spawn<T> static method

Future<Isolate> spawn<T>(
  1. void entryPoint(
    1. T message
    ),
  2. T message, {
  3. bool paused = false,
  4. bool errorsAreFatal = true,
  5. SendPort? onExit,
  6. SendPort? onError,
  7. @Since("2.3") String? debugName,
})

Spawns an isolate that shares the same code as the current isolate.

The argument entryPoint specifies the initial function to call in the spawned isolate. The entry-point function is invoked in the new isolate with message as the only argument.

The entryPoint function must be able to be called with a single argument, that is, a function which accepts at least one positional parameter and has at most one required positional parameter. The function may accept any number of optional parameters, as long as it can be called with just a single argument. If entryPoint is a closure then it may implicitly send unexpected state to the isolate due to limitations in the Dart implementation. This can cause performance issues, increased memory usage (see http://dartbug.com/36983) or, if the state includes objects that can't be spent between isolates, a runtime failure. See run for an example.

message must be sendable between isolates. Objects that cannot be sent include open files and sockets (see SendPort.send for details). Usually the initial message contains a SendPort so that the spawner and spawnee can communicate with each other.

If the paused parameter is set to true, the isolate will start up in a paused state, just before calling the entryPoint function with the message, as if by an initial call of isolate.pause(isolate.pauseCapability). To resume the isolate, call isolate.resume(isolate.pauseCapability).

If the errorsAreFatal, onExit and/or onError parameters are provided, the isolate will act as if, respectively, setErrorsFatal, addOnExitListener and addErrorListener were called with the corresponding parameter and was processed before the isolate starts running.

If debugName is provided, the spawned Isolate will be identifiable by this name in debuggers and logging.

If errorsAreFatal is omitted, the platform may choose a default behavior or inherit the current isolate's behavior.

You can also call the setErrorsFatal, addOnExitListener and addErrorListener methods on the returned isolate, but unless the isolate was started as paused, it may already have terminated before those methods can complete.

Returns a future which will complete with an Isolate instance if the spawning succeeded. It will complete with an error otherwise.

One can expect the base memory overhead of an isolate to be in the order of 30 kb.

Implementation

external static Future<Isolate> spawn<T>(
    void entryPoint(T message), T message,
    {bool paused = false,
    bool errorsAreFatal = true,
    SendPort? onExit,
    SendPort? onError,
    @Since("2.3") String? debugName});