Using mern.io scaffolder tool - What is the .need method all about? - javascript

Based on the scaffolder mern.io I was going through the code to see what was going on. I stumbled upon a .need method which looks like something related to es6 classes. I can't seem to find any usable info anywhere, so I ask what is the .need method?
class PostContainer extends Component {
//do class setup stuff here
}
PostContainer.need = [() => { return Actions.fetchPosts(); }];
You can get the project up and running very easily with these commands.
npm install -g mern-cli
mern YourAppName

The mern documentation is pretty terse when it comes to explaining this.
fetchComponentData collects all the needs (need is an array of actions that are required to be dispatched before rendering the component) of components in the current route. It returns a promise when all the required actions are dispatched.
Reading through the code is a much clearer way of finding out what's going on here.
Overview
It's a way to specify some actions that should be dispatched before rendering the component.
This component maps the posts property from the Redux store to a prop called posts so that it can render the list of posts.
// PostContainer.jsx
function mapStateToProps(store) {
return {
posts: store.posts,
};
}
However, initially this property will be empty because the posts need to be fetched from an asynchronous API.
// reducer.js
// initial state of the store is an empty array
const initialState = { posts: [], selectedPost: null };
This component needs the posts to be available before it renders, so it dispatches the action returned from the call to Actions.fetchPosts().
// actions.js
export function fetchPosts() {
return (dispatch) => {
return fetch(`${baseURL}/api/getPosts`).
then((response) => response.json()).
then((response) => dispatch(addPosts(response.posts)));
};
}
When the action has finished dispatching, the store's data can be mapped to the connected component.
Caveat
This isn't a universal way to specify asynchronous dependencies for React components. It only works because mern has a utility method called fetchComponentData that it calls at the server side, in order to populate the Redux store before rendering.
// server.js
fetchComponentData(store.dispatch, renderProps.components, renderProps.params)
This method traverses the components from the second argument to extract the needs from each. Then it executes 'needs` and waits for all the promises to complete.
// fetchData.js
const promises = needs.map(need => dispatch(need(params)));
return Promise.all(promises);
When the promise returned by Promise.all(promise) completes, the Redux store will be populated and the components can safely render their data to be served to the client.
Syntax
You mentioned that you thought it might be related to ES6 classes, so I'll cover the syntax quickly too.
ES6 classes can't have static properties specified in the class literal, instead we have to declare them as properties on the class after it has been defined.
The needs property must be an array of functions that return promises to work with fetchComponentData. In this case we have an arrow function declared inside an array literal. It might help to look at it split up into separate variables.
const fetchPosts = () => { return Actions.fetchPosts() };
const needs = [fetchPosts];
PostContainer.need = needs;

Related

React server side component - alternative to `response.readRoot()` function

In React server components official GitHub example repo at exactly in this line here they are using response.readRoot().
I want to create a similar app for testing something with RSC's and it seems like the response does not contain the .readRoot() function any more (because they have updated that API in the react package on npm and I cannot find anything about it!). but it returns the tree in value property like below:
This means that whatever I render in my root server component, will not appear in the browser if I render that variable (JSON.parse(value) || not parsed) inside of my app context provider.
How can I render this?
Basically, if you get some response on the client side (in react server components) you have to render that response in the browser which has the new state from server but since I don't have access to readRoot() any more from response, what would be the alternative for it to use?
I used a trick o solve this issue, but one thing to keep in mind is that they are still unstable APIs that react uses and it's still recommended not to use React server component in the production level, uses it for learning and test it and get yourself familiar with it, so back to solution:
My experience was I had a lot of problems with caching layer they are using in their depo app. I just removed it. My suggestion is to not use it for now until those functions and APIs become stable. So I Removed it in my useServerResponse(...) function, which in here I renamed it to getServerResponse(...) because of the hook I created later in order to convert the promise into actual renderable response, so what I did was:
export async function getServerResponse(location) {
const key = JSON.stringify(location);
// const cache = unstable_getCacheForType(createResponseCache);
// let response = cache.get(key);
// if (response) return response;
let response = await createFromFetch(
fetch("/react?location=" + encodeURIComponent(key))
);
// cache.set(key, response);
return response;
}
and then creating a hook that would get the promise from the above function, and return an actual renderable result for me:
export function _useServerResponse(appState) {
const [tree, setTree] = useState(null);
useEffect(() => {
getServerResponse(appState).then((res) => {
setTree(res);
});
}, [appState]);
return { tree };
}
and finally in my AppContextProvider, I used that hook to get the react server component tree and use that rendered tree as child of my global context provider in client-side like below:
import { _useServerResponse } from ".../location/of/your/hook";
export default function AppContextProvider() {
const [appState, setAppState] = useState({
...someAppStateHere
});
const { tree } = _useServerResponse(appState);
return (
<AppContext.Provider value={{ appState, setAppState }}>
{tree}
</AppContext.Provider>
);
}
I know that this is like a workaround hacky solution, but it worked fine in my case, and seems like until we get stable APIs with proper official documentation about RSCs, it's a working solution for me at least!

Vue child component not displaying dynamic data on first page load

Given the code below, my child component alerts trigger before any of the code in the Parent mounted function.
As a result it appears the child has already finished initialization before the data is ready and therefor won't display the data until it is reloaded.
The data itself comes back fine from the API as the raw JSON displays inside the v-card in the layout.
My question is how can I make sure the data requested in the Parent is ready BEFORE the child component loads? Anything I have found focuses on static data passed in using props, but it seems this completely fails when the data must be fetched first.
Inside the mounted() of the Parent I have this code which is retrieves the data.
const promisesArray = [this.loadPrivate(),this.loadPublic()]
await Promise.all(promisesArray).then(() => {
console.log('DATA ...') // fires after the log in Notes component
this.checkAttendanceForPreviousTwoWeeks().then(()=>{
this.getCurrentParticipants().then((results) => {
this.currentP = results
this.notesArr = this.notes // see getter below
})
The getter that retrieves the data in the parent
get notes() {
const newNotes = eventsModule.getNotes
return newNotes
}
My component in the parent template:
<v-card light elevation="">
{{ notes }} // Raw JSON displays correctly here
// Passing the dynamic data to the component via prop
<Notes v-if="notes.length" :notesArr="notes"/>
</v-card>
The Child component:
...
// Pickingn up prop passed to child
#Prop({ type: Array, required: true })
notesArr!: object[]
constructor()
{
super();
alert(`Notes : ${this.notesArr}`) // nothing here
this.getNotes(this.notesArr)
}
async getNotes(eventNotes){
// THIS ALERT FIRES BEFORE PROMISES IN PARENT ARE COMPLETED
alert(`Notes.getNotes CALL.. ${eventNotes}`) // eventNotes = undefined
this.eventChanges = await eventNotes.map(note => {
return {
eventInfo: {
name: note.name,
group: note.groupNo || null,
date: note.displayDate,
},
note: note.noteToPresenter
}
})
}
...
I am relatively new to Vue so forgive me if I am overlooking something basic. I have been trying to fix it for a couple of days now and can't figure it out so any help is much appreciated!
If you are new to Vue, I really recommend reading the entire documentation of it and the tools you are using - vue-class-component (which is Vue plugin adding API for declaring Vue components as classes)
Caveats of Class Component - Always use lifecycle hooks instead of constructor
So instead of using constructor() you should move your code to created() lifecycle hook
This should be enough to fix your code in this case BUT only because the usage of the Notes component is guarded by v-if="notes.length" in the Parent - the component will get created only after notes is not empty array
This is not enough in many cases!
created() lifecycle hook (and data() function/hook) is executed only once for each component. The code inside is one time initialization. So when/if parent component changes the content of notesArr prop (sometimes in the future), the eventChanges will not get updated. Even if you know that parent will never update the prop, note that for performance reasons Vue tend to reuse existing component instances when possible when rendering lists with v-for or switching between components of the same type with v-if/v-else - instead of destroying existing and creating new components, Vue just updates the props. App suddenly looks broken for no reason...
This is a mistake many unexperienced users do. You can find many questions here on SO like "my component is not reactive" or "how to force my component re-render" with many answers suggesting using :key hack or using a watcher ....which sometimes work but is almost always much more complicated then the right solution
Right solution is to write your components (if you can - sometimes it is not possible) as pure components (article is for React but the principles still apply). Very important tool for achieving this in Vue are computed propeties
So instead of introducing eventChanges data property (which might or might not be reactive - this is not clear from your code), you should make it computed property which is using notesArr prop directly:
get eventChanges() {
return this.notesArr.map(note => {
return {
eventInfo: {
name: note.name,
group: note.groupNo || null,
date: note.displayDate,
},
note: note.noteToPresenter
}
})
}
Now whenever notesArr prop is changed by the parent, eventChanges is updated and the component will re-render
Notes:
You are overusing async. Your getNotes function does not execute any asynchronous code so just remove it.
also do not mix async and then - it is confusing
Either:
const promisesArray = [this.loadPrivate(),this.loadPublic()]
await Promise.all(promisesArray)
await this.checkAttendanceForPreviousTwoWeeks()
const results = await this.getCurrentParticipants()
this.currentP = results
this.notesArr = this.notes
or:
const promisesArray = [this.loadPrivate(),this.loadPublic()]
Promise.all(promisesArray)
.then(() => this.checkAttendanceForPreviousTwoWeeks())
.then(() => this.getCurrentParticipants())
.then((results) => {
this.currentP = results
this.notesArr = this.notes
})
Great learning resource

Should I use useselector/useDispatch instead of mapStateToProps

When creating a React app, if I use the hook useSelector, I need to adhere to the hooks invoking rules (Only call it from the top level of a functional component). If I use the mapStateToProps, I get the state in the props and I can use it anywhere without any issues... Same issue for useDispatch
What are the benefits of using the hook besides saving lines of code compared to mapStateToProps?
Redux store state can be read and changed from anywhere in the component, including callbacks. Whenever the store state is changed the component rerenders. When the component rerenders, useSelector runs again, and gives you the updated data, later to be used wherever you want. Here is an example of that and a usage of useDispatch inside a callback (after an assignment in the root level):
function Modal({ children }) {
const isOpen = useSelector(state => state.isOpen);
const dispatch = useDispatch();
function handleModalToggeled() {
// using updated data from store state in a callback
if(isOpen) {
// writing to state, leading to a rerender
dispatch({type: "CLOSE_MODAL"});
return;
}
// writing to state, leading to a rerender
dispatch({type: "OPEN_MODAL"});
}
// using updated data from store state in render
return (isOpen ? (
<div>
{children}
<button onClick={handleModalToggeled}>close modal</button>
</div>
) : (
<button onClick={handleModalToggeled}>open modal</button>
);
);
}
There is nothing you can do with mapStateToProps/mapDispatchToProps that you can't do with the useSelector and useDispatch hooks as well.
With that said, there are a couple of differences between the two methods that are worth considering:
Decoupling: with mapStateToProps, container logic (the way store data is injected into the component) is separate from the view logic (component rendering).
useSelector represents a new and different way of thinking about connected components, arguing that the decoupling is more important between components and that components are self contained. Which is better? Verdict: no clear winner. source
DX (Developer experience): using the connect function usually means there should be another additional container component for each connected component, where using the useSelector and useDispatch hooks is quite straightforward. Verdict: hooks have better DX.
"Stale props" and "Zombie child": there are some weird edge cases with useSelector, if it depends on props, where useSelector can run before the newest updated props come in. These are mostly rare and avoidable edge cases, but they had been already worked out in the older connect version. verdict: connect is slightly more stable than hooks. source
Performance optimizations: both support performance optimizations in different ways: connect has some advanced techniques, using merge props and other options hidden in the connect function. useSelector accepts a second argument - an equality function to determine if the state has changed. verdict: both are great for performance in advanced situations.
Types: using typescript with connect is a nightmare. I remember myself feverishly writing three props interfaces for each connected component (OwnProps, StateProps, DispatchProps). Redux hooks support types in a rather straightforward way. verdict: types are significantly easier to work with using hooks.
The future of React: Hooks are the future of react. This may seam like an odd argument, but change to the ecosystem is right around the corner with "Concurrent mode" and "Server components". While class components will still be supported in future React versions, new features may rely solely on hooks. This change will of course also affect third party libraries in the eco system, such as React-Redux. verdict: hooks are more future proof.
TL;DR - Final verdict: each method has its merits. connect is more mature, has less potential for weird bugs and edge cases, and has better separation of concerns. Hooks are easier to read and write, as they are collocated near the place where they are used (all in one self contained component). Also, they are easier to use with TypeScript. Finally, they will easily be upgradable for future react versions.
I think you misunderstand what "top level" is. It merely means that, inside a functional component, useSelector() cannot be placed inside loops, conditions and nested functions. It doesn't have anything to do with root component or components structure
// bad
const MyComponent = () => {
if (condition) {
// can't do this
const data = useSelector(mySelector);
console.log(data);
}
return null;
}
---
// good
const MyComponent = () => {
const data = useSelector(mySelector);
if (condition) {
console.log(data); // using data in condition
}
return null;
}
If anything, mapStateToPtops is located at even higher level than a hook call
the rules of hooks make it very hard to use that specific hook. You still need to somehow access a changing value from the state inside callbacks
To be fair you almost never have to access changing value inside a callback. I can't remember last time I needed that. Usually if your callback needs the latest state, you are better off just dispatching an action and then handler for that action (redux-thunk, redux-saga, redux-observable etc) will itself access the latest state
This is just specifics of hooks in general (not just useSelector) and there are tons of ways to go around it if you really want to, for example
const MyComponent = () => {
const data = useSelector(mySelector);
const latestData = useRef()
latestData.current = data
return (
<button
onClick={() => {
setTimeout(() => {
console.log(latestData.current) // always refers to latest data
}, 5000)
}}
/>
)
}
What are the benefits of using the hook besides saving lines of code compared to mapStateToProps?
You save time by not writing connect function any time you need to access store, and removing it when you no longer need to access store. No endless wrappers in react devtools
You have clear distinction and no conflicts between props coming from connect, props coming from parent and props injected by wrappers from 3rd party libraries
Sometimes you (or fellow developers you work with) would choose unclear names for props in mapStateToProps and you will have to scroll all the way to mapStateToProps in the file to find out which selector is used for this specific prop. This is not the case with hooks where selectors and variables with data they return are coupled on the same line
By using hooks you get general advantages of hooks, the biggest of which is being able couple together and reuse related stateful logic in multiple components
With mapStateToProps you usually have to deal with mapDispatchToProps which is even more cumbersome and easier to get lost in, especially reading someone else's code (object form? function form? bindActionCreators?). Prop coming from mapDispatchToProps can have same name as it's action creator but different signature because it was overridden in mapDispatchToprops. If you use one action creator in a number of components and then rename that action creator, these components will keep using old name coming from props. Object form easily breaks if you have a dependency cycle and also you have to deal with shadowing variable names
.
import { getUsers } from 'actions/user'
class MyComponent extends Component {
render() {
// shadowed variable getUsers, now you either rename it
// or call it like this.props.getUsers
// or change import to asterisk, and neither option is good
const { getUsers } = this.props
// ...
}
}
const mapDispatchToProps = {
getUsers,
}
export default connect(null, mapDispatchToProps)(MyComponent)
See EDIT 2 at the end for the final answer
Since no one knows how to answer, it seems like the best answer is that you should NOT be using useselector when you need information in other places other than the root level of your component. Since you don't know if the component will change in the future, just don't use useselector at all.
If someone has a better answer than this, I'll change the accepted answer.
Edit: Some answers were added, but they just emphasize why you shouldn't be using useselector at all, until the day when the rules of hooks will change, and you'll be able to use it in a callback as well. That being said, if you don't want to use it in a callback, it could be a good solution for you.
EDIT 2: An answer with examples of all that I wanted was added and showed how useSelector and useDispatch are easier to use.
The redux state returned from the useSelector hook can be passed around anywhere else just like its done for mapStateToProps. Example: It can be passed to another function too. Only constraint being that the hook rules has to be followed during its declaration:
It has to be declared only within a functional component.
During declaration, it can not be inside any conditional block . Sample code below
function test(displayText) {
return (<div>{displayText}</div>);
}
export function App(props) {
const displayReady = useSelector(state => {
return state.readyFlag;
});
const displayText = useSelector(state => {
return state.displayText;
});
if(displayReady) {
return
(<div>
Outer
{test(displayText)}
</div>);
}
else {
return null;
}
}
EDIT: Since OP has asked a specific question - which is about using it within a callback, I would like to add a specific code.In summary, I do not see anything that stops us from using useSelector hook output in a callback. Please see the sample code below, its a snippet from my own code that demonstrates this particular use case.
export default function CustomPaginationActionsTable(props) {
//Read state with useSelector.
const searchCriteria = useSelector(state => {
return state && state.selectedFacets;
});
//use the read state in a callback invoked from useEffect hook.
useEffect( ()=>{
const postParams = constructParticipantListQueryParams(searchCriteria);
const options = {
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
},
validateStatus: () => true
};
var request = axios.post(PORTAL_SEARCH_LIST_ALL_PARTICIPANTS_URI, postParams, options)
.then(function(response)
{
if(response.status === HTTP_STATUS_CODE_SUCCESS) {
console.log('Accessing useSelector hook output in axios callback. Printing it '+JSON.stringify(searchCriteria));
}
})
.catch(function(error) {
});
}, []);
}
For callback functions you can use the value returned from useSelector the same way you would use the value from useState.
const ExampleComponent = () => {
// use hook to get data from redux state.
const stateData = useSelector(state => state.data);
// use hook to get dispatch for redux store.
// this allows actions to be dispatched.
const dispatch = useDispatch();
// Create a non-memoized callback function using stateData.
// This function is recreated every rerender, a change in
// state.data in the redux store will cause a rerender.
const callbackWithoutMemo = (event) => {
// use state values.
if (stateData.condition) {
doSomething();
}
else {
doSomethingElse();
}
// dispatch some action to the store
// can pass data if needed.
dispatch(someActionCreator());
};
// Create a memoized callback function using stateData.
// This function is recreated whenever a value in the
// dependency array changes (reference comparison).
const callbackWithMemo = useCallback((event) => {
// use state values.
if (stateData.condition) {
doSomething();
}
else {
doSomethingElse();
}
// dispatch some action to the store
// can pass data if needed.
dispatch(someActionCreator());
}, [stateData, doSomething, doSomethingElse]);
// Use the callbacks.
return (
<>
<div onClick={callbackWithoutMemo}>
Click me
</div>
<div onClick={callbackWithMemo}>
Click me
</div>
</>
)
};
Rules of hooks says you must use it at the root of your component, meaning you CANT use it anywhere.
As Max stated in his answer just means that the hook statement itself must not be dynamic / conditional. This is because the order of the base hooks (react's internal hooks: useState, etc) is used by the backing framework to populate the stored data each render.
The values from hooks can be used where ever you like.
While I doubt this will be close to answering your complete question, callbacks keep coming up and no examples had been posted.
not the answer but this hook can be very helpful if you want to get decoupled nature of mapDispatchToProps while keeping simplicity and dev experience of hooks:
https://gist.github.com/ErAz7/1bffea05743440d6d7559afc9ed12ddc
the reason I don't mention one for mapStatesToProps is that useSelector itself is more store-logic-decoupling than mapStatesToProps so don't see any advantage for mapStatesToProps. Of course I dont mean using useSelector directly but instead create a wrapper on it in your store files (e.g. in reducer file) and import from there, like this:
// e.g. userReducer.js
export const useUserProfile = () => useSelector(state => state.user.profile)

how to dispatch a action to save data in store in next js

what i want to do is dispatch an action in my set interval function and not in get initial props and save my data in store and how to get that data back from store in react app it was simple just import action form action file and call like this this.props.actionName() but how do i do this in next and to get data from store we map state to props how can it be done in next thanks here my function which i want to implement in
this.fetchCryptoData().then(data => {
var Keys = Object.keys(data.DISPLAY);
this.setState(
{
crypto_head_coins: Keys
},
() => {
// // this.props.update_array([]); // update_array() is my action i haven't imported it
let rate_updated = [true, true, true, true]; // i want my store updated_array data here
for (let i = 0; i < this.state.crypto_head_coins.length; i++) {
//my code here
// this.props.store.dispatch(update_rate_array(rate_updated)) //it says cant read property
// of dispatch of undefined
// i want to dispatch my action here not in getinitialprops
this.setState({ rate_updated });
}
);
});
I use NextJS sometimes, It is the same as a Create-React-App essentially.
I just noticed your question does not include 'React-Redux', You will need to install/save 'React-Redux' and 'Redux' to use connect/dispatch, etc. I have a sample boilerplate on Github.
Another missing piece for converting this into an action.. is perhaps redux-thunk, to handle promises.(Try without it first.)
More information on redux-thunk here.
https://github.com/reduxjs/redux-thunk
You are setting state twice(once in the callback of another), which is going to cause multiple re-renders. (Unless ShouldComponentUpdate is implemented) Might want to re-consider this design.
Implement your MapDispatch to Props
After doing so you can simplify the line calling it, like the below using destructing.
// this.props.store.dispatch(update_rate_array(rate_updated)) //it says cant read property
let update_rate_array = {this.props}
update_rate_array(rate_updated)
You should implement your MapDispatchToProps removing some complexity in the naming and calling.
I have uploaded some simple examples to Github, and there is also an identical related CodeSandbox.
To receive your updated information from State, use MapStateToProps.
Example here.

How make secondary HTTP request based upon results of first

I have two async requests I am trying to fulfill, the second based upon the results of the first. The way I am trying to do this is by:
Listen for success of first action: actions.GetAllItems
Select out from the store the relevant items based on ID: this.store.select(selectors.getItemsById)
Map over the returned IDs so I can make the second call for each item in the array of IDs returned by the first call
Put results in redux store, render to view.
The way I have now does successfully put it in my redux store. However since it's just vanilla Array.map it doesn't return an observable. Which means the observable isn't stored in this.details$, which means it does not render in my template with {{ details$ | async | json }}
How can I achieve this secondary XHR call based upon the results of the first?
ngOnInit() {
this.store.dispatch(new actions.GetAllItems())
this.details$ = this.actions$.pipe(
ofType(actions.types.GetAllItemsSuccess),
mergeMap(() => {
return this.store.select(selectors.getItemsById); // filter to multiple items based on item ID
}),
map((items: models.IItemGeneralResponse[]) => {
items.map(item => { // sync map does not seem like it belongs in rxjs
this.store.dispatch(
new actions.GetItemDetail(item.id)
);
});
})
);
}
You are trying to do ngrx effects stuff in your angular component. Use effects to handle side effects (calls to the backend/fetching data from local storage etc...) and make your component to watch for a piece of your state via a selector. Let's summarize like this -
Your component [or your guard or resolver] will just dispatch an action to the store.
If you set up a reducer for that action then your reducer will be called first otherwise it will go to step 3
In your effect, you are watching for the dispatched action. Your effect will make the first call and then from the response of the first call, it will make the second call and then it will update the state in your store [or piece of the state] which is being watched by your component by dispatching the respective actions to the store.
This is a typical workflow [It may vary as per the need of the app but the basic idea remains the same]. So keeping the basic idea lets modify your code like this -
In your component
sliceOfState$: Observable<any>; //change the type of observabe as per your app
ngOnInit() {
this.store.dispatch(new actions.GetAllItems())
//this observable will be used to render your data on UI
//you can use various rxjs operators to transform your data before shoing to UI
this.sliceOfState$ = this.store.select(//your selector which gives you sliceOfState);
}
Now In your effect -
#Effect()
this.details$ = this.actions$.pipe(
ofType(actions.types.GetAllItems),
switchMap(() => {
//here you call API which makes the call to backend which return allItems
return this.yourServiceWhichGetAllItems.getAllItems();
}),
switchMap(allItems => {
//now for each item you need to get its detail
//so forkJoin all the observables which calls the backedn for each item
const obs$ = allItems.map(item => this.yourServiceWhichGetDetails.getItemDetail(item));
return forkJoin(obs$);
})
map(allItemsWithDetails => {
//here you should call your action which will update the state in your store
return new actions.SetAllItemsDetails(allItemsWithDetails);
})
);
I have provided pseudo code which will give you an idea of how to achieve what you want to do. For more info, you can visit the official site of ngrx - https://ngrx.io/guide/effects

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