How to implement specified custom tab indicator in Flutter?

Question

New Flutter coder here, so my existing knowledge of how various components interact is limited. I've read through/attempted various tutorials (including several posted here), but am having trouble implementing with my existing code to achieve the desired result.

My existing code displays the following: current view

What I'm trying to achieve is the following: desired view

As pictured, I'd like to create a custom indicator for the top-most TabBar. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

HomePage code:

import 'package:fallout/plans.dart';
import 'package:fallout/recipes.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:flutter_glow/flutter_glow.dart';

class HomePage extends StatefulWidget {
  const HomePage({super.key});
  @override
  _HomePageState createState() => _HomePageState();
}

const myColor = Color(0xFFF8EA00);

class _HomePageState extends State<HomePage> {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return DefaultTabController(
      length: 5,
      child: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(
          backgroundColor: Colors.black,
          title: const Center(
            child: TabBar(
              indicatorColor: Colors.black,
              indicatorWeight: 2,
              dividerColor: myColor,
              isScrollable: true,
              tabs: <Widget>[
                Tab(
                  child: GlowText(
                    blurRadius: 3,
                    'HOME',
                    style: TextStyle(color: myColor, fontSize: 18.0),
                  ),
                ),
                Tab(
                  child: GlowText(
                    blurRadius: 3,
                    'PLANS',
                    style: TextStyle(color: myColor, fontSize: 18.0),
                  ),
                ),
                Tab(
                  child: GlowText(
                    blurRadius: 3,
                    'RECIPES',
                    style: TextStyle(color: myColor, fontSize: 18.0),
                  ),
                ),
                Tab(
                  child: GlowText(
                    blurRadius: 3,
                    'CREATURES',
                    style: TextStyle(color: myColor, fontSize: 18.0),
                  ),
                ),
                Tab(
                  child: GlowText(
                    blurRadius: 3,
                    'PLANTS',
                    style: TextStyle(color: myColor, fontSize: 18.0),
                  ),
                ),
              ],
            ),
          ),
        ),
        body: TabBarView(
          children: <Widget>[
            const Text('Home'),
            PlansTabs(0xffff5722),
            RecipesTabs(0xffff5722),
            const Text('Creatures'),
            const Text('Plants'),
          ],
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

Plans Tab Code:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:flutter_glow/flutter_glow.dart';

class PlansTabs extends StatefulWidget {
  PlansTabs(this.colorVal);
  int colorVal;

  _PlansTabsState createState() => _PlansTabsState();
}

class _PlansTabsState extends State<PlansTabs>
    with SingleTickerProviderStateMixin {
  late TabController _tabController;

  @override
  void initState() {
    super.initState();
    _tabController = new TabController(vsync: this, length: 4);
    _tabController.addListener(_handleTabSelection);
  }

  void _handleTabSelection() {
    setState(() {
      widget.colorVal = 0xffff5722;
    });
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return DefaultTabController(
      length: 4,
      child: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(
          backgroundColor: Colors.black,
          toolbarHeight: double.minPositive,
          bottom: TabBar(
            controller: _tabController,
            isScrollable: true,
            indicatorColor: Color(0xFFF8EA00),
            indicatorWeight: 1,
            dividerColor: Colors.black,
            tabs: const <Widget>[
              Tab(
                child: GlowText(
                  blurRadius: 3,
                  'ARMOR',
                  style: TextStyle(color: Color(0xFFF8EA00), fontSize: 18.0),
                ),
              ),
              Tab(
                child: GlowText(
                  blurRadius: 3,
                  'C.A.M.P.',
                  style: TextStyle(color: Color(0xFFF8EA00), fontSize: 18.0),
                ),
              ),
              Tab(
                child: GlowText(
                  blurRadius: 3,
                  'MODS',
                  style: TextStyle(color: Color(0xFFF8EA00), fontSize: 18.0),
                ),
              ),
              Tab(
                child: GlowText(
                  blurRadius: 3,
                  'WEAPONS',
                  style: TextStyle(color: Color(0xFFF8EA00), fontSize: 18.0),
                ),
              ),
            ],
          ),
        ),
        body: TabBarView(
          controller: _tabController,
          children: <Widget>[
            //PlansTabs(0xffff5722),
            Container(1
              height: 200.0,
              child: Center(child: Text('Armor Text')),
            ),
            Container(
              height: 200.0,
              child: Center(child: Text('C.A.M.P. Text')),
            ),
            Container(
              height: 200.0,
              child: Center(child: Text('Mods Text')),
            ),
            Container(
              height: 200.0,
              child: Center(child: Text('Weapons Text')),
            ),
          ],
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

I've tried referencing the following solutions, but can't seem to integrate it properly with my code:

• Flutter How to make an custom Tab Bar?
• How to implement custom shape tab bar indicator in flutter
• How to Customize TabBar indicator Design Flutter
• https://medium.com/swlh/flutter-custom-tab-indicator-for-tabbar-d72bbc6c9d0c

Answer 1

I think it's not possible to achieve the desired style within Flutter built-in TabBar widget. You've to make your own Custom TabBar widget. I've tried many things before to style tabbar. Hope you'll get a hint from this.

class CustomTabBar extends StatelessWidget implements PreferredSizeWidget {
  final List<String> tabTitles;
  final TabController controller;

  const CustomTabBar(
      {super.key, required this.tabTitles, required this.controller});

  @override
  Size get preferredSize => const Size.fromHeight(52);

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return SizedBox(
      height: preferredSize.height,
      child: TabBar(
        indicatorSize: TabBarIndicatorSize.label,
        indicatorPadding: const EdgeInsets.only(right: -24, left: -24),
        indicator: const BoxDecoration(
          border: Border(
            top: BorderSide(color: Color(0xFFF8EA00), width: 2),
            right: BorderSide(color: Color(0xFFF8EA00), width: 2),
            left: BorderSide(color: Color(0xFFF8EA00), width: 2),
            bottom: BorderSide(color: Colors.black, width: 4),
          ),
        ),
        // indicatorColor: Colors.black,
        controller: controller,
        tabs: [
          for (int i = 0; i < tabTitles.length; i++)
            Tab(
              child: Text(
                tabTitles[i],
                maxLines: null,
                overflow: TextOverflow.ellipsis,
                textAlign: TextAlign.center,
                style: const TextStyle(color: Colors.white),
              ),
            ),
        ],
      ),
    );
  }
}

Answer 2

demo:

code:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:flutter_glow/flutter_glow.dart';

void main() => runApp(MyApp());

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      title: 'Flutter Demo',
      debugShowCheckedModeBanner: false,
      theme: ThemeData(
        colorScheme: ColorScheme.fromSeed(seedColor: Colors.deepPurple),
        useMaterial3: true,
      ),
      home: const HomePage(),
    );
  }
}

class HomePage extends StatefulWidget {
  const HomePage({super.key});
  @override
  State<HomePage> createState() => _HomePageState();
}

const myColor = Color(0xFFF8EA00);

class _HomePageState extends State<HomePage> {
  final tabs = [
    'HOME',
    'PLANS',
    'RECIPES',
    'CREATURES',
    'PLANTS',
  ];

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return DefaultTabController(
      length: 5,
      child: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(
          backgroundColor: Colors.black,
          title: Center(
            child: Builder(
              builder: (context) {
                final ctrl = DefaultTabController.of(context);
                return TabBar(
                  indicatorColor: Colors.transparent,
                  dividerColor: Colors.transparent,
                  isScrollable: true,
                  tabs: tabs.map((tabText) {
                    final tabWidget = Tab(
                      child: GlowText(
                        tabText,
                        blurRadius: 3,
                        style: const TextStyle(
                          color: Color(0xFFF8EA00),
                          fontSize: 18.0,
                        ),
                      ),
                    );
                    if (tabText == 'HOME') {
                      return CustomPaint(
                        painter: TabsPainter(controller: ctrl),
                        child: tabWidget,
                      );
                    }
                    return tabWidget;
                  }).toList(),
                );
              },
            ),
          ),
        ),
        body: const TabBarView(
          children: <Widget>[
            Text('Home'),
            Text('Plans'),
            Text('Recipes'),
            Text('Creatures'),
            Text('Plants'),
          ],
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

class TabsPainter extends CustomPainter {
  final TabController controller;

  TabsPainter({
    required this.controller,
  }) : super(repaint: controller);

  final List<double> widths = [89, 98, 111, 141, 108];

  @override
  void paint(Canvas canvas, Size size) {
    final animation = controller.animation!;
    final paint = Paint()..color = myColor;
    paint.style = PaintingStyle.stroke;
    paint.strokeWidth = 1.5;
    final dx = sumUntil(animation.value);
    final dx2 = sumUntil(animation.value + 1);
    final path = Path()..moveTo(-15, 47);
    path.relativeLineTo(dx, 0);
    path.relativeLineTo(0, -23);
    path.relativeLineTo(8, 0);
    path.moveTo(dx2 - 27, 24);
    path.relativeLineTo(8, 0);
    path.relativeLineTo(0, 23);
    path.lineTo(sumUntil(5) - 20, 47);
    canvas.drawPath(path, paint);
  }

  double sumUntil(double animation) {
    double distance = 0;
    final index = animation.floor();
    for (int i = 0; i < index; i++) {
      distance += widths[i];
    }
    if (index < widths.length) {
      final leftover = animation - index;
      distance += leftover * widths[index];
    }
    return distance;
  }

  @override
  bool shouldRepaint(CustomPainter oldDelegate) => false;
}