React Navigation - opening a modal from the tab bar - reactjs

Question

Using React Navigation (6), I've got bottom tabs set up as my main navigator:
export function TabNavigator() {
const getColor = ({ focused, color }) => (focused ? palette.blue : color)
return (
<Tab.Navigator screenOptions={{ headerShown: false }}>
<Tab.Screen
name="home"
component={HomeScreen}
options={{
tabBarLabel: "Home",
tabBarIcon: ({ size, ...rest }) => (
<Ionicons name="home-outline" color={getColor(rest)} size={size} />
),
}}
/>
<Tab.Screen
name="favourites"
component={FavouritesScreen}
options={{
tabBarLabel: "Favourites",
tabBarIcon: ({ size, ...rest }) => (
<Ionicons name="heart-outline" color={getColor(rest)} size={size} />
),
}}
/>
<Tab.Screen
name="about"
component={AboutYouScreen}
options={{
tabBarLabel: "About you",
tabBarIcon: ({ size, ...rest }) => (
<Ionicons name="person-outline" color={getColor(rest)} size={size} />
),
}}
/>
<Tab.Screen
name="bottomchat"
component={ChatNavigator}
options={{
tabBarLabel: "Check-in",
tabBarIcon: ({ size, ...rest }) => (
<Ionicons name="chatbubble-ellipses-outline" color={getColor(rest)} size={size} />
),
}}
/>
</Tab.Navigator>
)
}
With the last tab (the ChatNavigator), I want the screen it opens to be a full screen modal, hiding the bottom tab bar (the user can exit out if it via a back button at the top).
Is this possible?

Answer 1

As I was writing this question I found an answer which actually worked for me on this blog post
The solution:
Create the full screen modal in your parent stack
Pass in a mock component to the tab screen (this will never get called)
Add a listener to the tab component that prevents default and then navigates to the page of your choice
So for me:
const ChatBase = () => <View style={{ flex: 1, backgroundColor: "red" }} />
export function TabNavigator() {
const getColor = ({ focused, color }) => (focused ? palette.blue : color)
return (
<Tab.Navigator screenOptions={{ headerShown: false }}>
<Tab.Screen
name="home"
component={HomeScreen}
options={{
tabBarLabel: "Home",
tabBarIcon: ({ size, ...rest }) => (
<Ionicons name="home-outline" color={getColor(rest)} size={size} />
),
}}
/>
<Tab.Screen
name="favourites"
component={FavouritesScreen}
options={{
tabBarLabel: "Favourites",
tabBarIcon: ({ size, ...rest }) => (
<Ionicons name="heart-outline" color={getColor(rest)} size={size} />
),
}}
/>
<Tab.Screen
name="about"
component={AboutYouScreen}
options={{
tabBarLabel: "About you",
tabBarIcon: ({ size, ...rest }) => (
<Ionicons name="person-outline" color={getColor(rest)} size={size} />
),
}}
/>
<Tab.Screen
name="bottomchat"
/* Pass in a blank component as the base (this never gets shown) */
component={ChatBase}
options={{
tabBarLabel: "Check-in",
tabBarIcon: ({ size, ...rest }) => (
<Ionicons name="chatbubble-ellipses-outline" color={getColor(rest)} size={size} />
),
}}
listeners={({ navigation }) => ({
tabPress: (e) => {
e.preventDefault()
navigation.navigate("chat")
},
})}
/>
</Tab.Navigator>
)
}
In my root stack navigator, I've got a screen called chat that gets called:
export function MainNavigator() {
return (
<Stack.Navigator
screenOptions={{
cardStyle: { backgroundColor: "transparent" },
headerShown: false,
}}
>
<Stack.Screen name="main" component={TabNavigator} />
<Stack.Screen name="chat" component={ChatScreen} />
</Stack.Navigator>
)
}

Answer 2

Use listener/tabPress props with navigator, but navigator from TabNavigator component
export function TabNavigator( { navigation } ) { // <-- use this navitagor
.........
.........
<Tab.Screen
name="bottomchat"
component={ AnyComponent } // <-- ignored
options={{
tabBarLabel: "Check-in",
tabBarIcon: ({ size, ...rest }) => (
<Ionicons name="chatbubble-ellipses-outline" color={getColor(rest)} size={size} />
),
}}
listeners={() => ({
tabPress: (e) => {
e.preventDefault()
navigation.navigate("ChatComponent") // <-- Here you put the name where the chat component is declared
},
})}
/>
</Tab.Navigator>
)
}