simple_dropdown

A Flutter package that provides a simple way to create a customized Dropdown widget.

Features

• only selectable dropdown

• searchable and selectable dropdown

1. Support Dropdown customization

   • Exactly align the dropdown menu with the dropdown button via DropdownMenuPosition
   • Customize the dropdown menu using SimpleDropdown.custom

2. Control the Dropdown programmatically via DropdownController

   • Selected items would be managed by the controller, and share the state across widgets/pages

3. Searchable Dropdown. See example

   • Enable search feature for the dropdown menu.

4. Loading items synchronously/asynchronously via DropdownController.

Getting started

import 'package:dropdown_overlay/dropdown_overlay.dart';

Usage

SimpleDropdown

  /// The widget that will be used to trigger the dropdown.
  /// It can be a button, a text field, or any other widget.
  ///
  /// if [enabled] is true, the widget will be interactive automatically to open and dismiss the dropdown menu
  /// when tapping inside/outside of the dropdown button/trigger;
  ///
  /// otherwise, you need to call [DropdownController.open] and [DropdownController.dismiss] manually.
  final WidgetBuilder builder;

  /// The controller that will be used to manage the dropdown menu and items.
  ///
  /// See also:
  ///   * [DropdownController.single]
  ///   * [DropdownController.multi]
  final DropdownController<T> controller;

  /// Delegate that will be used to build the dropdown menu.
  ///
  /// See also:
  ///   * [ListViewMenuBuilderDelegate]
  ///   * [CustomMenuBuilderDelegate]
  final DropdownMenuBuilderDelegate<T> delegate;

  /// The decoration that will be used to decorate the dropdown menu.
  /// It only takes effect when the menu is displaying.
  ///
  /// See also:
  ///   * [OverlayedDropdownMenu], the dropdown menu widget used to display the items.
  final BoxDecoration? menuDecoration;

  /// The constraints that will be used to constrain the dropdown menu.
  /// It only takes effect when the menu is displaying.
  /// It will work with [crossAxisConstrained] to constrain the dropdown menu if applicable.
  final BoxConstraints? menuConstraints;

  /// The position that will be used to position the dropdown menu.
  ///
  /// See also
  ///   * [DropdownMenuPosition]
  final DropdownMenuPosition menuPosition;

  /// Whether the dropdown menu should be constrained by the cross axis of the dropdown trigger.
  /// It will work with [menuConstraints] to constrain the dropdown menu if applicable.
  /// It only takes effect when the menu is displaying.
  ///
  /// Typically, it is specific if the dropdown menu should have the same width as the dropdown trigger.
  final bool crossAxisConstrained;

  /// Whether the dropdown menu should be dismissed when the user taps outside of both it and the dropdown button.
  final bool dismissible;

  /// if true, the dropdown will be interactive automatically;
  /// otherwise, you need to call [DropdownController.open] and [DropdownController.dismiss] manually.
  final bool enabled;

  /// Whether the dropdown button/trigger built from [builder] should listen to the controller.
  /// As a result, the button [builder] will be rebuilt when [DropdownController] changes, like selected items
  final bool enableListen;

SimpleDropdown.list

  SimpleDropdown.list({
    super.key,
    required this.builder,
    required this.controller,
    this.menuConstraints,
    this.menuDecoration,
    this.enableListen = true,
    this.menuPosition = const DropdownMenuPosition(),
    this.crossAxisConstrained = true,
    this.dismissible = true,
    this.enabled = true,

    /// The builder that will be used to build the items in the dropdown menu.
    required MenuItemBuilder<T> itemBuilder,

    /// The builder that will be used to build the separator in the dropdown menu.
    /// it would use [LiveView.separated] internally to build the dropdown menu if provided.
    IndexedWidgetBuilder? separatorBuilder,

    /// The builder that will be used to build the loading indicator in the dropdown menu.
    /// Default to a [CircularProgressIndicator] if not provided.
    WidgetBuilder? loadingBuilder,

    /// The builder that will be used to build the empty list indicator in the dropdown menu.
    /// Default to Text("No items") if not provided.
    WidgetBuilder? emptyListBuilder,
  }) : delegate = ListViewMenuBuilderDelegate<T>(
          itemBuilder: itemBuilder,
          position: menuPosition,
          separatorBuilder: separatorBuilder,
          loadingBuilder: loadingBuilder,
          emptyListBuilder: emptyListBuilder,
        );

SimpleDropdown.custom

  SimpleDropdown.custom({
    super.key,
    required this.builder,
    required this.controller,

    /// The builder that will be used to build the dropdown menu.
    required DropdownMenuBuilder<T> menuBuilder,
    this.menuConstraints,
    this.menuDecoration,
    this.enableListen = true,
    this.menuPosition = const DropdownMenuPosition(),
    this.crossAxisConstrained = true,
    this.dismissible = true,
    this.enabled = true,
  }) : delegate = CustomMenuBuilderDelegate<T>(menuBuilder);

DropdownController

• Single Selection

  /// A single selection dropdown controller.
  ///
  /// [unselectable] indicates whether the selected item can be unselected,
  /// if true, either tapping the same selected item or [select] null item will unselect it;
  /// otherwise, it will be ignored.
  ///
  /// Only one item can be selected at a time.
  factory DropdownController.single({
    // Default is false.
    bool? unselectable,

    /// The initial items that will be shown in the dropdown menu,
    /// but you can only set one of them as selected.
    List<DropdownItem<T>>? items,
  }) = SingleSelectionDropdownController;

• Multiple Selection

  /// A multiple selection dropdown controller.
  ///
  /// [unselectable] indicates whether the selected item can be unselected,
  /// if true, tapping the same selected item will unselect it;
  /// otherwise, it will be ignored.
  factory DropdownController.multi({
    // Default is false.
    bool? unselectable,

    /// The initial items that will be shown in the dropdown menu,
    /// you can set multiple of them as selected.
    List<DropdownItem<T>>? items,
  }) = MultiSelectionDropdownController;

Methods

• void open({VoidCallback? onOpened}): open the dropdown menu

• void dismiss({VoidCallback? onDismissed}): dismiss the dropdown menu

• void rebuildMenu() : refresh the dropdown menu if it is opened

• void dispose(): dispose the controller

• void select(T? value, {bool dismiss = true, bool refresh = true}): mark the item's as selected

  • dismiss: whether to dismiss the dropdown menu no matter if the value is selected or not
  • refresh: whether to refresh the dropdown menu after the value is selected

• DropdownItem<T>? getLastSelected(): get the last selected item

  • for single selection, it always returns the current selected item
  • for multiple selection, it returns the last selected item

• List<DropdownItem<T>> getAllSelectedItems(): get all selected items

  • for single selection, it always returns the current selected item
  • for multiple selection, it returns all selected items

• Future<void> load(DropdownItemLoader<T> loader, {bool replace = false, bool Function(Object)? onException}): load items from the loader

  • replace: whether to replace the current items with the loaded items. If not, the loaded items will be appended to the current items.
  • onException: a callback to handle the exception thrown by the loader

• void search<K extends Object>(K query, {required DropdownItemMatcher<K, T> matcher}): search the items by the query

  • matcher: a function to match the query with each item.

• void setItems(List<DropdownItem<T>> items, {bool replace = false, bool rebuild = true}): set the items to the controller

  • replace: whether to replace the current items with the new items.
    • If not, the new items will be appended to the current items.
    • If yes, the controller would clear internal state and reinitialize itself with the new items.
  • rebuild: whether to rebuild the dropdown menu after the items are set.

• void setAsHistoryItems(Object key, List<DropdownItem<T>> items,{bool rebuild = false}): set the items as an history entry and place it on the top of the history entries, like search history

  • key: the key to identify the history items
  • rebuild: whether to rebuild the dropdown menu after the items are set.

• void restore({bool onlyOnce = false}): restore the initial and loaded items.

  • onlyOnce: if true, only pop the top history entry; otherwise, it will clear all history entries to show the initial and loaded items.

TODO

• support dropdown menu animation