Flutter - getx controller not updated when data changed

Question

I am developing an app that has a bottomnavitaionbar with five pages. I use getx. In first page, i am listing data. My problem is that, when i changed data(first page in bottomnavigationbar) manually from database and thn i pass over pages, came back to first page i could not see changes.

Controller;

class ExploreController extends GetxController {
  var isLoading = true.obs;
  var articleList = List<ExploreModel>().obs;

  @override
  void onInit() {
    fetchArticles();
    super.onInit();
  }

  void fetchArticles() async {
    try {
      isLoading(true);
      var articles = await ApiService.fetchArticles();
      if (articles != null) {
        //articleList.clear();
        articleList.assignAll(articles);
      }
    } finally {
      isLoading(false);
    }
    update();
  }
}

and my UI;

body: SafeArea(
        child: Column(
        children: <Widget>[
          Header(),
          Expanded(
            child: GetX<ExploreController>(builder: (exploreController) {
              if (exploreController.isLoading.value) {
                return Center(
                  child: SpinKitChasingDots(
                      color: Colors.deepPurple[600], size: 40),
                );
              }
              return ListView.separated(
                padding: EdgeInsets.all(12),
                itemCount: exploreController.articleList.length,
                separatorBuilder: (BuildContext context, int index) {

Answer 1

GetX doesn't know / can't see when database data has changed / been updated.

You need to tell GetX to rebuild when appropriate.

If you use GetX observables with GetX or Obx widgets, then you just assign a new value to your observable field. Rebuilds will happen when the obs value changes.

If you use GetX with GetBuilder<MyController>, then you need to call update() method inside MyController, to rebuild GetBuilder<MyController> widgets.

---

The solution below uses a GetX Controller (i.e. TabX) to:

1. hold application state:

   1. list of all tabs (tabPages)
   2. which Tab is active (selectedIndex)

2. expose a method to change the active/visible tab (onItemTapped())

OnItemTapped()

This method is inside TabX, the GetXController.

When called, it will:

1. set which tab is visible
2. save the viewed tab to the database (FakeDB)
3. rebuild any GetBuilder widgets using update()

  void onItemTapped(int index) {
    selectedIndex = index;
    db.insertViewedPage(index); // simulate database update while tabs change
    update(); // ← rebuilds any GetBuilder<TabX> widget
  }

Complete Example

Copy/paste this entire code into a dart page in your app to see a working BottomNavigationBar page.

This tabbed / BottomNavigationBar example is taken from https://api.flutter.dev/flutter/material/BottomNavigationBar-class.html but edited to use GetX.

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

void main() {
  runApp(MyApp());
}

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  // This widget is the root of your application.
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      title: 'Flutter Demo',
      debugShowCheckedModeBanner: false,
      theme: ThemeData(
        primarySwatch: Colors.blue,
        visualDensity: VisualDensity.adaptivePlatformDensity,
      ),
      home: MyTabHomePage(),
    );
  }
}

class FakeDB {
  List<int> viewedPages = [0];

  void insertViewedPage(int page) {
    viewedPages.add(page);
  }
}

/// BottomNavigationBar page converted to GetX. Original StatefulWidget version:
/// https://api.flutter.dev/flutter/material/BottomNavigationBar-class.html
class TabX extends GetxController {

  TabX({this.db});

  final FakeDB db;
  int selectedIndex = 0;
  static const TextStyle optionStyle =
  TextStyle(fontSize: 30, fontWeight: FontWeight.bold);
  List<Widget> tabPages;

  @override
  void onInit() {
    super.onInit();
    tabPages = <Widget>[
      ListViewTab(db),
      Text(
        'Index 1: Business',
        style: optionStyle,
      ),
      Text(
        'Index 2: School',
        style: optionStyle,
      ),
    ];
  }

  /// INTERESTING PART HERE ↓ ************************************
  void onItemTapped(int index) {
    selectedIndex = index;
    db.insertViewedPage(index); // simulate database update while tabs change
    update(); // ← rebuilds any GetBuilder<TabX> widget
    // ↑ update() is like setState() to anything inside a GetBuilder using *this*
    // controller, i.e. GetBuilder<TabX>
    // Other GetX controllers are not affected. e.g. GetBuilder<BlahX>, not affected
    // by this update()
    // Use async/await above if data writes are slow & must complete before updating widget. 
    // This example does not.
  }
}

/// REBUILT when Tab Page changes, rebuilt by GetBuilder in MyTabHomePage
class ListViewTab extends StatelessWidget {
  final FakeDB db;

  ListViewTab(this.db);

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return ListView.builder(
      itemCount: db.viewedPages.length,
      itemBuilder: (context, index) =>
          ListTile(
            title: Text('Page Viewed: ${db.viewedPages[index]}'),
          ),
    );
  }
}


class MyTabHomePage extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    Get.put(TabX(db: FakeDB()));

    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: const Text('BottomNavigationBar Sample'),
      ),
      body: Center(
        /// ↓ Tab Page currently visible - rebuilt by GetBuilder when 
        /// ↓ TabX.onItemTapped() called
        child: GetBuilder<TabX>(
            builder: (tx) => tx.tabPages.elementAt(tx.selectedIndex)
        ),
      ),
      /// ↓ BottomNavBar's highlighted/active item, rebuilt by GetBuilder when
      /// ↓ TabX.onItemTapped() called
      bottomNavigationBar: GetBuilder<TabX>(
        builder: (tx) => BottomNavigationBar(
          items: const <BottomNavigationBarItem>[
            BottomNavigationBarItem(
              icon: Icon(Icons.home),
              label: 'Home',
            ),
            BottomNavigationBarItem(
              icon: Icon(Icons.business),
              label: 'Business',
            ),
            BottomNavigationBarItem(
              icon: Icon(Icons.school),
              label: 'School',
            ),
          ],
          currentIndex: tx.selectedIndex,
          selectedItemColor: Colors.amber[800],
          onTap: tx.onItemTapped,
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}