We Keep Coding

Deriving State in Redux Application using createSelector?

I have a basic job board application. An API is called within the redux store (using thunk function) and initial job results are then saved in redux store.
Ref: https://redux.js.org/tutorials/essentials/part-5-async-logic
These initial Jobs are stored in redux store (and not in local component state), as I need to access these initial job results in other components as well
There are also three filters that can be applied to these initial jobs (Jobs can be filtered by location, team and commitment) I've put these filters inside the redux store as well. (Actions are triggered from
Filter UI component to update the current applied filters, and multiple filters can be active at one time)
The Filter UI component pretty much just renders a <Select> element with a handleChange function which causes the filters to update in the redux store, something like this:
Basic Filter UI Component which dispatches action :
<Select
name={name}
value={value}
onChange={handleChange}
></Select>
// ... omit some code ...
const handleChange = (event) => {
const { name } = event.target;
switch (name) {
case 'location':
dispatch(changeLocationFilter(event.target))
break;
case 'team':
dispatch(changeTeamFilter(event.target))
break;
case 'commitment':
dispatch(changeCommitmentFilter(event.target))
break;
}
}
Here is my filtersSlice in redux, which update the redux state when filters are applied:
import { createSlice } from "#reduxjs/toolkit";
import { ALL_LOCATIONS, ALL_TEAMS, ALL_COMMITMENTS } from '../constants'
const initialState = {
location: ALL_LOCATIONS,
team: ALL_TEAMS,
commitment: ALL_COMMITMENTS
};
export const filtersSlice = createSlice({
name: "filters",
initialState,
reducers: {
changeLocationFilter: (state, action) => {
const { payload: { value: locationValue } } = action;
state.location = locationValue;
},
changeTeamFilter: (state, action) => {
const { payload: { value: teamValue } } = action;
state.team = teamValue;
},
changeCommitmentFilter: (state, action) => {
const { payload: { value: commitmentValue } } = action;
state.commitment = commitmentValue;
}
}
});
// Action creators are generated for each case reducer function
export const { changeLocationFilter, changeTeamFilter, changeCommitmentFilter } = filtersSlice.actions;
export default filtersSlice.reducer;
Every time those filters change, I'm using a memoized createSelector function to get those updated filters, then I'm filtering my jobs locally within my JobContainer component
Ref:
https://redux.js.org/tutorials/essentials/part-6-performance-normalization
Ref:
https://redux-toolkit.js.org/api/createSelector
I am not updating the jobs in the redux store (From initial jobs to filtered jobs) because after doing some reading, it seems that when it comes to filtering data, the generally accepted best practice is to do this via derived state, and there is no need to put this inside component state or redux store state -
Ref:
What is the best way to filter data in React?
Here is some code to illustrate my example further:
Here is my JobsContainer component, which get the initial jobs and the filters from the redux store, and then filters the jobs locally:
import React, { useState, useEffect } from "react";
import { useDispatch, useSelector } from "react-redux";
import { createSelector } from "reselect";
import Job from "../../components/Job";
import { ALL_LOCATIONS, ALL_TEAMS, ALL_COMMITMENTS } from '../../constants'
import { fetchReduxJobs, selectAllReduxJobs } from '../../redux/reduxJobs'
const JobsContainer = () => {
const dispatch = useDispatch()
const reduxJobsStatus = useSelector(state => state.reduxJobs.status);
let reduxJobs = useSelector(selectAllReduxJobs); // GET INITIAL JOBS FROM REDUX STATE HERE
const filterState = useSelector((state) => state.filters); // GET FILTERS FROM REDUX STATE HERE
const selectLocation = filterState => filterState.location
const selectTeam = filterState => filterState.team
const selectCommitment = filterState => filterState.commitment
// CREATE MEMOIZED FUNCTION USING CREATESELECTOR, AND RUN A FILTER ON THE JOBS
// WHENEVER FILTERS CHANGE IN REDUX STORE
const selectFilters = createSelector([selectLocation, selectTeam, selectCommitment], (location, team, commitment) => {
let tempReduxJobs = reduxJobs;
tempReduxJobs = tempReduxJobs.filter((filteredJob) => {
return (
(location === ALL_LOCATIONS ? filteredJob : filteredJob.categories.location === location) &&
(commitment === ALL_COMMITMENTS ? filteredJob : filteredJob.categories.commitment === commitment) &&
(team === ALL_TEAMS ? filteredJob : filteredJob.categories.team === team)
)
})
return tempReduxJobs;
})
reduxJobs = selectFilters(filterState); // UPDATE JOBS HERE WHEN FILTERS CHANGE
let content;
if (reduxJobsStatus === 'loading') {
content = "Loading..."
} else if (reduxJobsStatus === 'succeeded') {
// JUST MODIFYING MY JOBS A BIT HERE BEFORE RENDERING THEM
let groupedReduxJobs = reduxJobs.reduce(function (groupedObj, job) {
const { categories: { team } } = job;
if (!groupedObj[team]) {
groupedObj[team] = []
}
groupedObj[team].push(job)
return groupedObj
}, {})
// THIS IS HOW I RENDER MY JOBS HERE AFTER MODIFYING THEM
content = Object.keys(groupedReduxJobs).map((teamName, index) => (
<div key={index}>
<div className="job-team-heading">{teamName}</div>
{groupedReduxJobs[teamName].map((job) =>
(<Job jobDetails={job} key={job.id} />))
}
</div>
))
// return groupedObj
} else if (reduxJobsStatus === 'failed') {
content = <div>{error}</div>
}
useEffect(() => {
if (reduxJobsStatus === 'idle') {
dispatch(fetchReduxJobs())
}
}, [reduxJobsStatus, dispatch])
return (
<JobsContainerStyles>
<div>{content}</div>
</JobsContainerStyles>
);
}
export default JobsContainer;
Something about how Im updating my jobs after the filters change (inside JobsContainer) using my selectFilters function ie the line:
reduxJobs = selectFilters(filterState);
Seems off. (Note: as you can see, I am modifying the data a bit before rendering as well - see groupedReduxJobs)
I wouldn't be as confused if I was to update the redux store with the filtered jobs after the filter is applied, but as I mentioned, reading into this topic suggests filtered data should generally be kept as derived state, and not in redux store. This is what I am confused about.
Can someone provide some constructive criticism on how I'm doing this please ? Or is the way Im doing this currently a good way to go about solving this problem.
To clarify, this is all working as written here .. but I'm not sure what other's opinions are on doing it this way vs some other way

no data is passed into state when using useContext/useReducer together with useQuery

export const itemReducer = (state, action) => {
switch (action.type) {
default:
return state
}
}
import React, { useState, useReducer, createContext, useContext } from 'react'
import { useQuery } from '#apollo/client'
import { CURRENT_MONTH_BY_USER } from '../graphql/queries'
import { itemReducer } from '../reducers/ItemReducer'
const Items = createContext()
export const ItemProvider = ({ children }) => {
let items = []
const [state, dispatch] = useReducer(itemReducer, { items: items })
const result = useQuery(CURRENT_MONTH_BY_USER)
if (result.data && result.data.getCurrentMonthByUser) {
items = [...result.data.getCurrentMonthByUser]
}
return <Items.Provider value={{ state, dispatch }}>{children}</Items.Provider>
}
export const ItemsState = () => {
return useContext(Items)
}
export default ItemProvider
let items gets correct data from the useQuery, however nothing is passed into the state, therefore I am unable to transfer data into another components from the context. What am I doing wrong here?
When debugging both items and state they're initially empty because of the loading however then only the items receives correct data and state remains as empty array.
If i put static data into let items it works just fine, so maybe there can be something wrong with my useQuery as well?

It's easy to see your problem if you look at where items is used. That's only as the initial state to your useReducer call - but items is only set to a non-empty value after this. That has absolutely no effect on the component, because items is not used later in your component function, and the initial state is only ever set once, on the first render.
To solve this you need to embrace your use of a reducer, adding a new action type to set this initial data, and then dispatching that when you have the data. So add something like this to your reducer:
export const itemReducer = (state, action) => {
switch (action.type) {
case SET_INITIAL_DATA: // only a suggestion for the name, and obviously you need to define this as a constant
return { ...state, items: action.items };
/* other actions here */
default:
return state
}
}
and then rewrite your component like this:
export const ItemProvider = ({ children }) => {
const [state, dispatch] = useReducer(itemReducer, { items: [] })
const result = useQuery(CURRENT_MONTH_BY_USER)
if (result.data && result.data.getCurrentMonthByUser) {
dispatch({ type: SET_INITIAL_DATA, items: result.data.getCurrentMonthByUser });
}
return <Items.Provider value={{ state, dispatch }}>{children}</Items.Provider>
}
Also, while this is unrelated to your question, I will note that your ItemsState export appears to be a custom hook (it can't be anything else since it isn't a component but uses a hook) - that is perfectly fine but there is a very strong convention in React that all custom hooks have names of the form useXXX, which I strongly suggest you should follow. So you could rename this something like useItemsState (I would prefer useItemsContext to make clear it's just a useContext hook specialised to your specific context).

How to I convert my props data into an array in my React with Redux project?

In my solution which is an ASP.NET Core project with React, Redux, and Kendo React Components I need to return my props as an array. I'm using the Kendo Dropdown widget as below.
<DropDownList data={this.props.vesseltypes} />
However I receive the error of :
Failed prop type: Invalid prop data of type object supplied to
DropDownList, expected array.
So, I checked my returned data from the props.vesseltypes which is an array of as opposed to a flat array.
Here is my code for how this data is returned:
components/vessels/WidgetData.js
import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { bindActionCreators } from 'redux';
import { connect } from 'react-redux';
import { actionCreators } from '../../store/Types';
import { DropDownList } from '#progress/kendo-react-dropdowns';
class WidgetData extends Component {
componentWillMount() {
this.props.requestTypes();
}
render() {
console.log(this.props.vesseltypes)
return (
<div>
<DropDownList data={this.props.vesseltypes} />
</div>
);
}
}
export default connect(
vesseltypes => vesseltypes,
dispatch => bindActionCreators(actionCreators, dispatch)
)(WidgetData);
components/store/Types.js
const requestVesselTypes = 'REQUEST_TYPES';
const receiveVesselTypes = 'RECEIVE_TYPES';
const initialState = {
vesseltypes: [],
isLoading: false
};
export const actionCreators = {
requestTypes: () => async (dispatch) => {
dispatch({ type: requestVesselTypes });
const url = 'api/KendoData/GetVesselTypes';
const response = await fetch(url);
const alltypes = await response.json();
dispatch({ type: receiveVesselTypes, alltypes });
}
}
export const reducer = (state, action) => {
state = state || initialState;
if (action.type === requestVesselTypes) {
return {
...state,
isLoading: true
};
}
if (action.type === receiveVesselTypes) {
alltypes = action.alltypes;
return {
...state,
vesseltypes: action.alltypes,
isLoading: false
}
}
return state;
};
And finally, the reducer is defined in the store
components/store/configureStore.js
const reducers = {
vesseltypes: Types.reducer
};
Controllers/KendoDataController.cs
[HttpGet]
public JsonResult GetVesselTypes()
{
var types = _vesselTypeService.GetVesselTypes();
return Json(types);
}
So, the dropdown widget expects an array, what I return via the store is an array of objects. As such, this can't be used by the dropdown because it's not what it is expecting. My question is, how do I return this as a single array or flat array?

First deconstruct the part that you want to map to a property from your state:
export default connect(
({vesseltypes}) => ({vesseltypes}),
dispatch => bindActionCreators(actionCreators, dispatch)
)(WidgetData);
Then you could just map vesselTypes to an array of strings, since that's what Kendo DropdownList seems to expect:
<div>
<DropDownList data={this.props.vesseltypes.map((vessel) => vessel.TypeName)} />
</div>
Which should result in what you wanted to achieve.
Alternatively you could look into how to implement a HOC to map your objects to values, it's specified in the Kendo docs, or you can checkout the Stackblitz project they've prepared.

It looks like you forgot to extract vesselTypes from the response here
const alltypes = await response.json();
and your console.log shows that, it contains whole response not just vesselTypes array.
EDIT: On top of that your connect seems wrong, you just pass whole state as a prop not extracting the part you need.

I assume you need an array of strings where the value is in key TypeName.
First of all, I would suggest renaming your variables, if there isn't any back-end restriction like how it's returned via fetch.
For example, these:
alltypes => allTypes
vesseltypes => vesselTypes
Regarding the issue, you just need to do a quick transform before passing data into component. Not sure how the drop down component uses the original input data but I would reduce the array into separate variable to create it only once.
Then pass the variable vesselTypeList into component DropDownList.
Last thing is where to do this transform, when result has been retrieved and Redux updates your props via mapStateToProps first argument of connect function.
const getTypeList = (vesseltypes) => {
return vesseltypes.reduce((result, item) => {
result.push(item.TypeName);
return result;
}, []);
}
const mapStateToProps = ({ vesseltypes }) => { vesseltypes: getTypeList(vesseltypes) };
export default connect(
mapStateToProps,
dispatch => bindActionCreators(actionCreators, dispatch)
)(WidgetData);

Redux: API data response sorted on click

I am trying to develop an application, that is showing photos from Unsplash given a keyword. I managed to fetch specific photos using unsplash.js:
actions:
export function fetchPhotos(term) {
const unsplash = new Unsplash({
applicationId:
"id",
secret: "secret",
callbackUrl: "callback"
});
const response = unsplash.search
.photos(term, 1, 20)
.then(toJson)
.then(json => json);
return {
type: FETCH_PHOTOS,
payload: response
};
}
export function setCategory(term) {
return {
type: SET_CATEGORY,
categories: [term]
};
}
export function sortPhotos(attribute) {
return {
type: SORT_PHOTOS,
attribute
}
}
Component that renders the photos:
import React, { Component } from "react";
import { connect } from "react-redux";
import SinglePhoto from "../components/SinglePhoto";
class PhotoList extends Component {
renderPhotos() {
const { photos } = this.props;
console.log(photos);
if (!photos) {
return <p>Loading...</p>;
}
return photos.map(photo => {
const url = photo.urls.full;
const id = photo.id;
const alt = photo.description;
return <SinglePhoto url={url} key={id} alt={alt} />;
});
}
render() {
return <div>{this.renderPhotos()}</div>;
}
}
function mapStateToProps(state) {
return {
photos: state.photos,
categories: state.categories
};
}
export default connect(mapStateToProps)(PhotoList);
And reducers:
import { FETCH_PHOTOS, SORT_PHOTOS } from "../actions/types";
export default function(state = [], action) {
switch (action.type) {
case FETCH_PHOTOS:
return [...action.payload.results];
case SORT_PHOTOS:
break;
default:
return state;
}
}
What I am struggling to do is to actually sort the array of data I receive from the API according to a specific term. The response is an array of objects that makes it impossible to call it in an external component I've called Buttons that I have wanted to set the logic in:
class Buttons extends Component {
render() {
const { created_at: date } = this.props.photos;
console.log(this.props);
return (
<div className="buttons">
{/* <button onClick={() => this.props.sortPhotos(date)}>Sort by creation date</button> */}
</div>
)
}
}
const mapStateToProps = (state) => {
return {
photos: state.photos
}
}
const mapDispatchToProps = (dispatch) => bindActionCreators({sortPhotos}, dispatch);
export default connect(mapStateToProps, mapDispatchToProps)(Buttons);
As I would need to loop over the photos to actually receive their created_at props.
I would like to sort them, for example, taking created_at into account. This would be handled by a button click (there would be other buttons for let's say likes amount and so on). I tried to do this in mapStateToProps until the moment I realized it would be impossible to call this with onClick handler.
As I have read this post, I thought it would be a great idea, however, I am not sure, how can I handle this request by an action creator.
Is there any way that I could call sorting function with an onclick handler?

One approach you can take is using a library such as Redux's reduxjs/reselect to compute derived data based on state, in this case sorted items based on some object key and/or direction. Selectors are composable and are usually efficient as they are not recomputed unless one of its arguments changes. This approach is adding properties to the reducer's state for sort key and sort order. As these are updated in the store via actions/reducers, the selector uses state to derive the elements in the resulting sorted order. You can utilize the sorted items in any connected component.
I've tried my best to recreate a complete example including actions, reducers, selectors, and store structure.
Actions - Created actions for setting sort key/direction. My example is using redux-thunk for handling async actions, but that is in no way necessary:
export const SET_SORT = 'SET_SORT';
const setSort = (sortDirection, sortKey) => ({
type: SET_SORT,
sortDirection,
sortKey
});
export const sort = (sortDirection = 'desc', sortKey = 'created_at') => dispatch => {
dispatch(setSort(sortDirection, sortKey));
return Promise.resolve();
};
Reducer - Updated initial state to keep track of a sort key and/or sort direction with photo objects being stored in a child property such as items:
const initialState = {
isFetching: false,
sortDirection: null,
sortKey: null,
items: []
};
const photos = (state = initialState, action) => {
switch (action.type) {
case FETCH_PHOTOS:
return {
...state,
isFetching: true
};
case RECEIVE_PHOTOS:
return {
...state,
isFetching: false,
items: action.photos
};
case SET_SORT:
return {
...state,
sortKey: action.sortKey,
sortDirection: action.sortDirection
};
default:
return state;
}
};
Selector - Using reselect, create selectors that retrieves items/photos, sortOrder, and sortDirection. The sorting logic can obviously be enhanced to handle other keys/conditions/etc:
import { createSelector } from 'reselect';
const getPhotosSelector = state => state.photos.items;
const getSortKeySelector = state => state.photos.sortKey;
const getSortDirectionSelector = state => state.photos.sortDirection;
export const getSortedPhotosSelector = createSelector(
getPhotosSelector,
getSortKeySelector,
getSortDirectionSelector,
(photos, sortKey, sortDirection) => {
if (sortKey === 'created_at' && sortDirection === 'asc') {
return photos.slice().sort((a, b) => new Date(a.created_at) - new Date(b.created_at));
} else if (sortKey === 'created_at' && sortDirection === 'desc') {
return photos.slice().sort((a, b) => new Date(b.created_at) - new Date(a.created_at));
} else {
return photos;
}
}
);
Component - Utilize selector to render items. Trigger dispatch of sort action via button click passing in a sort key and/or sort order. The linked example uses dropdowns in combination with the button click to set sort key/order:
import { getSortedPhotosSelector } from './selectors';
// ...
handleClick() {
this.props.dispatch(sort('desc', 'created_at'));
}
render() {
const { sortDirection, sortKey, items } = this.props;
<ul>
{items.map(item => <li key={item.id}>{item.created_at}</li>)}
</ul>
<button type="button" onClick={this.handleClick}>SORT</button>
}
const mapStateToProps = state => ({
items: getSortedPhotosSelector(state),
sortKey: state.photos.sortKey,
sortDirection: state.photos.sortDirection
});
export default connect(mapStateToProps)(PhotoList);
Here is a StackBlitz, demonstrating the functionality in action. It includes controlled components such as and to trigger dispatch of a sort action.
Hopefully that helps!

Map state to props not updating after Redux

My Redux Store is correctly being updated which can be seen using React Native Debugger. However, the props inside my component are not updating and are undefined.
In my component below you can see I have correctly mapped to the "sessionModerator" reducer. I have verified this and can see the prop when consoling this.props.
Component:
const mapStateToProps = state => {
return {
session: state.screenReducers.session,
list: state.screenReducers.sessionList,
sessionUser: state.screenReducers.sessionUser,
user: state.sharedReducers.user,
sessionListItem: state.screenReducers.sessionListItem,
sessionSortOrder: state.sharedReducers.sessionSortOrder,
sessionModerator: state.sharedReducers.sessionModerator
};
};
My reducer is added as seen below:
Reducers Index file:
import { reducer as sessionModerator } from './session/reducers/session-moderator';
export const reducers = combineReducers({
sessionModerator: sessionModerator,
});
Actions File:
import Types from '../../../types';
export const start = () => {
return {
type: Types.TYPES_SESSION_MODERATOR_START,
payload: true
};
};
export const stop = () => {
return {
type: Types.TYPES_SESSION_MODERATOR_STOP,
payload: false
};
};
Reducers File:
import Types from '../../../types';
export const reducer = (state = false, action) => {
switch (action.type) {
case Types.TYPES_SESSION_MODERATOR_START:
return action.payload;
case Types.TYPES_SESSION_MODERATOR_STOP:
return action.payload;
default:
return state;
}
};
In the below image you can see that the store is updated as the value for sessionModerator is set to "true", but the console of the actual props during the operation is undefined.
What I have tried:
I have tried various things mostly revolving around the structure of my state, for example, I tried adding the boolean inside an actual object and updating the value as an object property but that didn't seem to work. I feel like I am not updating the boolean correctly but haven't been able to figure it out.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

sessionModerator is in screenReducers in the debugger not in sharedReducers as in your mapStateToProps.
Try this one:
const mapStateToProps = state => {
return {
session: state.screenReducers.session,
list: state.screenReducers.sessionList,
sessionUser: state.screenReducers.sessionUser,
user: state.sharedReducers.user,
sessionListItem: state.screenReducers.sessionListItem,
sessionSortOrder: state.sharedReducers.sessionSortOrder,
sessionModerator: state.screenReducers.sessionModerator
};
};