The Power of Clipboard in Flutter: A Step-by-Step Guide
Imagine a world where you have to type every quote, tweet, or message you see online word for word. Sounds tedious, right? That’s where the clipboard comes in – a powerful tool that makes our lives easier by allowing us to copy and paste text with just a few clicks.
In this article, we’ll explore how to implement the copy to clipboard feature in a Flutter application. We’ll cover two methods: using external dependencies and without dependencies.
What is a Clipboard?
A clipboard is a temporary storage location that holds pieces of data, such as text, until it’s pasted into a new location. In Flutter, we can access and control the clipboard using the Clipboard class.
Implementing Copy to Clipboard with Dependencies
One popular package for implementing copy to clipboard is clipboard. With this package, we can use methods like copy and paste to manipulate the clipboard.
Here’s an example of how to use the clipboard package:
“`dart
import ‘package:clipboard/clipboard.dart’;
class HomeView extends StatelessWidget {
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Scaffold(
body: Center(
child: TextButton(
onPressed: () {
FlutterClipboard.copy(‘Hello, World!’);
ScaffoldMessenger.of(context).showSnackBar(
SnackBar(content: Text(‘Text copied to clipboard’)),
);
},
child: Text(‘Copy to Clipboard’),
),
),
);
}
}
“`
Implementing Copy to Clipboard without Dependencies
We can also implement copy to clipboard without using any external dependencies. To do this, we’ll use the Clipboard class provided by Flutter.
Here’s an example of how to use the Clipboard class:
“`dart
class SecondView extends StatelessWidget {
final TextEditingController _textEditingController = TextEditingController();
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Scaffold(
body: Center(
child: Column(
children: [
TextField(
controller: _textEditingController,
),
TextButton(
onPressed: () {
Clipboard.setData(ClipboardData(text: _textEditingController.text));
ScaffoldMessenger.of(context).showSnackBar(
SnackBar(content: Text(‘Text copied to clipboard’)),
);
},
child: Text(‘Copy to Clipboard’),
),
],
),
),
);
}
}
“`
Putting it all Together
Now that we’ve covered both methods, let’s create a sample application that demonstrates how to use the copy to clipboard feature.
We’ll create two pages: one that uses the clipboard package and another that uses the Clipboard class.
Here’s the complete code for the sample application:
“`dart
import ‘package:flutter/material.dart’;
import ‘package:clipboard/clipboard.dart’;
void main() {
runApp(MyApp());
}
class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return MaterialApp(
title: ‘Copy to Clipboard’,
home: HomeView(),
);
}
}
class HomeView extends StatelessWidget {
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Scaffold(
body: Center(
child: TextButton(
onPressed: () {
FlutterClipboard.copy(‘Hello, World!’);
ScaffoldMessenger.of(context).showSnackBar(
SnackBar(content: Text(‘Text copied to clipboard’)),
);
},
child: Text(‘Copy to Clipboard’),
),
),
);
}
}
class SecondView extends StatelessWidget {
final TextEditingController _textEditingController = TextEditingController();
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Scaffold(
body: Center(
child: Column(
children: [
TextField(
controller: _textEditingController,
),
TextButton(
onPressed: () {
Clipboard.setData(ClipboardData(text: _textEditingController.text));
ScaffoldMessenger.of(context).showSnackBar(
SnackBar(content: Text(‘Text copied to clipboard’)),
);
},
child: Text(‘Copy to Clipboard’),
),
],
),
),
);
}
}
“`
That’s it! We’ve now implemented the copy to clipboard feature in a Flutter application using both external dependencies and without dependencies.