REACT: How to set the state in the child and access it in the parent, receiving undefined - reactjs

Question

I am building this project to try and improve my understanding of react :), so I am a n00b and therefore still learning the ropes of extracting components, states, props etc =)
I have a child Component DescriptionDiv, its parent component is PlusContent and finally the parent component is PlusContentHolder. The user types some input into the DescriptionDiv which then, using a props/callback passes the user input to the PlusContent.
My question/problem is: after setting useState() in the PlusContent component, I am after a button click in the PlusContentHolder component, returned with an undefined in the console.log.
How come I cannot read the useState() in the next parent component, the PlusContentHolder?
I know that useState() is async so you cannot straight up call the value of the state in the PlusContent component, but shouldn't the state value be available in the PlusContentHolder component?
below is my code for the DescriptionDiv
import './DescriptionDiv.css';
const DescriptionDiv = props => {
const onDescriptionChangeHandler = (event) => {
props.descriptionPointer(event.target.value);
}
return (
<div className='description'>
<label>
<p>Description:</p>
<input onChange={onDescriptionChangeHandler} type='text'></input>
</label>
</div>);
}
export default DescriptionDiv;
Next the code for the PlusContent comp
import React, { useState } from "react";
import DescriptionDiv from "./div/DescriptionDiv";
import ImgDiv from "./div/ImgDiv";
import "./PlusContent.css";
import OrientationDiv from "./div/OrientationDiv";
const PlusContent = (props) => {
const [classes, setClasses] = useState("half");
const [content, setContent] = useState();
const [plusContent, setPlusContent] = useState({
orientation: "left",
img: "",
description: "",
});
const onOrientationChangeHandler = (orientationContent) => {
if (orientationContent == "left") {
setClasses("half left");
}
if (orientationContent == "right") {
setClasses("half right");
}
if (orientationContent == "center") {
setClasses("half center");
}
props.orientationInfo(orientationContent);
};
const onDescriptionContentHandler = (descriptionContent) => {
props.descriptionInfo(setPlusContent(descriptionContent));
console.log(descriptionContent)
};
const onImageChangeHandler = (imageContent) => {
props.imageInfo(imageContent);
setContent(
<>
<OrientationDiv
orientationPointer={onOrientationChangeHandler}
orientationName={props.orientationName}
/> {/*
<AltDiv altPointer={onAltDivContentHandler} />
<TitleDiv titlePointer={onTitleDivContentHandler} /> */}
<DescriptionDiv descriptionPointer={onDescriptionContentHandler} />
</>
);
};
return (
<div className={classes}>
<ImgDiv imageChangeExecutor={onImageChangeHandler} />
{content}
</div>
);
};
export default PlusContent;
and lastly the PlusContentHolder
import PlusContent from "../PlusContent";
import React, { useState } from "react";
const PlusContentHolder = (props) => {
const onClickHandler = (t) => {
t.preventDefault();
descriptionInfoHandler();
};
const descriptionInfoHandler = (x) => {
console.log(x) // this console.log(x) returns and undefined
};
return (
<div>
{props.contentAmountPointer.map((content) => (
<PlusContent
orientationInfo={orientationInfoHandler}
imageInfo={imageInfoHandler}
descriptionInfo={descriptionInfoHandler}
key={content}
orientationName={content}
/>
))}
<button onClick={onClickHandler}>Generate Plus Content</button>
</div>
);
};
export default PlusContentHolder;

Answer 1

The reason why the descriptionInfoHandler() function call prints undefined in its console.log() statement when you click the button, is because you never provide an argument to it when you call it from the onClickHandler function.
I think that it will print the description when you type it, however. And I believe the problem is that you need to save the state in the PlusContentHolder module as well.
I would probably add a const [content, setContent] = useState() in the PlusContentHolder component, and make sure to call setContent(x) in the descriptionInfoHandler function in PlusContentHolder.
Otherwise, the state will not be present in the PlusContentHolder component when you click the button.

Answer 2

You need to only maintain a single state in the PlusContentHolder for orientation.
Here's a sample implementation of your use case
import React, { useState } from 'react';
const PlusContentHolder = () => {
const [orientatation, setOrientation] = useState('');
const orientationInfoHandler = (x) => {
setOrientation(x);
};
const generateOrientation = () => {
console.log('orientatation', orientatation);
};
return (
<>
<PlusContent orientationInfo={orientationInfoHandler} />
<button onClick={generateOrientation}>generate</button>
</>
);
};
const PlusContent = ({ orientationInfo }) => {
const onDescriptionContentHandler = (value) => {
// your custom implementation here,
orientationInfo(value);
};
return <DescriptionDiv descriptionPointer={onDescriptionContentHandler} />;
};
const DescriptionDiv = ({ descriptionPointer }) => {
const handleChange = (e) => {
descriptionPointer(e.target.value);
};
return <input type="text" onChange={handleChange} />;
};
I would suggest to maintain the orientation in redux so that its easier to update from the application.

Answer 3

SetState functions do not return anything. In the code below, you're passing undefined to props.descriptionInfo
const onDescriptionContentHandler = (descriptionContent) => {
props.descriptionInfo(setPlusContent(descriptionContent));
};
This shows a misunderstanding of the use of state. Make sure you're reading about "lifting state" in the docs.
You're also declaring needless functions, e.g. onDescriptionContentHandler in your PlusContent. The PlusContent component could just pass the descriptionInfoHandler from PlusContentHolder prop directly down to DescriptionDiv, since onDescriptionContentHandler doesn't do anything except invoke descriptionInfoHandler.
You may want to consider restructuring your app so plusContent state is maintained in PlusContentHolder, and pass that state down as props. That state would get updated when DescriptionDiv invokes descriptionInfoHandler. It'd subsequently pass the updated state down as props to PlusContent.
See my suggested flowchart.