flutter - Import list from separate file during runtime

Question

Problem Explanation

I have a file that looks like this:

myfile1.txt

[
  {
    "question": "Thanks for the help",
    "answer choices": [
      "Hi",
      "stack",
      "over",
      "flow",
    ],
  },
  ...
]

This file contains data that needs to be set to a variable in a separate Dart file. The file type of this data does not matter, so if a .dart file would be easier to work with that would be perfectly fine.

Example of dart file that calls for the above file:

main.dart

void main() {

  List<Map<String, dynamic>> data;

  for (int i=0; i<5; i++) {
    data = getFile("myfile$i.txt");
    // Does stuff here
  }

}

Note: getFile() does not actually have to be used. It's just a placeholder for the example.

Question: How would I set the data in this file to the variable data while in a function (like main()).

My attempt

Ideally, I wouldn't want to make many changes to the data file but here is what I did:

myfile1.dart

List<Map<String, dynamic>> data = [
  ...
]

I changed the file type to a .dart file and created a variable that would be set to the data.

I then modified my main.dart file like so:

main.dart

void main() {

  for (int i=0; i<5; i++) {
    import "myfile$i.dart";
    // Does stuff here
  }

}

This approach fails because import cannot be called from inside a function.

Answer 1

You can't use the word import there. It's reserved word, used for loading flutter/dart packages, class files, etc. It's not for "loading" some arbitrary data from a file.

Flutter official website has a cookbook example for reading and writing data from and to files. Perhaps their example would work for you?