The useEffect React hook will run the passed-in function on every change. This can be optimized to let it call only when the desired properties change.
What if I want to call an initialization function from componentDidMount and not call it again on changes? Let's say I want to load an entity, but the loading function doesn't need any data from the component. How can we make this using the useEffect hook?
class MyComponent extends React.PureComponent {
componentDidMount() {
loadDataOnlyOnce();
}
render() { ... }
}
With hooks this could look like this:
function MyComponent() {
useEffect(() => {
loadDataOnlyOnce(); // this will fire on every change :(
}, [...???]);
return (...);
}
If you only want to run the function given to useEffect after the initial render, you can give it an empty array as second argument.
function MyComponent() {
useEffect(() => {
loadDataOnlyOnce();
}, []);
return <div> {/* ... */} </div>;
}
TL;DR
useEffect(yourCallback, []) - will trigger the callback only after the first render.
Detailed explanation
useEffect runs by default after every render of the component (thus causing an effect).
When placing useEffect in your component you tell React you want to run the callback as an effect. React will run the effect after rendering and after performing the DOM updates.
If you pass only a callback - the callback will run after each render.
If passing a second argument (array), React will run the callback after the first render and every time one of the elements in the array is changed. for example when placing useEffect(() => console.log('hello'), [someVar, someOtherVar]) - the callback will run after the first render and after any render that one of someVar or someOtherVar are changed.
By passing the second argument an empty array, React will compare after each render the array and will see nothing was changed, thus calling the callback only after the first render.
useMountEffect hook
Running a function only once after component mounts is such a common pattern that it justifies a hook of its own that hides implementation details.
const useMountEffect = (fun) => useEffect(fun, [])
Use it in any functional component.
function MyComponent() {
useMountEffect(function) // function will run only once after it has mounted.
return <div>...</div>;
}
About the useMountEffect hook
When using useEffect with a second array argument, React will run the callback after mounting (initial render) and after values in the array have changed. Since we pass an empty array, it will run only after mounting.
We have to stop thinking in component-life-cycle-methods (i.e. componentDidMount). We have to start thinking in effects. React effects are different from old-style class-life-cycle-methods.
By default effects run after every render cycle, but there are options to opt out from this behaviour. To opt out, you can define dependencies that mean that an effect is only carried out when a change to one of the dependencies is made.
If you explicitly define, that an effect has no dependecy, the effect runs only once, after the first render-cycle.
1st solution (with ESLint-complaint)
So, the first solution for your example would be the following:
function MyComponent() {
const loadDataOnlyOnce = () => {
console.log("loadDataOnlyOnce");
};
useEffect(() => {
loadDataOnlyOnce(); // this will fire only on first render
}, []);
return (...);
}
But then the React Hooks ESLint plugin will complain with something like that:
React Hook useEffect has missing dependency: loadDataOnlyOnce. Either include it or remove the dependency array.
At first this warning seems annoying, but please don't ignore it. It helps you code better and saves you from "stale closures". If you don't know what "stale closures" are, please read this great post.
2nd solution (the right way, if dependency is not dependent on component)
If we add loadDataOnlyOnce to the dependency array, our effect will run after every render-cycle, because the reference of loadDataOnlyOnce changes on every render, because the function is destroyed(garbarge-collected) and a new function is created, but that's exactly what we don't want.
We have to keep the same reference of loadDataOnlyOnce during render-cycles.
So just move the function-definition above:
const loadDataOnlyOnce = () => {
console.log("loadDataOnlyOnce");
};
function MyComponent() {
useEffect(() => {
loadDataOnlyOnce(); // this will fire only on first render
}, [loadDataOnlyOnce]);
return (...);
}
With this change you ensure that the reference of loadDataOnlyOnce will never change. Therefore you can also safely add the reference to the dependency array.
3rd solution (the right way, if dependency is dependent on component)
If the dependency of the effect (loadDataOnlyOnce), is dependent on the component (need props or state), there's React's builtin useCallback-Hook.
An elementary sense of the useCallback-Hook is to keep the reference of a function identical during render-cycles.
function MyComponent() {
const [state, setState] = useState("state");
const loadDataOnlyOnce = useCallback(() => {
console.log(`I need ${state}!!`);
}, [state]);
useEffect(() => {
loadDataOnlyOnce(); // this will fire only when loadDataOnlyOnce-reference changes
}, [loadDataOnlyOnce]);
return (...);
}
function useOnceCall(cb, condition = true) {
const isCalledRef = React.useRef(false);
React.useEffect(() => {
if (condition && !isCalledRef.current) {
isCalledRef.current = true;
cb();
}
}, [cb, condition]);
}
and use it.
useOnceCall(() => {
console.log('called');
})
or
useOnceCall(()=>{
console.log('Fetched Data');
}, isFetched);
Pass an empty array as the second argument to useEffect. This effectively tells React, quoting the docs:
This tells React that your effect doesn’t depend on any values from props or state, so it never needs to re-run.
Here's a snippet which you can run to show that it works:
function App() {
const [user, setUser] = React.useState(null);
React.useEffect(() => {
fetch('https://randomuser.me/api/')
.then(results => results.json())
.then(data => {
setUser(data.results[0]);
});
}, []); // Pass empty array to only run once on mount.
return <div>
{user ? user.name.first : 'Loading...'}
</div>;
}
ReactDOM.render(<App/>, document.getElementById('app'));
<script src="https://unpkg.com/react#16.7.0-alpha.0/umd/react.development.js"></script>
<script src="https://unpkg.com/react-dom#16.7.0-alpha.0/umd/react-dom.development.js"></script>
<div id="app"></div>
I like to define a mount function, it tricks EsLint in the same way useMount does and I find it more self-explanatory.
const mount = () => {
console.log('mounted')
// ...
const unmount = () => {
console.log('unmounted')
// ...
}
return unmount
}
useEffect(mount, [])
leave the dependency array blank . hope this will help you understand better.
useEffect(() => {
doSomething()
}, [])
empty dependency array runs Only Once, on Mount
useEffect(() => {
doSomething(value)
}, [value])
pass value as a dependency. if dependencies has changed since the last time, the effect will run again.
useEffect(() => {
doSomething(value)
})
no dependency. This gets called after every render.
I had this issue with React 18. This is how I handled it:
import { useEffect, useRef } from "react";
export default function Component() {
const isRunned = useRef(false);
useEffect(() => {
if(isRunned.current) return;
isRunned.current = true;
/* CODE THAT SHOULD RUN ONCE */
}, []);
return <div> content </div>;
}
Check here how they explain why useEffect is called more than once.
Here is my version of Yasin's answer.
import {useEffect, useRef} from 'react';
const useOnceEffect = (effect: () => void) => {
const initialRef = useRef(true);
useEffect(() => {
if (!initialRef.current) {
return;
}
initialRef.current = false;
effect();
}, [effect]);
};
export default useOnceEffect;
Usage:
useOnceEffect(
useCallback(() => {
nonHookFunc(deps1, deps2);
}, [deps1, deps2])
);
This does not answer your question exactly but may have the same intended affect of only running a function once and after the first render. Very similar to the componentDidMount function. This uses useState instead of useEffect to avoid dependency lint errors. You simply pass a self-executing anonymous function as the first argument to useState. As an aside, I'm not sure why React doesn't simply provide a hook that does this.
import React, { useState } from "react"
const Component = () => {
useState((() => {
console.log('componentDidMountHook...')
}))
return (
<div className='component'>Component</div>
)
}
export default Component
I found out after some time spend on the internet. useEffect fires once on component mount, then componennt unmounts and mounts again, useEffect fires again. You have to check more on React docs, why they do that.
So, I used custom hook for that. On unmount you have to change your useRef state. In this case do not forget a return statement: when component unmounts, useEffect runs cleanup function after return.
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from "react"
const useDidMountEffect = (
func: () => void,
deps: React.DependencyList | undefined
) => {
const didMount = useRef(false)
useEffect(() => {
if (didMount.current) {
func()
}
return () => {
didMount.current = true
}
// eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
}, deps)
}
export default useDidMountEffect
Use it like normal useEffect:
useDidMountEffect(() => {
// your action
}, [])
window.onpageshow works even if the user presses the back button to navigate to the page, unlike passing an empty array as second argument of the use-effect hook which does not fire when returning to the page via the back button (thus not on every form of initial page load).
useEffect(() => {
window.onpageshow = async function() {
setSomeState(false)
let results = await AsyncFunction()
console.log(results, 'Fires on on first load,
refresh, or coming to the page via the back button')
};
};
I found that with the once function from lodash the problem may be solved concisely and elegantly.
import { once } from "lodash";
import { useEffect, useRef } from "react";
export const useEffectOnce = (cb: () => void) => {
const callBackOnce = useRef(once(cb)).current;
useEffect(() => callBackOnce(), [callBackOnce]);
};
Incase you just call the function in useeffect after render you add an empty array as the second argument for the useeffect
useEffect=(()=>{
functionName(firstName,lastName);
},[firstName,lastName])
I'm trying to understand this hook : https://usehooks.com/useOnClickOutside/
The hook looks like this :
import { useState, useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
// Usage
function App() {
// Create a ref that we add to the element for which we want to detect outside clicks
const ref = useRef();
// State for our modal
const [isModalOpen, setModalOpen] = useState(false);
// Call hook passing in the ref and a function to call on outside click
useOnClickOutside(ref, () => setModalOpen(false));
return (
<div>
{isModalOpen ? (
<div ref={ref}>
👋 Hey, I'm a modal. Click anywhere outside of me to close.
</div>
) : (
<button onClick={() => setModalOpen(true)}>Open Modal</button>
)}
</div>
);
}
// Hook
function useOnClickOutside(ref, handler) {
useEffect(
() => {
const listener = event => {
// Do nothing if clicking ref's element or descendent elements
if (!ref.current || ref.current.contains(event.target)) {
return;
}
handler(event);
};
document.addEventListener('mousedown', listener);
document.addEventListener('touchstart', listener);
return () => {
document.removeEventListener('mousedown', listener);
document.removeEventListener('touchstart', listener);
};
},
// Add ref and handler to effect dependencies
// It's worth noting that because passed in handler is a new ...
// ... function on every render that will cause this effect ...
// ... callback/cleanup to run every render. It's not a big deal ...
// ... but to optimize you can wrap handler in useCallback before ...
// ... passing it into this hook.
[ref, handler]
);
}
My question is, at what point will the cleanup function in my useEffect run. I read "when it's component unmounts". But I dont exactly know what this means, what component do they mean.
at what point will the cleanup function in my useEffect run
From React Docs - When exactly does React clean up an effect?
React performs the cleanup when the component unmounts. However, as we
learned earlier, effects run for every render and not just once. This
is why React also cleans up effects from the previous render before
running the effects next time.
In short, cleanup function runs when:
Component unmounts
Before running the useEffect again
I read "when it's component unmounts". But I dont exactly know what this means, what component do they mean.
They mean the component in which you use this hook. In your case, that's the App component.
I have subscribed to some updates from a messaging service in useEffect hook. Going through react hooks documentation and resources, I couldn't find answers to some observations with my code. Here is my code snippet:
import React, { useState, useEffect } from "react";
import { messageService } from "../_services";
function App() {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
useEffect(() => {
const subscription = messageService.onMessage().subscribe(message => {
setCount(count + 1);
});
return () => {
console.log("unmount");
subscription.unsubscribe();
};
}, [count]);
function sendMessage() {
messageService.sendMessage("message");
}
return (
<div className="jumbotron">
<button onClick={sendMessage} className="btn btn-primary mr-2">
Send Message
</button>
{count}
</div>
);
}
export { App };
Now I am unable to understand two behaviors:
Since useEffect hook has count as a dependency, I should get an infinite loop issue but I observed is that unmount is invoked. Does React unmount the App component in anticipation of an infinite loop? I couldn't find this mentioned anywhere if it is doing so
even though unmount is invoked, the value of count is retained. How is it possible
I know one way to solve it is that I need to use useRef to retain the count and remove it from hook's dependencies along with force update whenever there is count update.
What I am looking for is an answer to the two questions above and if there is a better way of doing this
Thanks in advance.
Stackblitz link for working app in case you want to try out
The cleanup effect not only clean-up before the component unmounts but also if a component renders multiple times (as they typically do), the previous effect is cleaned up before executing the next effect.
Also, in your case, count shouldn't be in the useEffect as you can use functional updates.
useEffect(() => {
const subscription = messageService.onMessage().subscribe((message) => {
setCount((p) => p + 1);
});
return () => {
subscription.unsubscribe();
};
}, []);
Even though the unmount is invoked, the value of count is retained. How is it possible?
Thats due to closures.
React memo isn't capturing the props neither the prevProps nor the nextProps and the component render well. The react docs say
If your function component renders the same result given the same props, you can wrap it in a call to React.memo for a performance boost.
my problem is to stop twice rendering using react memo, but memo seems to be not working and the component renders twice with the same props.
The component renders when the Create New Event is clicked on /events
here is the live sandbox.
Child Component located at /components/Event/CreateEvent/CreateEvent.js
the parent component is located at /Pages/Event/Event.js line number 999' from where the child component is being triggered
Here is the Code:
import React from "react";
import AuthContext from "../../context/global-context";
import CreateEvent from "../../components/Event/CreateEvent/CreateEvent";
function Events({ location }) {
// Sate Managing
const [allEvents, setAllEvents] = React.useState([]);
const [creating, setCreating] = React.useState(false);
// Context As State
const { token, email } = React.useContext(AuthContext);
// Creating Event Showing
const modelBoxHandler = () => {
// works on when the ViewEvent is open
if (eventSelected) {
setEventSelected(null);
return;
}
setCreating(!creating);
};
return (
<div className="events">
{/* New Event Creating */}
{creating && (
<CreateEvent onHidder={modelBoxHandler} allEvents={allEvents} />
)}
{console.log("Event Rendered.js =>")}
</div>
);
}
export default React.memo(Events, () => true);
Child Component where the Rect memo doesn't have props:
import React from "react";
import AuthContext from "../../../context/global-context";
function CreateEvent({ onHidder, allEvents }) {
// Context
const { token } = React.useContext(AuthContext);
console.log("CreatedEvent.js REnder");
return (
... Some code here
);
}
export default React.memo(CreateEvent, (prevProps, nextProps) => {
console.log("Hello", prevProps, nextProps);
});
Thanks in advance for your valuable answer and times!
The problem is that on basis of creating variable you are actually remounting and not rendering the CreateEvent component. What it means is that if creating variable changes, the component is unmounted and re-mounted when creating is true, so its not a re-render
Also you must note that modelBoxHandler function reference also changes on each re-render so even if your CreateEvent component is in rendered state and the parent re-rendered due to some reason , the CreateEvent component too will re-render
There are 2 changes that you need to make to make it work better
Define modelBoxHandler with a useCallback hook
perform conditional rendering in createEvent based on creating prop
// Creating Event Showing
const modelBoxHandler = useCallback(() => {
// works on when the ViewEvent is open
if (eventSelected) {
setEventSelected(null);
return;
}
setCreating(prevCreating => !prevCreating);
}, [eventSelected]);
...
return (
<div className="events">
{/* New Event Creating */}
<CreateEvent creating={creating} onHidder={modelBoxHandler} allEvents={allEvents} />
{console.log("Event Rendered.js =>")}
</div>
);
and in createEvent
function CreateEvent({ onHidder, allEvents, creating }) {
// Context
const { token } = React.useContext(AuthContext);
console.log("CreatedEvent.js REnder");
if(!creating) {
return null;
}
return (
... Some code here
);
}
export default React.memo(CreateEvent);
In your example, you don't have an additional render for React.memo to work.
According to your render logic, there aren't any nextProps, you unmount the component with conditional rendering (creating).
// You toggle with `creating` value, there is only single render each time
creating && <CreateEvent onHidder={modelBoxHandler} allEvents={allEvents}/>
// Works, because there will be multiple renders (nextProps)
true && <CreateEvent onHidder={modelBoxHandler} allEvents={allEvents} />
In this case, you might not need React.memo.
I`m having some problems trying to listen to state changes in this application. Basically I was expecting a useEffect hook to be fired after some state changed, but nothing at all is happening.
This is what I got
index.jsx
// this is a simplification.
// I actually have a react-router-dom's Router wrapping everything
// and App is a Switch with multiple Route components
ReactDOM.render(
<Provider>
<App>
</Provider>
, document.getElementById('root'));
useSession.jsx
export const useSession = () => {
const [session, setSession] = useState(null)
const login = useCallback(() => {
// do something
setSession(newSession)
})
return {
session,
setSession,
login
}
}
Provider.jsx
const { session } = useSession();
useEffect(() => {
console.log('Print this')
}, [session])
// more code ...
App.jsx
export function Login() {
const { login } = useSession();
return <button type="button" onClick={() => { login() }}>Login</button>
}
Well I have this Parent component Provider watching the session state, but when it is updated the useEffect of the provider is never called.
The useEffect is fired only if the setSession is called in the same hook/method. For example, if I import the setSession in the Provider and use it there, the useEffect will be fired; Or if I add a useEffect in the useSession method, it is gonna be fired when login updates the state.
The callback of useEffect is called but only once, when the component is mounted, but not when the state is changed.
How can I achieve this behavior? Having the Provider's useEffect fired whenever session is updated?
Thanks in advance!
I think this is just a bit of misunderstanding of how custom hooks work.Every instance of the component has its own state. Let me just show a simple example illustrating this.
function App () {
return (
<div>
<ComponentA/>
<ComponentB/>
<ComponentC/>
<ComponentD/>
</div>
)
}
function useCounter() {
const [counter, setCounter] = React.useState(0);
function increment() {
setCounter(counter+1)
}
return {
increment, counter, setCounter
}
}
function ComponentA() {
const { counter, increment }= useCounter()
return (
<div>
<button onClick={()=>increment()}>Button A</button>
ComponentA Counter: {counter}
</div>
)
}
function ComponentB() {
const { counter, increment }= useCounter()
return (
<div>
<button onClick={()=>increment()}>Button B</button>
ComponentB Counter: {counter}
</div>
)
}
function ComponentC() {
const { counter }= useCounter();
return (
<div>
ComponentC Counter: {counter}
</div>
)
}
function ComponentD() {
const [toggle, setToggle] = React.UseState(false);
const { counter }= useCounter();
React.useEffect(() => {
setInterval(()=>{
setToggle(prev => !prev);
}, 1000)
})
return (
<div>
ComponentD Counter: {counter}
</div>
)
}
From the above code if you can see that incrementing count by clicking Button Awill not affect the count instance of ComponentB.This is because every instance of the component has its own state. You can also see that clicking either buttons won't trigger ComponentC to rerender since they don't share the same instance. Even if i trigger rerender every one second like in Component D thus invoking useCounter the counter in ComponentD remains 0.
Solution
However there are multiple ways of making components share/listen to same state changes
You can shift all your state i.e [session state] to the Provider component and make it visible to other components by passing it via props.
You can move state to a global container Redux or simply use Context Api + UseReducer Hook here is an example
But since you are dealing with auth and session management, I suggest you persist the session state in local storage or session storage, and retrieve it whenever you need it. Hope that helped