Develop Reference

How do I render a react portal modal with different children?

Right now, I have a react portal rendering a 'pinnable' side drawer modal that will display based on a redux state. The contents of the modal will have information based on where that modal was pinned from, in this case my notifications.
The problem I'm running into at the moment is that since the modal will be pinnable in multiple places, I'm not exactly sure of the logic on how to handle the modal contents if the modal is already pinned.
I've tried/considered the following:
Just have one portal render its children dynamically. Unfortunately the location of where the portal will be rendered does not contain the contents and logic of the modal, so I believe this can't be done.
Compare props.children and if they're not identical, render the newer portal and deconstruct the other. I'm hesitant to use this approach since I believe there's a better solution out there.
Render the portals based on Ids and deconstruct/reconstruct where needed if one exists. I'm leaning towards this approach, but again I'd like to see if there's a better one.
Portal location:
export default function PaperContainer() {
return <div id="pinned-container"></div>;
}
Portal:
export default function PinnedContainer(props) {
const pinned = useSelector(state => state.ui.isDrawerPinned);
return (
pinned &&
createPortal(
<div>
<div>{props.children}</div>
</div>
,
document.getElementById('pinned-container')
)
);
}
Where the portals are called (simplified for brevity):
export default function PortalCallLocationOne() {
const dispatch = useDispatch();
const pinContainer = () => {
dispatch(toggleDrawer());
};
return (
<>
<Button startIcon={<Icon>push_pin</Icon>} onClick={() => pinContainer}>
Pin Notification
</Button>
<PinnedContainer>
//Notification
</PinnedContainer>
</>
);
}
export default function PortalCallLocationTwo() {
const dispatch = useDispatch();
const pinContainer = () => {
dispatch(toggleDrawer());
};
return (
<>
<Button startIcon={<Icon>push_pin</Icon>} onClick={() => pinContainer}>
Pin List
</Button>
<PinnedContainer>
// List
</PinnedContainer>
);
</>
}

I tried going off of #3 and destroying pinned-container's first child if it existed and replace it with the new children. This didn't work since React was expecting that child and kept throwing failed to execute removeChild on node errors.
Unfortunately it looks like react is unable to replace portal children instead of appending them.
However, I was able to solve my issue by unpinning the portal and repinning it with redux actions.
export default function PinnedContainer(props) {
const pinned = useSelector(state => state.ui.isDrawerPinned);
useEffect(() => {
if (pinned) {
dispatch(clearPinned());
dispatch(pinDrawer(true));
}
}, []);
return (
pinned &&
createPortal(
<div>
<div>{props.children}</div>
</div>
,
document.getElementById('pinned-container')
)
);
}
Reducer:
export const initialState = {
isDrawerPinned: false,
}
export const reducer = (state = initialState, action) => {
switch(action.type){
case actionTypes.PIN_DRAWER:
return {
...state,
isDrawerPinned: action.isPinned ? action.isPinned : !state.isDrawerPinned,
};
case actionTypes.CLEAR_PINNED:
return {
...state,
isDrawerPinned: state.isDrawerPinned ? !state.isDrawerPinned : state.isDrawerPinned
};
}
}

Creating tab component in React and handling click events for child components

New to React and trying to build a tabular component. I know I'm reinventing the wheel but I'm trying to take this as a learning experience.
Here is how I intend to use the component:
<Tabs>
<Tabs.MenuItems>
<Tabs.MenuItem>Tab item 1</Tabs.MenuItem>
<Tabs.MenuItem>Tab item 2</Tabs.MenuItem>
<Tabs.MenuItem>Tab item 3</Tabs.MenuItem>
<Tabs.MenuItem>Tab item 4</Tabs.MenuItem>
</Tabs.MenuItems>
<Tabs.Panes>
<Tabs.Pane><div>placeholder></div></Tabs.Pane>
<Tabs.Pane><div>placeholder></div></Tabs.Pane>
<Tabs.Pane><div>placeholder></div></Tabs.Pane>
<Tabs.Pane><div>placeholder></div></Tabs.Pane>
</Tabs.Panes>
</Tabs>
My current implementation works in displaying the items properly. But the one challenge I am facing is being able to handle the onClick event for the Tabs.MenuItem. I understand that I should not be handling the onClick in the Tabs.MenuItem child component, and rather should be handled in the upmost parent Tabs component.
I tried using forwardedRef but that posed some limitations in accessing the props.children. Even if I managed to get it working syntactically, I am not even sure how the Tabs component is suppose to access that ref.
The idea here is that depending on what Tabs.MenuItem is in an active state, it will correspond to the same child Tabs.Pane component index to render that pane.
import React, { forwardRef, useState } from "react";
const Tabs = (props, { activePane }) => {
return (
props.children
);
}
const MenuItems = (props) => {
React.Children.forEach(props.children, child => {
console.log(child);
})
return (
<div className="ui secondary menu" style={props.style}>
{props.children}
</div>
)
}
const MenuItem = (props) => {
const [isActive, setActive] = useState(false);
return (
// eslint-disable-next-line jsx-a11y/anchor-is-valid
<a className={isActive ? "item active" : "item"} onClick={() => setActive(!isActive)}>{props.children}</a>
)
}
// const MenuItem = forwardRef((props, ref) => (
// // eslint-disable-next-line jsx-a11y/anchor-is-valid
// <a ref={ref} className="item">{props.children}</a> // error accessing props.children
// ))
const Panes = (props) => {
return (
props.children
)
}
const Pane = (props) => {
return (
props.children
)
}
Tabs.MenuItems = MenuItems;
Tabs.MenuItem = MenuItem;
Tabs.Panes = Panes;
Tabs.Pane = Pane;
export default Tabs;
I am not looking for someone to complete the entire tabular functionality, just an example of how I can forward the children references to the topmost parent so that I can handle click events properly.

Can't update parent component state with React UseState

im facing this weird behavior when trying to update the parent component with an set function to the child with props
this hook is to open and close the modal to edit an element
//PARENT FILE
//hook
const [isEditModalOpen, setEditModalOpen] = useState(false)
//more code...
//modal
{isEditModalOpen && <EditExcerciseModal setEditModalOpen={setEditModalOpen} isEditModalOpen={isEditModalOpen} />}
and this is the child code
//CHILD FILE
export const EditExcerciseModal = ({setEditModalOpen, excerciseInfo,fetchExcercisesFromRoutine})
//more code etc etc
<div className="addExcerciseModalContainer">
<span onClick={() =>{ setEditModalOpen(false) }} className="xModal">X</span>
i checked and the onClick is working. if i change the parent state manually the Modal works fine and closes.
the weird case when it its working is when instead of calling the set function i create a function with a setTimeout without time like this:
function closeModal(){
setTimeout(() => { setEditModalOpen(false)}, 0);
}
any ideas?
thanks for the help

You need to create a separation of concern. A Modal consists of three parts
The Modal of its Self.
The Content of the Modal.
And the container of the two.
You should be using the useState() hook and calling setEditModalOpen in the same containing component.
You need to make sure that you're declaring and setting state inside the same component.
// children would be the content of the modal
const Modal = ({ children, selector, open, setOpen }) => {
// we need the useEffect hook so that when we change open to false
// the modal component will re-render and the portal will not be created
useEffect(() => {
setOpen(false);
//provide useEffect hook with clean up.
return () => setOpen(true);
}, [selector]);
return open ? createPortal(children, selector) : null;
};
export const EditExerciseModal = ({ close }) => {
return (
<div>
{/* Instead of creating a handler inside this component we can create it in it's parent element */}
<span onClick={close}>X</span>
{/* Content */}
</div>
);
};
export const ModalBtn = () => {
const [isEditModalOpen, setEditModalOpen] = useState(false);
// this is where it all comes together,
// our button element will keep track of the isEditModalOpen variable,
// which in turn will update both child elements
// when true useEffect hook will re-render Modal Component only now it "will" createPortal()
// when our EditExerciseModal alls close it will set change the isEditModalOpen to false
// which will be passed to the Modal component which
// will then cause the component to re-render and not call createPortal()
return (
<>
<button onClick={() => setEditModalOpen(true)}>EditExerciseModal</button>
{setEditModalOpen && (
<Modal
open={isEditModalOpen}
setOpen={setEditModalOpen}
selector={'#portal'}>
<div className='overlay'>
<EditExerciseModal close={() => setEditModalOpen(false)} />
</div>
</Modal>
)}
</>
);
};

How to get updated state from react parent component

I have the following structure
=Parent Component (with a list as a state)
== Sub Comp list={list})
=== Sub Comp2 list={list}
==== Node list={list}
export const Node = (props) => {
// some state setup
const [checked, setChecked] = useState(false)
const handleCheckbox = () => {
if(!checked){
//Checkbox checked, add this Node to list in Parent Component
props.updateList(someLabel)
}
else{
props.removeFromList(someLabel)
}
}
return(
<TreeItem
icon = {<Checkbox checked={checked} onChange={handleCheckbox}}
>
{expanded && !fetching ? childNodes : <TreeItem label="reached end" />
</TreeItem>
)
}
Now this work the way that I intended, but the problem is since it's a TreeView if I collapse and expand one of the parent nodes, I lose the checked value.
To fix this I put
useEffect(() => {
var inList = props.list.find(function(item) { return item.name === label} ) !=== undefined
if(inList){ setChecked(true)} else{setChecked(false)}
}, [])
Now the above works as intended, but only if I go to the next page on my form and then come back. The problem is that when the list is updated, the useEffect is still using the old state of the list.
How do I force useEffect to use the most updated state, or force the state to update since it's asynchronous?

You have a few options depending on your circumstance. If you just want the latest parent state in the child component you can pass the parent's state as well as the updater as a prop to the child component as below.
Parent:
const ParentComponent = () => {
const [checked, setChecked] = React.useState(false);
return (
<ChildComponent checked={checked} setChecked={setChecked} />
)
}
Child:
const ChildComponent = ({checked, setChecked}) => {
return (
<>
<p>{checked}</p>
<button onClick={() =>setChecked(!checked)}>Button!</button>
</>
)
}
If you are trying to use the state information in parallel components or if you are passing state more than one or two levels down, consider using a context.

Prevent modal from closing after re-render in react

Inside a Component, I have a Modal from which the user can do an update to some data through an API and then change the state of that main Component. Because there is a change in state, everything will re-render.
I would like to keep the modal open, so that I can show a success message.
The code would be something like this.
const Main = () => {
const [state, setState()] = useState();
return (
<Component state={state}>
<Modal onButtonClick={() => {
updateThroughApi().then(() => setState())} />
</Component>
)
}
When user clicks on modal's button, the state changes, and Component is re-rendered. Modal is rendered too, as it's inside.
I have thought of two possible solutions:
Move the modal outside of the component. This is a problem, as my actual code is not as simple as the example I posted. In my code, the modal opens on the click of a button B, which is deep inside Component. So, if I move the modal out from Component, I would have to pass the status and the action to change status (e.g. [open, setOpen]) through several components until button B (prop drilling).
Another solution: On the action onButtonClick I just do the API update, and use a new state updated = true; then, onModalClose, only if updated is true, I run setState so Component is rendered just after the modal is closed. But this solution seems a hack to me. There must be a better way.
Is there any better solution?

Something is obviously going very wrong here, the Modal should not close. As a workaround you could do something like this:
const Main = () => {
const [state, setState()] = useState();
const modal = useMemo(() => (
<Modal onButtonClick={() => {
updateThroughApi().then(() => setState())} />
), [])
return (
<Component state={state}>{modal}</Component>
)
}

Your Modal is re-rendering because your function passed as onButtonClick is redefined at every render.
So you have 2 options here:
1/ Keep your Modal inside your Component and use useMemo
import { useMemo } from 'react'
const Main = () => {
const [state, setState] = useState();
const modal = useMemo(() => (
<Modal onButtonClick={() => (
updateThroughApi().then(() => setState())
)}
/>
), [])
return (
<Component state={state}>
{modal}
</Component>
)
}
Or 2/ Move your Modal outside your component and use combination of memo and useCallback
import { memo, useCallback } from 'react'
const Main = () => {
const [state, setState] = useState();
const onButtonClick = useCallback(() => updateThroughApi().then(() => setState()), []);
return (
<Component state={state}>
<Modal onButtonClick={onButtonClick} />
</Component>
)
}
const Modal = memo(({onButtonClick}) => {
})
So in this case, at every render, memo will compare if all Modal props are === from previous render, which is now the case, because memoization of onButtonClick with useCallback, and so your Modal component will not re-render
https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-reference.html#usememo