Develop Reference

Re-rendering on key-value pair object components

I want to avoid re-render of my child component <ChildComponent/> whenever I update my state using a onClick in <ChildComponent/>.
I have my callback function in <ParentComponent/> which updates one of the values for the key-value pair object.
In the parent component
const _keyValueObject = useMemo(() => utilityFunction(array, object), [array, object])
const [keyValueObject, setKeyValueObject] = useState<SomeTransport>(_keyValueObject)
const handleStateChange = useCallback((id: number) => {
setKeyValueObject(keyValueObject => {
const temp = { ... keyValueObject }
keyValueObject[id].isChecked = ! keyValueObject[id].isChecked
return temp
})
}, [])
return(
<Container>
{!! keyValueObject &&
Object.values(keyValueObject).map(value => (
<ValueItem
key={value.id}
category={value}
handleStateChange ={handleStateChange}
/>
))}
</Container>
)
In child component ValueItem
const clickHandler = useCallback(
event => {
event.preventDefault()
event.stopPropagation()
handleStateChange(value.id)
},
[handleStateChange, value.id],
)
return (
<Container>
<CheckBox checked={value.isChecked} onClick={clickHandler}>
{value.isChecked && <Icon as={CheckboxCheckedIcon as AnyStyledComponent} />}
</CheckBox>
<CategoryItem key={value.id}>{value.title}</CategoryItem>
</Container>
)
export default ValueItem
In child component if I use export default memo(ValueItem), then the checkbox does not get updated on the click.
What I need now is to not re-render every child component, but keeping in mind that the checkbox works. Any suggestions?

Spreading (const temp = { ... keyValueObject }) doesn't deep clone the object as you might think. So while keyValueObject will have a new reference, it's object values will not be cloned, so will have the same reference, so memo will think nothing changes when comparing the category prop.
Solution: make sure you create a new value for the keyValueObject's id which you want to update. Example: setKeyValueObject(keyValueObject => ({...keyValueObject, [id]: {...keyValueObject[id], isChecked: !keyValueObject[id].isChecked})). Now keyValueObject[id] is a new object/reference, so memo will see that and render your component. It will not render the other children since their references stay the same.

Working Codesandbox
Explanation
What you need to do is wrap the child with React.memo. This way you ensure that Child is memoized and doesn't re-render unnecessarily. However, that is not enough.
In parent, handleStateChange is getting a new reference on every render, therefore it makes the parent render. If the parent renders, all the children will re-render. Wrapping the handleStateChange with useCallback makes sure react component remembers the reference to the function. And memo remembers the result for Child.
Useful resource

React component rerenders when sending function as props to it

I have a child component StartExam where I am sending two functions as props, from the parent component. I saw that it keeps rerendering because it gets new values of functions the whole time. I have used this piece of code to find out which props are being updated, and it gave me the two functions that I am sending.
componentDidUpdate(prevProps, prevState, snapshot) {
Object.entries(this.props).forEach(([key, val]) =>
prevProps[key] !== val && console.log(`Prop '${key}' changed`)
);
if (this.state) {
Object.entries(this.state).forEach(([key, val]) =>
prevState[key] !== val && console.log(`State '${key}' changed`)
);
}
}
This is how I am sending functions from the parent component:
<Route path={`${matchedPath}/start`}
render={
this.examStatusGuard(
'NOT_STARTED',
(props) =>
<StartExam
language={this.state.language}
startExam={() => this.startExam()}
logAction={(action) => this.logAction({action})}/>)
}
/>
and this is the examStatusGuard function:
examStatusGuard(requiredState, renderFunc) {
return (props) => {
if (this.state.exam.status !== requiredState) {
return <Redirect to={this.examStatusDefaultUrl()}/>
}
return renderFunc(props);
}
}
And this are the two functions I am sending down as props:
logAction(actionModel) {
const wholeActionModel = {
language: this.state.language,
taskId: null,
answerId: null,
...actionModel
};
console.log(wholeActionModel);
return wholeActionModel;
}
startExam() {
this.logAction({action: actions.EXAM_STARTET});
this.examGateway.startExam()
.then(() => this.loadExam())
.then(() => {
this.props.history.push("/exam/task/0");
this.logAction({action: actions.TASK_OPEN, taskId: this.state.exam.tasks[0].id});
});
};
The reason I don't want the functions to be recreated is that in the child component I have a method that calls logAction, and it is being called the whole time, instead of just once.
This is the method:
renderFirstPage() {
this.props.logAction(actions.INFOSIDE_OPEN);
return <FirstPage examInfo={this.props.eksamensInfo}>
{this.gotoNextPageComponent()}
</FirstPage>
}
I have tried with sending the functions like it is suggested in the answer, but with binding this to them:
<StartExam
language={this.state.language}
startExam={this.startExam.bind(this)}
logAction={this.logAction.bind(this)}/>
But, the functions were being recreated again the whole time.
How can I fix this?

When you send a function like you are, you are creating an anonymous function that is re-created each time the parent component renders:
startExam={() => this.startExam()}
That's an anonymous function, whose whole purpose in life is to call the actual function startExam. It's being defined right here in the render function of the parent, so it's re-created each time. You can alternatively just send that function down itself, i.e.
startExam={this.startExam}
In this case the prop now references a stable function that is not getting recreated every time. I imagine that will fix your problem.
However, it's not entirely clear to me why it matters that the function is being recreated every time and your child component is re-rendering. The props aren't changing an infinite amount of time, but rather only when the parent is rerendering. That's usually not a problem, unless you are basing some other action to see if the previous props have changed (like with lodash, _.isEqual(prevProps,this.props)).

How to set initial state value for useState Hook in jest and enzyme?

I know this question is already asked here: How to set initial state for useState Hook in jest and enzyme?
const [state, setState] = useState([]);
And I totally agree with Jimmy's Answer to mock the useState function from test file but I have some extended version of this question, "What if I have multiple useState statements into the hooks, How can I test them and assign the respective custom values to them?"
I have some JSX rendering with the condition of hook's state values and depending on the values of that state the JSX is rendering.
How Can I test those JSX by getting them into the wrapper of my test case code?

Upon the answer you linked, you can return different values for each call of a mock function:
let myMock = jest.fn();
myMock
.mockReturnValueOnce(10)
.mockReturnValueOnce('x')
.mockReturnValue(true);
In my opinion this is still brittle. You may modify the component and add another state later, and you would get confusing results.
Another way to test a React component is to test it like a user would by clicking things and setting values on inputs. This would fire the event handlers of the component, and React would update the state just as in real configuration. You may not be able to do shallow rendering though, or you may need to mock the child components.
If you prefer shallow rendering, maybe read initial state values from props like this:
function FooComponent({initialStateValue}) {
const [state, setState] = useState(initialStateValue ?? []);
}

If you don't really need to test state but the effects state has on children, you should (as some comments mention) just then test the side effect and treat the state as an opaque implementation detail. This will work if your are not using shallow rendering or not doing some kind of async initialization like fetching data in an effect or something otherwise it could require more work.
If you cant do the above, you might consider removing state completely out of the component and make it completely functional. That way any state you need, you can just inject it into the component. You could wrap all of the hooks into a 'controller' type hook that encapsulates the behavior of a component or domain. Here is an example of how you might do that with a <Todos />. This code is 0% tested, its just written to show a concept.
const useTodos = (state = {}) => {
const [todos, setTodos] = useState(state.todos);
const id = useRef(Date.now());
const addTodo = useCallback((task) => {
setTodos((current) => [...current, { id: id.current++, completed: false, task }]);
}, []);
const removeTodo = useCallback((id) => {
setTodos((current) => current.filter((t) => t.id !== id));
}, []);
const completeTodo = useCallback((id) => {
setTodos((current) => current.map((t) => {
let next = t;
if (t.id === id) {
next = { ...t, completed: true };
}
return next;
}))
}, []);
return { todos, addTodo, removeTodo, completeTodo };
};
const Todos = (props) => {
const { todos, onAdd, onRemove, onComplete } = props;
const onSubmit = (e) => {
e.preventDefault();
onAdd({ task: e.currentTarget.elements['todo'].value });
}
return (
<div classname="todos">
<ul className="todos-list">
{todos.map((todo) => (
<Todo key={todo.id} onRemove={onRemove} onComplete={onComplete} />
)}
</ul>
<form className="todos-form" onSubmit={onSubmit}>
<input name="todo" />
<button>Add</button>
</form>
</div>
);
};
So now the parent component injects <Todos /> with todos and callbacks. This is useful for testing, SSR, ect. Your component can just take a list of todos and some handlers, and more importantly you can trivially test both. For <Todos /> you can pass mocks and known state and for useTodos you would just call the methods and make sure the state reflects what is expected.
You might be thinking This moves the problem up a level and it does, but you can now test the component/logic and increase test coverage. The glue layer would require minimal if any testing around this component, unless you really wanted to make sure props are passed into the component.

Use dynamically created react components and fill with state values

Below is a proof of concept pen. I'm trying to show a lot of input fields and try to collect their inputs when they change in one big object. As you can see, the input's won't change their value, which is what I expect, since they're created once with the useEffect() and filled that in that instance.
I think that the only way to solve this is to use React.cloneElement when values change and inject the new value into a cloned element. This is why I created 2000 elements in this pen, it would be a major performance hog because every element is rerendered when the state changes. I tried to use React.memo to only make the inputs with the changed value rerender, but I think cloneElement simply rerenders it anyways, which sounds like it should since it's cloned.
How can I achieve a performant update for a single field in this setup?
https://codepen.io/10uur/pen/LYPrZdg
Edit: a working pen with the cloneElement solution that I mentioned before, the noticeable performance problems and that all inputs rerender.
https://codepen.io/10uur/pen/OJLEJqM

Here is one way to achieve the desired behavior :
https://codesandbox.io/s/elastic-glade-73ivx
Some tips :
I would not recommend putting React elements in the state, prefer putting plain data (array, objects, ...) in the state that will be mapped to React elements in the return/render method.
Don't forget to use a key prop when rendering an array of elements
Use React.memo to avoid re-rendering components when the props are the same
Use React.useCallback to memoize callback (this will help when using React.memo on children)
Use the functional form of the state setter to access the old state and update it (this also helps when using React.useCallback and avoid recreating the callback when the state change)
Here is the complete code :
import React, { useEffect } from "react";
import ReactDOM from "react-dom";
import "./styles.css";
const INPUTS_COUNT = 2000;
const getInitialState = () => {
const state = [];
for (var i = 0; i < INPUTS_COUNT; i++) {
// Only put plain data in the state
state.push({
value: Math.random(),
id: "valueContainer" + i
});
}
return state;
};
const Root = () => {
const [state, setState] = React.useState([]);
useEffect(() => {
setState(getInitialState());
}, []);
// Use React.useCallback to memoize the onChangeValue callback, notice the empty array as second parameter
const onChangeValue = React.useCallback((id, value) => {
// Use the functional form of the state setter, to update the old state
// if we don't use the functional form, we will be forced to put [state] in the second parameter of React.useCallback
// in that case React.useCallback will not be very useful, because it will recreate the callback whenever the state changes
setState(state => {
return state.map(item => {
if (item.id === id) {
return { ...item, value };
}
return item;
});
});
}, []);
return (
<>
{state.map(({ id, value }) => {
// Use a key for performance boost
return (
<ValueContainer
id={id}
key={id}
onChangeValue={onChangeValue}
value={value}
/>
);
})}
</>
);
};
// Use React.memo to avoid re-rendering the component when the props are the same
const ValueContainer = React.memo(({ id, onChangeValue, value }) => {
const onChange = e => {
onChangeValue(id, e.target.value);
};
return (
<>
<br />
Rerendered: {Math.random()}
<br />
<input type="text" value={value} onChange={onChange} />
<br />
</>
);
});
ReactDOM.render(<Root />, document.getElementById("root"));

Creating a React higher order component, to serve as a "loader"(animation) wrapper for child components

I have a lot of components, that require some ajax function being sent, in the componentDidMount method. I would like to create a HOC, whose sole purpose is to "apply" some animation to the component, and stop this animation once a certain promise is resolved.
Of course, i could just copy paste this code for each component, but i would like to create some abstraction that deals with it.
The problem is, that i don't know how to pass the function properly, from the child to the parent. For instance, let's assume the intended child component, has this componentDidMount:
componentDidMount() {
ajax('/costumers')
.then(({ data }) => {
this.setState(() => ({ costumers: data.content }))
})
}
Technically, i need to either pass this function as an argument to the HOC, or perhaps somehow "hijack" the child's componentDidMount(if something like that is possible...). The HOC would then apply an animation once it's loaded, then send the ajax, and only when it's solved, the animation is eliminated, and the child component gets rendered.
How can this be achieved?
Any idea will be appreciated

Here is how you can write a HOC for such a case, refer to React docs for more info on the subject.
const withLoader = (loader, Component) =>
class WithLoader extends React.Component {
state = { ready: false, data: null };
async componentDidMount() {
const data = await loader();
this.setState({ ready: true, data });
}
render() {
if (!this.state.ready) return <div>LOADING</div>; // or <ComponentWithAnimation />
return <Component data={this.state.data} />;
}
};
const Test = props => <div>DATA: {props.data}</div>;
const fakeLoader = () =>
new Promise(res => setTimeout(() => res("My data"), 1000));
const TestWithLoader = withLoader(fakeLoader, Test);