Is there a specific way to mark a `MutableSharedFlow` that it won't get any new messages, so `collec...

# coroutines

[reactormonk]

Is there a specific way to mark a MutableSharedFlow that it won't get any new messages, so `collect`s terminate?

[Sam]

Nope, shared flows can never terminate.

[Casey Brooks]

No. From the docs, “Shared flow never completes.” This is by design, as SharedFlows are meant for sharing values to multiple subscribers, and are not designed as a general-purpose communication mechanism with a “lifecycle”.

If you want the collectors to respond to some “close” event, you’ll need to pass a value as a “close token” into the SharedFlow and collectors must use takeWhile to respond to it themselves. Alternatively, use a Channel, which can be explicitly closed.

[reactormonk]

With a Channel, can I expose a Flow where all consumers get the same data? receiveAsFlow() seems to spread the elements.

[Casey Brooks]

channel.receiveAsFlow().shareIn() should do the trick

[Casey Brooks]

https://kotlinlang.org/api/kotlinx.coroutines/kotlinx-coroutines-core/kotlinx.coroutines.flow/share-in.html