Scribbles for my bad memory

Deploying a Flutter web application to GitHub Pages is a straightforward process, but integrating a custom domain can sometimes introduce challenges. Recently, I faced an issue where my Flutter web app, which deployed perfectly to the default GitHub Pages URL, stopped working after setting up a custom subdomain. Here's a step-by-step guide on how I resolved this issue, which might help others facing the same problem.

The Initial Setup

I had a Flutter web app named "HappyNotes" hosted on GitHub Pages. The GitHub Actions workflow used to build and deploy the app looked like this:

name: Deploy HappyNotes Web

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: subosito/flutter-action@v2
        with:
          flutter-version: '3.22.x'
          channel: 'stable'

      - name: Build web
        run: |
          cp .env.production .env
          flutter config --enable-web
          flutter build web --release --base-href "/HappyNotes/"

      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          github_token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
          publish_dir: ./build/web

This workflow worked flawlessly with the default URL: https://shukebeta.github.io/HappyNotes.

The Problem

After setting up a custom subdomain happynotes.shukebeta.com, the app stopped working. The root cause of this issue involved multiple configuration steps that needed to be adjusted for the custom domain to work properly.

The Solution

Here’s how I resolved the issue:

1. DNS Settings

First, I ensured that the DNS settings were correctly configured:

1. DNS Provider Configuration:

   • Added a CNAME record for happynotes.shukebeta.com pointing to shukebeta.github.io. (attention: the last . after io is important!)

2. GitHub Pages Configuration

Next, I checked the GitHub Pages settings:

1. Custom Domain Setup:

   • Navigated to the repository’s settings on GitHub.
   • Under the "Pages" section, set the custom domain to happynotes.shukebeta.com.
   • Enabled "Enforce HTTPS".

3. CNAME File

To ensure GitHub Pages recognized the custom domain, a CNAME file will be needed to put into the build/web directory. I automated this step in the GitHub Actions workflow:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: subosito/flutter-action@v2
        with:
          flutter-version: '3.22.x'
          channel: 'stable'

      - name: Build web
        run: |
          cp .env.production .env
          flutter config --enable-web
          flutter build web --release --base-href "/"

      - name: Create CNAME file
        run: echo 'happynotes.shukebeta.com' > ./build/web/CNAME

      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          github_token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
          publish_dir: ./build/web

4. Base URL Adjustment

Since the custom subdomain serves the app from the root, the base-href parameter is also needed to adjust:

- name: Build web
  run: |
    cp .env.production .env
    flutter config --enable-web
    flutter build web --release --base-href "/"

that's it.

Today, I created another workflow file to deploy my side project to the production environment. Here's a simple memo for what I have done.

1. Setup a new domain name on <cloudflare.com>

2. Setup a GitHub runner on the target VPS (this step is not really necessary, I can use an existing runner, but then I'll need to cope with coping built result to the target VPS )

   1. Setup the runner as a service, in the runner folder, run

      1. sudo ./svc.sh install
      2. sudo ./svc.sh start

3. Create a work-flow file in the .github/workflow folder, and set

     on:
       workflow_dispatch
   

4. Manually run the work flow and deploy the project to the target place

5. Setup that project as a systemd service so we can easily restart it in the workflow file

For your reference, here the whole workflow file, and as I mentioned before, this article helped me a lot.

name: Deploy to the production env

# Controls when the workflow will run
on:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  deploy:
    # Our previously created self-hosted runner
    runs-on: [self-hosted, linux, racknerd]

    strategy:
      matrix:
        dotnet: ["8.0.x"]

    # A sequence of tasks that will execute as part of the job
    steps:
      # Checks out repository so our job can access it
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Setup .NET Core SDK ${{ matrix.dotnet-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v4
        with:
          ref: ${{ github.event.inputs.tag }}
          dotnet-version: ${{ matrix.dotnet-version }}

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: dotnet restore

      - name: Build
        run: dotnet build --configuration Release --no-restore

      - name: Publish
        run: dotnet publish -c Release --property:PublishDir=/a-target-folder/HappyNotes.Api

      - name: Replace credentials
        run: |
          pwd
          sed -i "s/password-placeholder/${{ secrets.PRODUCTION_MYSQL_PASSWORD }}/g" /a-target-folder/HappyNotes.Api/appsettings.json
          sed -i "s/symmetric-security-key-placeholder/${{ secrets.PRODUCTION_SYMMETRIC_SECURITY_KEY }}/g" /a-target-folder/HappyNotes.Api/appsettings.json
          sed -i "s/staging-happynotes-api.dev/happynotes-api/g" /a-target-folder/HappyNotes.Api/appsettings.json

      - name: Restart the app
        run: |
          echo $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
          export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/$(id -u)
          systemctl --user restart HappyNotes.Api.service

When building user interfaces in Flutter, it's often desirable to have the keyboard automatically pop up and focus set on a specific TextField when navigating to a new page or rendering a widget. This auto-focus feature can greatly improve the user experience by allowing users to start typing immediately without having to manually tap on the TextField to focus it.

In this blog post, we'll explore how to implement the auto-focus feature for TextFields in Flutter using FocusNodes.

Step 1: Create a FocusNode

The first step is to create a FocusNode instance, which represents the focus state of a particular widget. You can create a FocusNode in the initState method of your StatefulWidget:

late FocusNode myFocusNode;

@override
void initState() {
  super.initState();
  myFocusNode = FocusNode();
}

Step 2: Associate the FocusNode with the TextField

Next, you need to associate the FocusNode with the TextField you want to focus. You can do this by passing the FocusNode to the focusNode property of the TextField:

TextField(
  focusNode: myFocusNode,
  // other properties
)

Step 3: Request Focus on the FocusNode

To set the focus on the TextField, you need to request focus on the FocusNode. The best place to do this is after the widget has been rendered, which you can achieve using the WidgetsBinding.instance.addPostFrameCallback method:

@override
void initState() {
  super.initState();
  myFocusNode = FocusNode();
  WidgetsBinding.instance.addPostFrameCallback((_) {
    myFocusNode.requestFocus();
  });
}

The addPostFrameCallback method ensures that the focus request is made after the widget has been rendered, which is necessary to avoid any potential issues with focus management.

Example Implementation

Here's an example implementation of a StatefulWidget that demonstrates the auto-focus feature for a TextField:

class NewNoteState extends State<NewNote> {
  final TextEditingController _noteController = TextEditingController();
  final FocusNode _noteFocusNode = FocusNode();

  @override
  void initState() {
    super.initState();
    WidgetsBinding.instance.addPostFrameCallback((_) {
      _noteFocusNode.requestFocus();
    });
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Text('New Note'),
      ),
      body: Column(
        children: [
          TextField(
            controller: _noteController,
            focusNode: _noteFocusNode,
            keyboardType: TextInputType.multiline,
            // other properties
          ),
          // other widgets
        ],
      ),
    );
  }

  @override
  void dispose() {
    _noteController.dispose();
    _noteFocusNode.dispose();
    super.dispose();
  }
}

In this example, we create a FocusNode called _noteFocusNode and associate it with the TextField. In the initState method, we use WidgetsBinding.instance.addPostFrameCallback to request focus on the _noteFocusNode after the widget has been rendered. This will automatically set the focus on the TextField when the NewNote widget is rendered.

Conclusion

Adding the auto-focus feature to TextFields in Flutter can greatly enhance the user experience by allowing users to start typing immediately without having to manually tap on the TextField to focus it. By creating a FocusNode, associating it with the TextField, and requesting focus on the FocusNode after the widget has been rendered, you can easily implement this feature in your Flutter applications.

Remember to dispose of the FocusNode when it's no longer needed to avoid memory leaks. Additionally, be mindful of potential issues with focus management and use the appropriate methods and callbacks to ensure smooth focus handling in your application.