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Message List

Overview

MessageList is a Composite Widget that displays a list of messages and effectively manages real-time operations. It includes various types of messages such as Text Messages, Media Messages, Stickers, and more.

MessageList is primarily a list of the base widget MessageBubble. The MessageBubble Widget is utilized to create different types of chat bubbles depending on the message type.

Image

Usage

Integration

You can launch CometChatMessageList directly using Navigator.push, or you can define it as a widget within the build method of your State class.

1. Using Navigator to Launch CometChatMessageList
Navigator.push(context, MaterialPageRoute(builder: (context) => CometChatMessageList())); // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
2. Embedding CometChatMessageList as a Widget in the build Method
import 'package:cometchat_chat_uikit/cometchat_chat_uikit.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

class MessageList extends StatefulWidget {
const MessageList({super.key});


State<MessageList> createState() => _MessageListState();
}

class _MessageListState extends State<MessageList> {


Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return Scaffold(
body: SafeArea(
child: CometChatMessageList() // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
)
);
}
}

Actions

Actions dictate how a widget functions. They are divided into two types: Predefined and User-defined. You can override either type, allowing you to tailor the behavior of the widget to fit your specific needs.

1. onThreadRepliesClick

onThreadRepliesClick is triggered when you click on the threaded message bubble. The onThreadRepliesClick action doesn't have a predefined behavior. You can override this action using the following code snippet.

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
onThreadRepliesClick: (message, context, {bubbleView}) {
// TODO("Not yet implemented")
},
)

2. onError

You can customize this behavior by using the provided code snippet to override the onError and improve error handling.

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
onError: (e) {
// TODO("Not yet implemented")
},
)

3. onReactionTap

The listener to be set for reacting to a message.Pass a non-null instance of onReactionTap to enable it.

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
reactionsConfiguration: ReactionsConfiguration(
onReactionTap: (String? reaction) {
// TODO("Not yet implemented")
},
),
)

Filters

You can adjust the MessagesRequestBuilder in the MessageList Widget to customize your message list. Numerous options are available to alter the builder to meet your specific needs. For additional details on MessagesRequestBuilder, please visit MessagesRequestBuilder.

In the example below, we are applying a filter to the messages based on a search substring and for a specific user. This means that only messages that contain the search term and are associated with the specified user will be displayed

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
messagesRequestBuilder: MessagesRequestBuilder()
..uid = user.uid
..searchKeyword = "searchKeyword"
)
info

The following parameters in messageRequestBuilder will always be altered inside the message list

  1. UID
  2. GUID
  3. types
  4. categories

Events

Events are emitted by a Widget. By using event you can extend existing functionality. Being global events, they can be applied in Multiple Locations and are capable of being Added or Removed.

The MessageList Widget does not emit any events of its own.


Customization

To fit your app's design requirements, you can customize the appearance of the conversation widget. We provide exposed methods that allow you to modify the experience and behavior according to your specific needs.

Style

Using Style you can customize the look and feel of the widget in your app, These parameters typically control elements such as the color, size, shape, and fonts used within the widget.

1. MessageList Style

You can set the messageListStyle to the CometChatMessageList Widget to customize the styling.

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
messageListStyle: MessageListStyle(
background: Color(0xFFE4EBF5),
border: Border.all(width: 3, color: Colors.red),
borderRadius: 10,
),
)
Image

List of properties exposed by CometChatMessageList

PropertyDescriptionCode
BackgroundBackground inherited from BaseStylesbackground
BorderBorder inherited from BaseStylesborder
Border RadiusBorder radius inherited from BaseStylesborderRadius
Content PaddingPadding inside the content areacontentPadding
Empty Text StyleText style for the empty state messageemptyTextStyle: TextStyle?
Error Text StyleText style for the error state messageerrorTextStyle: TextStyle?
GradientGradient inherited from BaseStylesgradient
HeightHeight inherited from BaseStylesheight
Loading Icon TintTint color for the loading iconloadingIconTint: Color?
WidthWidth inherited from BaseStyleswidth

2. Avatar Style

To apply customized styles to the Avatar widget in the CometChatGroups widget, you can use the following code snippet. For further insights on Avatar Styles refer

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
avatarStyle: AvatarStyle(
border: Border.all(width: 5),
borderRadius: 20,
background: Colors.red
),
)

Functionality

These are a set of small functional customizations that allow you to fine-tune the overall experience of the widget. With these, you can change text, set custom icons, and toggle the visibility of UI elements.

Image
CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
readIcon: Icon(Icons.mark_chat_read, color: Colors.white),
)
Image

Below is a list of customizations along with corresponding code snippets

PropertyDescriptionCode
Add Reaction IconIcon for adding reactionsaddReactionIcon
Add Reaction Icon TapCallback for when the add reaction icon is tappedaddReactionIconTap
AlignmentAlignment for chat messages, default is standardalignment: ChatAlignment
Custom Sound For Message PackageCustom sound package for messagescustomSoundForMessagePackage
Custom Sound For MessagesCustom sound for messagescustomSoundForMessages
Date PatternDate pattern to be useddatePattern
Date Separator PatternDate separator pattern to be useddateSeparatorPattern
Delivered IconIcon indicating message deliverydeliveredIcon
Disable MentionsWhether mentions are disableddisableMentions
Disable ReactionsWhether reactions are disableddisableReactions
Disable Sound For MessagesWhether sound for messages is disableddisableSoundForMessages
Empty State TextText to be displayed in empty stateemptyStateText
Error State TextText to be displayed in error stateerrorStateText
Favorite ReactionsList of favorite reactionsfavoriteReactions
GroupGroup object to be displayedgroup
Hide ErrorWhether error messages are hiddenhideError
Hide ReceiptUsed to toggle visibility of message receiptshideReceipt
Hide TimestampWhether message timestamps are hiddenhideTimestamp
New Message Indicator TextText for the new message indicatornewMessageIndicatorText
Read IconIcon indicating message readreadIcon
Scroll To Bottom On New MessagesWhether to scroll to bottom on receiving new messagesscrollToBottomOnNewMessages
Sent IconIcon indicating message sentsentIcon
Show AvatarWhether to show avatar, default is trueshowAvatar: bool
ThemeTheme to be appliedtheme
Timestamp AlignmentAlignment for the message timestamps, default is bottomtimestampAlignment: TimeAlignment
UserUser object to be displayeduser
Wait IconIcon indicating waiting statewaitIcon

Advance

For advanced-level customization, you can set custom views to the widget. This lets you tailor each aspect of the widget to fit your exact needs and application aesthetics. You can create and define your own widget and then incorporate those into the widget.

Template

CometChatMessageTemplate is a pre-defined structure for creating message views that can be used as a starting point or blueprint for creating message views often known as message bubbles. For more information, you can refer to CometChatMessageTemplate.

You can set message Templates to MessageList by using the following code snippet

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
templates: Placeholder(); // Replace this placeholder with your custom widget.
)

Example

Here is the complete example for reference:

getTemplate()
List<CometChatMessageTemplate> getTemplate() {
// Creating a text template
CometChatMessageTemplate textTemplate = ChatConfigurator.getDataSource().getTextMessageTemplate(cometChatTheme);
textTemplate.contentView = (BaseMessage baseMessage, BuildContext buildContext, BubbleAlignment alignment, {AdditionalConfigurations? additionalConfigurations}) {
return Padding(
padding: const EdgeInsets.all(8.0),
child: Text(
(baseMessage as TextMessage).text,
style: TextStyle(
color: alignment == BubbleAlignment.left ? Colors.deepPurple : Colors.yellow,
fontSize: 14,
fontWeight: FontWeight.bold,
fontFamily: "PlaywritePL"
),
),
);
};

// Creating an audio template
CometChatMessageTemplate audioTemplate = ChatConfigurator.getDataSource().getAudioMessageTemplate(cometChatTheme);

// Creating a custom message template
CometChatMessageTemplate customMessageTemplate = CometChatMessageTemplate(
type: 'custom_template',
category: 'custom_category',
bubbleView: (message, context, alignment) => const Text('this is a custom message template'),
);

// custom list of templates
List<CometChatMessageTemplate> messageTypes = [
textTemplate,
audioTemplate,
customMessageTemplate
];

return messageTypes;
}
CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
templates: getTemplate(),
)
Image

DateSeparatorPattern

You can modify the date pattern of the message list date separator to your requirement using setDateSeparatorPattern(). This method accepts a function with a return type String. Inside the function, you can create your own pattern and return it as a String.

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
dateSeparatorPattern: (DateTime dateTime) {
return ""; //Replace this empty string with your custom date time pattern.
},
)

Example

Here is the complete example for reference:

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
dateSeparatorPattern: (DateTime dateTime) {
return DateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy").format(dateTime);
},
)
Image

SetDatePattern

You can modify the date pattern to your requirement using .setDatePattern. This method accepts a function with a return type String. Inside the function, you can create your own pattern and return it as a String.

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
datePattern: (message) {
return DateFormat('YOUR_PATTERN').format(message.sentAt!);
},
)

Example

Here is the complete example for reference:

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
datePattern: (message) {
return DateFormat('EEE, M/d/y').format(message.sentAt!);
},
)
Image

ErrorStateView

You can set a custom ErrorStateView using errorStateView to match the error UI of your app.

widget
CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
errorStateView: (context) {
return Placeholder(); // Replace this placeholder with your custom widget.
},
)

Here is the complete example for reference:

Example

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
errorStateView: (context) {
return Container(
width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width,
child: Center(
child: const Column(
crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.center,
mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
children: [
Spacer(),
Icon(Icons.error_outline, color: Colors.red, size: 100,),
SizedBox(height: 20,),
Text("Your Custom Error Message"),
Spacer(),
],
),
),
);
},
)
Image

LoadingStateView

You can set a custom loader widget using loadingStateView to match the loading UI of your app.

widget
CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
loadingStateView: (context) {
return Placeholder(); // Replace this placeholder with your custom widget.
},
)

Here is the complete example for reference:

Example

main.dart
CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
loadingStateView: (context) {
return Container(
width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width,
child: Center(
child: CircularProgressIndicator()
),
); // Replaced the placeholder with a custom widget.
},
)
Image

EmptyStateView

You can set a custom EmptyStateView using emptyStateView to match the error widget of your app.

widget
CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
emptyStateView: (context) {
return Placeholder(); // Replace this placeholder with your custom widget.
},
)

Here is the complete example for reference:

Example

main.dart
CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
emptyStateView: (context) {
return Container(
width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width,
child: Center(
child: const Column(
crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.center,
mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
children: [
Spacer(),
Icon(Icons.sms_failed_outlined, color: Colors.red, size: 100,),
SizedBox(height: 20,),
Text("Your Custom Message"),
Spacer(),
],
)
),
); // Replaced the placeholder with a custom widget.
},
)

TextFormatters

Assigns the list of text formatters. If the provided list is not null, it sets the list. Otherwise, it assigns the default text formatters retrieved from the data source. To configure the existing Mentions look and feel check out MentionsFormatter Guide

Here is the complete example for reference:

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
textFormatters: [
CometChatMentionsFormatter(
messageBubbleTextStyle: (theme, alignment,{forConversation = false}) =>
TextStyle(
color: alignment==BubbleAlignment.left? Colors.orange : Colors.pink,
fontSize: 14,
fontWeight: FontWeight.bold
),
)
],
)
Image

Configuration

Configurations offer the ability to customize the properties of each widget within a Composite Widget.

MessageInformation

From the MessageList, you can navigate to the MesssageInformation widget as shown in the image.

If you wish to modify the properties of the MesssageInformation Widget, you can use the MessageInformationConfiguration object.

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
messageInformationConfiguration: MessageInformationConfiguration()
)

Example

CometChatMessageList(
user: user, // A user or group object is required to launch this widget.
messageInformationConfiguration: MessageInformationConfiguration(
title: "Your Custom Title",
messageInformationStyle: MessageInformationStyle(
background: Color(0xFFE4EBF5),
border: Border.all(width: 1, color: Colors.red),
titleStyle: TextStyle(color: Colors.red, fontFamily: "PlaywritePL"),
)
)
)
Image