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React use effect causing infinite loop

Am new to react and am creating a custom select component where its supposed to set an array selected state and also trigger an onchange event and pass it to the parent with the selected items and also get initial value as prop and set some data.
let firstTime = true;
const CustomSelect = (props)=>{
const [selected, setSelected] = useState([]);
const onSelectedHandler = (event)=>{
// remove if already included in the selected items remove
//otherwise add
setSelected((prev)=>{
if (selected.includes(value)) {
values = prevState.filter(item => item !== event.target.value);
}else {
values = [...prevState, event.target.value];
}
return values;
})
// tried calling props.onSelection(selected) but its not latest value
}
//watch when the value of selected is updated and pass onchange to parent
//with the newest value
useEffect(()=>{
if(!firstTime && props.onSelection){
props.onSelection(selected);
}
firstTime = false;
},[selected])
return (<select onChange={onSelectedHandler}>
<option value="1"></option>
</select>);
};
Am using it on a parent like
const ParentComponent = ()=>{
const onSelectionHandler = (val)=>{
//do stuff with the value passed
}
return (
<CustomSelect initialValue={[1,2]} onSelection={onSelectionHandler} />
);
}
export default ParentComponent
The above works well but now the issue comes in when i want to set the initialValue passed from the parent onto the customSelect by updating the selected state. I have added the followin on the CustomSelect, but it causes an infinite loop
const {initialValue} = props
useEffect(()=>{
//check if the value of initialValue is an array
//and other checks
setSelected(initialValue)
},[initialValue]);
I understand that i could have passed the initialValue in the useState but i would like to do a couple of checks before setting the selected state.
How can i resolve this, am still new to react.

In your //do stuff with the value passed you are most likely update the states of your component parent component and it causes to rerender parent component. When passing the prop initialValue={[1,2]} creates a new instance of [1,2] array on each render and causes the infinite render on useEffect. In order to solve this, you can move the initialValue prop to somewhere else as const value like this:
const INITIAL_VALUE_PROP = [1,2];
const ParentComponent = ()=>{
const onSelectionHandler = (val)=>{
//do stuff with the value passed
}
return (
<CustomSelect initialValue={INITIAL_VALUE_PROP} onSelection={onSelectionHandler}
/>
);
}
export default ParentComponent

Okay, so the reason this is happening is that you're passing the initialValue prop as an array, and since this is a reference value in JavaScript, it means that each time it's passed(updated), it's passed with a different reference value/address, and so the effect will continue to re-run infinitely. One way to solve this is to use React.useMemo, documentation here to store/preserve the reference value of the array passed, not to cause unnecessary side effects running.

a function that supposed to return a different value each time does not work in react

I am working on my portfolio, but when I reach the experiences page I tried to create a title that has it's middle part change every second, and value of it must come from an already set up array,
but when I run the code it always return the first string of the array,
can anyone please fix this problem for me ?
const projectsTitleKeyWords = ['responsible', 'meaningful', 'beautiful']
let titlep2 = 'test'
let index = 0
const change = () => {
titlep2 = projectsTitleKeyWords[index]
index = ++index % projectsTitleKeyWords.length
setTimeout(change, 1000)
}
change()
console.log(titlep2)
const titlep1 = 'I creat '
const titlep1Array = titlep1.split('')
let titlep2Array = titlep2.split('')
const titlep3 = ' projects'
const titlep3Array = titlep3.split('')
the value of titlep2Array will be received by
<AnimatedLetters
letterClass={letterClass}
strArray={titlep2Array}
idx={15}
id='to-change'
/>

In-order to reflect UI changes in React, a component must re-render.
A React component re-renders in 1 of 2 scenarios:
Whenever there's a change in the value of a local state.
Whenever any of it's parent components re-render.
Therefor, since changes in the UI are only reflected upon a re-render, we should manage a local state that would be responsible for this behavior.
With functional components in React, this can be achieved via the useState hook.
In your case, we can simply make titlep2 a state, instead of a regular variable.
Example:
const [titlep2, setTitlep2] = useState('')
const change = () => {
setTitlep2(projectsTitleKeyWords[index])
index = ++index % projectsTitleKeyWords.length
setTimeout(change, 1000)
}
<AnimatedLetters
letterClass={letterClass}
strArray={titlep2.split('')}
idx={15}
id='to-change'
/>
Note: since this function now updates the state, we can't call it the way you did in your example, since it will run every time the component re-renders, making the component re-render indefinitely due to the change in state.
Therefor, we can use the useEffect hook in-order to allow it to run only once on the initial render.
Example:
const change = () => {
setTitlep2(projectsTitleKeyWords[index])
index = ++index % projectsTitleKeyWords.length
setTimeout(change, 1000)
}
useEffect(() => {
change()
}, [])
Furthermore, if there are any other variables that should reflect changes in the UI, they can be convert to states as well.

for that try using the setInterval() instead of setTimeout().
You are trying to make the text change after a specific interval in this case 1 second.
You should also consider doing that will CSS animations, it seems this is overkill.
const change = () => {
titlep2 = projectsTitleKeyWords[index]
index = ++index % projectsTitleKeyWords.length
console.log(titlep2)
setInterval(change, 1000)
}
change()

React Native - need variable to update immediately, but useState is async?

Ok, I've looked extensively at useState set method not reflecting change immediately and I understand that React.useState variables are async.
This is a problem given that I'm working with a component structured React Native app, and need to set and use a variable immediately upon releasing drag of a component. I am doing this within a callback function of a Draggable from https://github.com/tongyy/react-native-draggable#readme , so the callback hook solution from useState set method not reflecting change immediately won't work.
Here's what I mean. I start with these React.useState
export default function App() {
const [firstColor, setFirstColor] = React.useState('');
const [secondColor, setSecondColor] = React.useState('');
Then I update them based on the position of the Draggable on the OnDragRelease callback function:
<Draggable onDragRelease={(event, gestureState) => { ToggleComboColor1(event, gestureState); ToggleComboPage(); } } onPressIn={() => {setDidDrag1(true);}} />
Here's where there is trouble. I have to set the useState variable based on gestureState, then if both Draggables have been dragged, toggle a result with ToggleComboPage() :
const ToggleComboColor1 = (event, gestureState) => {
setFirstColor(determineDraggableColor(gestureState.moveX, gestureState.moveY));
console.log(firstColor); //This does NOT print an updated value
}
const ToggleComboPage = () =>
{
if(didDrag1 && didDrag2)
{
console.log(firstColor + " | "+secondColor); //This, consequently, does NOT print an updated value for the most recently dragged
// setCurrentColorCombo(
// getColorComboItemArray(firstColor, secondColor)[0]
// );
// setCurrentKey("Combo");
// setDidDrag1(false);
// setDidDrag2(false);
}
}
I tried using a plain var to circumvent this, but those are re rendered / re created every time there's a re render.
How can I update and use these variables here?

How to make sure a React state using useState() hook has been updated?

I had a class component named <BasicForm> that I used to build forms with. It handles validation and all the form state. It provides all the necessary functions (onChange, onSubmit, etc) to the inputs (rendered as children of BasicForm) via React context.
It works just as intended. The problem is that now that I'm converting it to use React Hooks, I'm having doubts when trying to replicate the following behavior that I did when it was a class:
class BasicForm extends React.Component {
...other code...
touchAllInputsValidateAndSubmit() {
// CREATE DEEP COPY OF THE STATE'S INPUTS OBJECT
let inputs = {};
for (let inputName in this.state.inputs) {
inputs = Object.assign(inputs, {[inputName]:{...this.state.inputs[inputName]}});
}
// TOUCH ALL INPUTS
for (let inputName in inputs) {
inputs[inputName].touched = true;
}
// UPDATE STATE AND CALL VALIDATION
this.setState({
inputs
}, () => this.validateAllFields()); // <---- SECOND CALLBACK ARGUMENT
}
... more code ...
}
When the user clicks the submit button, BasicForm should 'touch' all inputs and only then call validateAllFields(), because validation errors will only show if an input has been touched. So if the user hasn't touched any, BasicForm needs to make sure to 'touch' every input before calling the validateAllFields() function.
And when I was using classes, the way I did this, was by using the second callback argument on the setState() function as you can see from the code above. And that made sure that validateAllField() only got called after the state update (the one that touches all fields).
But when I try to use that second callback parameter with state hooks useState(), I get this error:
const [inputs, setInputs] = useState({});
... some other code ...
setInputs(auxInputs, () => console.log('Inputs updated!'));
Warning: State updates from the useState() and useReducer() Hooks
don't support the second callback argument. To execute a side effect
after rendering, declare it in the component body with useEffect().
So, according to the error message above, I'm trying to do this with the useEffect() hook. But this makes me a little bit confused, because as far as I know, useEffect() is not based on state updates, but in render execution. It executes after every render. And I know React can queue some state updates before re-rendering, so I feel like I don't have full control of exactly when my useEffect() hook will be executed as I did have when I was using classes and the setState() second callback argument.
What I got so far is (it seems to be working):
function BasicForm(props) {
const [inputs, setInputs] = useState({});
const [submitted, setSubmitted] = useState(false);
... other code ...
function touchAllInputsValidateAndSubmit() {
const shouldSubmit = true;
// CREATE DEEP COPY OF THE STATE'S INPUTS OBJECT
let auxInputs = {};
for (let inputName in inputs) {
auxInputs = Object.assign(auxInputs, {[inputName]:{...inputs[inputName]}});
}
// TOUCH ALL INPUTS
for (let inputName in auxInputs) {
auxInputs[inputName].touched = true;
}
// UPDATE STATE
setInputs(auxInputs);
setSubmitted(true);
}
// EFFECT HOOK TO CALL VALIDATE ALL WHEN SUBMITTED = 'TRUE'
useEffect(() => {
if (submitted) {
validateAllFields();
}
setSubmitted(false);
});
... some more code ...
}
I'm using the useEffect() hook to call the validateAllFields() function. And since useEffect() is executed on every render I needed a way to know when to call validateAllFields() since I don't want it on every render. Thus, I created the submitted state variable so I can know when I need that effect.
Is this a good solution? What other possible solutions you might think of? It just feels really weird.
Imagine that validateAllFields() is a function that CANNOT be called twice under no circunstances. How do I know that on the next render my submitted state will be already 'false' 100% sure?
Can I rely on React performing every queued state update before the next render? Is this guaranteed?

I encountered something like this recently (SO question here), and it seems like what you've come up with is a decent approach.
You can add an arg to useEffect() that should do what you want:
e.g.
useEffect(() => { ... }, [submitted])
to watch for changes in submitted.
Another approach could be to modify hooks to use a callback, something like:
import React, { useState, useCallback } from 'react';
const useStateful = initial => {
const [value, setValue] = useState(initial);
return {
value,
setValue
};
};
const useSetState = initialValue => {
const { value, setValue } = useStateful(initialValue);
return {
setState: useCallback(v => {
return setValue(oldValue => ({
...oldValue,
...(typeof v === 'function' ? v(oldValue) : v)
}));
}, []),
state: value
};
};
In this way you can emulate the behavior of the 'classic' setState().

I have tried to solve it using the useEffect() hook but it didn't quite solve my problem. It kind of worked, but I ended up finding it a little too complicated for a simple task like that and I also wasn't feeling sure enough about how many times my function was being executed, and if it was being executed after the state change of not.
The docs on useEffect() mention some use cases for the effect hook and none of them are the use that I was trying to do.
useEffect API reference
Using the effect hook
I got rid of the useEffect() hook completely and made use of the functional form of the setState((prevState) => {...}) function that assures that you'll get a current version of your state when you use it like that. So the code sequence became the following:
// ==========================================================================
// FUNCTION TO HANDLE ON SUBMIT
// ==========================================================================
function onSubmit(event){
event.preventDefault();
touchAllInputsValidateAndSubmit();
return;
}
// ==========================================================================
// FUNCTION TO TOUCH ALL INPUTS WHEN BEGIN SUBMITING
// ==========================================================================
function touchAllInputsValidateAndSubmit() {
let auxInputs = {};
const shouldSubmit = true;
setInputs((prevState) => {
// CREATE DEEP COPY OF THE STATE'S INPUTS OBJECT
for (let inputName in prevState) {
auxInputs = Object.assign(auxInputs, {[inputName]:{...prevState[inputName]}});
}
// TOUCH ALL INPUTS
for (let inputName in auxInputs) {
auxInputs[inputName].touched = true;
}
return({
...auxInputs
});
});
validateAllFields(shouldSubmit);
}
// ==========================================================================
// FUNCTION TO VALIDATE ALL INPUT FIELDS
// ==========================================================================
function validateAllFields(shouldSubmit = false) {
// CREATE DEEP COPY OF THE STATE'S INPUTS OBJECT
let auxInputs = {};
setInputs((prevState) => {
// CREATE DEEP COPY OF THE STATE'S INPUTS OBJECT
for (let inputName in prevState) {
auxInputs =
Object.assign(auxInputs, {[inputName]:{...prevState[inputName]}});
}
// ... all the validation code goes here
return auxInputs; // RETURNS THE UPDATED STATE
}); // END OF SETINPUTS
if (shouldSubmit) {
checkValidationAndSubmit();
}
}
See from the validationAllFields() declaration that I'm performing all my code for that function inside a call of setInputs( (prevState) => {...}) and that makes sure that I'll be working on an updated current version of my inputs state, i.e: I'm sure that all inputs have been touched by the touchAllInputsValidateAndSubmit() because I'm inside the setInputs() with the functional argument form.
// ==========================================================================
// FUNCTION TO CHECK VALIDATION BEFORE CALLING SUBMITACTION
// ==========================================================================
function checkValidationAndSubmit() {
let valid = true;
// THIS IS JUST TO MAKE SURE IT GETS THE MOST RECENT STATE VERSION
setInputs((prevState) => {
for (let inputName in prevState) {
if (inputs[inputName].valid === false) {
valid = false;
}
}
if (valid) {
props.submitAction(prevState);
}
return prevState;
});
}
See that I use that same pattern of the setState() with functional argument call inside the checkValidationAndSubmit() function. In there, I also need to make sure that I'm get the current, validated state before I can submit.
This is working without issues so far.

How does React.useState triggers re-render?

import { useState } from 'react';
function Example() {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
return (
<div>
<p>You clicked {count} times</p>
<button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>
Click me
</button>
</div>
);
}
In the above example whenever setCount(count + 1) is invoked a re-render happens. I am curious to learn the flow.
I tried looking into the source code. I could not find any reference of useState or other hooks at github.com/facebook/react.
I installed react#next via npm i react#next and found the following at node_modules/react/cjs/react.development.js
function useState(initialState) {
var dispatcher = resolveDispatcher();
return dispatcher.useState(initialState);
}
On tracing back for dispatcher.useState(), I could only find the following ...
function resolveDispatcher() {
var dispatcher = ReactCurrentOwner.currentDispatcher;
!(dispatcher !== null) ? invariant(false, 'Hooks can only be called inside the body of a function component.') : void 0;
return dispatcher;
}
var ReactCurrentOwner = {
/**
* #internal
* #type {ReactComponent}
*/
current: null,
currentDispatcher: null
};
I wonder where can I find dispatcher.useState() implementation and learn how it triggers re-render when setState setCount is invoked.
Any pointer would be helpful.
Thanks!

The key in understanding this is the following paragraph from the Hooks FAQ
How does React associate Hook calls with components?
React keeps track of the currently rendering component. Thanks to the Rules of Hooks, we know that Hooks are only called from React components (or custom Hooks — which are also only called from React components).
There is an internal list of “memory cells” associated with each component. They’re just JavaScript objects where we can put some data. When you call a Hook like useState(), it reads the current cell (or initializes it during the first render), and then moves the pointer to the next one. This is how multiple useState() calls each get independent local state.
(This also explains the Rules of Hooks. Hooks need to be called unconditionally in the same order, otherwise the association of memory cell and hook is messed up.)
Let's walk through your counter example, and see what happens. For simplicity I will refer to the compiled development React source code and React DOM source code, both version 16.13.1.
The example starts when the component mounts and useState() (defined on line 1581) is called for the first time.
function useState(initialState) {
var dispatcher = resolveDispatcher();
return dispatcher.useState(initialState);
}
As you have noticed, this calls resolveDispatcher() (defined on line 1546). The dispatcher refers internally to the component that's currently being rendered. Within a component you can (if you dare to get fired), have a look at the dispatcher, e.g. via
console.log(React.__SECRET_INTERNALS_DO_NOT_USE_OR_YOU_WILL_BE_FIRED.ReactCurrentDispatcher.current)
If you apply this in case of the counter example, you will notice that the dispatcher.useState() refers to the react-dom code. When the component is first mounted, useState refers to the one defined on line 15986 which calls mountState(). Upon re-rendering, the dispatcher has changed and the function useState() on line 16077 is triggered, which calls updateState(). Both methods, mountState() on line 15352 and updateState() on line 15371, return the count, setCount pair.
Tracing ReactCurrentDispatcher gets quite messy. However, the fact of its existence is already enough to understand how the re-rendering happens. The magic happens behind the scene. As the FAQ states, React keeps track of the currently rendered component. This means, useState() knows which component it is attached to, how to find the state information and how to trigger the re-rendering.

setState is a method on the Component/PureComponent class, so it will do whatever is implemented in the Component class (including calling the render method).
setState offloads the state update to enqueueSetState so the fact that it's bound to this is really only a consequence of using classes and extending from Component. Once, you realize that the state update isn't actually being handled by the component itself and the this is just a convenient way to access the state update functionality, then useState not being explicitly bound to your component makes much more sense.

I also tried to understand the logic behind useState in a very simplified and basic manner, if we just look into its basic functionalities, excluding optimizations and async behavior, then we found that it is basically doing 4 things in common,
maintaining of State, primary work to do
re-rendering of the component through which it get called so that caller component can get the latest value for state
as it caused the re-rendering of the caller component it means it must maintain the instance or context of that component too, which also allows us to use useState for multiple component at once.
as we are free to use as many useState as we want inside our component that means it must maintain some identity for each useState inside the same component.
keeping these things in mind I come up with the below snippet
const Demo = (function React() {
let workInProgress = false;
let context = null;
const internalRendering = (callingContext) => {
context = callingContext;
context();
};
const intialRender = (component) => {
context = component;
workInProgress = true;
context.state = [];
context.TotalcallerId = -1; // to store the count of total number of useState within a component
context.count = -1; // counter to keep track of useStates within component
internalRendering(context);
workInProgress = false;
context.TotalcallerId = context.count;
context = null;
};
const useState = (initState) => {
if (!context) throw new Error("Can only be called inside function");
// resetting the count so that it can maintain the order of useState being called
context.count =
context.count === context.TotalcallerId ? -1 : context.count;
let callId = ++context.count;
// will only initialize the value of setState on initial render
const setState =
!workInProgress ||
(() => {
const instanceCallerId = callId;
const memoizedContext = context;
return (updatedState) => {
memoizedContext.state[instanceCallerId].value = updatedState;
internalRendering(memoizedContext);
};
})();
context.state[callId] = context.state[callId] || {
value: initState,
setValue: setState,
};
return [context.state[callId].value, context.state[callId].setValue];
};
return { useState, intialRender };
})();
const { useState, intialRender } = Demo;
const Component = () => {
const [count, setCount] = useState(1);
const [greeting, setGreeting] = useState("hello");
const changeCount = () => setCount(100);
const changeGreeting = () => setGreeting("hi");
setTimeout(() => {
changeCount();
changeGreeting();
}, 5000);
return console.log(`count ${count} name ${greeting}`);
};
const anotherComponent = () => {
const [count, setCount] = useState(50);
const [value, setValue] = useState("World");
const changeCount = () => setCount(500);
const changeValue = () => setValue("React");
setTimeout(() => {
changeCount();
changeValue();
}, 10000);
return console.log(`count ${count} name ${value}`);
};
intialRender(Component);
intialRender(anotherComponent);
here useState and initialRender are taken from Demo. intialRender is use to call the components initially, it will initialize the context first and then on that context set the state as an empty array (there are multiple useState on each component so we need array to maintain it) and also we need counter to make count for each useState, and TotalCounter to store total number of useState being called for each component.

FunctionComponent is different. In the past, they are pure, simple. But now they have their own state.
It's easy to forget that react use createElement wrap all the JSX node, also includes FunctionComponent.
function FunctionComponent(){
return <div>123</div>;
}
const a=<FunctionComponent/>
//after babel transform
function FunctionComponent() {
return React.createElement("div", null, "123");
}
var a = React.createElement(FunctionComponent, null);
The FunctionComponent was passed to react. When setState is called, it's easy to re-render;