get height of a Widget using its GlobalKey in flutter

Question

I am struggling getting the height of a Widget using its GlobalKey. the function that is getting the height is called after the Layout is rendered to make sure the context i

Answer 1

You need to assign that key to a widget using super in the widget constructor. Not add it as a field. That Key also must be constant.

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

class TestPage extends StatefulWidget {
  @override
  State<StatefulWidget> createState() => new TestPageState();
}

class TestPageState extends State<TestPage> {
  final key = new GlobalKey<TestWidgetState>();

  @override
  initState() {
    //calling the getHeight Function after the Layout is Rendered
    WidgetsBinding.instance.addPostFrameCallback((_) => getHeight());

    super.initState();
  }

  void getHeight() {
    //returns null:
    final State state = key.currentState;
    //returns null:
    final BuildContext context = key.currentContext;

    //Error: The getter 'context' was called on null.
    final RenderBox box = state.context.findRenderObject();

    print(box.size.height);
    print(context.size.height);
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return new Scaffold(
      body: new TestWidget(key: key),
    );
  }
}

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

  @override
  State<StatefulWidget> createState() => new TestWidgetState();
}

class TestWidgetState extends State<TestWidget> {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return new Container(
      child: new Text(
        "Test",
        style: const TextStyle(fontSize: 32.0, fontWeight: FontWeight.bold),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Answer 2

Define your constructor like this:

const MyWidget(GlobalKey key) : super(key:key);.

The framework stores the BuildContext and State object in the Widget.key field which is passed into the object by constructor instead of an arbitary key field.