Develop Reference

In React Context, how can I use state variables in state functions?

I have a React Context which looks like this:
import React, { Component } from 'react'
const AlertsContext = React.createContext({
categoryList: [],
setCategoryList: () => {}
})
export class AlertsProvider extends Component {
state = {
categoryList: [],
setCategoryList: categoryString => (
this.categoryList.includes(categoryString)
? this.setState({ categoryList: this.categoryList.filter(value => value !== categoryString) })
: this.setState({ categoryList: this.categoryList.concat([categoryString]) })
)
}
render() {
const { children } = this.props
const {categoryList, setCategoryList } = this.state
return (
<AlertsContext.Provider value={{categoryList, setCategoryList}}>
{children}
</AlertsContext.Provider>
)
}
}
export const AlertsConsumer = AlertsContext.Consumer
So, categoryList is an array of strings, each representing a category. setCategoryList should take a string; if that string is already in the array, it removes it, and if it's not in the array it adds it.
In one of my components the user can select categories from a list of checkboxes. When a checkbox is clicked, the AlertsContext setCategoryList should be called with the value of the clicked box:
import React, { Component } from 'react'
import { AlertsConsumer } from '../../../context/alerts-context'
class AlertFilters extends Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props)
this.state = {
categories: props.categories
}
}
render() {
const { categories } = this.state
return (
<AlertsConsumer>
{({ categoryList, setCategoryList }) => (
<>
{
categories.map(category => (
return (
<div key={category.id}>
<Checkbox id={category.id} value={category.value} onChange={e => setCategoryList(e.target.value)} checked={categoryList.includes(category.value)} />
<label htmlFor={category.id}>{category.value}</label>
</div>
)
))
}
</>
)}
</AlertsConsumer>
)
}
}
export default AlertFilters
This compiles ok, but when I run it and click a checkbox I get the following error:
alerts-context.jsx:77 Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'includes' of undefined
This is in the line:
this.categoryList.includes(categoryString)
in the Context Provider, suggesting that "this.categoryList" is undefined at this point.
I tried changing it to
this.state.categoryList.includes(categoryString)
but it said I had to use state destructuring, so I changed to:
setCategoryList: (categoryString) => {
const { categoryList } = this.state
categoryList.includes(categoryString)
? this.setState({ categoryList: categoryList.filter(value => value !== categoryString) })
: this.setState({ categoryList: categoryList.concat([categoryString]) })
}
which highlighted the ternary operator and gave the following lint error:
Expected an assignment or function call and instead saw an expression.
What am I doing wrong?

Use if/else syntax to update the state.
setCategoryList: categoryString => {
const { categoryList } = this.state;
if (categoryList.includes(categoryString)) {
this.setState({
categoryList: categoryList.filter(value => value !== categoryString)
});
} else {
this.setState({ categoryList: categoryList.concat([categoryString]) });
}
};

Refresh a specific component 's data/ state in React

I have a List of products-ID and a button. When I press the button, I want to refresh the data in the ListComponent. I have no idea how can I do this in React. Can someone help me?
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
products: this.props.productData //where productData an array of all products-ID
};
this.refresh = this.refresh.bind(this);
}
refresh() {
this.setState({ products: null });
this.forceUpdate();
}
render() {
const { products } = this.state;
<Button onClick={this.refresh} />
<ListComponent
data={products.map(entry => ({
text: entry.productId
}))}
/>
);
}
}
const mapStateToProps = (state, ownProps) => {
const products = selectAllProducts(state); //function that fetches-takes all products
return {
productData: products.map(products => ({
productId: product.get("productId")
}))
};
};

Your refresh function needs to call an action that fetches the data, and updates the Redux store accordingly. And because you've mapped part of your Redux state to this component's props, it will re-render when that data is fetched and saved via the reducer.
Therefore, you don't need to set local state at all in this component. Provided you have an action called fetchProductData:
class ProductList extends React.Component {
constructor (props) {
super(props)
this.refresh = this.refresh.bind(this)
}
// if you don't already have the data in your store, you can fetch it here to kick things off
componentDidMount () {
this.props.fetchProductData()
}
refresh () {
this.props.fetchProductData()
}
render () {
const { products } = this.state
return (
<div>
<Button onClick={this.refresh} />
<ListComponent
data={products.map(entry => ({
text: entry.productId
}))}
/>
</div>
)
}
}
const mapStateToProps = (state, ownProps) => {
const products = selectAllProducts(state)
return {
productData: products.map(products => ({
productId: product.get("productId")
}))
}
}
export default connect(mapStateToProps, { fetchProductData })(MyComponent)
Again, this assumes that fetchProductData dispatches an action that will update the redux state where products are stored. Passing the action to connect like this will make it available as a prop within the component.

It looks like you've placed your refresh() inside the constructor, try:
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
products: this.props.productData //where productData an array of all products-ID
};
this.refresh = this.refresh.bind(this);
}
refresh() {
this.setState({ products: null });
this.forceUpdate();
}
render() {
const { products } = this.state;
<Button onClick={this.refresh} />
<ListComponent
data={products.map(entry => ({
text: entry.productId
}))}
/>
);
}
I made a minimal component that does what you want it to do. Instead of binding in the constructor i use a fat arrow function for refresh.
import { Component } from "react";
const ListItem = props => props.item.text;
class List extends Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
items: [{ id: 0, text: "zero" }, { id: 1, text: "one" }]
};
}
refresh = () => {
this.setState({ items: [] });
};
render() {
const { items } = this.state;
return (
<div>
{items.map(i => (
<div key={i.id}>
<ListItem item={i} />
</div>
))}
<button onClick={this.refresh}>refresh</button>
</div>
);
}
}
export default List;
You don't need to forceUpdate(), the component will re-render by default when its props are changed.
For an explanation of the fat arrow and what it does to this, check out https://hackernoon.com/javascript-es6-arrow-functions-and-lexical-this-f2a3e2a5e8c4.

How to handle two similar components in react

I am very new to React. I have two components: TimePickerComponent and the TimeDurationPickerComponent.
The TimePickerComponent gets passed a TimeString(string) via props(only if initial data exists) and displays it like "08:00". Code:
class TimePickerComponent extends React.Component {
_placeholder;
_defaultTimeString;
_timeString;
_errorStatus;
_classes;
constructor({ placeholder, defaultTimeString, timeString, errorStatus, classes }) {
super();
this._placeholder = placeholder;
this._defaultTimeString = defaultTimeString;
this._timeString = timeString;
this._errorStatus = errorStatus;
this._classes = classes;
}
get Placeholder() {
return this._placeholder;
}
get DefaultTimeString() {
return this._defaultTimeString ? this._defaultTimeString : CONTROLS_CONSTANTS.DEFAULT_TIME_STRING;
}
get TimeString() {
return this._timeString;
}
get ErrorStatus() {
return this._errorStatus;
}
get Classes() {
return this._classes;
}
render() {
return <FormControl>
<TextField error={this.ErrorStatus}
label={this.Placeholder}
defaultValue={this.TimeString ? this.TimeString : this.DefaultTimeString}
className={this.Classes.layout}
type="time"
InputLabelProps={{
shrink: true
}}
/>
</FormControl>
}
}
TimePickerComponent.propTypes = {
placeholder: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
defaultTimeString: PropTypes.string,
timeString: PropTypes.string,
errorStatus: PropTypes.bool
}
export default withStyles(styles)(TimePickerComponent);
The TimeDurationPickerComponent gets passed a TimeInMinutes(number) via props. But the display is the same as of the TimePickerComponent("08:00"). Code:
class TimeDurationPickerComponent extends React.Component {
_placeholder;
_timeInMinutes;
_classes;
constructor({ placeholder, timeInMinutes, classes }) {
super();
this._placeholder = placeholder;
this._timeInMinutes = timeInMinutes;
this._classes = classes;
}
get Placeholder() {
return this._placeholder;
}
get TimeInMinutes() {
return this._timeInMinutes;
}
get Classes() {
return this._classes;
}
get TimeString() {
let timeFormat = CONTROLS_CONSTANTS.TIME_FORMATS.HOURS_MINUTES_COLON_SEPARATED;
let duration = moment.duration({ minutes: this.TimeInMinutes });
//https://github.com/moment/moment/issues/463
return moment.utc(duration.asMilliseconds()).format(timeFormat);
}
render() {
return <TimePickerComponent
placeholder={this.Placeholder}
timeString={this.TimeString}
classes={this.Classes}
/>
}
}
TimeDurationPickerComponent.propTypes = {
placeholder: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
timeInMinutes: PropTypes.number
}
export default TimeDurationPickerComponent;
To avoid code redundancy I reused my TimePickerComponent in the TimeDurationPickerComponent and just convert the TimeInMinutes in a TimeString and pass it down to the TimePickerComponent via props.
My question now: Is this a good practice how I solved this or should I use a HigherOrderComponent for that? Or should I use an inheritance approach for that? Which solution would be the best and why?
Thank you in advance.

What you've done here is probably fine. It could be done with a higher order component as well but a composition based approach like what you have won't have any performance issues and to be honest it's probably more readable than using an HOC.
On another note you should be using this.props and this.state to represent your class properties. They are build into React components and are what will cause your component to automatically re-render upon change.
It also makes your code significantly more concise so for example you could reduce your second component down to something like this:
class TimeDurationPickerComponent extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
}
createTimeString() {
let timeFormat = CONTROLS_CONSTANTS.TIME_FORMATS.HOURS_MINUTES_COLON_SEPARATED;
let duration = moment.duration({ minutes: this.props.TimeInMinutes });
//https://github.com/moment/moment/issues/463
return moment.utc(duration.asMilliseconds()).format(timeFormat);
}
render() {
return <TimePickerComponent
placeholder={this.props.Placeholder}
timeString={this.createTimeString()}
classes={this.props.Classes}
/>
}
}
Example of a component that uses flow:
// #flow
import React from 'react';
import './css/ToggleButton.css';
type Props = {
handleClick: Function;
label: string;
};
type LocalState = {
active: bool,
};
class ToggleButton extends React.Component<Props, LocalState> {
clickHandler: () => void;
constructor(props: Props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
active: true,
};
this.clickHandler = this.clickHandler.bind(this);
}
clickHandler() {
this.setState({ active: !this.state.active });
this.props.handleClick();
}
render() {
const buttonStyle = this.state.active ? 'toggle-btn-active' : 'toggle-btn-inactive';
return (
<button
className={`toggle-btn ${buttonStyle}`}
onClick={this.clickHandler}
>{this.props.label}
</button>
);
}
}
export default ToggleButton;

React search with pagination without double setState

I'm implementing search with pagination in React. So far I found few examples of it, but all they use code with double setState(), before and after AJAX call to backend. For example my current solution is:
import React from "react"
import PropTypes from "prop-types"
import SearchField from "components/SearchField"
import SearchResults from "components/SearchResults"
import Item from "models/Item"
class Search extends React.Component {
constructor() {
super()
this.state = {
query: "",
page: 1,
foundItems: []
}
this.handleSearch = this.handleSearch.bind(this)
this.handlePageChange = this.handlePageChange.bind(this)
}
updateSearchResults() {
const query = this.state.query
const params = {
page: this.state.page
}
Item.search(query, params).then((foundItems) => {
this.setState({ foundItems })
})
}
handleSearch(event) {
this.setState({
query: event.target.value
}, this.updateSearchResults)
}
handlePageChange(data) {
this.setState({
page: data.selected + 1
}, this.updateSearchResults)
}
render() {
return (
<div className="search">
<SearchField onSearch={this.handleSearch} />
<SearchResults
onPageChange={this.handlePageChange}
onSelect={this.props.onSelect}
items={this.state.foundItems}
/>
</div>
)
}
}
Search.propTypes = {
onSelect: PropTypes.func.isRequired
}
export default Search
I know that I can change interface of updateSearchResults to receive query and page as arguments and then I can avoid first setState to pass values there, but it doesn't look like a good solution, because when list of search parameters will grow (sorting order, page size, filters for example) then it'll get a bit clumsy. Plus I don't like idea of manual state pre-management in handleSearch and handlePageChange functions in this way. I'm looking for a better implementation.

I am not fully sure what you are asking, but you can optimise your code a bit by doing the following:
class Search extends React.Component {
constructor() {
super()
this.page = 1;
this.query = "";
this.state = {
foundItems: []
}
this.handlePageChange = this.handlePageChange.bind(this)
}
updateSearchResults(event) {
if(typeof event === "object")
this.query = event.target.value;
const params = {
page: this.page
}
Item.search(this.query, params).then((foundItems) => {
this.setState({ foundItems })
})
}
handlePageChange(data) {
this.page = data.selected + 1;
this.updateSearchResults();
}
render() {
return (
<div className="search">
<SearchField onSearch={this.updateSearchResults} />
<SearchResults
onPageChange={this.handlePageChange}
onSelect={this.props.onSelect}
items={this.state.foundItems}
/>
</div>
)
}
}

How to create shared-singleton components across all the platform?

I'm thinking on creating a React component called LoadingMask, where I can show or not (depending on the state) a loading mask from any component. The idea is showing it before an ajax call, and hiding it after I receive the data.
I don't want to display two masks at the same time, so if one component is making a request, and another one creates another request, I want to add 1 to my "MaskCounter", and substract one when the Request is finished. If the counter is 0, I need to hide the LoadingMask.
I order to do this, I think I need to create a "Singleton" component, that I can share through the whole platform, so there's only exist one LoadingMask. I also don't think it's nice to send the events to hide/show the mask to all components.
Any ideas?

To share data between components, you can :
Use a lib like Redux, and keep in shared store your mask loader status
Use the React context api from your root component, and share loader status to all childrens. See an example below :
class Application extends React.Component {
constructor() {
super();
this.state = {
nbTasks: 0
};
this.addTask = this.addTask.bind(this);
this.removeTask = this.removeTask.bind(this);
this.isLoading = this.isLoading.bind(this);
}
addTask() {
this.setState(prevState => ({
nbTasks: prevState.nbTasks + 1
}));
}
removeTask() {
this.setState(prevState => ({
nbTasks: prevState.nbTasks - 1
}));
}
isLoading() {
return this.state.nbTasks > 0;
}
getChildContext() {
return {
addTask: this.addTask,
removeTask: this.removeTask,
isLoading: this.isLoading
};
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<ComponentX />
<ComponentY />
<LoadingMask />
</div>
);
}
}
Application.childContextTypes = {
addTask: PropTypes.func,
removeTask: PropTypes.func,
isLoading: PropTypes.func
};
const LoadingMask = (props, context) => (
context.isLoading()
? <div>LOADING ...</div>
: null
);
LoadingMask.contextTypes = {
isLoading: PropTypes.func
};
class ComponentX extends React.Component {
constructor(props, context) {
super(props, context);
this.state = {
message: 'Processing ...'
};
}
componentDidMount() {
this.context.addTask();
setTimeout(() => {
this.setState({
message: 'ComponentX ready !'
});
this.context.removeTask();
}, 3500);
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<button disabled>{this.state.message}</button>
</div>
);
}
}
ComponentX.contextTypes = {
addTask: PropTypes.func,
removeTask: PropTypes.func
};
class ComponentY extends React.Component {
constructor(props, context) {
super(props, context);
this.state = {
message: 'Processing ...'
};
}
componentDidMount() {
this.context.addTask();
setTimeout(() => {
this.setState({
message: 'ComponentY ready !'
});
this.context.removeTask();
}, 6000);
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<button disabled>{this.state.message}</button>
</div>
);
}
}
ComponentY.contextTypes = {
addTask: PropTypes.func,
removeTask: PropTypes.func
};
ReactDOM.render(
<Application />,
document.getElementById('app')
);
<script src="https://unpkg.com/prop-types/prop-types.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/15.6.1/react.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/15.6.1/react-dom.min.js"></script>
<div id="app"></app>

I found this library use-between to be simple, powerful and useful. It removes complexity of redux for sharing data between within functional components.
import React, { useState, useCallback } from 'react';
import { useBetween } from 'use-between';
Context/Session.ts
export const useShareableState = () => {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
const inc = useCallback(() => setCount(c => c + 1), []);
const dec = useCallback(() => setCount(c => c - 1), []);
return {
count,
inc,
dec
};
};
App.tsx
import { useBetween } from 'use-between';
import { useShareableState } from './src/Context/Session'
const useSharedCounter = () => useBetween(useShareableState);
const Count = () => {
const { count } = useSharedCounter();
return <p>{count}</p>;
};
const Buttons = () => {
const { inc, dec } = useSharedCounter();
return (
<>
<button onClick={inc}>+</button>
<button onClick={dec}>-</button>
</>
);
};
const App = () => (
<>
<Count />
<Buttons />
<Count />
<Buttons />
</>
);
export default App;