Force a child component to update when the parent state changes - javascript

I have a MyList component that fetches items, allows filtering and sorting. This component is already used in other parts of the apps and it works well. It uses render props to render the items so it accepts a renderItem prop of type function.
Now I'm building a simple list to allow item selection using the aforementioned component and I'm checking for the selected state in the render prop renderItem method. The problem is that when I change the state of MySelectableList the MyList component doesn't update because its props does not change (it's always the same bound function renderProp). For now I forced the rendering of the child with this.renderItem = this.renderItem.bind(this); but I don't like it, I know that I can update the child component with ref but I don't like it either.
Is there a better method to force the child component to render when the parent state changes? Am I doing something wrong?
Full code of MySelectableList:
class MySelectableList extend Component {
constructor (props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
selectedItems: [],
};
this.renderItem = this.renderItem.bind(this);
this.toggle = this.toggle.bind(this);
this.isSelected = this.isSelected.bind(this);
}
toggle (item) {
const newItems = this.state.selectedItems.slice(0);
const index = newItems.indexOf(item.uuid);
if (index === -1) {
newItems.push(item.uuid);
} else {
newItems.splice(index, 1);
}
this.setState({ selectedItems: newItems });
// Force MyList to re-render by tricking react that it's different
this.renderItem = this.renderItem.bind(this);
}
isSelected (item) {
return this.state.selectedItems.includes(item.uuid);
}
renderItem (item) {
return (<MySelectableItem
key={ item.uuid }
item={ item }
toggle={ this.toggle }
selected={ this.isSelected(item) } />);
}
render () {
return (
<div>
...
<MyList renderItem={ this.renderItem } />
...
</div>
);
}
}
Thanks in advance.
EDIT
The MyList component is connected to redux store using connect. I discovered that connect is the cause of the MyList component missing rendering, using only "vanilla" react component it works correctly.
I reproduced the problem in this codesandbox: https://codesandbox.io/s/0mov14nmmp

Since you asked about how to do it more react friendly way
The nicer way to do this would be:
render () {
return (
<div>
<MyList {...whateeverExtraPropsyouWantToPass}>
<MySelectableItem
key={ item.uuid }
item={ item }
toggle={ this.toggle }
selected={ this.isSelected(item) } />
</MyList>
</div>
);
Then your MyList will look something like this:
render () {
return (
<div>
...//your other MyList code
...
{this.props.children}
</div>
);
This looks more readable, more maintainable and easily debuggble. But I'm sure this is all obvious to you. Since, you asked about a react friendly way, this is the most react friendly way you can do.
I would not suggest unnecessary, explicitly trying to render any component. Until and unless it is the only way, which is not the case in your component.

There is nothing wrong with the way you implement MyList. React Native FlatList has the same pattern. But why dont you also pass items as a property to the MyList, so it will be like
<MyList items={this.state. selectedItems} renderItem={this.renderItem} />
This way MyList will re-render because items property changes. items property is needed as well because I assume that in your MyList component you need to do items.map function right? otherwise how do you know how many items in total you need to render?

Related

How to pass props from function component to class component in React? [duplicate]

I'm quite new to functional components and I've been on this for hours.
I simply want to pass a prop from a parent functional component to a class child component so that I will use the updated prop (which will be a boolean) to change the display of an element. That's all.
In this scenario, I want to switch the sidenav from opened to closed based on the prop.
Here is the parent component (functional):
let opened = false;
function openSidenav(){
opened = !opened;
}
const [sidebarOpened, setOpened ] = useState(opened);
return (
<Sidebar sidebarOpened={opened} />
)
and the child component (class):
componentDidUpdate(prevProps) {
if(this.props.sidebarOpened !== prevProps){
this.setState({ sidebar: true});
}
}
It's just not working, the child component isn't receiving changes, I guess I didn't pass the prop rightly. I know the code just needs correction but I don't know where I'm not getting it.
Thank you.
The argument to useState is only used once. You need to set the state in openSidenav function to trigger a re-render.
Parent
function openSidenav(){
setOpened(prev => !prev);
}
const [sidebarOpened, setOpened ] = useState(false);
return (
<Sidebar sidebarOpened={sidebarOpened} />
)
Also in child component, use prevProps.sidebarOpened (not just prevProps).
Child
componentDidUpdate(prevProps) {
if(this.props.sidebarOpened !== prevProps.sidebarOpened){ //<---- see here
this.setState({ sidebar: this.props.sidebarOpened});//<---- see here
}
}
p.s - Also, since you are using props directly in child component, you can consider to not to copy props into state.
In parent,
const [sidebarOpened, setOpened ] = useState(false);
function openSidenav(){
setOpened(!sidebarOpened);
}
return (
<Sidebar sidebarOpened={sidebarOpened} />
)
And in child component class directly use this.props.sidebarOpened instead of copying over the prop to state. If you intend to edit the value of sidebarOpened in the child component, pass setOpened to the child component as a prop and use that to edit the value.

Passing data up through nested Components in React

Prefacing this with a thought; I think I might require a recursive component but that's beyond my current ability with native js and React so I feel like I have Swiss cheese understanding of React at this point.
The problem:
I have an array of metafields containing metafield objects with the following structure:
{
metafields: [
{ 0:
{ namespace: "namespaceVal",
key: "keyVal",
val: [
0: "val1",
1: "val2",
2: "val3"
]
}
},
...
]
}
My code maps metafields into Cards and within each card lives a component <MetafieldInput metafields={metafields['value']} /> and within that component the value array gets mapped to input fields. Overall it looks like:
// App
render() {
const metafields = this.state.metafields;
return (
{metafields.map(metafield) => (
<MetafieldInputs metafields={metafield['value']} />
)}
)
}
//MetafieldInputs
this.state = { metafields: this.props.metafields}
render() {
const metafields = this.state;
return (
{metafields.map((meta, i) => (
<TextField
value={meta}
changeKey={meta}
onChange={(val) => {
this.setState(prevState => {
return { metafields: prevState.metafields.map((field, j) => {
if(j === i) { field = val; }
return field;
})};
});
}}
/>
))}
)
}
Up to this point everything displays correctly and I can change the inputs! However the change happens one at a time, as in I hit a key then I have to click back into the input to add another character. It seems like everything gets re-rendered which is why I have to click back into the input to make another change.
Am I able to use components in this way? It feels like I'm working my way into nesting components but everything I've read says not to nest components. Am I overcomplicating this issue? The only solution I have is to rip out the React portion and take it to pure javascript.
guidance would be much appreciated!
My suggestion is that to out source the onChange handler, and the code can be understood a little bit more easier.
Mainly React does not update state right after setState() is called, it does a batch job. Therefore it can happen that several setState calls are accessing one reference point. If you directly mutate the state, it can cause chaos as other state can use the updated state while doing the batch job.
Also, if you out source onChange handler in the App level, you can change MetafieldInputs into a functional component rather than a class-bases component. Functional based component costs less than class based component and can boost the performance.
Below are updated code, tested. I assume you use Material UI's TextField, but onChangeHandler should also work in your own component.
// Full App.js
import React, { Component } from 'react';
import MetafieldInputs from './MetafieldInputs';
class App extends Component {
state = {
metafields: [
{
metafield:
{
namespace: "namespaceVal",
key: "keyVal",
val: [
{ '0': "val1" },
{ '1': "val2" },
{ '2': "val3" }
]
}
},
]
}
// will never be triggered as from React point of view, the state never changes
componentDidUpdate() {
console.log('componentDidUpdate')
}
render() {
const metafields = this.state.metafields;
const metafieldsKeys = Object.keys(metafields);
const renderInputs = metafieldsKeys.map(key => {
const metafield = metafields[key];
return <MetafieldInputs metafields={metafield.metafield.val} key={metafield.metafield.key} />;
})
return (
<div>
{renderInputs}
</div>
)
}
}
export default App;
// full MetafieldInputs
import React, { Component } from 'react'
import TextField from '#material-ui/core/TextField';
class MetafieldInputs extends Component {
state = {
metafields: this.props.metafields
}
onChangeHandler = (e, index) => {
const value = e.target.value;
this.setState(prevState => {
const updateMetafields = [...prevState.metafields];
const updatedFields = { ...updateMetafields[index] }
updatedFields[index] = value
updateMetafields[index] = updatedFields;
return { metafields: updateMetafields }
})
}
render() {
const { metafields } = this.state;
// will always remain the same
console.log('this.props', this.props)
return (
<div>
{metafields.map((meta, i) => {
return (
<TextField
value={meta[i]}
changekey={meta}
onChange={(e) => this.onChangeHandler(e, i)}
// generally it is not a good idea to use index as a key.
key={i}
/>
)
}
)}
</div>
)
}
}
export default MetafieldInputs
Again, IF you out source the onChangeHandler to App class, MetafieldInputs can be a pure functional component, and all the state management can be done in the App class.
On the other hand, if you want to keep a pure and clean App class, you can also store metafields into MetafieldInputs class in case you might need some other logic in your application.
For instance, your application renders more components than the example does, and MetafieldInputs should not be rendered until something happened. If you fetch data from server end, it is better to fetch the data when it is needed rather than fetching all the data in the App component.
You need to do the onChange at the app level. You should just pass the onChange function into MetaFieldsInput and always use this.props.metafields when rendering

Splice() method not works

I have some problem with splice() method in my React.js app.
So, this is an example app. Deletion not works now. What's wrong here? Part of code:
class CardList extends React.Component {
static propTypes = {
students: React.PropTypes.array.isRequired
};
// ADD DELETE FUNCTION
deletePerson(person) {
this.props.students.splice(this.props.students.indexOf(person), 1)
this.setState()
}
render() {
let that = this
return <div id='list'>
{this.props.students.map((person) => {
return <Card
onClick={that.deletePerson.bind(null, person)}
name={person.name}>
</Card>
})}
</div>
}
}
class Card extends React.Component {
render() {
return <div className='card'>
<p>{this.props.name}</p>
{/* ADD DELETE BUTTON */}
<button onClick={this.props.onClick}>Delete</button>
</div>
}
}
http://codepen.io/azat-io/pen/Vaxyjv
Your problem is that when you call
onClick={that.deletePerson.bind(null, person)}
You bind this value to null. So inside of your deletePerson function this is null instead of actual component. You should change it to
onClick={that.deletePerson.bind(this, person)}
And everything would work as expected =)
Changing the bind value to this will definitely cause the call to this.setState() to work, thus triggering the re-render, however I strongly recommend against the approach you've taken.
Props are supposed to be immutable. Instead use internal state and replace with new values rather than mutate them. To do this, set the state of your component in the constructor by doing something like:
constructor(props) {
super(props)
this.state = {
students: ...this.props.students
}
}
And now when you need to delete a person:
deletePerson(person) {
// notice the use of slice vs splice
var newStudents = this.props.students.slice(this.props.students.indexOf(person), 1)
this.setState({ students: newStudents })
}
And finally use this.state.students in your render method instead.
The reasoning behind this is that props are passed directly from the parent container component so modifying them wouldn't really make sense. To make more sense of my own code, I tend to pass in the prop named initialStudents and set my state to students: ...initialStudents to ensure I make the distinction between my prop variable and my state variable.

How to re-render child on parent event in ReactJS? [duplicate]

The Parent (MyList in my example) component renders an array thru a Child (MyComponent) component. Parent decides to change properties in the array, what is React way of triggering child re-rendering?
All I came up with is this.setState({}); in Parent after tweaking the data. Is this a hack or a React way of triggering an update?
JS Fiddle:
https://jsfiddle.net/69z2wepo/7601/
var items = [
{id: 1, highlighted: false, text: "item1"},
{id: 2, highlighted: true, text: "item2"},
{id: 3, highlighted: false, text: "item3"},
];
var MyComponent = React.createClass({
render: function() {
return <div className={this.props.highlighted ? 'light-it-up' : ''}>{this.props.text}</div>;
}
});
var MyList = React.createClass({
toggleHighlight: function() {
this.props.items.forEach(function(v){
v.highlighted = !v.highlighted;
});
// Children must re-render
// IS THIS CORRECT?
this.setState({});
},
render: function() {
return <div>
<button onClick={this.toggleHighlight}>Toggle highlight</button>
{this.props.items.map(function(item) {
return <MyComponent key={item.id} text={item.text} highlighted={item.highlighted}/>;
})}
</div>;
}
});
React.render(<MyList items={items}/>, document.getElementById('container'));
The problem here is that you're storing state in this.props instead of this.state. Since this component is mutating items, items is state and should be stored in this.state. (Here's a good article on props vs. state.) This solves your rendering problem, because when you update items you'll call setState, which will automatically trigger a re-render.
Here's what your component would look like using state instead of props:
var MyList = React.createClass({
getInitialState: function() {
return { items: this.props.initialItems };
},
toggleHighlight: function() {
var newItems = this.state.items.map(function (item) {
item.highlighted = !item.highlighted;
return item;
});
this.setState({ items: newItems });
},
render: function() {
return (
<div>
<button onClick={this.toggleHighlight}>Toggle highlight</button>
{ this.state.items.map(function(item) {
return <MyComponent key={item.id} text={item.text}
highlighted={item.highlighted}/>;
}) }
</div>
);
}
});
React.render( <MyList initialItems={initialItems}/>,
document.getElementById('container') );
Note that I renamed the items prop to initialItems, because it makes it clear that MyList will mutate it. This is recommended by the documentation.
You can see the updated fiddle here: https://jsfiddle.net/kxrf5329/
I have found a nice solution using key attribute for re-render with React Hook. If we changed key property of a child component or some portion of React Component, it will re-render entirely. It will use when you need to re-render some portion of React Component of re-render a child component. Here is a example. I will re-render the full component.
import React, { useState, useEffect } from "react";
import { PrEditInput } from "./shared";
const BucketInput = ({ bucketPrice = [], handleBucketsUpdate, mood }) => {
const data = Array.isArray(bucketPrice) ? bucketPrice : [];
const [state, setState] = useState(Date.now());
useEffect(() => {
setState(Date.now());
}, [mood, bucketPrice]);
return (
<span key={state}>
{data.map((item) => (
<PrEditInput
key={item.id}
label={item?.bucket?.name}
name={item.bucketId}
defaultValue={item.price}
onChange={handleBucketsUpdate}
mood={mood}
/>
))}
</span>
);
};
export default BucketInput;
An easy option to re-render a child is to update a unique key attribute every time you need a re-render.
<ChildComponent key={this.state.updatedKey}/>
You should trigger a re-rendering by calling setState() and giving the new props you want to propagate down.
If you really want to force an update you can also call forceUpdate().
If you look at the examples on this page, you can see that setState is the method used to update and trigger a re-rendering. The documentation is also stating (ahaha!) that clearly.
In your case I would call forceUpdate.
EDIT: As Jordan mentioned in the comment, it would be better to store items as part of your state. That way you wouldn't have to call forceUpdate but you would really update the state of your component, thus a regular setState with the updated values would work better.
You can set a numeric key on the child component and trigger a key change once an action is performed. e.g
state = {
childKey: 7,
};
<ChildComponent key={this.state.childKey}/>
actionToTriggerReload = () => {
const newKey = this.state.childKey * 89; // this will make sure the key are never the same
this.setState({childKey: newKey})
}
This will surely re-render the ChildComponent
Set a numeric default 'key' in the child component and to re-render just change key value.
this.state = {
updatedKey: 1,
};
triggerReload = () => {
let newKey = Math.floor(Math.random() * 100); // make sure the key are never the same
this.setState({updatedKey: newKey})
}
<childComponent key={this.state.updatedKey} handlerProp = {this.onClickItemEvent} />
This worked for me to re-render the ChildComponent in reactjs class base

Trigger child re-rendering in React.js

The Parent (MyList in my example) component renders an array thru a Child (MyComponent) component. Parent decides to change properties in the array, what is React way of triggering child re-rendering?
All I came up with is this.setState({}); in Parent after tweaking the data. Is this a hack or a React way of triggering an update?
JS Fiddle:
https://jsfiddle.net/69z2wepo/7601/
var items = [
{id: 1, highlighted: false, text: "item1"},
{id: 2, highlighted: true, text: "item2"},
{id: 3, highlighted: false, text: "item3"},
];
var MyComponent = React.createClass({
render: function() {
return <div className={this.props.highlighted ? 'light-it-up' : ''}>{this.props.text}</div>;
}
});
var MyList = React.createClass({
toggleHighlight: function() {
this.props.items.forEach(function(v){
v.highlighted = !v.highlighted;
});
// Children must re-render
// IS THIS CORRECT?
this.setState({});
},
render: function() {
return <div>
<button onClick={this.toggleHighlight}>Toggle highlight</button>
{this.props.items.map(function(item) {
return <MyComponent key={item.id} text={item.text} highlighted={item.highlighted}/>;
})}
</div>;
}
});
React.render(<MyList items={items}/>, document.getElementById('container'));
The problem here is that you're storing state in this.props instead of this.state. Since this component is mutating items, items is state and should be stored in this.state. (Here's a good article on props vs. state.) This solves your rendering problem, because when you update items you'll call setState, which will automatically trigger a re-render.
Here's what your component would look like using state instead of props:
var MyList = React.createClass({
getInitialState: function() {
return { items: this.props.initialItems };
},
toggleHighlight: function() {
var newItems = this.state.items.map(function (item) {
item.highlighted = !item.highlighted;
return item;
});
this.setState({ items: newItems });
},
render: function() {
return (
<div>
<button onClick={this.toggleHighlight}>Toggle highlight</button>
{ this.state.items.map(function(item) {
return <MyComponent key={item.id} text={item.text}
highlighted={item.highlighted}/>;
}) }
</div>
);
}
});
React.render( <MyList initialItems={initialItems}/>,
document.getElementById('container') );
Note that I renamed the items prop to initialItems, because it makes it clear that MyList will mutate it. This is recommended by the documentation.
You can see the updated fiddle here: https://jsfiddle.net/kxrf5329/
I have found a nice solution using key attribute for re-render with React Hook. If we changed key property of a child component or some portion of React Component, it will re-render entirely. It will use when you need to re-render some portion of React Component of re-render a child component. Here is a example. I will re-render the full component.
import React, { useState, useEffect } from "react";
import { PrEditInput } from "./shared";
const BucketInput = ({ bucketPrice = [], handleBucketsUpdate, mood }) => {
const data = Array.isArray(bucketPrice) ? bucketPrice : [];
const [state, setState] = useState(Date.now());
useEffect(() => {
setState(Date.now());
}, [mood, bucketPrice]);
return (
<span key={state}>
{data.map((item) => (
<PrEditInput
key={item.id}
label={item?.bucket?.name}
name={item.bucketId}
defaultValue={item.price}
onChange={handleBucketsUpdate}
mood={mood}
/>
))}
</span>
);
};
export default BucketInput;
An easy option to re-render a child is to update a unique key attribute every time you need a re-render.
<ChildComponent key={this.state.updatedKey}/>
You should trigger a re-rendering by calling setState() and giving the new props you want to propagate down.
If you really want to force an update you can also call forceUpdate().
If you look at the examples on this page, you can see that setState is the method used to update and trigger a re-rendering. The documentation is also stating (ahaha!) that clearly.
In your case I would call forceUpdate.
EDIT: As Jordan mentioned in the comment, it would be better to store items as part of your state. That way you wouldn't have to call forceUpdate but you would really update the state of your component, thus a regular setState with the updated values would work better.
You can set a numeric key on the child component and trigger a key change once an action is performed. e.g
state = {
childKey: 7,
};
<ChildComponent key={this.state.childKey}/>
actionToTriggerReload = () => {
const newKey = this.state.childKey * 89; // this will make sure the key are never the same
this.setState({childKey: newKey})
}
This will surely re-render the ChildComponent
Set a numeric default 'key' in the child component and to re-render just change key value.
this.state = {
updatedKey: 1,
};
triggerReload = () => {
let newKey = Math.floor(Math.random() * 100); // make sure the key are never the same
this.setState({updatedKey: newKey})
}
<childComponent key={this.state.updatedKey} handlerProp = {this.onClickItemEvent} />
This worked for me to re-render the ChildComponent in reactjs class base

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