NGRX - can't set the state tree as I would like it to be - arrays

Question

So I'm using ngrx for managing the state in my application. I tried to add a new property (selected shifts) which should look like this:
state: {
shifts: {
selectedShifts: [
[employeeId]: [
[shiftId]: shift
]
]
}
}
at the moment, my state looks like this:
state: {
selectedShifts: {
[employeeId]: {
[shiftId]: shift
}
}
}
so as you can see, my "selected shift" is a property, not an array - which makes it diffictult to add/remove/query the state.
How do I compose the state to look like I want it?
This is what I tried in the reducer:
return {
...state,
selectedShifts: {
...state.selectedShifts,
[action.payload.employeeId]: {
...state.selectedShifts[action.payload.employeeId],
[action.payload.shiftId]: action.payload[shift.shiftId]
}
}
};
Now when I try to return the state in the way I'd like to, this is the result:
state: {
selectedShifts: {
[action.payload.employeeId]:
[0]: {[action.payload.shiftId]: { shift }}
}
}
What am I missing here? When I try to replace the {} items which should be [] this error comes up: "," expected.
Oh yea, I would like the index of the array to be the id of the specific shift and not [0], [1]...
Is this possible at all?
Would it be a bad idea to change the index from numerics to the actual shift's id?

Answer 1

Array length kind of miss behaves when you add data at numeric index points. This might get you into problems with array methods using length join, slice, indexOf etc. & array methods altering length push, splice, etc.
var fruits = [];
fruits.push('banana', 'apple', 'peach');
console.log(fruits.length); // 3
When setting a property on a JavaScript array when the property is a valid array index and that index is outside the current bounds of the array, the engine will update the array's length property accordingly:
fruits[5] = 'mango';
console.log(fruits[5]); // 'mango'
console.log(Object.keys(fruits)); // ['0', '1', '2', '5']
console.log(fruits.length); // 6
There is no problem selecting / updating state from object, it's just a bit different from what you're probably used to. With straight hashmap { objectId: Object } finding the required object to update / remove is the fastest possible if changes are defined for object id.
I know your problem is related to NGRX but reading Redux immutable patterns is going to definitely help you out here for add / update / remove objects from the state. https://redux.js.org/recipes/structuring-reducers/immutable-update-patterns
Generally you don't want to have arrays in state ( at least large arrays ) object hashmaps are a lot better.
To get array of your selected user shifts for views you could do something like. Note this is not a shift indexed array just array of shifts under userId property. From original state form following state.
state: {
selectedShifts: {
[employeeId]: {
[shiftId]: shift
}
}
}
const getSelectedShiftsAsArray = this.store.select( getSelectedShifts() )
.map(
userShifts => {
// get array of object ids
const userIds = Object.keys( userShifts );
const ret = {};
for( const userId of userIds ) {
const collectedShifts = [];
// convert Dictionary<Shift> into a Shift[]
// get array of shift ids
const shiftIds = Object.keys( userShifts[userId] );
// map array of shift ids into shift object array
collectedShifts = shiftIds.map( shiftId => userShifts[shiftId] );
// return value for a userId
ret[userId] = collectedShifts;
}
return ret;
});
Code is completely untested and just for a reference one level up from pseudocode. You could easily convert that into a NGRX selector though. The state is there just for the storage, how you model it for use in components is upto selector functions & components themselves.
If you really really need it you could add.
ret[userId].shiftIds = shiftIds;
ret[userId].shifts = collectedShifts;
But it really depends on how you plan to use these.
From my personal experience I would separate shift entities from selectedShifts but how you organise your state is completely up to you.
state: {
shifts: {
// contains shift entities as object property map id: entity
entities: Dictionary<Shift>,
selectedShifts: [
[employeeId]: number[] // contains ids for shifts
]
}
}
Now updating / removing and adding a shift would just be setting updated data into path shifts.entities[entityId]
Also selectedShifts for employeeId would be about checking if id is already in there and appending it into an array if it wasn't. ( If these arrays are humongous I'd go with object hash here too for fast access. <employeeId>: {shiftId:shiftId} ).
Check also:
redux: state as array of objects vs object keyed by id