
Note: Dropzone events are only fired when the Draggable is accepted by
the Acceptor.
Shadow DOM
Web Components create a nice ecapsulation through Shadow DOM. But this creates
a problem with dropzones inside the Shadow DOM as they never receive events
because all events are captured by the host element. To make this work we need
to retarget events to the Shadow DOM children through recursive
elementFromPoint() calls.
For performance reasons it wouldn't make sense to retarget all drag and drop
events. If you wish to retarget events to the Shadow DOM children, you must add
a dnd-retarget attribute to the host:
// Retarget drag and drop events to Shadow DOM children.
<my-element dnd-retarget></my-element>