How to set different value instead of items's value in DropdownButton in flutter?

Question

I want to achieve different values behind the scene, for example, if the user selects "United State of America" behind the scene I want a value "USA" only. How can I achieve this?

Here is my button:

DropdownButton<String>(
                        isExpanded: true,
                        underline: SizedBox(),
                        icon: SvgPicture.asset("assets/icons/dropdown.svg"),
                        value: dropdownValue,
                        items: [
                          'Nepal',
                          'India',
                          'United States',
                          'Denmark',
                          'UK',
                          'World Wide'
                        ].map<DropdownMenuItem<String>>((String value) {
                          return DropdownMenuItem<String>(
                            value: value,
                            child: Text(value),
                          );
                        }).toList(),
                        onChanged: (newValue) {
                          setState(() {
                            dropdownValue = newValue;
                          });
                        },
                      ),

Answer 1

Most simple method is to create a switch case and pass in the dropdownvalue. Then define your cases and default option. You can make this with a function inside the class or in separate class.

Answer 2

What you can do is create a CountryOption class with a key('USA' in your example) and a fullName ('United States' in your example).

You then create a list of dropdown items of CountryOption instead of String, so you can store the currently selected CountryOption and you have both the key and fullName properties available for later use.

I would also recommend loading your list of items only once, not on each rebuild.

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

class CountriesButton extends StatefulWidget {
  const CountriesButton({Key key}) : super(key: key);

  @override
  _CountriesButtonState createState() => _CountriesButtonState();
}

class _CountriesButtonState extends State<CountriesButton> {
  List<DropdownMenuItem<CountryOption>> _countryItems;
  CountryOption _selectedCountry;

  @override
  void initState() {
    // Get all countries
    List<CountryOption> countries = CountryOption.allCountries;

    // Initialise your items only once
    _countryItems = countries.map<DropdownMenuItem<CountryOption>>(
      (CountryOption countryOption) {
        return DropdownMenuItem<CountryOption>(
          value: countryOption,
          child: Text(countryOption.fullName),
        );
      },
    ).toList();

    // Initialiste your dropdown with the first country in the list
    // (might be different in your specific scenario)
    _selectedCountry = countries[0];
    super.initState();
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Container(
      child: DropdownButton<CountryOption>(
        isExpanded: true,
        underline: SizedBox(),
        icon: SvgPicture.asset("assets/icons/dropdown.svg"),
        value: _selectedCountry,
        items: _countryItems,
        onChanged: (newValue) {
          setState(() {
            _selectedCountry = newValue;
          });
        },
      ),
    );
  }
}

class CountryOption {
  final String key;
  final String fullName;

  CountryOption(this.key, this.fullName);

  static List<CountryOption> get allCountries => [
        CountryOption('nepal', 'Nepal'),
        CountryOption('india', 'India'),
        CountryOption('USA', 'United States'),
        CountryOption('denmark', 'Denmark'),
        CountryOption('uk', 'UK'),
        CountryOption('world', 'World Wide'),
      ];
}

Let me know if something is not clear or if you have any questions.