React query-string - reactjs

I understand that the query-string library is recommended for processing the URL query strings in a React project. My question will be trivial, it's simply that as a newby I cannot work it out... How is this library receiving to be used within a functional component? Below is simply code, all I want to do is process the URL on launch and do something in response.
In all examples, this component receives a 'props', which is not a value sent into my component (I have a Props, but it is an interface which is sent in by a parent component only).
function Finder(props: Props) {
React.useEffect(() => {
const parsed = queryString.parse();
console.log(parsed);
/* Do something here */
}, []);
}

According to the documentation, query-string can use location.search as input to the parse method. In the browser, location is a global object that represents the URL of the page, and location.search returns the query string itself.

Related

Can I avoid a double-API call with NextJS' getServerSideProps?

I'm tinkering with NextJS' getServerSideProps. I see that when I request a page from scratch, I receive the fully hydrated content. Then when I navigate to a new page, an API call is made, which receives some JSON data that is used to re-populate the page.
What I don't like is that the new API call is actually making two calls. For example my getServerSideProps has an axios.get() call. So on that click to the new page, I'm getting:
a call to something like example.com/_next/data/1231234/....
that call, behind the scenes, must be running my getServerSideProps() with its axios.get() to retrieve the new JSON data.
So is there a way to avoid the double-API call? I'd prefer that after the first page load, clicks to new pages would just skip to step two.
On a non-NextJS app I'd have something like a useEffect() that ran on page load, but obviously then the first run of the page would not return the full content, and for search-engine purposes I'd like to return the full content. I've seen some lectures where Google says they do run javascript and see the full content, but might as well be on the safe side for all other engines.
getServerSideProps will always run at request time--whenever you hit the page (or possibly using prefetch, the default, of next/link) This will result in pre-render of the page using the data from getServerSideProps Side-note: If you using next API middleware, then you can avoid the ajax call and simply import the method to run directly in getServerSideProps.
It sounds like you want to fetch the data at build time and could render the page statically? If so, rather look to use getStaticProps.
You can also avoid both and make an API call in useEffect if you prefer, but code will be run at the client, once the page loads, of course. getServerSideProps will pre-render the page with the data before it renders to the client.
So, the goal is to determine ways of getting props for:
the initial (direct) page request,
in-app navigation request
To solve this we have two options. And unfortunately, both of them are not perfect.
First option:
Check if the request has header x-nextjs-data. NextJS adds this header for fetching data from getServerSideProps:
export const isInitialPageRequest = (req: GsspRequest) => {
return !req.headers['x-nextjs-data'];
}
export const getServerSideProps: GetServerSideProps = async (context: GetServerSidePropsContext) => {
if (isInitialPageRequest(context.req)) {
// this code runs only on the initial request, on the server side
}
return {
props: {
// props
}
}
}
In this case, the request to /_next/data/development/xxx.json?...' is still executed every time. But at least you can control behavior depending on the case (and avoid redundant API calls for example).
Second option:
Use getInitialProps and check if property context.req is defined or not. You already mentioned it in the comments, just added it as an answer option with an example:
page.getInitialProps = async (context: NextPageContext) => {
if (context.req) {
// this code runs only on the initial request, on the server side
}
return {
// props
}
}
The NextJS team is recommending to use getServerSideProps instead

Using this.props.history.push("/path") is re-rendering and then returning

Edited the question after further debugging
I am having a strange issue, tried for a while to figure it out but I can't.
I have a React Component called NewGoal.jsx, after a user submits their new goal I attempt to reroute them to my "goals" page.
The problem: After they submit the browser loads in my goal page, but only for one second. It then continues and goes BACK to the NewGoal page!!
I am trying to understand why this is happening, I am beginning to feel that this might be an async issue.
Here is my code, currently it is using async-await, I also tried the same idea using a .then() but it also didn't work:
async handleSubmit(event)
{
const response = await axios.post("http://localhost:8080/addGoal",
{
goalID: null,
duration: this.state.days,
accomplishedDays: 0,
isPublic: this.state.isPublic,
description: this.state.name,
dateCreated: new Date().toISOString().substring(0,10),
}) */
// push to route
this.props.history.push("/goals");
}
While debugging, I tried taking out the functionality where I post the new message, and just did a history.push, code is below - and this completely worked.
// THIS WORKS
async handleSubmit(event)
{
// push to route
this.props.history.push("/goals");
}
But as soon as I add anything else to the function, whether before the history.push or after, it stops working.
Any advice would be very very appreciated!
Thank you
In the React Router doc's the developers talk about how the history object is mutable. Their recommendation is not to alter it directly.
https://reacttraining.com/react-router/web/api/history#history-history-is-mutable
Fortunately there are few ways to programmatically change the User's location while still working within the lifecycle events of React.
The easiest I've found is also the newest. React Router uses the React Context API to make the history object used by the router available to it's descendents. This will save you passing the history object down your component tree through props.
The only thing you need to do is make sure your AddNewGoalPage uses the history object from context instead of props.
handleSubmit(event)
...
//successful, redirect to all goals
if(res.data)
{
this.context.history.push("/goals")
}
...
})
}
I don't know if you're using a class component or a functional component for the AddNewGoalPage - but your handleSubmit method hints that it's a member of a Class, so the router's history object will be automatically available to you within your class through this.context.history.
If you are using a functional component, you'll need to make sure that the handleSubmit method is properly bound to the functional component otherwise the context the functional component parameter is given by React won't not be available to it.
Feel free to reply to me if this is the case.

When in component lifecycle should I get query params from URL?

I'm using React 16.4.1, React Router 4.3.1, and React Redux 5.0.7. I have a search route that can receive a query param like this:
https://example.com/search?q=foo
To be clear, React Router 4 discontinued support for location.query, so we're left having to manually parse query params from the location.search prop that React Router provides. We can use something like Javascript's URLSearchParams interface for this.
So I'd like a user to be able to visit the URL above and immediately begin a search for "foo". Therefore, I need to gather the q param at some point during page load. But when?
My first instinct was to have my Search component parse the query params during its componentDidMount lifecycle hook. That also happens to be the recommended hook for retrieving data from the server, something I'll do if the q param has a value.
But I've also considered moving that logic outside the component entirely to some JS file that generally runs on page load, like my app's index.js file. I have access to my Redux store there and could update the application state with the "searchText", and my Search component could then simply check for that prop (wired via Redux) during its mounting.
Gathering query params from the URL on page load - then taking action on them - is a relatively new problem for React developers, given that React Router handled it for us prior to version 4. But surely I'm not the first person to have to do this since version 4 was released. Is there an established pattern or best practice for this?
Thanks.
My approach would be to create an initialize folder along actions, reducers etc.. and create there functions like
export default (dispatch, getState) => {
dispatch(urlQueryParams());
// Some other initializers
};
const urlQueryParams = () => {
// return json to reducer with the params
}
Then on your main index file you can trigger it
import addQueryParamsInitialzer from 'redux/initialize/queryParam';
const store = configureStore(INITIAL_STATE);
addQueryParamsInitialzer(store.dispatch, store.getState);
That way you'll have it on your store no matter what component you're on

React router -- How to send props without query params or Redux?

I want to send data to another route, but don't want to send it in query params.
I don't want a new store for every route, nor do I want a store that simply holds all routes / params separately from where they are sent / consumed.
Is there a standard way to specify props for an upcoming route?
I found the solution on the react-router location api docs.
this.props.router.push({
pathname: '/view-user',
state: { userId }
});
This seems great for interstitial, standalone modal pages.
May need to specify a fallback if the state is missing, but haven't quite gotten that far.
if (!this.props.location.state) this.props.router.goBack();
or
const locations = this.props.location.pathname.split('/');
// do something
this.props.route.push(locations.join('/'));
If you are not sending the information in the query param, then you can put it in some other kind of store that can also be associated with the route.
You can wrap the router.push() call with your own function that takes an extra object you want to pass along. Something like...
function navigateTo(url, extraData) {
if (extraData !== undefined) {
saveExtraDataForRoute(url, extraData);
}
router.push(url);
}
In react-router, there is an onEnter prop associated with the route that specifies a function to call. The code in this function can retrieve the extra data and do whatever you want to do with it.
function onMyScreenEnter() {
const extraData = getExtraDataForRoute(url);
goCrazyNutsWithYourExtraData(extraData);
}
You'd supply the two functions saveExtraDataForRoute() and getExtraDataForRoute(). They could use your store (e.g. Redux), set values of a singleton object, or use LocalStorage. But essentially, to save the data so it's retrievable by URL later, you'd be saying something like:
extraDataStore[url] = extraData;
The other thing you may wish to look into is using a POST method with react-router. I haven't done this, and am not sure how well it works. Here is a link: How to Handle Post Request in Isomorphic React + React Router Application

Accessing react-router from flummox action/store

I want to be able to make an API call in a Flummox action and transition differently depending on the response. I can pass the router into the action call but am looking for advice on a potentially better way.
UPDATE:
The correct answer is below but I wanted to add some detail to this.
I'm doing an isomorphic app that 1. needs to get data from an api and 2. may need to redirect based on the api response. Whatever I do needs to work through an express.js app and through react.
I made a small lib that does the api call and return some results. I pass it an object (query params object from express for the server-side or a similar object I create for the react-side). This lib makes the request, determines if a redirect is needed and passes back errors, path (string), redirect (boolean), and data (json).
In express, if the redirect boolean is true, I just redirect to it with the current query params. If it's false, I pass the data to flux through an action which updates a store. I then renderToString with react, serialize stores so the clint-side can bootstrap, and send a rendered page to the client.
In react, the redirect boolean isn't important, I get the response back from my lib, pass the data to my flux action, and just transition to whatever the path is. There's really no notion of redirection. Just go to the path no matter what.
Hopefully this is helpful to someone.
In my setup I have my own router module which just wraps the instance of react-router that I create at startup. That makes it easy for any part of the application to just require that module and do what it needs to.
But I would advise you not to have side effects like a call to the router inside your actions. Actions should concern themselves on mutating your application state, and nothing more. It should be possible to call the same action from anywhere in your application which needs to perform the mutation that the action encapsulates.
So if you're switching routes during an action, you're basically tying that action to that particular use case. Let's take an example. You have a todo list, with an input box at the bottom to add a new todo. For that use case, it might be useful to switch route after you saved the todo. Perhaps you switch to Recent Todos or something. But then a new use case comes along where you want to be able to add new todos during another workflow, perhaps the user is planning her week and should be able to add todos on different days. You want the same action that adds a todo, but you certainly don't want to switch routes because the user is still planning the week.
I haven't used Flummox a lot, but from my understanding your Flux object returns whatever the action returns when you trigger an action. So instead of putting the route change inside your action, make sure to return the response from the action and let your component decide if the route should be changed. Something like this:
// todo-action.js
class TodoActions extends Actions {
createMessage(todo) {
return TodoStore.saveToServer(todo);
}
}
// todo-list.js
const TodoList extends React.Component {
render() {
...
}
addTodo(todo) {
this.props.flux.addTodo(todo).then(response => {
if (response.some.prop === someValue) {
this.props.router.transitionTo(...);
}
});
}
}
That way, the action is still nicely decoupled from the route change. If you want to do the route switch in more than one place, you could encapsulate that in a addTodoAndSwitchRoute method in your Flux class.

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