Send data to a new screen

Contents

Often, you not only want to navigate to a new screen, but also pass data to the screen as well. For example, you might want to pass information about the item that’s been tapped.

Remember: Screens are just widgets. In this example, create a list of todos. When a todo is tapped, navigate to a new screen (widget) that displays information about the todo. This recipe uses the following steps:

  1. Define a todo class.
  2. Display a list of todos.
  3. Create a detail screen that can display information about a todo.
  4. Navigate and pass data to the detail screen.

1. Define a todo class

First, you need a simple way to represent todos. For this example, create a class that contains two pieces of data: the title and description.

class Todo {
  final String title;
  final String description;

  const Todo(this.title, this.description);
}

2. Create a list of todos

Second, display a list of todos. In this example, generate 20 todos and show them using a ListView. For more information on working with lists, see the Use lists recipe.

Generate the list of todos

final todos = List.generate(
  20,
  (i) => Todo(
    'Todo $i',
    'A description of what needs to be done for Todo $i',
  ),
);

Display the list of todos using a ListView

ListView.builder(
  itemCount: todos.length,
  itemBuilder: (context, index) {
    return ListTile(
      title: Text(todos[index].title),
    );
  },
);

So far, so good. This generates 20 todos and displays them in a ListView.

3. Create a Todo screen to display the list

For this, we create a StatelessWidget. We call it TodosScreen. Since the contents of this page won’t change during runtime, we’ll have to require the list of todos within the scope of this widget.

We pass in our ListView.builder as body of the widget we’re returning to build(). This’ll render the list on to the screen for you to get going!

class TodosScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  // Requiring the list of todos.
  const TodosScreen({Key? key, required this.todos}) : super(key: key);

  final List<Todo> todos;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: const Text('Todos'),
      ),
      //passing in the ListView.builder
      body: ListView.builder(
        itemCount: todos.length,
        itemBuilder: (context, index) {
          return ListTile(
            title: Text(todos[index].title),
          );
        },
      ),
    );
  }
}

With Flutter’s default styling, you’re good to go without sweating about things that you’d like to do later on!

4. Create a detail screen to display information about a todo

Now, create the second screen. The title of the screen contains the title of the todo, and the body of the screen shows the description.

Since the detail screen is a normal StatelessWidget, require the user to enter a Todo in the UI. Then, build the UI using the given todo.

class DetailScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  // In the constructor, require a Todo.
  const DetailScreen({Key? key, required this.todo}) : super(key: key);

  // Declare a field that holds the Todo.
  final Todo todo;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    // Use the Todo to create the UI.
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Text(todo.title),
      ),
      body: Padding(
        padding: const EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
        child: Text(todo.description),
      ),
    );
  }
}

5. Navigate and pass data to the detail screen

With a DetailScreen in place, you’re ready to perform the Navigation. In this example, navigate to the DetailScreen when a user taps a todo in the list. Pass the todo to the DetailScreen.

To capture the user’s tap in the TodosScreen, write an onTap() callback for the ListTile widget. Within the onTap() callback, use the Navigator.push() method.

body: ListView.builder(
  itemCount: todos.length,
  itemBuilder: (context, index) {
    return ListTile(
      title: Text(todos[index].title),
      // When a user taps the ListTile, navigate to the DetailScreen.
      // Notice that you're not only creating a DetailScreen, you're
      // also passing the current todo through to it.
      onTap: () {
        Navigator.push(
          context,
          MaterialPageRoute(
            builder: (context) => DetailScreen(todo: todos[index]),
          ),
        );
      },
    );
  },
),

Interactive example

import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

class Todo {
  final String title;
  final String description;

  const Todo(this.title, this.description);
}

void main() {
  runApp(
    MaterialApp(
      title: 'Passing Data',
      home: TodosScreen(
        todos: List.generate(
          20,
          (i) => Todo(
            'Todo $i',
            'A description of what needs to be done for Todo $i',
          ),
        ),
      ),
    ),
  );
}

class TodosScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  const TodosScreen({Key? key, required this.todos}) : super(key: key);

  final List<Todo> todos;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: const Text('Todos'),
      ),
      body: ListView.builder(
        itemCount: todos.length,
        itemBuilder: (context, index) {
          return ListTile(
            title: Text(todos[index].title),
            // When a user taps the ListTile, navigate to the DetailScreen.
            // Notice that you're not only creating a DetailScreen, you're
            // also passing the current todo through to it.
            onTap: () {
              Navigator.push(
                context,
                MaterialPageRoute(
                  builder: (context) => DetailScreen(todo: todos[index]),
                ),
              );
            },
          );
        },
      ),
    );
  }
}

class DetailScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  // In the constructor, require a Todo.
  const DetailScreen({Key? key, required this.todo}) : super(key: key);

  // Declare a field that holds the Todo.
  final Todo todo;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    // Use the Todo to create the UI.
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Text(todo.title),
      ),
      body: Padding(
        padding: const EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
        child: Text(todo.description),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Alternatively, pass the arguments using RouteSettings

Repeat the first two steps.

Create a detail screen to extract the arguments

Next, create a detail screen that extracts and displays the title and description from the Todo. To access the Todo, use the ModalRoute.of() method. This method returns the current route with the arguments.

class DetailScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  const DetailScreen({Key? key}) : super(key: key);

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    final todo = ModalRoute.of(context)!.settings.arguments as Todo;

    // Use the Todo to create the UI.
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Text(todo.title),
      ),
      body: Padding(
        padding: const EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
        child: Text(todo.description),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Finally, navigate to the DetailScreen when a user taps a ListTile widget using Navigator.push(). Pass the arguments as part of the RouteSettings. The DetailScreen extracts these arguments.

ListView.builder(
  itemCount: todos.length,
  itemBuilder: (context, index) {
    return ListTile(
      title: Text(todos[index].title),
      // When a user taps the ListTile, navigate to the DetailScreen.
      // Notice that you're not only creating a DetailScreen, you're
      // also passing the current todo through to it.
      onTap: () {
        Navigator.push(
          context,
          MaterialPageRoute(
            builder: (context) => const DetailScreen(),
            // Pass the arguments as part of the RouteSettings. The
            // DetailScreen reads the arguments from these settings.
            settings: RouteSettings(
              arguments: todos[index],
            ),
          ),
        );
      },
    );
  },
)

Complete example

import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

class Todo {
  final String title;
  final String description;

  const Todo(this.title, this.description);
}

void main() {
  runApp(
    MaterialApp(
      title: 'Passing Data',
      home: TodosScreen(
        todos: List.generate(
          20,
          (i) => Todo(
            'Todo $i',
            'A description of what needs to be done for Todo $i',
          ),
        ),
      ),
    ),
  );
}

class TodosScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  const TodosScreen({Key? key, required this.todos}) : super(key: key);

  final List<Todo> todos;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: const Text('Todos'),
      ),
      body: ListView.builder(
        itemCount: todos.length,
        itemBuilder: (context, index) {
          return ListTile(
            title: Text(todos[index].title),
            // When a user taps the ListTile, navigate to the DetailScreen.
            // Notice that you're not only creating a DetailScreen, you're
            // also passing the current todo through to it.
            onTap: () {
              Navigator.push(
                context,
                MaterialPageRoute(
                  builder: (context) => const DetailScreen(),
                  // Pass the arguments as part of the RouteSettings. The
                  // DetailScreen reads the arguments from these settings.
                  settings: RouteSettings(
                    arguments: todos[index],
                  ),
                ),
              );
            },
          );
        },
      ),
    );
  }
}

class DetailScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  const DetailScreen({Key? key}) : super(key: key);

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    final todo = ModalRoute.of(context)!.settings.arguments as Todo;

    // Use the Todo to create the UI.
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Text(todo.title),
      ),
      body: Padding(
        padding: const EdgeInsets.all(16.0),
        child: Text(todo.description),
      ),
    );
  }
}