Create helper function for a (click handler) function to reuse in multiple React components - reactjs

Question

For a 'back' button I've created below (onClick) handler function in my React app.
const { length: historyLength, goBack, replace } = useHistory();
const handleBack = () => {
if (historyLength > 2) {
goBack();
} else {
// History length is 2 by default when nothing is pushed to history yet
// https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9564041/why-history-length-is-2-for-the-first-page
replace(HomePage);
}
};
Then I am passing the onClick handler to my child component like: <Button onClick={handleBack}/>
I am using this handleBack function in multiple places in my React app. Is it a good approach make it e.g. a helper function and how exactly?

Answer 1

I also don't see any issue with the code or using it as a utility callback.
Is it a good approach make it e.g. a helper function and how exactly?
Anytime you can make your code more DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) it's generally a good thing. My personal rule-of-thumb is if I've written the same utility code a third time I'll spend a bit of time to refactor it into a common utility (and unit test!!).
I might suggest creating a custom hook to return the back handler.
Example:
import { useHistory } from 'react-router-dom';
const useBackHandler = () => {
const history = useHistory();
const handleBack = React.useCallback(() => {
const { length: historyLength, goBack, replace } = history;
if (historyLength > 2) {
goBack();
} else {
replace(HomePage);
}
}, []);
return handleBack;
};
export default useBackHandler;
Now you have a single hook to import and use.
import useBackHandler from '../path/to/useBackHandler';
...
const backHandler = useBackHandler();
...
<button type="button" onClick={backHandler}>Back?</button>
If you are needing this function in older class components, then you'll need a way to inject the handleBack as a prop. For this you can create a Higher Order Component.
Example:
import useBackHandler from '../path/to/useBackHandler';
const withBackHandler = Component => props => {
const backHandler = useBackHandler();
return <Component {...props} backHandler={backHandler} />;
};
export default withBackHandler;
To use, import withBackHandler and decorate a React component and access props.backHandler.
import withBackHandler from '../path/to/withBackHandler';
class MyComponent extends React.Component {
...
someFunction = () => {
...
this.props.backHandler();
}
...
}
export default withBackHandler(MyComponent);

Answer 2

#meez
Don't see why this wouldn't work. Just a couple of things: (a) I would add the event argument and e.preventDefault() within the function and (b) would be careful of the function name you are passing on the onClick property of your button: handleBackClick !== handleBack, you'll get an ReferenceError because of an undefined function.
Additionally, I also noticed that this can be achieved with native browser functions. Here's a snippet:
const { length: historyLength, back } = window.history;
const { replace } = window.location;
const handleBack = (e) => {
e.preventDefault();
if (historyLength > 2) {
back();
} else {
replace('homepageUrl');
}
};