How to access RefreshIndicatorState of RefreshIndicator?

Question

The docs for RefreshIndicator suggest you can programmatically trigger the refresh behaviour via the RefreshIndicatorState class.

How do I access an instance of this class, assuming I've added a RefreshIndicator widget to my application? I can't see a property to access it and I'm assuming createState() is only used by the Flutter framework.

To avoid an XY problem, I should explain my reason for doing this is to perform a visually pleasing refresh of my list when my user first opens the app. The list will be empty initially and the refresh will poll my server for data.

Solution

See https://docs.flutter.io/flutter/material/RefreshIndicatorState/show.html and a usage example in the Flutter Gallery

Essentially

var indicator = new GlobalKey<RefreshIndicatorState>();

and then

indicator.currentState.show();

after it's built.