The Form widget in Flutter is a fundamental widget for building forms. It provides a way to group multiple form fields, perform validation on those fields, and manage their state. In this article, we are going to implement the Form widget and explore some properties and Methods of it. A sample video is given below to get an idea of what we are going to do in this article.
Demo Video:
Some Properties of Form Widget
Property | Description |
|---|---|
key | A GlobalKey that uniquely identifies the Form. You can use this key to interact with the form, such as validating, resetting, or saving its state |
child | The child widget that contains the form fields. Typically, this is a Column, a list view, or another widget that allows you to arrange the form fields vertically |
autovalidateMode | An enum that specifies when the form should automatically validate its fields. |
Some Methods of Form Widget
Method | Description |
|---|---|
validate() | This method is used to trigger the validation of all the form fields within the Form. It returns true if all fields are valid; otherwise, false. You can use it to check the overall validity of the form before submitting it. |
save() | This method is used to save the current values of all form fields. It invokes the onSaved callback for each field. Typically, this method is called after validation succeeds. |
reset() | Resets the form to its initial state, clearing any user-entered data. |
currentState | A getter that returns the current FormState associated with the Form. |
Basic Example of Form Widget
Form(
key: _formKey, // GlobalKey<FormState>
autovalidateMode: AutovalidateMode.onUserInteraction,
child: Column(
children: <Widget>[
// Form fields go here
],
),
)
Step-by-Step Implementations
Step 1: Create a new Flutter Application
Create a new Flutter application using the command Prompt. To create a new app, write the following command and run it.
flutter create app_nameTo know more about it refer this article: Creating a Simple Application in Flutter
Step 2: Import the Package
First of all, import material.dart file.
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';Step 3: Working with main.dart:
Add the boilerplate code below in main.dart to create a basic structure with an AppBar and body using a Scaffold.
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
void main() => runApp(MyApp());
class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return MaterialApp(
debugShowCheckedModeBanner: false,
title: 'Flutter Form Example',
home: MyForm(),
);
}
}
class MyForm extends StatefulWidget {
@override
_MyFormState createState() => _MyFormState();
}
class _MyFormState extends State<MyForm> {
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Scaffold(
appBar: AppBar(
title: Text('Flutter Form Example'),
backgroundColor: Colors.green,
foregroundColor: Colors.white,
),
body:// Code Here
);
}
}
Step 4: Initialize variables
Initialize the required variables in the _MyFormState class.
// A key for managing the form
final GlobalKey<FormState> _formKey = GlobalKey<FormState>();
// Variable to store the entered name
String _name = '';
// Variable to store the entered email
String _email = '';
Step 5: Create MyForm Class
In this step we are going to create a Simple Form with 2 TextFields and a Submit Button,By pressing the submit button the details are extracted from the TextField and user can perform varrious operations on the Data. Comments are added for better understanding.
Form(
// Associate the form key with this Form widget
key: _formKey,
child: Padding(
padding: EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
child: Column(
children: <Widget>[
TextFormField(
decoration: InputDecoration(
// Label for the name field
labelText: 'Name',
// Border style for the text field
border: OutlineInputBorder(),
focusedBorder: OutlineInputBorder(
borderSide: BorderSide(
color: Colors.green,
width: 2.0,
), // Border color when focused
),
),
validator: (value) {
// Validation function for the name field
if (value!.isEmpty) {
// Return an error message if the name is empty
return 'Please enter your name.';
}
// Return null if the name is valid
return null;
},
onSaved: (value) {
// Save the entered name
_name = value!;
},
),
SizedBox(height: 20.0),
TextFormField(
decoration: InputDecoration(
// Label for the email field
labelText: 'Email',
// Border style for the text field
border:
OutlineInputBorder(),
// Border color when focused
focusedBorder: OutlineInputBorder(
borderSide: BorderSide(
color: Colors.green,
width: 2.0,
),
),
),
validator: (value) {
// Validation function for the email field
if (value!.isEmpty) {
// Return an error message if the email is empty
return 'Please enter your email.';
}
// You can add more complex validation logic here
return null; // Return null if the email is valid
},
onSaved: (value) {
// Save the entered email
_email = value!;
},
),
SizedBox(height: 20.0),
ElevatedButton(
style: ElevatedButton.styleFrom(
// Button background color
backgroundColor: Colors.green,
// Button text color
foregroundColor: Colors.white,
),
// Call the _submitForm function when the button is pressed
onPressed: _submitForm,
// Text on the button
child: Text('Submit'),
),
],
),
),
),
Step 5: Create _submitForm() method
Create a function named _submitForm() to check the form is valid or not, if it's valid then show an AlertDialog with title as 'Form Submitted', subtitle as Name and Email entered by user and TextButton to close AlertDialog box.
void _submitForm() {
// Check if the form is valid
if (_formKey.currentState!.validate()) {
// Save the form data
_formKey.currentState!.save();
showDialog(
context: context,
builder: (BuildContext context) {
return AlertDialog(
// Title of the dialog
title: Text('Form Submitted'),
content: Text(
'Name: $_name\nEmail: $_email',
),
// Display the entered name and email
actions: <Widget>[
TextButton(
child: Text(
'OK',
style: TextStyle(color: Colors.green),
),
// Button to close the dialog
onPressed: () {
// Close the dialog
Navigator.of(context).pop();
},
),
],
);
},
);
}
}
Complete Source Code
main.dart:
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
void main() => runApp(MyApp());
class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return MaterialApp(
debugShowCheckedModeBanner: false,
theme: ThemeData(
// Set the app's primary theme color
primarySwatch: Colors.green,
),
title: 'Flutter Form Example',
home: MyForm(),
);
}
}
class MyForm extends StatefulWidget {
@override
_MyFormState createState() => _MyFormState();
}
class _MyFormState extends State<MyForm> {
// A key for managing the form
final GlobalKey<FormState> _formKey = GlobalKey<FormState>();
// Variable to store the entered name
String _name = '';
// Variable to store the entered email
String _email = '';
void _submitForm() {
// Check if the form is valid
if (_formKey.currentState!.validate()) {
// Save the form data
_formKey.currentState!.save();
// You can perform actions with the form
// data here and extract the details
print('Name: $_name'); // Print the name
print('Email: $_email'); // Print the email
}
}
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Scaffold(
appBar: AppBar(
title: Text('Flutter Form Example'),
),
body: Form(
// Associate the form key with this Form widget
key: _formKey,
child: Padding(
padding: EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
child: Column(
children: <Widget>[
TextFormField(
// Label for the name field
decoration: InputDecoration(labelText: 'Name'),
validator: (value) {
// Validation function for the name field
if (value!.isEmpty) {
// Return an error message if the name is empty
return 'Please enter your name.';
}
// Return null if the name is valid
return null;
},
onSaved: (value) {
// Save the entered name
_name = value!;
},
),
TextFormField(
// Label for the email field
decoration: InputDecoration(labelText: 'Email'),
validator: (value) {
// Validation function for the email field
if (value!.isEmpty) {
// Return an error message if the email is empty
return 'Please enter your email.';
}
// You can add more complex validation logic here
return null; // Return null if the email is valid
},
onSaved: (value) {
// Save the entered email
_email = value!;
},
),
SizedBox(height: 20.0),
ElevatedButton(
// Call the _submitForm function when
// the button is pressed
onPressed: _submitForm,
// Text on the button
child: Text('Submit'),
),
],
),
),
),
);
}
}