React redux api polling every x seconds - reactjs

Question

I've got this working but i'm after a more 'best practice way'.
its using the https://icanhazdadjoke api to display a random joke that gets updated every x seconds. is there a better way of doing this?
eventually i want to add stop, start, reset functionality and feel this way might not be the best.
Any middleware i can use?
Redux actions
// action types
import axios from 'axios';
export const FETCH_JOKE = 'FETCH_JOKE';
export const FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS = 'FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS';
export const FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE = 'FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE';
function fetchJoke() {
return {
type: FETCH_JOKE
};
}
function fetchJokeSuccess(data) {
return {
type: FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS,
data
};
}
function fetchJokeFail(error) {
return {
type: FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE,
error
};
}
export function fetchJokeCall(){
return function(dispatch){
dispatch(fetchJoke());
return axios.get('https://icanhazdadjoke.com', { headers: { 'Accept': 'application/json' }})
.then(function(result){
dispatch(fetchJokeSuccess(result.data))
})
.catch(error => dispatch(fetchJokeFail(error)));
}
}
Redux reducer
import {combineReducers} from 'redux';
import {FETCH_JOKE, FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS, FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE} from '../actions';
const defaultStateList = {
isFetching: false,
items:[],
error:{}
};
const joke = (state = defaultStateList, action) => {
switch (action.type){
case FETCH_JOKE:
return {...state, isFetching:true};
case FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS:
return {...state, isFetching:false, items:action.data};
case FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE:
return {...state, isFetching:false, error:action.data};
default:
return state;
}
};
const rootReducer = combineReducers({
joke
});
export default rootReducer;
Joke component
import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { connect } from 'react-redux';
import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
import { fetchJokeCall } from '../actions';
class Joke extends Component {
componentDidMount() {
this.timer = setInterval(()=> this.props.fetchJokeCall(), 1000);
}
componentWillUnmount() {
clearInterval(this.timer)
this.timer = null;
}
render() {
return (
<div>
{this.props.joke.joke}
</div>
);
}
}
Joke.propTypes = {
fetchJokeCall: PropTypes.func,
joke: PropTypes.array.isRequired
};
function mapStateToProps(state) {
return {
joke: state.joke.items,
isfetching: state.joke.isFetching
};
}
export default connect(mapStateToProps, { fetchJokeCall })(Joke);

Answer 1

Redux-Sagas is better and we are using it in our applications as well, this is how you can poll using Redux-Sagas
Just to give you an idea this is how you can do it, You also need to understand how Redux-Sagas work
Action
export const FETCH_JOKE = 'FETCH_JOKE';
export const FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS = 'FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS';
export const FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE = 'FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE';
export const START_POLLING = 'START_POLLING';
export const STOP_POLLING = 'STOP_POLLING';
function startPolling() {
return {
type: START_POLLING
};
}
function stopPolling() {
return {
type: STOP_POLLING
};
}
function fetchJoke() {
return {
type: FETCH_JOKE
};
}
function fetchJokeSuccess(data) {
return {
type: FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS,
data
};
}
function fetchJokeFail(error) {
return {
type: FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE,
error
};
}
Reducer
import {combineReducers} from 'redux';
import {FETCH_JOKE, FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS, FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE, START_POLLING, STOP_POLLING } from '../actions';
const defaultStateList = {
isFetching: false,
items:[],
error:{},
isPolling: false,
};
const joke = (state = defaultStateList, action) => {
switch (action.type){
case FETCH_JOKE:
return {...state, isFetching:true};
case FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS:
return {...state, isFetching:false, items:action.data};
case FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE:
return {...state, isFetching:false, error:action.data};
case START_POLLING:
return {...state, isPolling: true};
case STOP_POLLING:
return {...state, isPolling: false};
default:
return state;
}
};
const rootReducer = combineReducers({
joke
});
export default rootReducer;
Sagas
import { call, put, takeEvery, takeLatest, take, race } from 'redux-saga/effects'
import {FETCH_JOKE, FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS, FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE, START_POLLING, STOP_POLLING } from '../actions';
import axios from 'axios';
function delay(duration) {
const promise = new Promise(resolve => {
setTimeout(() => resolve(true), duration)
})
return promise
}
function* fetchJokes(action) {
while (true) {
try {
const { data } = yield call(() => axios({ url: ENDPOINT }))
yield put({ type: FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS, data: data })
yield call(delay, 5000)
} catch (e) {
yield put({ type: FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE, message: e.message })
}
}
}
function* watchPollJokesSaga() {
while (true) {
const data = yield take(START_POLLING)
yield race([call(fetchJokes, data), take(STOP_POLLING)])
}
}
export default function* root() {
yield [watchPollJokesSaga()]
}
You can also use Redux-Observable, if you want to get more into this read this article

Answer 2

I've been working on pretty much the same problem, except that I wasn't concerned about starting and stopping the poll. For some reason the while loop kept freezing my app so I dispensed of it and instead set up my saga like this.
import { all, takeLatest, call, put } from 'redux-saga/effects';
import axios from 'axios';
import { API_CALL_REQUEST, API_CALL_SUCCESS, API_CALL_FAILURE, API_CALL_FETCHED } from
'../actions/giphy';
function apiFetch() {
let randomWord = require('random-words');
let API_ENDPOINT = `https://api.giphy.com/v1/gifs/search?
api_key=MYKEY&q=${randomWord()}&limit=12`;
return axios({
method: "get",
url: API_ENDPOINT
});
}
export function* fetchImages() {
try {
const res = yield call(apiFetch)
const images = yield res.data
yield put({type: API_CALL_SUCCESS, images})
} catch (e) {
yield put({type: API_CALL_FAILURE, e})
console.log('Error fetching giphy data')
}
}
export default function* giphySaga() {
yield all([
takeLatest(API_CALL_REQUEST, fetchImages),
]);
}
Then inside my component I added this.
componentDidMount() {
this.interval = setInterval(() => {
this.props.dispatch({type: 'API_CALL_REQUEST'});
}, 5000);
}
componentWillUnmount() {
clearInterval(this.interval)
}
It's working, but would like some feedback on how this could be possibly improved.

Answer 3

Here's a poor man's way. I don't think it's the best way but it doesn't require any extra library.
Actions
// action types
import axios from 'axios';
export const START_POLLING_JOKE = 'START_POLLING_JOKE';
export const STOP_POLLING_JOKE = 'STOP_POLLING_JOKE';
export const FETCH_JOKE = 'FETCH_JOKE';
export const FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS = 'FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS';
export const FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE = 'FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE';
const defaultPollingInterval = 60000
function startPollingJoke(interval = defaultPollingInterval) {
return function (dispatch) {
const fetch = () => dispatch(fetchJoke())
dispatch({
type: START_POLLING_JOKE,
interval,
fetch,
})
}
}
function stopPollingJoke() {
return {
type: STOP_POLLING_JOKE
}
}
function fetchJoke() {
return {
type: FETCH_JOKE
};
}
function fetchJokeSuccess(data) {
return {
type: FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS,
data
};
}
function fetchJokeFail(error) {
return {
type: FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE,
error
};
}
export function pollJokeCall(interval = defaultPollingInterval) {
return function (dispatch) {
dispatch(fetchJoke())
dispatch(startPollingJoke(interval))
}
}
export function fetchJokeCall() {
return function(dispatch){
dispatch(fetchJoke());
return axios.get('https://icanhazdadjoke.com', { headers: { 'Accept': 'application/json' }})
.then(function(result){
dispatch(fetchJokeSuccess(result.data))
})
.catch(error => dispatch(fetchJokeFail(error)));
}
}
Reducers
import {combineReducers} from 'redux';
import {
START_POLLING_JOKE,
STOP_POLLING_JOKE,
FETCH_JOKE,
FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS,
FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE,
} from '../actions';
const defaultStateList = {
isFetching: false,
items:[],
error:{},
pollingId: null,
polling: false,
};
const joke = (state = defaultStateList, action) => {
switch (action.type){
case START_POLLING_JOKE:
clearInterval(state.pollingId)
return {
...state,
polling: true,
pollingId: setInterval(action.fetch, action.interval),
}
}
case STOP_POLLING_JOKE:
clearInterval(state.pollingId)
return {...state, polling: false, pollingId: null}
case FETCH_JOKE:
return {...state, isFetching:true};
case FETCH_JOKE_SUCCESS:
return {...state, isFetching:false, items:action.data};
case FETCH_JOKE_FAILURE:
return {...state, isFetching:false, error:action.data};
default:
return state;
}
};
const rootReducer = combineReducers({
joke
});
export default rootReducer;
Component (might have a bug because I'm not used to class components)
import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { connect } from 'react-redux';
import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
import { pollJokeCall, stopPollingJoke } from '../actions';
class Joke extends Component {
componentDidMount() {
this.props.pollJokeCall()
}
componentWillUnmount() {
this.props.stopPollingJoke()
}
render() {
return (
<div>
{this.props.joke.joke}
</div>
);
}
}
Joke.propTypes = {
pollJokeCall: PropTypes.func,
stopPollingJoke: PropTypes.func,
joke: PropTypes.array.isRequired,
};
function mapStateToProps(state) {
return {
joke: state.joke.items,
isfetching: state.joke.isFetching
};
}
export default connect(mapStateToProps, { pollJokeCall, stopPollingJoke })(Joke);

Answer 4

I have made a small (5kb gzipped) helper to create polling based on redux-thunk store. The idea is to have a logic to prevent registering the same polling twice, have callbacks between iterations and more.
https://www.npmjs.com/package/redux-polling-thunk

Answer 5

redux-saga is great and I've been using this with redux. It provides a great api to do things like delay, polling, throttling, race conditions, task cancellations. So using redux-saga, you can add a watcher whcih will keep on pooling
function* pollSagaWorker(action) {
while (true) {
try {
const { data } = yield call(() => axios({ url: ENDPOINT }));
yield put(getDataSuccessAction(data));
yield call(delay, 4000);
} catch (err) {
yield put(getDataFailureAction(err));
}
}
}