Zone class

A zone represents an environment that remains stable across asynchronous calls.

Code is always executed in the context of a zone, available as Zone.current. The initial main function runs in the context of the default zone (Zone.root). Code can be run in a different zone using either runZoned, to create a new zone, or Zone.run to run code in the context of an existing zone likely created using Zone.fork.

Developers can create a new zone that overrides some of the functionality of an existing zone. For example, custom zones can replace or modify the behavior of print, timers, microtasks or how uncaught errors are handled.

The Zone class is not subclassable, but users can provide custom zones by forking an existing zone (usually Zone.current) with a ZoneSpecification. This is similar to creating a new class that extends the base Zone class and that overrides some methods, except without actually creating a new class. Instead the overriding methods are provided as functions that explicitly take the equivalent of their own class, the "super" class and the this object as parameters.

Asynchronous callbacks always run in the context of the zone where they were scheduled. This is implemented using two steps:

  1. the callback is first registered using one of registerCallback, registerUnaryCallback, or registerBinaryCallback. This allows the zone to record that a callback exists and potentially modify it (by returning a different callback). The code doing the registration (e.g., Future.then) also remembers the current zone so that it can later run the callback in that zone.
  2. At a later point the registered callback is run in the remembered zone.

This is all handled internally by the platform code and most users don't need to worry about it. However, developers of new asynchronous operations, provided by the underlying system or through native extensions, must follow the protocol to be zone compatible.

For convenience, zones provide bindCallback (and the corresponding bindUnaryCallback and bindBinaryCallback) to make it easier to respect the zone contract: these functions first invoke the corresponding register functions and then wrap the returned function so that it runs in the current zone when it is later asynchronously invoked.

Similarly, zones provide bindCallbackGuarded (and the corresponding bindUnaryCallbackGuarded and bindBinaryCallbackGuarded), when the callback should be invoked through Zone.runGuarded.

Properties

errorZone Zone
The error zone is the one that is responsible for dealing with uncaught errors. [...]
read-only
parent Zone
The parent zone of the this zone. [...]
read-only
hashCode int
The hash code for this object. [...]
read-only, inherited
runtimeType Type
A representation of the runtime type of the object.
read-only, inherited

Methods

bindBinaryCallback<R, T1, T2>(R callback(T1 argument1, T2 argument2)) ZoneBinaryCallback<R, T1, T2>
Registers the provided callback and returns a function that will execute in this zone. [...]
bindBinaryCallbackGuarded<T1, T2>(void callback(T1 argument1, T2 argument2)) → void Function(T1, T2)
Registers the provided callback and returns a function that will execute in this zone. [...]
bindCallback<R>(R callback()) ZoneCallback<R>
Registers the provided callback and returns a function that will execute in this zone. [...]
bindCallbackGuarded(void callback()) → void Function()
Registers the provided callback and returns a function that will execute in this zone. [...]
bindUnaryCallback<R, T>(R callback(T argument)) ZoneUnaryCallback<R, T>
Registers the provided callback and returns a function that will execute in this zone. [...]
bindUnaryCallbackGuarded<T>(void callback(T argument)) → void Function(T)
Registers the provided callback and returns a function that will execute in this zone. [...]
createPeriodicTimer(Duration period, void callback(Timer timer)) Timer
Creates a periodic Timer where the callback is executed in this zone.
createTimer(Duration duration, void callback()) Timer
Creates a Timer where the callback is executed in this zone.
errorCallback(Object error, StackTrace stackTrace) AsyncError
Intercepts errors when added programmatically to a Future or Stream. [...]
fork({ZoneSpecification specification, Map zoneValues }) Zone
Creates a new zone as a child of this. [...]
handleUncaughtError(dynamic error, StackTrace stackTrace) → void
Handles uncaught asynchronous errors. [...]
inSameErrorZone(Zone otherZone) bool
Returns true if this and otherZone are in the same error zone. [...]
print(String line) → void
Prints the given line. [...]
registerBinaryCallback<R, T1, T2>(R callback(T1 arg1, T2 arg2)) ZoneBinaryCallback<R, T1, T2>
Registers the given callback in this zone. [...]
registerCallback<R>(R callback()) ZoneCallback<R>
Registers the given callback in this zone. [...]
registerUnaryCallback<R, T>(R callback(T arg)) ZoneUnaryCallback<R, T>
Registers the given callback in this zone. [...]
run<R>(R action()) → R
Executes action in this zone. [...]
runBinary<R, T1, T2>(R action(T1 argument1, T2 argument2), T1 argument1, T2 argument2) → R
Executes the given action with argument1 and argument2 in this zone. [...]
runBinaryGuarded<T1, T2>(void action(T1 argument1, T2 argument2), T1 argument1, T2 argument2) → void
Executes the given action with argument1 and argument2 in this zone and catches synchronous errors. [...]
runGuarded(void action()) → void
Executes the given action in this zone and catches synchronous errors. [...]
runUnary<R, T>(R action(T argument), T argument) → R
Executes the given action with argument in this zone. [...]
runUnaryGuarded<T>(void action(T argument), T argument) → void
Executes the given action with argument in this zone and catches synchronous errors. [...]
scheduleMicrotask(void callback()) → void
Runs callback asynchronously in this zone. [...]
noSuchMethod(Invocation invocation) → dynamic
Invoked when a non-existent method or property is accessed. [...]
inherited
toString() String
Returns a string representation of this object.
inherited

Operators

operator [](Object key) → dynamic
Retrieves the zone-value associated with key. [...]
operator ==(dynamic other) bool
The equality operator. [...]
inherited

Static Properties

current Zone
The zone that is currently active.
read-only

Constants

root → const Zone
The root zone. [...]
_rootZone