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Framework: Improve DropdownButton selectedItemBuilder assertion#183732

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mbcorona:fix/dropdown-assertion-92773
Mar 18, 2026
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Framework: Improve DropdownButton selectedItemBuilder assertion#183732
auto-submit[bot] merged 3 commits intoflutter:masterfrom
mbcorona:fix/dropdown-assertion-92773

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Description

Added an assertion in _DropdownButtonState.build to validate that the list returned by selectedItemBuilder has the same length as the items list.

Previously, a length mismatch caused a cryptic child != null or i == index assertion failure from the underlying IndexedStack during the paint phase. This update catches the error during the build phase and provides developers with a clear, actionable error message.

Fixes #92773

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@mbcorona mbcorona requested a review from Piinks March 16, 2026 15:27
@github-actions github-actions bot added framework flutter/packages/flutter repository. See also f: labels. f: material design flutter/packages/flutter/material repository. labels Mar 16, 2026
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Code Review

This pull request improves the developer experience by adding a clear assertion to the DropdownButton widget. When selectedItemBuilder returns a list with a length different from the items list, a descriptive error is now thrown during the build phase, preventing cryptic runtime errors. The change includes corresponding documentation updates and a new test case to validate the assertion. My review includes a suggestion to improve the readability of the new test case.

Comment on lines +4889 to +4893
final List<DropdownMenuItem<String>> items = <String>['a', 'b']
.map<DropdownMenuItem<String>>(
(String value) => DropdownMenuItem<String>(value: value, child: Text(value)),
)
.toList();
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medium

For creating a short, fixed list of items, initializing the list directly is more readable and performant (by using const) than using .map().toList(). This aligns with the style guide's principle to optimize for readability.

    final List<DropdownMenuItem<String>> items = <DropdownMenuItem<String>>[
      const DropdownMenuItem(value: 'a', child: const Text('a')),
      const DropdownMenuItem(value: 'b', child: const Text('b')),
    ];
References
  1. Code should be optimized for readability, as it is read more often than it is written. Using a list literal for a small, fixed collection is clearer than using .map().toList(). (link)

Piinks
Piinks previously approved these changes Mar 17, 2026
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LGTM with a small nit in the test. Thank you!

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Whoops, forgot approval is dismissed after further changes. 😅
LGTM again!

@Piinks Piinks added CICD Run CI/CD autosubmit Merge PR when tree becomes green via auto submit App labels Mar 17, 2026
@auto-submit auto-submit bot added this pull request to the merge queue Mar 17, 2026
Merged via the queue into flutter:master with commit cee996b Mar 18, 2026
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@flutter-dashboard flutter-dashboard bot removed the autosubmit Merge PR when tree becomes green via auto submit App label Mar 18, 2026
engine-flutter-autoroll added a commit to engine-flutter-autoroll/packages that referenced this pull request Mar 18, 2026
engine-flutter-autoroll added a commit to engine-flutter-autoroll/packages that referenced this pull request Mar 18, 2026
engine-flutter-autoroll added a commit to engine-flutter-autoroll/packages that referenced this pull request Mar 18, 2026
engine-flutter-autoroll added a commit to engine-flutter-autoroll/packages that referenced this pull request Mar 18, 2026
engine-flutter-autoroll added a commit to engine-flutter-autoroll/packages that referenced this pull request Mar 18, 2026
engine-flutter-autoroll added a commit to engine-flutter-autoroll/packages that referenced this pull request Mar 18, 2026
auto-submit bot pushed a commit to flutter/packages that referenced this pull request Mar 19, 2026
flutter/flutter@d117642...dd64978

2026-03-18 [email protected] Roll Skia from 2fb5fa71eb12 to f0a13e5efbad (2 revisions) (flutter/flutter#183830)
2026-03-18 [email protected] Roll Skia from ae3d36cb9e29 to 2fb5fa71eb12 (3 revisions) (flutter/flutter#183823)
2026-03-18 [email protected] Linux reuse sibling (flutter/flutter#183653)
2026-03-18 [email protected] Roll Skia from 84a180a1fa80 to ae3d36cb9e29 (4 revisions) (flutter/flutter#183812)
2026-03-18 [email protected] fix(web): handle asynchronously disposed platform views (flutter/flutter#183666)
2026-03-17 [email protected] (Test cross-imports) Remove legacy Material import from sliver_constraints_test (flutter/flutter#183351)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Fix Android Studio pluginsPath when version is unknown (do not use 0.0) (flutter/flutter#182681)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Fixes animation glitch into bottom sheet (flutter/flutter#183303)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Handle#6537 second grouped test (flutter/flutter#182529)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Add a Clarification for the docs of suggestionsBuilder of SearchAnchor (flutter/flutter#183106)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Remove obsolete null checks from style guide (flutter/flutter#181703)
2026-03-17 [email protected] [Impeller] Do not delete the GL object in a HandleGLES if the handle has a cleanup callback (flutter/flutter#183561)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Encode source file patches as UTF-8 in the code formatter script (flutter/flutter#183761)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Fix widget inspector control layout and add safe area regression test (flutter/flutter#180789)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Reland "[Android] Add mechanism for setting Android engine flags via Android manifest (take 2)" (flutter/flutter#182522)
2026-03-17 [email protected] fix(web): fix crash in Skwasm when transferring non-transferable texture sources (flutter/flutter#183799)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Roll Skia from dba893a44d7a to 84a180a1fa80 (7 revisions) (flutter/flutter#183803)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Framework: Improve DropdownButton selectedItemBuilder assertion (flutter/flutter#183732)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Add mainAxisAlignment to NavigationRail (flutter/flutter#183514)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Update android triage process to not look at unassigned p1s every week (flutter/flutter#183805)
2026-03-17 [email protected] Adds macos impeller new gallery transition perf test. (flutter/flutter#183802)
2026-03-17 [email protected] fix(web_ui): move prepareToDraw after raster to improve concurrency and stability (flutter/flutter#183791)
2026-03-17 [email protected] [build] Generate debug info for assembly. (flutter/flutter#183425)
2026-03-17 [email protected] [web] Fix occasional failure to find Chrome tab (flutter/flutter#183737)

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Improve "DropdownButton's selectedItemBuilder" assertion exception

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