Send data to the internet

Sending data to the internet is necessary for most apps. The http package has got that covered, too.

This recipe uses the following steps:

1. Add the http package.
2. Send data to a server using the http package.
3. Convert the response into a custom Dart object.
4. Get a title from user input.
5. Display the response on screen.

1. Add the http package

To install the http package, add it to the dependencies section of the pubspec.yaml file. You can find the latest version of the http package on pub.dev.

dependencies:
  http: <latest_version>

Import the http package.

import 'package:http/http.dart' as http;

2. Sending data to server

This recipe covers how to create an Album by sending an album title to the JSONPlaceholder using the http.post() method.

Future<http.Response> createAlbum(String title) {
  return http.post(
    'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/albums',
    headers: <String, String>{
      'Content-Type': 'application/json; charset=UTF-8',
    },
    body: jsonEncode(<String, String>{
      'title': title,
    }),
  );
}

The http.post() method returns a Future that contains a Response.

• Future is a core Dart class for working with asynchronous operations. A Future object represents a potential value or error that will be available at some time in the future.
• The http.Response class contains the data received from a successful http call.
• The createAlbum() method takes an argument title that is sent to the server to create an Album.

3. Convert the http.Response to a custom Dart object

While it’s easy to make a network request, working with a raw Future<http.Response> isn’t very convenient. To make your life easier, convert the http.Response into a Dart object.

Create an Album class

First, create an Album class that contains the data from the network request. It includes a factory constructor that creates an Album from JSON.

Converting JSON by hand is only one option. For more information, see the full article on JSON and serialization.

class Album {
  final int id;
  final String title;

  Album({this.id, this.title});

  factory Album.fromJson(Map<String, dynamic> json) {
    return Album(
      id: json['id'],
      title: json['title'],
    );
  }
}

Convert the http.Response to an Album

Use the following steps to update the createAlbum() function to return a Future<Album>:

1. Convert the response body into a JSON Map with the dart:convert package.
2. If the server returns a CREATED response with a status code of 201, then convert the JSON Map into an Album using the fromJson() factory method.
3. If the server doesn’t return a CREATED response with a status code of 201, then throw an exception. (Even in the case of a “404 Not Found” server response, throw an exception. Do not return null. This is important when examining the data in snapshot, as shown below.)

Future<Album> createAlbum(String title) async {
  final http.Response response = await http.post(
    'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/albums',
    headers: <String, String>{
      'Content-Type': 'application/json; charset=UTF-8',
    },
    body: jsonEncode(<String, String>{
      'title': title,
    }),
  );
  if (response.statusCode == 201) {
    // If the server did return a 201 CREATED response,
    // then parse the JSON.
    return Album.fromJson(json.decode(response.body));
  } else {
    // If the server did not return a 201 CREATED response,
    // then throw an exception.
    throw Exception('Failed to load album');
  }
}

Hooray! Now you’ve got a function that sends the title to a server to create an album.

4. Get a title from user input

Next, create a TextField to enter a title and a RaisedButton to send data to server. Also define a TextEditingController to read the user input from a TextField.

When the RaisedButton is pressed, the _futureAlbum is set to the value returned by createAlbum() method.

Column(
  mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
  children: <Widget>[
    Padding(
      padding: const EdgeInsets.all(8.0),
      child: TextField(
        controller: _controller,
        decoration: InputDecoration(hintText: 'Enter Title'),
      ),
    ),
    RaisedButton(
      child: Text('Create Data'),
      onPressed: () {
        setState(() {
          _futureAlbum = createAlbum(_controller.text);
        });
      },
    ),
  ],
)

On pressing the Create Data button, make the network request, which sends the data in the TextField to the server as a POST request. The Future, _futureAlbum, is used in the next step.

5. Display the response on screen

To display the data on screen, use the FutureBuilder widget. The FutureBuilder widget comes with Flutter and makes it easy to work with asynchronous data sources. You must provide two parameters:

1. The Future you want to work with. In this case, the future returned from the createAlbum() function.
2. A builder function that tells Flutter what to render, depending on the state of the Future: loading, success, or error.

Note that snapshot.hasData only returns true when the snapshot contains a non-null data value. This is why the createAlbum() function should throw an exception even in the case of a “404 Not Found” server response. If createAlbum() returns null, then CircularProgressIndicator displays indefinitely.

FutureBuilder<Album>(
  future: _futureAlbum,
  builder: (context, snapshot) {
    if (snapshot.hasData) {
      return Text(snapshot.data.title);
    } else if (snapshot.hasError) {
      return Text("${snapshot.error}");
    }

    return CircularProgressIndicator();
  },
)

Complete example

import 'dart:async';
import 'dart:convert';

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:http/http.dart' as http;

Future<Album> createAlbum(String title) async {
  final http.Response response = await http.post(
    'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/albums',
    headers: <String, String>{
      'Content-Type': 'application/json; charset=UTF-8',
    },
    body: jsonEncode(<String, String>{
      'title': title,
    }),
  );

  if (response.statusCode == 201) {
    return Album.fromJson(json.decode(response.body));
  } else {
    throw Exception('Failed to create album.');
  }
}

class Album {
  final int id;
  final String title;

  Album({this.id, this.title});

  factory Album.fromJson(Map<String, dynamic> json) {
    return Album(
      id: json['id'],
      title: json['title'],
    );
  }
}

void main() {
  runApp(MyApp());
}

class MyApp extends StatefulWidget {
  MyApp({Key key}) : super(key: key);

  @override
  _MyAppState createState() {
    return _MyAppState();
  }
}

class _MyAppState extends State<MyApp> {
  final TextEditingController _controller = TextEditingController();
  Future<Album> _futureAlbum;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      title: 'Create Data Example',
      theme: ThemeData(
        primarySwatch: Colors.blue,
      ),
      home: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(
          title: Text('Create Data Example'),
        ),
        body: Container(
          alignment: Alignment.center,
          padding: const EdgeInsets.all(8.0),
          child: (_futureAlbum == null)
              ? Column(
                  mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
                  children: <Widget>[
                    TextField(
                      controller: _controller,
                      decoration: InputDecoration(hintText: 'Enter Title'),
                    ),
                    RaisedButton(
                      child: Text('Create Data'),
                      onPressed: () {
                        setState(() {
                          _futureAlbum = createAlbum(_controller.text);
                        });
                      },
                    ),
                  ],
                )
              : FutureBuilder<Album>(
                  future: _futureAlbum,
                  builder: (context, snapshot) {
                    if (snapshot.hasData) {
                      return Text(snapshot.data.title);
                    } else if (snapshot.hasError) {
                      return Text("${snapshot.error}");
                    }

                    return CircularProgressIndicator();
                  },
                ),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}