What's the proper way to pass dependencies between components in React? - javascript

Imagine that Component A creates a list of items that Component B needs to display. What's the proper way to pass data from Component A to Component B from their parent?
For example, let's say that Component A's constructor creates a list of items and has a function _getListItems() that returns that list. I'm hoping the parent can then pass that list on to other components via props.
My naive (non-working) implementation has their parent attempting to render the components like this:
render () {
return (
<div>
<h1>Data Test</h1>
<ComponentA ref='compa'/>
<ComponentB items={this.refs.compa._getListItems()}/>
</div>
);
}
....although the code above doesn't work, I hope it illustrates what I'm trying to do.
ps. nOOb to react and javascript, so forgive me if the answer to my question's obvious...

Divide your components into two separate categories.
Presentational Component that has responsibility to display a thing. This component should not have state (except for UI state).
Container Component that knows the data.
https://medium.com/#dan_abramov/smart-and-dumb-components-7ca2f9a7c7d0#.skmxo7vt4
So, in your case the data should created by parent of ComponentA and ComponentB and pass the data to both ComponentA and ComponentB via props.
Example:
render(){
let items = this._getListItems();
return (
<div>
<ComponentA items={items} />
<ComponentB items={items} />
</div>
);
}
Edit
Rewrite OP's approach in the comment:
class MyContainer extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = { stuff: [1,2,3] };
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<ComponentA items={this.state.stuff} />
<ComponentB items={this.state.stuff} />
</div>
);
}
}

Following the accepted answer above, I've just had a (related) EUREKA moment, so I'm going to expand on the answer; when the parent uses its own state to pass props to its children, whenever the parent's state changes, its render() function is called, thus updating the children with the updated state. So you can do stuff like this:
class MyContainer extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
let sltd = this.props.selected
this.state = {
stuff: [1,2,3],
selected: sltd
};
}
_handleAStuff(value) {
this.setState(selected: value)
//do other stuff with selected...
}
_handleBStuff(value) {
this.setState(selected: value)
//do other stuff with selected...
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<ComponentA items={this.state.stuff} selected={this.state.selected} parentFunc={this._handleAStuff.bind(this)} />
<ComponentB items={this.state.stuff} selected={this.state.selected} parentFunc={this._handleBStuff.bind(this)} />
</div>
);
}
}
MyContainer.defaultProps = {
selected: 0
}
class ComponentA extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props)
}
_handleSelect(value) {
this.props.parentFunc(value.label)
}
render() {
const itm = this.props.items.map(function(values) {
return { value: values, label: values}
})
return (
<div>
<Select
options={itm}
value={this.props.selected}
onChange={this._handleSelect.bind(this)}
/>
</div>
);
}
}
// ComponentB...
The callback pattern above means that ComponentA and ComponentB do not need to maintain state, they simply 'render stuff', which is also pretty cool. I'm beginning to see the power of REACT...

Related

Troubles with state

I'm just started to learn react, and i have a question
Well, i can impact on state from one component to another. But can i do it in reverse?
Here's what i mean:
import React from 'react';
import Butt from './Button';
class Checkbox extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super();
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<Butt arg={13} />
</div>
);
}
}
export default Checkbox;
import React from 'react';
class Butt extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super();
this.state = {
s1: props.arg,
};
}
add = () => {
let val = this.state.s1;
val++;
this.setState({ s1: val });
};
render() {
return (
<div>
<label>
<label>
<button onClick={this.add}>add</button>
<div>{this.state.s1}</div>
</label>
</label>
</div>
);
}
}
export default Butt;
Sorry for my silly question. Thanks in advance :)
I am not sure about your question, but in react, there is a one-way flow (from parent to child) for transferring information (props, states, or ...). If you want to have access to states everywhere or set them in each direction you should use Redux or context or any other state management.
You're updating the Butt state from inside Butt so this will work fine. It won't change the value of this.props.arg though, if that's what you're asking.
Props are always non-mutable.
What you can do is have two components share the state of their parent...
class Parent extends React.Component {
state = {
val = 0
}
render () {
return (
<>
<Child1
val={this.state.val}
onChange={newVal => this.setState({ val: newVal })}
/>
<Child2
val={this.state.val}
onChange={newVal => this.setState({ val: newVal })}
/>
</>
)
}
}
Then inside the child components pass the updated value to onChange...
class Child1 extends React.Component {
handleChange() {
this.props.onChange(this.props.val + 1)
}
render() {
return (
<Button onClick={() => this.handleChange()}>
Update value
</Button>
)
}
}
This way you're just passing a new value from Child to Parent and letting Parent decide what to do with it.
Whether Child1 or Child2 sends the new value, both children will get updated when Parent calls this.setState({ val: newVal }) and changes this.state.val.

Passing Objects to Component in React

I'm fairly new to the react side of life and have come across a slightly annoying issue with my Syntax that I could do with a little help on.
The premise is very simple:
I am trying to pass an object as a prop to a Component.
Parent Element: -- Trying to pass the state to the Totals component
class Dash_overview extends React.Component{
constructor(props){
super(props)
this.state = {
companies: {
title: 'companies on record',
value: null,
messurement: 'Companies'
},
earning: {
title: 'total earning',
value: null,
messurement: 'mill'
}
}
}
render(){
return (
<div className="overview-container">
<div className="totals">
<Totals values={this.state.companies}/>
<Totals values={this.state.earning}/>
</div>
</div>
)
}
}
Child Component -- which is going to use the values passed to it
class Totals extends React.Component{
constructor(props){
super(props)
this.state = {
}
}
render(){
return (
<div className="totals_comp">
<h3>{companies.title}</h3>
<h3>{companies.value}</h3>
<h3>{companies.messurement}</h3>
</div>
)
}
}
--
Im probably making a silly mistake but I have tried a few different variations of this without success so would really value someone pointing out where I am going wrong. :)
Thanks in advance,
Wally
You can spread the state values into the child component props, the object keys will be the prop names used within the component.
<Totals {...this.state.companies}/>
<Totals {...this.state.earning}/>
Or explicitly pass the prop values
const { messurement, title, value } = this.state.companies;
...
<Totals
messurement={messurement}
title={title}
value={value}
/>
<Totals
messurement={messurement}
title={title}
value={value}
/>
And then in the child access via props
<div className="totals_comp">
<h3>{this.props.title}</h3>
<h3>{this.props.value}</h3>
<h3>{this.props.messurement}</h3>
</div>
Issue
values={this.state.companies} takes the state object value and assigns it to a prop named values, but then in the child component you don't reference it at all. i.e. like props.values.title.
Since you are passing {title: 'companies on record',value: null,messurement: 'Companies'} as values prop, you should consume values from the other component. if you want to use companies name do this :
<div className="overview-container">
<div className="totals">
<Totals companies={this.state.companies}/>
<Totals companies={this.state.earning}/>
</div>
</div>
and then do this on Totals component:
const {companies}=this.props
render(){
return (
<div className="totals_comp">
<h3>{companies.title}</h3>
<h3>{companies.value}</h3>
<h3>{companies.messurement}</h3>
</div>
)}
Try this.
const { title,value,messurement } = this.props.values;
render(){
return (
<div className="totals_comp">
<h3>{title}</h3>
<h3>{value}</h3>
<h3>{messurement}</h3>
</div>
)
}

unable to find a React.Component by id

I have a React.Component with render() declared this way:
render(){
return <div>
<button id="butt" onClick={()=> $("#noti").change("test") }>click me</button>
<Notification id="noti" onMounted={() => console.log("test")}/>
</div>
}
And this is my Notification class:
class Notification extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props)
this.state = {
message: "place holder",
visible: false
}
}
show(message, duration){
console.log("show")
this.setState({visible: true, message})
setTimeout(() => {
this.setState({visible: false})
}, duration)
}
change(message){
this.setState({message})
}
render() {
const {visible, message} = this.state
return <div>
{visible ? message : ""}
</div>
}
}
As the class name suggests, I am trying to create a simple notification with message. And I want to simply display the notification by calling noti.show(message, duration).
However, when I try to find noti by doing window.noti, $("#noti") and document.findElementById("noti"), they all give me undefined, while noti is displayed properly. And I can find the butt using the code to find noti.
How should I find the noti? I am new to front end so please be a little bit more specific on explaining.
It's not a good idea using JQuery library with Reactjs. instead you can find a appropriate react library for notification or anything else.
Also In React we use ref to to access DOM nodes.
Something like this:
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.noti = React.createRef();
}
...
<Notification ref={this.noti} onMounted={() => console.log("test")}/>
more info: https://reactjs.org/docs/refs-and-the-dom.html
I have hardcoded the id to 'noti' in the render method. You can also use the prop id in the Notification component.I have remodelled the component so that you can achieve the intended functionality through React way.
class App extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
messageContent: 'placeholder'
}
}
setMessage = (data) => {
this.setState({messageContent : data});
}
render() {
return (
<div className="App">
<button id='butt' onClick= {() => this.setMessage('test')} />
<Notification message = {this.state.messageContent} />
</div>
);
}
}
class Notification extends React.Component {
render () {
const {message} = this.props;
return (
<div id='noti'>
{message}
</div>
)
}
}
Before beginning: Using id/class to reach DOM nodes is not suggested in React.js, you need to use Ref's. Read more at here.
In your first render method, you give id property to Notification component.
In react.js,
if you pass a property to some component, it becomes a props of that
component. (read more here)
After you give the id to Notification, you need to take and use that specific props in your Notification component.
You see that you inserted a code line super(props) in constructor of Notification? That means, take all the props from super (upper) class and inherit them in this class.
Since id is HTML tag, you can use it like:
class Notification extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
// inherit all props from upper class
super(props);
this.state = {
message: "place holder",
visible: false,
// you can reach all props with using this.props
// we took id props and assign it to some property in component state
id: this.props.id
}
}
show(message, duration){
// code..
}
change(message){
// code..
}
render() {
const {visible, message, id} = this.state
// give that id to div tag
return <div id={id}>
{message}
</div>
}
}
You can't pass id/class to a React Component as you would declare them in your normal HTML. any property when passed to a React Component becomes a props of that component which you have to use in the component class/function.
render() {
const {visible, message} = this.state
// give your id props to div tag as id attr
return <div id={this.props.id}>
{message}
</div>
}
This answer does not provide the exact answer about selecting a component as you want. I'm providing this answer so you can see other alternatives (more React way maybe) and improve it according to your needs.
class App extends React.Component {
state = {
isNotiVisible: false
};
handleClick = () => this.setState({ isNotiVisible: true });
render() {
return (
<div>
<button onClick={this.handleClick}>Show Noti</button>
{this.state.isNotiVisible && (
<Noti duration={2000} message="This is a simple notification." />
)}
</div>
);
}
}
class Noti extends React.Component {
state = {
visible: true
};
componentDidMount() {
setTimeout(() => this.setState({ visible: false }), this.props.duration);
}
render() {
return this.state.visible && <div>{this.props.message}</div>;
}
}
ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById("root"));
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/16.6.3/umd/react.production.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react-dom/16.6.3/umd/react-dom.production.min.js"></script>
<div id="root" />

React: Do children always rerender when the parent component rerenders?

It is to my knowledge that if a parent component rerenders, then all its children will rerender UNLESS they implement shouldComponentUpdate(). I made an example where this doesn't seem to be the true.
I have 3 components: <DynamicParent/>, <StaticParent/> and <Child/>. The <Parent/> components are responsible for rendering the <Child/> but do so in different ways.
<StaticParent/>'s render function statically declares the <Child/> before runtime, like so:
<StaticParent>
<Child />
</StaticParent>
While the <DynamicParent/> handles receiving and rendering the <Child/> dynamically at runtime, like so:
<DynamicParent>
{ this.props.children }
</DynamicParent>
Both <DynamicParent/> and <StaticParent/> have onClick listeners to change their state and rerender when clicked. I noticed that when clicking <StaticParent/> both it and the <Child/> are rerendered. But when I click <DynamicParent/>, then only the parent and NOT <Child/> are rerendered.
<Child/> is a functional component without shouldComponentUpdate() so I don't understand why it doesn't rerender. Can someone explain why this is to be the case? I can't find anything in the docs related to this use case.
I'll post your actual code for context:
class Application extends React.Component {
render() {
return (
<div>
{/*
Clicking this component only logs
the parents render function
*/}
<DynamicParent>
<Child />
</DynamicParent>
{/*
Clicking this component logs both the
parents and child render functions
*/}
<StaticParent />
</div>
);
}
}
class DynamicParent extends React.Component {
state = { x: false };
render() {
console.log("DynamicParent");
return (
<div onClick={() => this.setState({ x: !this.state.x })}>
{this.props.children}
</div>
);
}
}
class StaticParent extends React.Component {
state = { x: false };
render() {
console.log("StaticParent");
return (
<div onClick={() => this.setState({ x: !this.state.x })}>
<Child />
</div>
);
}
}
function Child(props) {
console.log("child");
return <div>Child Text</div>;
}
When you write this code in your Application render:
<StaticParent />
What's rendered is this:
<div onClick={() => this.setState({ x: !this.state.x })}>
<Child />
</div>
And in reality, what happens (roughly) is this:
function StaticParent(props) {
return React.createElement(
"div",
{ onClick: () => this.setState({ x: !this.state.x }) },
React.createElement(Child, null)
);
}
React.createElement(StaticParent, null);
When you render your DynamicParent like this:
<DynamicParent>
<Child />
</DynamicParent>
This is what actually happens (again, roughly speaking)
function DynamicParent(props) {
return React.createElement(
"div",
{
onClick: () => this.setState({ x: !this.state.x }),
children: props.children
}
);
}
React.createElement(
DynamicParent,
{ children: React.createElement(Child, null) },
);
And this is the Child in both cases:
function Child(props) {
return React.createElement("div", props, "Child Text");
}
What does this mean? Well, in your StaticParent component you're calling React.createElement(Child, null) every time the render method of StaticParent is called. In the DynamicParent case, the Child gets created once and passed as a prop. And since React.createElement is a pure function, then it's probably memoized somewhere for performance.
What would make Child's render run again in the DynamicParent case is a change in Child's props. If the parent's state was used as a prop to the Child, for example, that would trigger a re-render in both cases.
I really hope Dan Abramov doesn't show up on the comments to trash this answer, it was a pain to write (but entertaining)
It's mainly cause of you have 2 different "children".
this.props.children
<Child/>
They're not the same thing, first one is a prop passed down from Application -> DynamicParent, while the second one is a Component rendered in StaticParent, they have separate rendering/life cycles.
Your included example
class Application extends React.Component {
render() {
return (
<div>
{/*
Clicking this component only logs
the parents render function
*/}
<DynamicParent>
<Child />
</DynamicParent>
{/*
Clicking this component logs both the
parents and child render functions
*/}
<StaticParent />
</div>
);
}
}
Is literally the same as:
class Application extends React.Component {
render() {
// If you want <Child/> to re-render here
// you need to `setState` for this Application component.
const childEl = <Child />;
return (
<div>
{/*
Clicking this component only logs
the parents render function
*/}
<DynamicParent>
{childEl}
</DynamicParent>
{/*
Clicking this component logs both the
parents and child render functions
*/}
<StaticParent />
</div>
);
}
}
As a comment to SrThompsons answer: "What would make Child's render run again in the DynamicParent case is a change in Child's props. If the parent's state was used as a prop to the Child, for example, that would trigger a re-render in both cases."
So props or not props passed to child component however it may look will cause a rerender if parent rerenders (so use React.memo for a child without props :) )
"Whether you’re implementing your component as a class component that extends React.Component, or as a functional component, the render function is called again whenever the parent container renders again." Please read here for more info, because great article. https://medium.com/free-code-camp/yeah-hooks-are-good-but-have-you-tried-faster-react-components-e698a8db468c"
It will only re-render components that have had a change. If nothing on the child component has changed, it will not be re-rendered.

React fetching data then passing as props?

I have a view that contains several components.
class ProfileView extends React.Compnent {
constructor() {
super();
this.state = {
user: {}
}
}
componentWillMount() {
fetchData((res) => {
this.setState({user: res});
})
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<SomeComponent user={this.state.user} />
<AnotherComponent />
</div>
)
}
}
Since this is making an async call and rendering the state as an empty object on the initial redner, it's causing what I think to be a problem?
Inside my inner component I have to write validation, which is ok but feels wrong, that is why I am asking this question, is the validation in the example below good practice or am I making a mistake.
class SomeComponent extends React.Compnent {
render() {
if(typeof this.props.user !== 'undefined' && !$.isEmptyObject(this.props.user)) {
return (
<div>
<SomeComponent user={this.state.user} />
<AnotherComponent />
</div>
)
} else {
return (
<div></div>
)
}
}
}
This is the best I could come up with, it works ok but there is a slight jump in my UI because initially I am just rendering a <div>.
How can I improve my approach, or is this the ideal way to do it?
Your implementation is close to what I would do. I think that the best solution is to initially render a component that indicates to the user that data is being fetched from the server. Once that data comes back, you can update the state of your parent component, which will case the child component to render instead. A potential solution might look something like this:
function renderChildComponent() {
const {user} = this.state;
if (user) {
return <Child user={user} />;
}
return <Loading />;
}
export default class Parent extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
user: undefined
};
}
componentDidMount() {
fetchData(response => {
this.setState({user: response});
});
}
render() {
return (
<div>
{renderChildComponent.call(this)}
</div>
);
}
}

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