Expose controller in constructor to initialize with starting text

[CoreyCole]

When using a normal TextField, I can initialize the starting text:

Widget getAuthorField(Bloc bloc) {
  return StreamBuilder(
    stream: bloc.customAuthor,
    builder: (context, AsyncSnapshot<String> snapshot) {
      if (!snapshot.hasData) return SizedBox();
      final author = snapshot.data;
      authorController = TextEditingController.fromValue(
          TextEditingValue(
          text: author,
          selection: new TextSelection.collapsed(offset: author.length)
        )
      );
      return TextField(
        controller: authorController
      );
    },
    initialData: ''
  );
}

I'm not able to do this with AutoCompleteTextField:

Widget getAuthorField(Bloc bloc) {
  return StreamBuilder(
    stream: bloc.customAuthor,
    builder: (context, AsyncSnapshot<String> snapshot) {
      if (!snapshot.hasData) {
        return SizedBox();
      }
      autoCompleteAuthorField = createAutoCompleteAuthorInput(context, bookList, bloc);
      // both of these don't work inside the StreamBuilder
      // authorInputKey.currentState.textField.controller.text = snapshot.data;
      // autoCompleteAuthorField.textField.controller.text = snapshot.data;
      return autoCompleteAuthorField;
    },
    initialData: '',
  );
}

AutoCompleteTextField<ApprovedBook> createAutoCompleteTitleInput(BuildContext context, List<ApprovedBook> approvedBooks, Bloc bloc) {
  return AutoCompleteTextField<ApprovedBook>(
    key: titleInputKey,
    textChanged: (text) {
      bloc.changeCustomTitle(text);
    },
    decoration: storytimeInputDecoration('Title', Theme.of(context).accentColor, 'The title of the book', ''),
    itemSubmitted: (ApprovedBook book) {
      bloc.submitApprovedBook(book);
      _resetForm();
      Navigator.pushNamed(context, '/confirm_book');
    },
    suggestions: approvedBooks,
    itemFilter: (suggestion, input) {
      return suggestion.title.toLowerCase().startsWith(input.toLowerCase());
    },
    itemBuilder: (context, ApprovedBook suggestion) => Padding(
      padding: EdgeInsets.all(8),
      child: ListTile(
        title: Text('${suggestion.title} by ${suggestion.author}')
      )
    ),
    itemSorter: (a, b) => a.title.compareTo(b.title),
  );
}

I saw #11, where we can access the textField property after the AutoCompleteTextField has been built. But, that is not working for me using StreamBuilder. I get error:

flutter: isAuthenticated? true
flutter: ══╡ EXCEPTION CAUGHT BY WIDGETS LIBRARY ╞═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
flutter: The following NoSuchMethodError was thrown building StreamBuilder<String>(dirty, dependencies:
flutter: [_LocalizationsScope-[GlobalKey#4ef5a], _InheritedTheme], state: _StreamBuilderBaseState<String,
flutter: AsyncSnapshot<String>>#fe9e7):
flutter: The getter 'textField' was called on null.
flutter: Receiver: null
flutter: Tried calling: textField
flutter:
flutter: When the exception was thrown, this was the stack:
flutter: #0      Object.noSuchMethod (dart:core/runtime/libobject_patch.dart:50:5)
flutter: #1      FindBookScreenState.getAuthorField.<anonymous closure>

[xalikoutis]

same problem here, i need a initial value

[felixmccuaig]

I'll have to look a bit deeper into this one, thanks for raising the issue though.

[felixmccuaig]

This one should be fixed now.