use the same key for more than one widget in Flutter

Issue

Hello StackOverFlow people,

I am trying to use Keys in Flutter and I am doing well, however, there is something I am really missing, as we know using keys in Flutter is often less usage and rare, and when using keys, it should be unique to that widget and not repeatable, nonetheless, I found I can repeat the same key and use it twice, I can use it more than once, and the code below will explain what I mean.
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

This code does not allow me to use the same key more than once

 return Scaffold(
  appBar: AppBar(title: const Text("Local Key Example"),),
  body: Column(
     children: [
       Text("One", key: ValueKey(1),),
       Text("Two", key: ValueKey(2),),
       Text("Three", key: ValueKey(1),)
    ],
  ),
);

But, this code will allow me to have two widgets with the same key and run with no Errors

class _LocalKeyPageState extends State<LocalKeyPage> {
  List<Widget> myWidget=[
         const Text('First', key: ValueKey(1),),
        const Text("Second", key: ValueKey(2),),
        const Text("Third", key: ValueKey(3),),
        const Text("Fourth", key: ValueKey(2),),  ];
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
   return Scaffold(
    appBar: AppBar(title: const Text("Local Key Example"),),
    body: Column(
     children: myWidget.map((e) {
       if( e.key== ValueKey(2))
       { return Container(child: e, color: Colors.purple[300], width: 150,height: 50,);}
      return  Container(child: e,margin: EdgeInsets.all(10), color: Colors.amber,width: 200,height: 100,);
    }).toList(),
  ),
  floatingActionButton: FloatingActionButton(
    onPressed: (){
      setState(() {
        myWidget.removeWhere((element)

      {return element.key == ValueKey(2);});
      });
    },
    child: Icon(Icons.delete_forever),
  ),
);

 }
 }

Solution

documentation:

Keys must be unique amongst the Elements with the same parent.

  • in your first example, the parent is Column, the the children is all the Text widget.

  • in your second example, you wrap the Text with Container. And now the parent of the Text is the Container.

But the children of Column, now is the Container, which is the Key is different by default. Thats the reason, its run without error.


  • if you remove the Container
Column(
 children: myWidget.map((e) {
    if (e.key == ValueKey(2)) {
      return e;      
    }

this one will throw error like the first example.

Answered By – pmatatias

Answer Checked By – Mary Flores (FlutterFixes Volunteer)

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