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How To Pass State Update To Custom Render Loop In React's `useEffect`?

I often encounter the situation that I build a window.requestAnimationFrame based render loop, but want some states to be exchanged with the inside of the loop. There are a few ways to accommplish that, but I'm not sure which on is the best. My setup usually looks something like this:
function Animation({someState}) {
const loopDataRef = useRef();
useEffect(() => {
//do something initialization work for the renderloop, e.g. getContext, etc.
let frame;
const loop = (cts) => {
frame = window.requestAnimationFrame(loop)
//do some loop work using someState and loopDataRef.current
}
loop();
return () => window.cancelAnimationFrame(frame);
}, []);
}
Note that using someState inside the loop will always use the value from the last ran of the effect, not necessarily the current value. Here are the some obvious solutions:
I can put someState in the dependency array of useEffect, this way the loop will be restarted whenever the state changes. But if the initialization is expensive, for example with WebGL where I create all the textures there and compile the shaders, it doesn't seem very elegant.
I can use two effects, one for the initialization of the loop itself, and another one for just the loop, which stops and starts on every state change. But I still think, ideally an animation loop should run until it stops and not stop/start in between.
Another solution with two effects, but this time I do const someStateRef = useRef() and then create an effect with someState in its dependency array which just writes someState into someStateRef.current so I can use it inside the loop. Here is an example where I implement this. Alternatively one can write someState into someStateRef.current on every render, without another effect. Looks very performant, but not really elegant.
What's the most React way to do it?

I'd go with the 3rd option that you already implemented, as it looks exactly like one example from the React Hooks FAQ (3rd code block):
function Example(props) {
// Keep latest props in a ref.
const latestProps = useRef(props);
useEffect(() => {
latestProps.current = props;
});
useEffect(() => {
function tick() {
// Read latest props at any time
console.log(latestProps.current);
}
const id = setInterval(tick, 1000);
return () => clearInterval(id);
}, []); // This effect never re-runs
}
(replacing set/clearInterval with request/cancelAnimationFrame)
For completeness: The first two options suffer from the flaws you mentioned, and writing someState to someStateRef.current on every render without another effect is not recommended.
Avoid reading and updating refs during rendering because this makes your component’s behavior difficult to predict and understand.
source

Is there a way in React.js to run a side effect after `useState` when the value of the state doesn't change in functional components?

One thing I've recently been confused about is what the best way to run effects after a useState call, when the useState doesn't necessarily change the previous state value. For example, say I have a submit function in a form. Also say I have a state called randomNumber, and say in that submit function I call setRandomNumber and set the random number state to a random number from 1-2. Now say that for some reason every time the randomNumber is set, regardless of whether its value changes or not, we want to update the number in some database and navigate to a different page. If I use a useEffect(() => {updateDatabase(); }, [randomNumber]), the problem is that this will update the database even when the functional component first renders, which I do not want. Also, if the randomNumber doesn't change because we pick the same random number twice, we won't update the database after the second setRandomNumber call and we won't navigate to a different page which I don't want.
What would be the best way to 'await' a useState call. I read some articles saying we should potentially use flushSync, but I tried this and it doesn't seem to be working and it seems like this is a very unstable solution as of now.
Thanks!!!

You have 2 different requests here.
How to skip a useEffect on the first render. For this you could employ useRef as this does not trigger a re-render
const Comp = () => {
const firstRender = useRef(true);
useEffect(() => {
if (firstRender.current) {
firstRender.current = false;
return
} else {
// do your stuff
}
}, [randomNumber])
}
How to trigger useEffect even if you get the same number. Probably the simplest way would be to wrap your number inside an object and always generate a new object when generating a new number. This way you'll get a new ref all the time and the useEffect will always trigger. If you already have an object you could create a copy using spread operator. Something like this:
const Comp = () => {
const [randomNumber, setRandomNumber] = useState({number: 0})
useEffect(() => {
console.log(randomNumber.number)
}, [randomNumber])
// generate a new random number and set it like this
setRandomNumber({number: Math.random() + 1))
}

need to pass an effect via props or force component reload from outside the root component in preact/react

I have a situation that an item outside the component might influence the item in the backend. ex: change the value of one of the properties that are persisted, let's say the item status moves from Pending to Completed.
I know when it happens but since it is outside of a component I need to tell to the component that it is out of sync and re-fetch the data. But from outside. I know you can pass props calling the render method again. But the problem is I have a reducer and the state will pick up the last state and if I use an prop to trigger an effect I get into a loop.
Here is what I did:
useEffect(() => {
if (props.effect && !state.effect) { //this runs when the prop changes
return dispatch({ type: props.effect, });
}
if (state.effect) { // but then I get here and then back up and so on
return ModelEffect[state.effect](state?.data?.item)}, [state.status, state.effect, props.effect,]);
In short since I can't get rid of the prop the I get the first one then the second and so on in an infinite loop.
I render the root component passing the id:
render(html`<${Panel} id=${id}/>`,
document.getElementById('Panel'));
Then the idea was that I could do this to sync it:
render(html`<${Panel} id=${id} effect="RELOAD"/>`,
document.getElementById('Panel'));
any better ways to solve this?
Thanks a lot

I resolved it by passing the initialized dispatch function to a global.
function Panel (props) {
//...
const [state, dispatch,] = useReducer(RequestReducer, initialData);
//...
useEffect(() => {
//...
window.GlobalDispatch = dispatch;
//...
}, [state.status, state.effect,]);
with that I can do:
window.GlobalDispatch({type:'RELOAD'});

Call function only after multiple states have completed updating

Logic:
I have a dialog for converting units. It has two stages of choice for the user: units to convert from and units to convert to. I keep this stage as a state, dialogStage, for maintainability as I'm likely going to need to reference what stage the dialog is in for more features in the future. Right now it's being used to determine what action to take based on what unit is clicked.
I also have a state, dialogUnits, that causes the component to rerender when it's updated. It's an array of JSX elements and it's updated via either foundUnitsArray or convertToUnitsArray, depending on what stage the dialog is at. Currently both states, dialogStage and dialogUnits, are updated at the same moment the problem occurs.
Problem:
When choosing the convertTo units, displayConversionTo() was still being called, as though dialogStage was still set to 'initial' rather than 'concertTo'. Some debugging led to confusion as to why the if (dialogStage == 'initial') was true when I'd set the state to 'convertTo'.
I believe that my problem was that the dialogStage state wasn't updated in time when handleUnitClick() was called as it's asynchronous. So I set up a new useEffect that's only called when dialogStage is updated.
The problem now is that the dialog shows no 'convertTo' units after the initial selection. I believe it's now because dialogUnits hasn't updated in time? I've swapped my original problem from one state not being ready to another state not being ready.
Question
How do I wait until both states are updated before continuing to call a function here (e.g. handleUnitClick()?).
Or have I mistaken what the problem is?
I'm new to react and, so far, I'm only familiar with the practice of state updates automatically rerendering a component when ready, unless overridden. Updating dialogUnits was displaying new units in the dialog until I tried to update it only when dialogStage was ready. It feels like an either/or situation right now (in terms of waiting for states to be updated) and it's quite possible I've overlooked something more obvious, as it doesn't seem to fit to be listening for state updates when so much of ReactJs is built around that already being catered for with rerenders, etc.
Component code:
function DialogConvert(props) {
const units = props.pageUnits;
const [dialogUnits, setDialogUnits] = useState([]);
const [dialogStage, setDialogStage] = useState('initial');
let foundUnitsArray = [];
let convertToUnitsArray = [];
units.unitsFound.forEach(element => {
foundUnitsArray.push(<DialogGroupChoice homogName={element} pcbOnClick={handleUnitClick} />);
});
useEffect(() => {
setDialogUnits(foundUnitsArray);
}, []);
useEffect(() => {
if (dialogStage == "convertTo") {
setDialogUnits(convertToUnitsArray);
}
}, [dialogStage]);
function handleClickClose(event) {
setDialogStage('initial');
props.callbackFunction("none");
}
function handleUnitClick(homogName) {
if (dialogStage == "initial") {
// getConversionChoices is an external function that returns an array. This returns fine and as expected
const choices = getConversionChoices(homogName);
displayConversionTo(choices);
} else if (dialogStage == "convertTo") {
// Can't get this far
// Will call a function not displayed here once it works
}
}
function displayConversionTo(choices) {
let canConvertTo = choices[0]["canconvertto"];
if (canConvertTo.length > 0) {
canConvertTo.forEach(element => {
convertToUnitsArray.push(<DialogGroupChoice homogName={element} pcbOnClick={handleUnitClick} />);
});
setDialogStage('convertTo');
}
}
return (
<React.Fragment>
<div className="dialog dialog__convertunits" style={divStyle}>
<h2 className="dialogheader">Convert Which unit?</h2>
<div className='js-dialogspace-convertunits'>
<ul className="list list__convertunits">
{dialogUnits}
</ul>
</div>
<button className='button button__under js-close-dialog' onClick={handleClickClose}>Close</button>
</div>
</React.Fragment>
)
}

So, there are some issues with your implementations:
Using non-state variables to update the state in your useEffect:
Explanation:
In displayConversionTo when you run the loop to push elements in convertToUnitsArray, and then set the state dialogStage to convertTo, you should be facing the issue that the updated values are not being rendered, as the change in state triggers a re-render and the convertToUnitsArray is reset to an empty array because of the line:
let convertToUnitsArray = [];
thus when your useEffect runs that is supposed to update the
dialogUnits to convertToUnitsArray, it should actually set the dialogueUnits to an empty array, thus in any case the updated units should not be visible on click of the initial units list.
useEffect(() => {
if (dialogStage == "convertTo") {
// as your convertToUnitsArray is an empty array
// your dialogue units should be set to an empty array.
setDialogUnits(convertToUnitsArray)
}
}, [dalogStage]);
You are trying to store an array of react components in the state which is not advisable:
http://web.archive.org/web/20150419023006/http://facebook.github.io/react/docs/interactivity-and-dynamic-uis.html#what-components-should-have-state
Also, refer https://stackoverflow.com/a/53976730/10844020
Solution: What you can do is try to save your data in a state, and then render the components using that state,
I have created a code sandbox example how this should look for your application.
I have also made some changes for this example to work correctly.

In your code , since you are passing units as props from parent, can you also pass the foundUnitsArray calculated from parent itself.
setDialogUnits(props.foundUnitsArray);
and remove the below operation,
units.unitsFound.forEach(element => {
foundUnitsArray.push(<DialogGroupChoice homogName={element} pcbOnClick={handleUnitClick} />);
});

How to access current state of component from useEffect without making it a dependency?

I've got the following component (simplified) which, given a note ID, would load and display it. It would load the note in useEffect and, when a different note is loaded or when the component gets unmounted, it saves the note.
const NoteViewer = (props) => {
const [note, setNote] = useState({ title: '', hasChanged: false });
useEffect(() => {
const note = loadNote(props.noteId);
setNote(note);
return () => {
if (note.hasChanged) saveNote(note); // bug!!
}
}, [props.noteId]);
const onNoteChange = (event) => {
setNote({ ...note, title: event.target.value, hasChanged: true });
}
return (
<input value={note.title} onChange={onNoteChange}/>
);
}
The issue is that within the useEffect I use note, which is not part of the dependencies so it means I always get stale data.
However, if I put the note in the dependencies then the loading and saving code will be executed whenever the note is modified, which is not what I need.
So I'm wondering how can I access the current note, without making it a dependency? I've tried to replace the note with a ref, but it means the component no longer updates when the note is changed, and I'd rather not use references.
Any idea what would be the best way to achieve this? Maybe some special React Hooks pattern?

You can't get the current state because this component does not render on the app render that removes it. Which means your effect never runs that last time.
Using an effect cleanup function is not a good place for this sort of thing. That should really be reserved for cleaning up that effect and nothing else.
Instead, whatever logic you have in the app that changes the state to close the NoteViewer should also save the note. So in some parent component (perhaps a NoteList or something) you'd save and close like:
function NoteList() {
const [viewingNoteId, setViewingNoteId] = useState(null)
// other stuff...
function closeNote() {
if (note.hasChanged) saveNote(note)
setViewingNoteId(null)
}
return <>{/* ... */}</>
}