Wrapping a Component means it loses focus on rerender - javascript

I have a long form in react. Before, it had a bunch of components that were defined as such:
<input
type='text'
value={this.state.form.nameOfFormField}
onChange={this.updateForm('nameOfFormField')} />
Where updateForm is a function in the form of (field) => (e) => {}, to make code reuse easier.
I wanted to make this easier to maintain, so I created a component, SpecialInput, which was defined as such:
const SpecialInputBuilder = (form, onChange) => ({ field, ..props }) => (
<input
type='text'
value={form[field]}
onChange={onChange(field)}
{...props} />
)
Now, I could define the Input during render like so:
const SpecialInput = SpecialInputBuilder(this.state.form, this.updateForm)
And use it in the component like this:
<SpecialInput field='nameOfFormField' />
Obviously, this is much more succinct. But this also means that the input field will drop focus every time input is entered into the field (i.e., when updateForm is called), because SpecialInput is defined every time the render function is called. Defining a key to each element does not seem to at all alleviate the problem. How can I fix this while still using this simpler component? Is there a middle ground?

Why not just change your input builder to just be a react component?
const SpecialInput = (props) => {
return (
<input
value={props.form[props.field]}
{...props}
type={props.type || 'text'}
onChange={() => props.onChange(props.field)}
/>
)
}
and just use it the same way.
<SpecialInput field='nameOfFormField' onChange={this.updateForm} form={this.state.form} />

I had a similar approach but ended up changing it to this;
(1) Input typer child component:
import React, { Component } from 'react';
class FreeTextField extends Component {
inputValueFn(e) {
this.props.userInput(this.props.responseObject, e.target.value);
}
render() {
return (
<div className="input-group">
<label>{this.props.buttonText ? this.props.buttonText : "Firstname"}</label>
<input type={this.props.type} placeholder="" className="form-control" defaultValue={this.props.defaultValue} onChange={this.inputValueFn.bind(this)} />
</div>
);
}
}
export default FreeTextField;
(2) From the parent component you can specify all relavent child attr via props
// import
import FreeTextField from './pathTo/FreeTextField';
// Initial state
this.state = {
responseObject: {}
}
// onChange it updates the responseObject
userInput(fieldKey,value) {
let responseObject = this.state.responseObject;
responseObject[fieldKey] = value;
this.setState({responseObject:responseObject});
}
// component render()
<FreeTextField
buttonText="First Name"
type="text"
formObjectKey="first_name"
userInput{this.userInput.bind(this)} />

The main issue is that your onChange call is executing as soon as it's rendered, instead of a reference to a function to be called when the input changes.
// this executes immediately
onChange={onChange(field)}
// this is a reference to the function with a prop prepended
onChange={onChange.bind(this,field)}

Related

Why in react input field loses focus? [duplicate]

In my component below, the input field loses focus after typing a character. While using Chrome's Inspector, it looks like the whole form is being re-rendered instead of just the value attribute of the input field when typing.
I get no errors from either eslint nor Chrome Inspector.
Submitting the form itself works as does the actual input field when it is located either in the render's return or while being imported as a separate component but not in how I have it coded below.
Why is this so?
Main Page Component
import React, { Component, PropTypes } from 'react';
import { connect } from 'react-redux';
import { bindActionCreators } from 'redux';
import * as actionPost from '../redux/action/actionPost';
import InputText from './form/InputText';
import InputSubmit from './form/InputSubmit';
class _PostSingle extends Component {
constructor(props, context) {
super(props, context);
this.state = {
post: {
title: '',
},
};
this.onChange = this.onChange.bind(this);
this.onSubmit = this.onSubmit.bind(this);
}
onChange(event) {
this.setState({
post: {
title: event.target.value,
},
});
}
onSubmit(event) {
event.preventDefault();
this.props.actions.postCreate(this.state.post);
this.setState({
post: {
title: '',
},
});
}
render() {
const onChange = this.onChange;
const onSubmit = this.onSubmit;
const valueTitle = this.state.post.title;
const FormPostSingle = () => (
<form onSubmit={onSubmit}>
<InputText name="title" label="Title" placeholder="Enter a title" onChange={onChange} value={valueTitle} />
<InputSubmit name="Save" />
</form>
);
return (
<main id="main" role="main">
<div className="container-fluid">
<FormPostSingle />
</div>
</main>
);
}
}
_PostSingle.propTypes = {
actions: PropTypes.objectOf(PropTypes.func).isRequired,
};
function mapStateToProps(state) {
return {
posts: state.posts,
};
}
function mapDispatchToProps(dispatch) {
return {
actions: bindActionCreators(actionPost, dispatch),
};
}
export default connect(mapStateToProps, mapDispatchToProps)(_PostSingle);
Text Input Component
import React, { PropTypes } from 'react';
const InputText = ({ name, label, placeholder, onChange, value, error }) => {
const fieldClass = 'form-control input-lg';
let wrapperClass = 'form-group';
if (error && error.length > 0) {
wrapperClass += ' has-error';
}
return (
<div className={wrapperClass}>
<label htmlFor={name} className="sr-only">{label}</label>
<input type="text" id={name} name={name} placeholder={placeholder} onChange={onChange} value={value} className={fieldClass} />
{error &&
<div className="alert alert-danger">{error}</div>
}
</div>
);
};
InputText.propTypes = {
name: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
label: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
placeholder: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
onChange: PropTypes.func.isRequired,
value: PropTypes.string,
error: PropTypes.string,
};
InputText.defaultProps = {
value: null,
error: null,
};
export default InputText;
Submit Button Component
import React, { PropTypes } from 'react';
const InputSubmit = ({ name }) => {
const fieldClass = 'btn btn-primary btn-lg';
return (
<input type="submit" value={name} className={fieldClass} />
);
};
InputSubmit.propTypes = {
name: PropTypes.string,
};
InputSubmit.defaultProps = {
name: 'Submit',
};
export default InputSubmit;
it is because you are rendering the form in a function inside render().
Every time your state/prop change, the function returns a new form. it caused you to lose focus.
Try putting what's inside the function into your render directly.
<main id="main" role="main">
<div className="container-fluid">
<FormPostSingle />
</div>
</main>
===>
<main id="main" role="main">
<div className="container-fluid">
<form onSubmit={onSubmit}>
<InputText name="title" label="Title" placeholder="Enter a title" onChange={onChange} value={valueTitle} />
<InputSubmit name="Save" />
</form>
</div>
</main>
This happened to me although I had keys set!
Here's why:
I was using a key from a text field. Inside the same block; I had an input field to update the value of the same text field. Now, since component keys are changing, react re-renders the UI. Hence loosing focus.
What to take from this:
Don't use keys which are constantly changing.
What's happening is this:
When your onChange event fires, the callback calls setState with the new title value, which gets passed to your text field as a prop. At that point, React renders a new component, which is why you lose focus.
My first suggestion would be to provide your components keys, particularly the form and the input itself. Keys allow React to retain the identity of components through renders.
Edit:
See this documentation on keys: https://reactjs.org/docs/lists-and-keys.html#keys
Example:
<TextField
key="password" // <= this is the solution to prevent re-render
label="eMail"
value={email}
variant="outlined"
onChange={(e) => setEmail(e.target.value)}
/>
Had the same issue and solved it in a quick & easy manner: just calling the component with {compName()} instead of <compName />
For instance, if we had:
const foo = ({param1}) => {
// do your stuff
return (
<input type='text' onChange={onChange} value={value} />
);
};
const main = () => (
<foo param1={true} />
);
Then, we just need to change the way we call the foo() component:
const main = () => (
{foo({param1: true})}
);
By adding
autoFocus="autoFocus"
in the input worked for me
<input
type="text"
autoFocus="autoFocus"
value = {searchString}
onChange = {handleChange}
/>
You have to use a unique key for the input component.
<input key="random1" type="text" name="displayName" />
The key="random1" cannot be randomly generated.
For example,
<div key={uuid()} className='scp-ren-row'>
uuid() will generate a new set of string for each rerender. This will cause the input to lose focus.
If the elements are generated within a .map() function, use the index to be part of the key.
{rens.map((ren,i)=>{
return(
<div key={`ren${i+1}`} className='scp-ren-row'>
{ren}{i}
</div>)
}
This will solve the issue.
I also had this problem, my problem was related to using another component to wrap the textarea.
// example with this problem
import React from 'react'
const InputMulti = (props) => {
const Label = ({ label, children }) => (
<div>
<label>{label}</label>
{ children }
</div>
)
return (
<Label label={props.label}>
<textarea
value={props.value}
onChange={e => props.onChange(e.target.value)}
/>
</Label>
)
}
export default InputMulti
when the state changed, react would render the InputMulti component which would redefine the Label component every time, meaning the output would be structurally the same, but because of JS, the function would be considered !=.
My solution was to move the Label component outside of the InputMulti component so that it would be static.
// fixed example
import React from 'react'
const Label = ({ label, children }) => (
<div>
<label>{label}</label>
{ children }
</div>
)
const InputMulti = (props) => {
return (
<Label label={props.label}>
<textarea
value={props.value}
onChange={e => props.onChange(e.target.value)}
/>
</Label>
)
}
export default InputMulti
I've noticed that people often place locally used components inside the component that wants to use it. Usually to take advantage of function scope and gain access to the parent component props.
const ParentComp = ({ children, scopedValue }) => {
const ScopedComp = () => (<div>{ scopedValue }</div>)
return <ScopedComp />
}
I never really thought of why that would be needed, since you could just prop-drill the props to the internal function and externalise it from the parent comp.
This problem is a perfect example of why you should always externalise your components from each other, even if they are used in one module. Plus you can always use smart folder structures to keep things close by.
src/
components/
ParentComp/
ParentComp.js
components/
ScopedComp.js
I had a similar issue when using styled-components inside a functional component. The custom input element was losing focus every time I typed a character.
After much searching and experimenting with the code, I found that the styled-components inside the functional component was making the input field re-render every time I typed a character as the template literal syntax made the form a function although it looks like an expression inside Devtools. The comment from #HenryMueller was instrumental in making me think in the right direction.
I moved the styled components outside my functional component, and everything now works fine.
import React, { useState } from "react";
import styled from "styled-components";
const StyledDiv = styled.div`
margin: 0 auto;
padding-left: 15px;
padding-right: 15px;
width: 100%;
`;
const StyledForm = styled.form`
margin: 20px 0 10px;
`;
const FormInput = styled.input`
outline: none;
border: 0;
padding: 0 0 15px 0;
width: 100%;
height: 50px;
font-family: inherit;
font-size: 1.5rem;
font-weight: 300;
color: #fff;
background: transparent;
-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
`;
const MyForm = () => {
const [value, setValue] = useState<string>("");
const handleChange = (e: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
setValue(e.target.value);
}
const handleSubmit = (e: React.FormEvent) => {
e.preventDefault();
if(value.trim() === '') {
return;
}
localStorage.setItem(new Date().getTime().toString(), JSON.stringify(value));
setValue('');
}
return (
<StyledDiv>
<StyledForm onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
<FormInput type="text"
id="inputText"
name="inputText"
placeholder="What Do You Want To Do Next?"
value={value}
onChange={handleChange}/>
</StyledForm>
</StyledDiv>
)
}
export default MyForm;
The best way to use styled-components in cases like this would be to save them in separate files and import them.
My issue was it was rerendering in a stateless component in the same file. So once I got rid of that unecessary stateless component and just put the code in directly, I didn't have unecessary rerenders
render(){
const NewSocialPost = () =>
<div className='new-post'>
<input
onChange={(e) => this.setState({ newSocialPost: e.target.value })}
value={this.state.newSocialPost}/>
<button onClick={() => this._handleNewSocialPost()}>Submit</button>
</div>
return (
<div id='social-post-page'>
<div className='post-column'>
<div className='posts'>
<Stuff />
</div>
<NewSocialPost />
</div>
<MoreStuff />
</div>
I'm new to React, and have been running into this issue.
Here's what I did to solve:
First move all of your components into your components folder and then import them where you want to use them
Make sure all of your form elements get a name and id property
Make sure all components as you walk up the tree get a unique key
Someone smarter than me can probably tell us why we can skip step one and keep everything inline so to speak, but this just helped me organize the code.
I think the real issue is React is rerendering everything (as already stated) and sometimes that rerender is happening on a parent component that doesn't have a key but needs one.
My problem was with ExpansionPanel components wrapping my custom components for form inputs. The panels needed key as well!
Hope this helps someone else out there, this was driving me crazy!
Basically create a ref and assign it to the input element
const inputRef = useRef(null); // Javascript
const inputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null); // Typescript
// In your Input Element use ref and add autofocus
<input ref={inputRef} autoFocus={inputRef.current === document.activeElement} {...restProps} />
This will keep the input element in focus when typing.
The problem is with dynamic render() caused by useState() function so you can do this for example.
in this code you should use onChange() to get just the new updated data and onMouseLeave() to handle the update but with condition that data is changed to get better performance
example child
export default function Child(){
const [dataC,setDataC]=useState()
return(<Grid>
<TextField
.
.
onChange={(r)=> setDataC(r.target.value) }
onMouseLeave={(e)=> {
if(dataC!=props.data) { // to avoid call handleupdate each time you leave the textfield
props.handlechange(e.target.value) // update partent.data
}
}
/>
</Grid>)
}
exmple parent
export default function Parent(){
const [data,setData]=useState()
return(
<Grid>
<Child handlechange={handlechanges} data={data}/>
</Grid>)
}
I was facing the same issue, as soon as I type any character, it was losing focus. adding autoFocus props helped me to resolve this issue.
TypeScript Code Snippet
Solution -
Add a unique key to the input element because it helps React to identify which item has changed(Reconciliation). Ensure that your key should not change, it has to be constant as well as unique.
If you are defining a styled component inside a react component. If your input element is inside that styled component then define that styled component outside the input's component. Otherwise, on each state change of the main component, it will re-render your styled component and input as well and it will lose focus.
import React, { useState } from "react";
import styled from "styled-components";
const Container = styled.div`
padding: 1rem 0.5rem;
border: 1px solid #000;
`;
function ExampleComponent() {
// Container styled component should not be inside this ExampleComponent
const [userName, setUserName] = useState("");
const handleInputChange = event => {
setUserName(event.target.value);
};
return (
<React.Fragment>
<Container> {/* Styled component */}
<input
key="user_name_key" // Unique and constant key
type="text"
value={userName}
onChange={handleInputChange}
/>
</Container>
</React.Fragment>
);
}
export default ExampleComponent;
In my case, I had this on a child,
//in fact is a constant
const RenderOnDelete=()=>(
<> .
.
<InputText/>
.
.
</>
)
//is a function that return a constant
const RenderOnRadioSelected=()=>{
switch (selectedRadio) {
case RADIO_VAL_EXIST:
return <RenderOnExist/>
case RADIO_VAL_NEW:
return <RenderOnNew/>
case RADIO_VAL_DELETE:
return <RenderOnDelete/>
default:
return <div>Error</div>
}
}
and this in the parent
return(
<>
.
<RenderOnRadioSelected/>
.
</>
)
Y solved it by not calling a component but a function() or a constant, depending on the case.
.
.
.
//in fact is a constant
const RenderOnDelete=(
<> .
.
<InputText/>
.
.
</>
)
//is a function that return a constant
const RenderOnRadioSelected=()=>{
switch (selectedRadio) {
case RADIO_VAL_EXIST:
return {RenderOnExist}
case RADIO_VAL_NEW:
return {RenderOnNew}
case RADIO_VAL_DELETE:
return {RenderOnDelete}//Calling the constant
default:
return <div>Error</div>
}
}
and this in the parent
return(
<>
.
{RenderOnRadioSelected()}//Calling the function but not as a component
.
</>
)
Adding yet another answer: This happened to me when returning a higher order component inside another component. Eg instead of:
/* A function that makes a higher order component */
const makeMyAwesomeHocComponent = <P, >(Component: React.FC<P>) => {
const AwesomeComponent: React.FC<P & AwesomeProp> = (props) => {
const { awesomeThing, ...passThroughProps } = props;
return (
<strong>Look at: {awesomeThing}!</strong>
<Component {...passThroughProps} />
);
}
return AwesomeComponent;
}
/* The form we want to render */
const MyForm: React.FC<{}> = (props) => {
const MyAwesomeComponent: React.FC<TextInputProps & AwesomeProp> =
makeMyAwesomeHocComponent(TextInput);
return <MyAwesomeComponent awesomeThing={"cat"} onChange={() => { /* whatever */ }} />
}
Move the call to create the higher order component out of the thing you're rendering.
const makeMyAwesomeHocComponent = <P, >(Component: React.FC<P>) => {
const AwesomeComponent: React.FC<P & AwesomeProp> = (props) => {
const { awesomeThing, ...passThroughProps } = props;
return (
<strong>Look at: {awesomeThing}!</strong>
<Component {...passThroughProps} />
);
}
return AwesomeComponent;
}
/* We moved this declaration */
const MyAwesomeComponent: React.FC<TextInputProps & AwesomeProp> =
makeMyAwesomeHocComponent(TextInput);
/* The form we want to render */
const MyForm: React.FC<{}> = (props) => {
return <MyAwesomeComponent awesomeThing={"cat"} onChange={() => { /* whatever */ }} />
}
Solution for this problem is to use useCallback It is used to memoize functions which means it caches the return value of a function given a set of input parameters.
const InputForm = useCallback(({ label, lablevalue, placeholder, type, value,setValue }) => {
return (
<input
key={label}
type={type}
value={value}
onChange={(e) => setIpValue(e.target.value)}
placeholder={placeholder}
/>
);
},[]);
Hope it will solve your problem
If you happen to be developing atomic components for your app's design system, you may run into this issue.
Consider the following Input component:
export const Input = forwardRef(function Input(
props: InputProps,
ref: ForwardedRef<HTMLInputElement>,
) {
const InputElement = () => (
<input ref={ref} {...props} />
);
if (props.icon) {
return (
<span className="relative">
<span className="absolute inset-y-0 left-0 flex items-center pl-2">
<label htmlFor={props.id} className="p-1 cursor-pointer">
{icon}
</label>
</span>
<InputElement />
</span>
);
} else {
return <InputElement />;
}
});
It might seem like a simple optimization at first to reuse your input element across both branches of your conditional render. However, anytime the parent of this component re-renders, this component re-renders, and when react sees <InputElement /> in the tree, it's going to render a new <input> element too, and thus, the existing one will lose focus.
Your options are
memoize the component using useMemo
duplicate some code and define the <input> element in both branches of the conditional render. in this case, it's okay since the <input> element is relatively simple. more complex components may need option 1
so your code then becomes:
export const Input = forwardRef(function Input(
props: InputProps,
ref: ForwardedRef<HTMLInputElement>,
) {
if (props.icon) {
return (
<span className="relative">
<span className="absolute inset-y-0 left-0 flex items-center pl-2">
<label htmlFor={props.id} className="p-1 cursor-pointer">
{icon}
</label>
</span>
<input ref={ref} {...props} />
</span>
);
} else {
return <input ref={ref} {...props} />;
}
});
I did the following steps:
Move dynamic component outside a function
Wrap with useMemo function
const getComponent = (step) =>
dynamic(() => import(`#/components/Forms/Register/Step-${step}`), {
ssr: false,
});
And call this function inside the component by wrapping useMemo:
const CurrentStep = useMemo(() => getComponent(currentStep), currentStep]);
I'm very late but I have been tracking down this issue for days now and finally fixed it. I hope it helps someone.
I'm using Material-ui's Dialog component, and I wanted the dialog to show when a menu item was clicked. Something like so:
import React, { useState } from "react";
import {
Menu,
MenuItem,
Dialog,
DialogContent,
TextField,
} from "#mui/material";
const MyMenu = () => {
const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
return (
<Menu>
<MenuItem>option 1</MenuItem>
<MenuItem onClick={() => setOpen(!open)}>
option 2
<Dialog open={open}>
<DialogContent>
<TextField />
</DialogContent>
</Dialog>
</MenuItem>
</Menu>
);
};
I was having issues with the TextField losing focus, but only when hitting the a, s, d, c and v keys. If I hit any one of those keys, it would not type anything in the textfield and just lose focus. My assumption upon fixing the issue was that some of the menu options contained those characters, and it would try to switch focus to one of those options.
The solution I found was to move the dialog outside of the Menu component:
const MyMenu = () => {
const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
return (
<>
<Menu>
<MenuItem>option 1</MenuItem>
<MenuItem onClick={() => setOpen(!open)}>
option 2
</MenuItem>
</Menu>
<Dialog open={open}>
<DialogContent>
<TextField />
</DialogContent>
</Dialog>
</>
);
};
I am unable to find anyone with my specific issue online, and this was the post that came up at the top in my searches so I wanted to leave this here. Cheers
I am not authorised to comment then it must be an answer. I had similar issue and Answer from Alex Yan was corect.
Namely I had that function
const DisplaySearchArea =()=>{return (arrayOfSearchFieldNames.map((element, index)=>{return(<div key ={index} className = {inputFieldStyle}><input placeholder= {arrayOfPlaceholders[index]} type="text" className='border-0'
value={this.state[element]}
onChange={e => {this.setState({ [element]: e.target.value }); console.log(e.target)}}
onMouseEnter={e=>e.target.focus()}/></div>)}))}
that behaves OK with FF and not with Chrome when rendered as <DisplaySearchArea />
When render as {...} it's OK with both. That is not so 'beaty' looking code but working, I have already been told to have tendency to overuse lambdas.
Thanks, Alex. This way I solved my issue:
constructor(props, context) {
...
this.FormPostSingle = this.FormPostSingle.bind(this);
}
FormPostSingle() {
const onChange = this.onChange;
const onSubmit = this.onSubmit;
const valueTitle = this.state.post.title;
return (
<form onSubmit={onSubmit}>
<InputText name="title" label="Title" placeholder="Enter a title" onChange={onChange} value={valueTitle} />
<InputSubmit name="Save" />
</form> );
}
render() {
let FormPostSingle = this.FormPostSingle
return...
}
set the correct id, make sure no other component has same id, set it unique, and it should not change on state update, most common mistake is updating the id with changed value on state update
I had this issue, it was being cause by react-bootstrap/Container, once I got rid of it, included a unique key for every form element, everything worked fine.
For the ones on React Native facing the issue where the text input goes out of focus after typing in single character.
try to pass your onChangeText to your TextInput component.
eg:
const [value, setValue] = useState("")
const onChangeText = (text) => {
setValue(text)
}
return <TextInput value={value} onChangeText={onChangeText} />
This is a great question, and I had the same problem which was 3 parts.
RandomGenerated keys.
Wrong event type.
wrong react JSX attribute.
Keys: when you use random keys each rerender causes react to lose focus (key={Math.random()*36.4621596072}).
EventTypes: onChange cause a rerender with each key stroke, but this can also cause problems. onBlur is better because it updates after you click outside the input. An input, unless you want to "bind" it to something on the screen (visual builders), should use the onBlur event.
Attributes: JSX is not HTML and has it's own attributes (className,...).
Instead of using value, it is better to use defaultValue={foo} in an input.
once I changes these 3 things it worked great. Example below.
Parent:
const [near, setNear] = useState( "" );
const [location, setLocation] = useState( "" );
<ExperienceFormWhere
slug={slug}
questionWhere={question_where}
setLocation={handleChangeSetLocation}
locationState={location}
setNear={setNear}
nearState={near}
key={36.4621596072}/>
Child:
<input
defaultValue={locationState}
className={slug+"_question_where_select search_a_location"}
onBlur={event => setLocation(event.target.value)}/>
I did it with a useRef on input and useEffect
For me this was happening inside Material UI Tabs. I had a search input filter which filtered the table records below it. The search input and table were inside the Tab and whenever a character was typed the input would lose focus (for the obvious reason of re render, the whole stuff inside a tab).
I used the useRef hook for input field ref and then inside my useEffect I triggered the input's focuswhenever the datalist changed. See the code below
const searchInput = useRef();
useEffect(() => {
searchInput.current.focus();
}, [successfulorderReport]);
If working with multiple fields – and they have to be added and removed dynamically for whatever reason – you can use autofocus. You have to keep track of the focus yourself, though. More or less like this:
focusedElement = document.activeElement.id;
[…]
const id = 'dynamicField123'; // dynamically created.
<Input id={id} key={id} {...(focusedElement === id ? { autoFocus: true } : {})} />
This issue got me for a second. Since I was using Material UI, I tried to customize one of the wrapper components of my form using the styled() API from material UI. The issue was caused due to defining the DOM customization function inside my render function body. When I removed it from the function body, it worked like a charm. So my inspection is, whenever I updated the state, it obviously tried to refresh the DOM tree and redeclare the styled() function which is inside the render body, which gave us a whole new reference to the DOM element for that wrapper, resulting in a loss of focus on that element. This is just my speculation, please enlighten me if I am wrong.
So removing the styled() implementation away from the render function body solved the issue for me.
This is silly, but... are you (reader, not OP) setting disabled={true} ever?
This is a silly contribution, but I had a problem very much like the one this page is talking about. I had a <textarea> element inside a component that would lose focus when a debounce function concluded.
Well, I realized I was on the wrong track. I was setting the <textarea> to disabled={true} whenever an auto-save function was firing because I didn't want to let the user edit the input while their work was being saved.
When a <textarea> is set to be disabled it will lose focus no matter what trick you try shared here.
I realized there was zero harm in letting the user continue to edit their input while the save was occurring, so I removed it.
Just in case anyone else is doing this same thing, well, that might be your problem. 😅 Even a senior engineer with 5 years of React experience can do things that dumb.

How to focus a specific component on page load in React using hooks? [duplicate]

What's the react way of setting focus on a particular text field after the component is rendered?
Documentation seems to suggest using refs, e.g:
Set ref="nameInput" on my input field in the render function, and then call:
this.refs.nameInput.getInputDOMNode().focus();
But where should I call this? I've tried a few places but I cannot get it to work.
#Dhiraj's answer is correct, and for convenience you can use the autoFocus prop to have an input automatically focus when mounted:
<input autoFocus name=...
Note that in jsx it's autoFocus (capital F) unlike plain old html which is case-insensitive.
You should do it in componentDidMount and refs callback instead. Something like this
componentDidMount(){
this.nameInput.focus();
}
class App extends React.Component{
componentDidMount(){
this.nameInput.focus();
}
render() {
return(
<div>
<input
defaultValue="Won't focus"
/>
<input
ref={(input) => { this.nameInput = input; }}
defaultValue="will focus"
/>
</div>
);
}
}
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById('app'));
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/15.3.1/react.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/15.3.1/react-dom.js"></script>
<div id="app"></div>
Focus on mount
If you just want to focus an element when it mounts (initially renders) a simple use of the autoFocus attribute will do.
<input type="text" autoFocus />
Dynamic focus
to control focus dynamically use a general function to hide implementation details from your components.
React 16.8 + Functional component - useFocus hook
const FocusDemo = () => {
const [inputRef, setInputFocus] = useFocus()
return (
<>
<button onClick={setInputFocus} >
Focus
</button>
<input ref={inputRef} />
</>
)
}
const useFocus = () => {
const htmlElRef = useRef(null)
const setFocus = () => {htmlElRef.current && htmlElRef.current.focus()}
return [ htmlElRef, setFocus ]
}
Full Demo
React 16.3 + Class Components - utilizeFocus
class App extends Component {
constructor(props){
super(props)
this.inputFocus = utilizeFocus()
}
render(){
return (
<>
<button onClick={this.inputFocus.setFocus}>
Focus
</button>
<input ref={this.inputFocus.ref}/>
</>
)
}
}
const utilizeFocus = () => {
const ref = React.createRef()
const setFocus = () => {ref.current && ref.current.focus()}
return {setFocus, ref}
}
Full Demo
As of React 0.15, the most concise method is:
<input ref={input => input && input.focus()}/>
If you just want to make autofocus in React, it's simple.
<input autoFocus type="text" />
While if you just want to know where to put that code, answer is in componentDidMount().
v014.3
componentDidMount() {
this.refs.linkInput.focus()
}
In most cases, you can attach a ref to the DOM node and avoid using findDOMNode at all.
Read the API documents here: https://facebook.github.io/react/docs/top-level-api.html#reactdom.finddomnode
React 16.3 added a new convenient way to handle this by creating a ref in component's constructor and use it like below:
class MyForm extends Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.textInput = React.createRef();
}
componentDidMount() {
this.textInput.current.focus();
}
render() {
return(
<div>
<input ref={this.textInput} />
</div>
);
}
}
For more details about React.createRef, you can check this article in React blog.
Update:
Starting from React 16.8, useRef hook can be used in function components to achieve the same result:
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
const MyForm = () => {
const textInput = useRef(null);
useEffect(() => {
textInput.current.focus();
}, []);
return (
<div>
<input ref={textInput} />
</div>
);
};
The React docs now have a section for this. https://facebook.github.io/react/docs/more-about-refs.html#the-ref-callback-attribute
render: function() {
return (
<TextInput
ref={function(input) {
if (input != null) {
input.focus();
}
}} />
);
},
I just ran into this issue and I'm using react 15.0.1 15.0.2 and I'm using ES6 syntax and didn't quite get what I needed from the other answers since v.15 dropped weeks ago and some of the this.refs properties were deprecated and removed.
In general, what I needed was:
Focus the first input (field) element when the component mounts
Focus the first input (field) element with an error (after submit)
I'm using:
React Container/Presentation Component
Redux
React-Router
Focus the First Input Element
I used autoFocus={true} on the first <input /> on the page so that when the component mounts, it will get focus.
Focus the First Input Element with an Error
This took longer and was more convoluted. I'm keeping out code that isn't relevant to the solution for brevity.
Redux Store / State
I need a global state to know if I should set the focus and to disable it when it was set, so I don't keep re-setting focus when the components re-render (I'll be using componentDidUpdate() to check for setting focus.)
This could be designed as you see fit for you application.
{
form: {
resetFocus: false,
}
}
Container Component
The component will need to have the resetfocus property set and a callBack to clear the property if it ends up setting focus on itself.
Also note, I organized my Action Creators into separate files mostly due to my project is fairly large and I wanted to break them up into more manageable chunks.
import { connect } from 'react-redux';
import MyField from '../presentation/MyField';
import ActionCreator from '../actions/action-creators';
function mapStateToProps(state) {
return {
resetFocus: state.form.resetFocus
}
}
function mapDispatchToProps(dispatch) {
return {
clearResetFocus() {
dispatch(ActionCreator.clearResetFocus());
}
}
}
export default connect(mapStateToProps, mapDispatchToProps)(MyField);
Presentation Component
import React, { PropTypes } form 'react';
export default class MyField extends React.Component {
// don't forget to .bind(this)
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this._handleRef = this._handleRef.bind(this);
}
// This is not called on the initial render so
// this._input will be set before this get called
componentDidUpdate() {
if(!this.props.resetFocus) {
return false;
}
if(this.shouldfocus()) {
this._input.focus();
this.props.clearResetFocus();
}
}
// When the component mounts, it will save a
// reference to itself as _input, which we'll
// be able to call in subsequent componentDidUpdate()
// calls if we need to set focus.
_handleRef(c) {
this._input = c;
}
// Whatever logic you need to determine if this
// component should get focus
shouldFocus() {
// ...
}
// pass the _handleRef callback so we can access
// a reference of this element in other component methods
render() {
return (
<input ref={this._handleRef} type="text" />
);
}
}
Myfield.propTypes = {
clearResetFocus: PropTypes.func,
resetFocus: PropTypes.bool
}
Overview
The general idea is that each form field that could have an error and be focused needs to check itself and if it needs to set focus on itself.
There's business logic that needs to happen to determine if the given field is the right field to set focus to. This isn't shown because it will depend on the individual application.
When a form is submitted, that event needs to set the global focus flag resetFocus to true. Then as each component updates itself, it will see that it should check to see if it gets the focus and if it does, dispatch the event to reset focus so other elements don't have to keep checking.
edit
As a side note, I had my business logic in a "utilities" file and I just exported the method and called it within each shouldfocus() method.
Cheers!
This is not longer the best answer. As of v0.13, this.refs may not available until AFTER componentDidMount() runs, in some odd cases.
Just add the autoFocus tag to your input field, as FakeRainBrigand showed above.
Ref. #Dave's comment on #Dhiraj's answer; an alternative is to use the callback functionality of the ref attribute on the element being rendered (after a component first renders):
<input ref={ function(component){ React.findDOMNode(component).focus();} } />
More info
Using React Hooks / Functional components with Typescript, you can use the useRef hook with HTMLInputElement as the generic parameter of useRef:
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
export default function MyComponent(): JSX.Element {
const inputReference = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null);
useEffect(() => {
inputReference.current?.focus();
}, []);
return (
<div>
<input ref={inputReference} />
</div>
);
}
Or if using reactstrap, supply inputReference to innerRef instead of ref:
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
import { Input } from 'reactstrap';
export default function MyComponent(): JSX.Element {
const inputReference = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null);
useEffect(() => {
inputReference.current?.focus();
}, []);
return (
<div>
<Input innerRef={inputReference} />
</div>
);
}
Note that none of these answers worked for me with a material-ui TextField component. Per How to set focus to a materialUI TextField? I had to jump through some hoops to get this to work:
const focusUsernameInputField = input => {
if (input) {
setTimeout(() => {input.focus()}, 100);
}
};
return (
<TextField
hintText="Username"
floatingLabelText="Username"
ref={focusUsernameInputField}
/>
);
This is the proper way, how to autofocus. When you use callback instead of string as ref value, it is automatically called. You got your ref available than without the need of touching the DOM using getDOMNode
render: function() {
return <TextInput ref={(c) => this._input = c} />;
},
componentDidMount: function() {
this._input.focus();
},
You don't need getInputDOMNode?? in this case...
Just simply get the ref and focus() it when component gets mounted -- componentDidMount...
import React from 'react';
import { render } from 'react-dom';
class myApp extends React.Component {
componentDidMount() {
this.nameInput.focus();
}
render() {
return(
<div>
<input ref={input => { this.nameInput = input; }} />
</div>
);
}
}
ReactDOM.render(<myApp />, document.getElementById('root'));
You can put that method call inside the render function. Or inside the life cycle method, componentDidUpdate
I have same problem but I have some animation too, so my colleague suggest to use window.requestAnimationFrame
this is ref attribute of my element:
ref={(input) => {input && window.requestAnimationFrame(()=>{input.focus()})}}
AutoFocus worked best for me. I needed to change some text to an input with that text on double click so this is what I ended up with:
<input autoFocus onFocus={this.setCaretToEnd} value={this.state.editTodo.value} onDoubleClick={this.updateTodoItem} />
NOTE: To fix the issue where React places the caret at the beginning of the text use this method:
setCaretToEnd(event) {
var originalText = event.target.value;
event.target.value = '';
event.target.value = originalText;
}
Found here:
https://coderwall.com/p/0iz_zq/how-to-put-focus-at-the-end-of-an-input-with-react-js
<input type="text" autoFocus />
always try the simple and basic solution first, works for me.
To move focus to a newly created element, you can store the element's ID in the state and use it to set autoFocus. e.g.
export default class DefaultRolesPage extends React.Component {
addRole = ev => {
ev.preventDefault();
const roleKey = this.roleKey++;
this::updateState({
focus: {$set: roleKey},
formData: {
roles: {
$push: [{
id: null,
name: '',
permissions: new Set(),
key: roleKey,
}]
}
}
})
}
render() {
const {formData} = this.state;
return (
<GridForm onSubmit={this.submit}>
{formData.roles.map((role, idx) => (
<GridSection key={role.key}>
<GridRow>
<GridCol>
<label>Role</label>
<TextBox value={role.name} onChange={this.roleName(idx)} autoFocus={role.key === this.state.focus}/>
</GridCol>
</GridRow>
</GridSection>
))}
</GridForm>
)
}
}
This way none of the textboxes get focus on page load (like I want), but when you press the "Add" button to create a new record, then that new record gets focus.
Since autoFocus doesn't "run" again unless the component gets remounted, I don't have to bother unsetting this.state.focus (i.e. it won't keep stealing focus back as I update other states).
Simple solution without autofocus:
<input ref={ref => ref && ref.focus()}
onFocus={(e)=>e.currentTarget.setSelectionRange(e.currentTarget.value.length, e.currentTarget.value.length)}
/>
ref triggers focus, and that triggers onFocus to calculate the end and set the cursor accordingly.
Ben Carp solution in typescript
React 16.8 + Functional component - useFocus hook
export const useFocus = (): [React.MutableRefObject<HTMLInputElement>, VoidFunction] => {
const htmlElRef = React.useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null);
const setFocus = React.useCallback(() => {
if (htmlElRef.current) htmlElRef.current.focus();
}, [htmlElRef]);
return React.useMemo(() => [htmlElRef, setFocus], [htmlElRef, setFocus]);
};
Warning: ReactDOMComponent: Do not access .getDOMNode() of a DOM node; instead, use the node directly. This DOM node was rendered by App.
Should be
componentDidMount: function () {
this.refs.nameInput.focus();
}
The simplest answer is add the ref="some name" in the input text element and call the below function.
componentDidMount(){
this.refs.field_name.focus();
}
// here field_name is ref name.
<input type="text" ref="field_name" />
After trying a lot of options above with no success I've found that It was as I was disabling and then enabling the input which caused the focus to be lost.
I had a prop sendingAnswer which would disable the Input while I was polling the backend.
<Input
autoFocus={question}
placeholder={
gettingQuestion ? 'Loading...' : 'Type your answer here...'
}
value={answer}
onChange={event => dispatch(updateAnswer(event.target.value))}
type="text"
autocomplete="off"
name="answer"
// disabled={sendingAnswer} <-- Causing focus to be lost.
/>
Once I removed the disabled prop everything started working again.
Read almost all the answer but didnt see a getRenderedComponent().props.input
Set your text input refs
this.refs.username.getRenderedComponent().props.input.onChange('');
According to the updated syntax, you can use this.myRref.current.focus()
Focus using createRef for functional components
To developers using Functional Components. This seems to suit. Focus happens on inputfield after clicking on the button. I've attached CodeSandbox link too.
import React from 'react';
export default function App() {
const inputRef = React.createRef();
return <>
<input ref={inputRef} type={'text'} />
<button onClick={() => {if (inputRef.current) { inputRef.current.focus() }}} >
Click Here
</button>
</>
}
https://codesandbox.io/s/blazing-http-hfwp9t
That one worked for me:
<input autoFocus={true} />
Updated version you can check here
componentDidMount() {
// Focus to the input as html5 autofocus
this.inputRef.focus();
}
render() {
return <input type="text" ref={(input) => { this.inputRef = input }} />
})
Since there is a lot of reasons for this error I thought that I would also post the problem I was facing. For me, problem was that I rendered my inputs as content of another component.
export default ({ Content }) => {
return (
<div className="container-fluid main_container">
<div className="row">
<div className="col-sm-12 h-100">
<Content /> // I rendered my inputs here
</div>
</div>
</div>
);
}
This is the way I called the above component:
<Component Content={() => {
return (
<input type="text"/>
);
}} />

Get containing component from nested component

I am writing a ControlledInput component, and in order to have access to the state of the component using ControlledInput, I have a binder prop in ControlledInput.
I'm having a slight issue when using the component:
render() {
const CI = props => <ControlledInput binder={this} {...props} />;
return (
<div style={styles.container}>
<h1>NEW RECIPE</h1>
<ControlledInput binder={this} label={"Title"} />
</div>
);
}
The implementation above works completely fine. However, note the const CI I've defined. I tried to use this so I could just write <CI label={"Title"}/> without the binder since the binder will be the same on all the ControlledInput components I use in a given render method.
The problem with using <CI label={"Title"}/> is that when I type into the input, the input "blurs" and I have to reselect it. This appears to be because the render method creates the CI on every render.
I hope I've explained that clearly, because my head hurts.
Anyway, it makes sense to me why this happens. And I know that one solution is to put const CI = props => <ControlledInput binder={this} {...props} />; outside of the render function. But then I'd have to call it as <this.CI> and that starts to defeat the purpose.
And I can't put CI in global scope because then I don't have access to this.
Is there a way to solve this?
Update
Here is the current (very much in progress) code for ControlledInput:
// #flow
import React, { Component } from "react";
type Props = {
containerStyle?: Object,
label: string,
propName?: string,
binder: Component<Object, Object>,
onChange?: Object => void
};
class ControlledInput extends Component<Props> {
render() {
const props = this.props;
const propName = props.propName || props.label.toLowerCase();
return (
<div style={props.containerStyle}>
<p>{props.label}</p>
<input
type="text"
label={props.label}
onChange={
this.props.onChange ||
(e => {
props.binder.setState({ [propName]: e.target.value });
})
}
value={props.binder.state[propName]}
></input>
</div>
);
}
}
The point of this whole endeavor is to simplify creating a form with controlled components, avoiding having to add value={this.state.whatever} and onChange={e=>this.setState({whatever: e})} to each one, which is not DRY in my opinion.
And then I want get a little more DRY by not passing binder={this} to every component and that's why I'm doing const CI = props => <ControlledInput binder={this} {...props} />;, which, again, has to be inside the class to access this and inside the render function to be called as CI rather than this.CI.
So that first explanation why you need to pass this, although I suppose I could also have props like setState={this.setState} parentState={this.state}, and in that case it does indeed start to make sense to combine those into something like {...propsToSend} as #John Ruddell suggested.
Note that I've provided a possibility to override onChange, and plan on doing so for most or all of the other props (e.g, value={this.props.value || binder.state[propName]}. If one were to override a lot of these (especially value and onChange) it would indeed make the component much less reusable, but the main use case is for quickly creating multiple inputs that don't have special input handling.
So, again, my ideal would be to call <ControlledInput label="Title"/> and have the component code take care of binding state and setState correctly. If this is possible. And then the second option would be to have a place to define the necessary context props in a place that makes it simple when it's time to actually use the component multiple times, like so:
<ControlledInput label={"title"} {...contextProps}/>
<ControlledInput label={"author"} {...contextProps}/>
<ControlledInput label={"email"} {...contextProps}/>
<ControlledInput label={"content"} textArea={true} {...contextProps}/> // textarea prop not implemented yet, fyi
etc
I hear that accessing the parent state/context may be an anti-pattern, but there must be some way to do what I'm trying to do without using an anti-pattern, isn't there?
If you want the state of the parent, handle the state there and pass down the value to your input - ControlledInput won't have to know anything except how to handle data in and out. Something like this, and note that I jacked up the names a little so you can see which component is handling what:
import React, { useState } from "react"
const Parent = () => {
const [title, setTitle] = useState("")
const handleChangeInParent = (newTitle) => {
setTitle((oldValue) => newTitle)
}
return(<div style={styles.container}>
<h1>NEW RECIPE</h1>
<ControlledInput handleChange={handleChangeInParent} label={title} />
</div>)
}
const ControlledInput = ({handleChange, label}) => {
return (
<input onChange={handleChange} type="text" value={label} />
)
}
If ControlledComponent needs to handle its own state, then pass it a default value and then have the Parent read the value when saving (or whatever):
import React, { useState } from "react"
const Parent = () => {
const handleSaveInParent = (newTitle) => {
console.log("got the new title!")
}
return (
<div style={styles.container}>
<h1>NEW RECIPE</h1>
<ControlledInput handleSave={handleSaveInParent} initialLabel="Title" />
</div>
)
}
const ControlledInput = ({ handleSave, initialLabel }) => {
const [title, setTitle] = useState(initialLabel)
const handleChange = (ev) => {
const value = ev.target.value
setTitle((oldValue) => value)
}
const handleSubmit = (ev) => {
ev.preventDefault()
handleSave(title)
}
return (
<form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
<input onChange={handleChange} type="text" value={title} />
</form>
)
}
You shouldn't be sending this through - just send values and/or functions to handle values.
With Updated Implementation
(okay, John you win!)
Not positive if this is technically an "answer", but I've rewritten the component to take a state and (updated) a setterFn prop:
component
// #flow
import React, { Component } from "react";
type Props = {
containerStyle?: Object,
labelStyle?: Object,
label: string,
propName?: string,
state: Object,
onChange?: Object => void,
textArea?: boolean,
setterFn: (key: string, value: mixed) => void
};
class ControlledInput extends Component<Props> {
render() {
const props = this.props;
const propertyName = props.propName || props.label.toLowerCase();
const TagType = props.textArea ? "textarea" : "input";
// only pass valid props to DOM element (remove any problematic custom props)
const { setterFn, propName, textArea, ...domProps } = props;
return (
<div style={props.containerStyle}>
<p style={props.labelStyle}>{props.label}</p>
<TagType
{...domProps}
label={props.label} // actually could get passed automatically, but it's important so I'm leaving it in the code
onChange={
this.props.onChange ||
(setterFn ? e => setterFn(propertyName, e.target.value) : null)
}
value={props.state[propertyName] || ""}
></TagType>
</div>
);
}
}
export default ControlledInput;
in use (somehow less code than before!)
class Wrapper extends Component<Object, Object> {
state = {};
render() {
const setterFn = (k, v) => this.setState({ [k]: v });
const p = { state: this.state, setterFn: setterFn.bind(this) };
return <ControlledInput {...p} {...this.props.inputProps} />
}
}
I guess this is more appropriate. It still takes up a lot more space than binder={this}.
It doesn't actually the questions of:
How to access the parent's state from the component. Though from comments it seems like this is an anti-pattern, which I do understand from the theory of React.
How to set these repeating props elsewhere so that I can just call `. I guess the only solution is to do something like this:
render() {
const props = {state: this.state, setState: this.setState}
<ControlledInput {...props} label="Title"/>
}
Which certainly isn't such a bad solution. Especially if I shorten that name to, say, a single character.
Much thanks to #John Ruddell for setting me on the right path.

How to listen to onChange of the Field component in React-Final-Form?

Redux-form "Field" component provides onChange property. A callback that will be called whenever an onChange event is fired from the underlying input. This callback allows to get "newValue" and "previousValue" for the Field.
React-final-form "Field" component doesn't have this property.
So, how I can get the same functionality?
React-final-form handles this functionality with a tiny external package.
Basically it is an additional component to add inside the form that binds to the element using its name:
<Field name="foo" component="input" type="checkbox" />
<OnChange name="foo">
{(value, previous) => {
// do something
}}
</OnChange>
The current documentation can be found here:
https://github.com/final-form/react-final-form-listeners#onchange
The idea under change detection is to subscribe to value changes of Field and call your custom onChange handler when value actually changes. I prepared simplified example where you can see it in action. Details are in MyField.js file.
As the result you can use it just as with redux-form:
<MyField
component="input"
name="firstName"
onChange={(val, prevVal) => console.log(val, prevVal)}
/>
2022 JANUARY UPDATE
While the code above still works (check the sandbox version) there is a case when the solutions requires more tweeks around it.
Here is an updated sandbox with an implementation via the hooks. It's based on a useFieldValue hook and OnChange component as a consumer of this hook. But the hook itself can be used separately when you need previous value between re-renders. This solution doesn't rely on meta.active of the field.
// useFieldValue.js
import { useEffect, useRef } from "react";
import { useField } from "react-final-form";
const usePrevious = (val) => {
const ref = useRef(val);
useEffect(() => {
ref.current = val;
}, [val]);
return ref.current;
};
const useFieldValue = (name) => {
const {
input: { value }
} = useField(name, { subscription: { value: true } });
const prevValue = usePrevious(value);
return [value, prevValue];
};
export default useFieldValue;
// OnChange.js
import { useEffect } from "react";
import useFieldValue from "./useFieldValue";
export default ({ name, onChange }) => {
const [value, prevValue] = useFieldValue(name);
useEffect(() => {
if (value !== prevValue) {
onChange(value, prevValue);
}
}, [onChange, value, prevValue]);
return null;
};
Another nice option is this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/56495998/3647991
I haven't used redux-form, but I added a super simple wrapper around the Field component to listen to onChange like this:
const Input = props => {
const {
name,
validate,
onChange,
...rest
} = props;
return (
<Field name={name} validate={validate}>
{({input, meta}) => {
return (
<input
{...input}
{...rest}
onChange={(e) => {
input.onChange(e); //final-form's onChange
if (onChange) { //props.onChange
onChange(e);
}
}}
/>
)}}
</Field>
);
};
One could use the Field's parse attribute and provide a function that does what you need with the value:
<Field
parse={value => {
// Do what you want with `value`
return value;
}}
// ...
/>
You need to use the ExternalModificationDetector component to listen for changes on the field component like this:
<ExternalModificationDetector name="abc">
{externallyModified => (
<BooleanDecay value={externallyModified} delay={1000}>
{highlight => (
<Field
//field properties here
/>
)}
</BooleanDecay>
)}
</ExternalModificationDetector>
By wrapping a stateful ExternalModificationDetector component in a
Field component, we can listen for changes to a field's value, and by
knowing whether or not the field is active, deduce when a field's
value changes due to external influences.
Via - React-Final-Form Github Docs
Here is a sandbox example provided in the React-Final-Form Docs: https://codesandbox.io/s/3x989zl866

React.js - input losing focus when rerendering

I am just writing to text input and in onChange event I call setState, so React re-renders my UI. The problem is that the text input always loses focus, so I need to focus it again for each letter :D.
var EditorContainer = React.createClass({
componentDidMount: function () {
$(this.getDOMNode()).slimScroll({height: this.props.height, distance: '4px', size: '8px'});
},
componentDidUpdate: function () {
console.log("zde");
$(this.getDOMNode()).slimScroll({destroy: true}).slimScroll({height: 'auto', distance: '4px', size: '8px'});
},
changeSelectedComponentName: function (e) {
//this.props.editor.selectedComponent.name = $(e.target).val();
this.props.editor.forceUpdate();
},
render: function () {
var style = {
height: this.props.height + 'px'
};
return (
<div className="container" style={style}>
<div className="row">
<div className="col-xs-6">
{this.props.selected ? <h3>{this.props.selected.name}</h3> : ''}
{this.props.selected ? <input type="text" value={this.props.selected.name} onChange={this.changeSelectedComponentName} /> : ''}
</div>
<div className="col-xs-6">
<ComponentTree editor={this.props.editor} components={this.props.components}/>
</div>
</div>
</div>
);
}
});
Without seeing the rest of your code, this is a guess.
When you create a EditorContainer, specify a unique key for the component:
<EditorContainer key="editor1"/>
When a re-rendering occurs, if the same key is seen, this will tell React don't clobber and regenerate the view, instead reuse. Then the focused item should retain focus.
I keep coming back here again and again and always find the solution to my elsewhere at the end.
So, I'll document it here because I know I will forget this again!
The reason input was losing focus in my case was due to the fact that I was re-rendering the input on state change.
Buggy Code:
import React from 'react';
import styled from 'styled-components';
class SuperAwesomeComp extends React.Component {
state = {
email: ''
};
updateEmail = e => {
e.preventDefault();
this.setState({ email: e.target.value });
};
render() {
const Container = styled.div``;
const Input = styled.input``;
return (
<Container>
<Input
type="text"
placeholder="Gimme your email!"
onChange={this.updateEmail}
value={this.state.email}
/>
</Container>
)
}
}
So, the problem is that I always start coding everything at one place to quickly test and later break it all into separate modules.
But, here this strategy backfires because updating the state on input change triggers render function and the focus is lost.
Fix is simple, do the modularization from the beginning, in other words, "Move the Input component out of render function"
Fixed Code
import React from 'react';
import styled from 'styled-components';
const Container = styled.div``;
const Input = styled.input``;
class SuperAwesomeComp extends React.Component {
state = {
email: ''
};
updateEmail = e => {
e.preventDefault();
this.setState({ email: e.target.value });
};
render() {
return (
<Container>
<Input
type="text"
placeholder="Gimme your email!"
onChange={this.updateEmail}
value={this.state.email}
/>
</Container>
)
}
}
Ref. to the solution: https://github.com/styled-components/styled-components/issues/540#issuecomment-283664947
If it's a problem within a react router <Route/> use the render prop instead of component.
<Route path="/user" render={() => <UserPage/>} />
The loss of focus happens because the component prop uses React.createElement each time instead of just re-rendering the changes.
Details here: https://reacttraining.com/react-router/web/api/Route/component
I had the same symptoms with hooks. Yet my problem was defining a component inside the parent.
Wrong:
const Parent =() => {
const Child = () => <p>Child!</p>
return <Child />
}
Right:
const Child = () => <p>Child!</p>
const Parent = () => <Child />
My answer is similar to what #z5h said.
In my case, I used Math.random() to generate a unique key for the component.
I thought the key is only used for triggering a rerender for that particular component rather than re-rendering all the components in that array (I return an array of components in my code). I didn't know it is used for restoring the state after rerendering.
Removing that did the job for me.
Applying the autoFocus attribute to the input element can perform as a workaround in situations where there's only one input that needs to be focused. In that case a key attribute would be unnecessary because it's just one element and furthermore you wouldn't have to worry about breaking the input element into its own component to avoid losing focus on re-render of main component.
What I did was just change the value prop to defaultValue and second change was onChange event to onBlur.
I got the same behavior.
The problem in my code was that i created a nested Array of jsx elements like this:
const example = [
[
<input value={'Test 1'}/>,
<div>Test 2</div>,
<div>Test 3</div>,
]
]
...
render = () => {
return <div>{ example }</div>
}
Every element in this nested Array re-renders each time I updated the parent element. And so the inputs lose there "ref" prop every time
I fixed the Problem with transform the inner array to a react component
(a function with a render function)
const example = [
<myComponentArray />
]
...
render = () => {
return <div>{ example }</div>
}
EDIT:
The same issue appears when i build a nested React.Fragment
const SomeComponent = (props) => (
<React.Fragment>
<label ... />
<input ... />
</React.Fragment>
);
const ParentComponent = (props) => (
<React.Fragment>
<SomeComponent ... />
<div />
</React.Fragment>
);
I solved the same issue deleting the key attribute in the input and his parent elements
// Before
<input
className='invoice_table-input invoice_table-input-sm'
type='number'
key={ Math.random }
defaultValue={pageIndex + 1}
onChange={e => {
const page = e.target.value ? Number(e.target.value) - 1 : 0
gotoPage(page)
}}
/>
// After
<input
className='invoice_table-input invoice_table-input-sm'
type='number'
defaultValue={pageIndex + 1}
onChange={e => {
const page = e.target.value ? Number(e.target.value) - 1 : 0
gotoPage(page)
}}
/>
The answers supplied didn't help me, here was what I did but I had a unique situation.
To clean up the code I tend to use this format until I'm ready to pull the component into another file.
render(){
const MyInput = () => {
return <input onChange={(e)=>this.setState({text: e.target.value}) />
}
return(
<div>
<MyInput />
</div>
)
But this caused it to lose focus, when I put the code directly in the div it worked.
return(
<div>
<input onChange={(e)=>this.setState({text: e.target.value}) />
</div>
)
I don't know why this is, this is the only issue I've had with writing it this way and I do it in most files I have, but if anyone does a similar thing this is why it loses focus.
If the input field is inside another element (i.e., a container element like <div key={"bart"}...><input key={"lisa"}...> ... </input></div>-- the ellipses here indicating omitted code), there must be a unique and constant key on the container element (as well as on the input field). Elsewise, React renders up a brand new container element when child's state is updated rather than merely re-rendering the old container. Logically, only the child element should be updated, but...
I had this problem while trying to write a component that took a bunch of address information. The working code looks like this
// import react, components
import React, { Component } from 'react'
// import various functions
import uuid from "uuid";
// import styles
import "../styles/signUp.css";
export default class Address extends Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
address1: "",
address2: "",
address1Key: uuid.v4(),
address2Key: uuid.v4(),
address1HolderKey: uuid.v4(),
address2HolderKey: uuid.v4(),
// omitting state information for additional address fields for brevity
};
this.handleChange = this.handleChange.bind(this);
}
handleChange(event) {
event.preventDefault();
this.setState({ [`${event.target.id}`]: event.target.value })
}
render() {
return (
<fieldset>
<div className="labelAndField" key={this.state.address1HolderKey} >
<label className="labelStyle" for="address1">{"Address"}</label>
<input className="inputStyle"
id="address1"
name="address1"
type="text"
label="address1"
placeholder=""
value={this.state.address1}
onChange={this.handleChange}
key={this.state.address1Key} ></input >
</div>
<div className="labelAndField" key={this.state.address2HolderKey} >
<label className="labelStyle" for="address2">{"Address (Cont.)"}</label>
<input className="inputStyle"
id="address2"
name="address2"
type="text"
label="address2"
placeholder=""
key={this.state.address2Key} ></input >
</div>
{/* omitting rest of address fields for brevity */}
</fieldset>
)
}
}
Sharp-eyed readers will note that <fieldset> is a containing element, yet it doesn't require a key. The same holds for <> and <React.Fragment> or even <div> Why? Maybe only the immediate container needs a key. I dunno. As math textbooks say, the explanation is left to the reader as an exercise.
I had this issue and the problem turned out to be that I was using a functional component and linking up with a parent component's state. If I switched to using a class component, the problem went away. Hopefully there is a way around this when using functional components as it's a lot more convenient for simple item renderers et al.
I just ran into this issue and came here for help. Check your CSS! The input field cannot have user-select: none; or it won't work on an iPad.
The core reason is: When React re-render, your previous DOM ref will be invalid. It mean react has change the DOM tree, and you this.refs.input.focus won't work, because the input here doesn't exist anymore.
For me, this was being caused by the search input box being rendered in the same component (called UserList) as the list of search results. So whenever the search results changed, the whole UserList component rerendered, including the input box.
My solution was to create a whole new component called UserListSearch which is separate from UserList. I did not need to set keys on the input fields in UserListSearch for this to work. The render function of my UsersContainer now looks like this:
class UserContainer extends React.Component {
render() {
return (
<div>
<Route
exact
path={this.props.match.url}
render={() => (
<div>
<UserListSearch
handleSearchChange={this.handleSearchChange}
searchTerm={this.state.searchTerm}
/>
<UserList
isLoading={this.state.isLoading}
users={this.props.users}
user={this.state.user}
handleNewUserClick={this.handleNewUserClick}
/>
</div>
)}
/>
</div>
)
}
}
Hopefully this helps someone too.
I switched value prop to defaultValue. That works for me.
...
// before
<input value={myVar} />
// after
<input defaultValue={myVar} />
My problem was that I named my key dynamically with a value of the item, in my case "name" so the key was key={${item.name}-${index}}. So when I wanted to change the input with item.name as the value, they key would also change and therefore react would not recognize that element
included the next code in tag input:
ref={(input) => {
if (input) {
input.focus();
}
}}
Before:
<input
defaultValue={email}
className="form-control"
type="email"
id="email"
name="email"
placeholder={"mail#mail.com"}
maxLength="15"
onChange={(e) => validEmail(e.target.value)}
/>
After:
<input
ref={(input) => {
if (input) {
input.focus();
}
}}
defaultValue={email}
className="form-control"
type="email"
id="email"
name="email"
placeholder={"mail#mail.com"}
maxLength="15"
onChange={(e) => validEmail(e.target.value)}
/>
I had a similar issue, this is fixed it.
const component = () => {
return <input onChange={({target})=>{
setValue(target.vlaue)
}
} />
}
const ThisComponentKeptRefreshingContainer = () => {
return(
<component />
)
}
const ThisContainerDidNot= () => {
return(
<> {component()} </>
)
}
As the code illustrate calling the component child like an element gave that re-rendering effect, however, calling it like a function did not.
hope it helps someone
I had the same problem with an html table in which I have input text lines in a column. inside a loop I read a json object and I create rows in particular I have a column with inputtext.
http://reactkungfu.com/2015/09/react-js-loses-input-focus-on-typing/
I managed to solve it in the following way
import { InputTextComponent } from './InputTextComponent';
//import my inputTextComponent
...
var trElementList = (function (list, tableComponent) {
var trList = [],
trElement = undefined,
trElementCreator = trElementCreator,
employeeElement = undefined;
// iterating through employee list and
// creating row for each employee
for (var x = 0; x < list.length; x++) {
employeeElement = list[x];
var trNomeImpatto = React.createElement('tr', null, <td rowSpan="4"><strong>{employeeElement['NomeTipologiaImpatto'].toUpperCase()}</strong></td>);
trList.push(trNomeImpatto);
trList.push(trElementCreator(employeeElement, 0, x));
trList.push(trElementCreator(employeeElement, 1, x));
trList.push(trElementCreator(employeeElement, 2, x));
} // end of for
return trList; // returns row list
function trElementCreator(obj, field, index) {
var tdList = [],
tdElement = undefined;
//my input text
var inputTextarea = <InputTextComponent
idImpatto={obj['TipologiaImpattoId']}//index
value={obj[columns[field].nota]}//initial value of the input I read from my json data source
noteType={columns[field].nota}
impattiComposite={tableComponent.state.impattiComposite}
//updateImpactCompositeNote={tableComponent.updateImpactCompositeNote}
/>
tdElement = React.createElement('td', { style: null }, inputTextarea);
tdList.push(tdElement);
var trComponent = createClass({
render: function () {
return React.createElement('tr', null, tdList);
}
});
return React.createElement(trComponent);
} // end of trElementCreator
});
...
//my tableComponent
var tableComponent = createClass({
// initial component states will be here
// initialize values
getInitialState: function () {
return {
impattiComposite: [],
serviceId: window.sessionStorage.getItem('serviceId'),
serviceName: window.sessionStorage.getItem('serviceName'),
form_data: [],
successCreation: null,
};
},
//read a json data soure of the web api url
componentDidMount: function () {
this.serverRequest =
$.ajax({
url: Url,
type: 'GET',
contentType: 'application/json',
data: JSON.stringify({ id: this.state.serviceId }),
cache: false,
success: function (response) {
this.setState({ impattiComposite: response.data });
}.bind(this),
error: function (xhr, resp, text) {
// show error to console
console.error('Error', xhr, resp, text)
alert(xhr, resp, text);
}
});
},
render: function () {
...
React.createElement('table', {style:null}, React.createElement('tbody', null,trElementList(this.state.impattiComposite, this),))
...
}
//my input text
var inputTextarea = <InputTextComponent
idImpatto={obj['TipologiaImpattoId']}//index
value={obj[columns[field].nota]}//initial value of the input I read //from my json data source
noteType={columns[field].nota}
impattiComposite={tableComponent.state.impattiComposite}//impattiComposite = my json data source
/>//end my input text
tdElement = React.createElement('td', { style: null }, inputTextarea);
tdList.push(tdElement);//add a component
//./InputTextComponent.js
import React from 'react';
export class InputTextComponent extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
idImpatto: props.idImpatto,
value: props.value,
noteType: props.noteType,
_impattiComposite: props.impattiComposite,
};
this.updateNote = this.updateNote.bind(this);
}
//Update a inpute text with new value insert of the user
updateNote(event) {
this.setState({ value: event.target.value });//update a state of the local componet inputText
var impattiComposite = this.state._impattiComposite;
var index = this.state.idImpatto - 1;
var impatto = impattiComposite[index];
impatto[this.state.noteType] = event.target.value;
this.setState({ _impattiComposite: impattiComposite });//update of the state of the father component (tableComponet)
}
render() {
return (
<input
className="Form-input"
type='text'
value={this.state.value}
onChange={this.updateNote}>
</input>
);
}
}
Simple solution in my case:
<input ref={ref => ref && ref.focus()}
onFocus={(e)=>e.currentTarget.setSelectionRange(e.currentTarget.value.length, e.currentTarget.value.length)}
/>
ref triggers focus, and that triggers onFocus to calculate the end and set the cursor accordingly.
The issue in my case was that the key prop values I was setting on the InputContainer component and the input fields themselves were generated using Math.random(). The non-constant nature of the values made it hard for track to be kept of the input field being edited.
For me I had a text area inside a portal. This text area was loosing focus. My buggy portal implementation was like this:
export const Modal = ({children, onClose}: modelProps) => {
const modalDOM = document.getElementById("modal");
const divRef = useRef(document.createElement('div'));
useEffect(()=>{
const ref = divRef.current;
modalDOM?.appendChild(ref);
return ()=>{
modalDOM?.removeChild(ref);
}
});
const close = (e: React.MouseEvent) => {
e.stopPropagation();
onClose();
};
const handleClick = (e: React.MouseEvent) => {
e.stopPropagation()
}
return (
createPortal(
<div className="modal" onClick={close}>
<div className="modal__close-modal" onClick={close}>x</div>
{children}
</div>,
divRef.current)
)
}
const Parent = ({content: string}: ParentProps) => {
const [content, setContent] = useState<string>(content);
const onChangeFile = (e: React.MouseEvent) => {
setContent(e.currentTarget.value);
}
return (
<Modal>
<textarea
value={content}
onChange={onChangeFile}>
</textarea>
</Modal>
)
}
Turned out following implementation worked correctly, here I am directly attaching modal component to the DOM element.
export const Modal = ({children, onClose}: modelProps) => {
const modalDOM = document.getElementById("modal");
const close = (e: React.MouseEvent) => {
e.stopPropagation();
onClose();
};
return (
createPortal(
<div className="modal" onClick={close}>
<div className="modal__close-modal" onClick={close}>x</div>
{children}
</div>,
modalDOM || document.body)
)
}
Turns out I was binding this to the component which was causing it to rerender.
I figured I'd post it here in case anyone else had this issue.
I had to change
<Field
label="Post Content"
name="text"
component={this.renderField.bind(this)}
/>
To
<Field
label="Post Content"
name="text"
component={this.renderField}
/>
Simple fix since in my case, I didn't actually need this in renderField, but hopefully me posting this will help someone else.
Changing text in the input of some control can cause parent control rerendering in some cases (according to binding to props).
In this case focus will be lost. Editing should not has effect to parent container in DOM.

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