Data

Tools

Indexes

Applications

Experiments

Awesome

An open API service indexing awesome lists of open source software.

https://github.com/davidkpiano/useEffectReducer

useReducer + useEffect = useEffectReducer
https://github.com/davidkpiano/useEffectReducer

hacktoberfest hook react reducer state

Last synced: 21 days ago
JSON representation

useReducer + useEffect = useEffectReducer

Awesome Lists containing this project

README 

        
# useEffectReducer



A [React hook](https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-intro.html) for managing side-effects in your reducers.



Inspired by the [`useReducerWithEmitEffect` hook idea](https://gist.github.com/sophiebits/145c47544430c82abd617c9cdebefee8) by [Sophie Alpert](https://twitter.com/sophiebits).



If you know how to [`useReducer`](https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-reference.html#usereducer), you already know how to `useEffectReducer`.



[💻 CodeSandbox example: Dog Fetcher with `useEffectReducer`](https://codesandbox.io/s/dog-fetcher-with-useeffectreducer-g192g)



- [Installation](#installation)

- [Quick Start](#quick-start)

- [Named Effects](#named-effects)

- [Effect Implementations](#effect-implementations)

- [Initial Effects](#initial-effects)

- [Effect Entities](#effect-entities)

- [Effect Cleanup](#effect-cleanup)

- [Replacing Effects](#replacing-effects)

- [String Events](#string-events)

- [API](#api)

  - [`useEffectReducer` hook](#useeffectreducer-hook)

  - [`exec(effect)`](#execeffect)

  - [`exec.stop(entity)`](#execstopentity)

- [`exec.replace(entity, effect)`](#execreplaceentity-effect)

- [TypeScript](#typescript)



## Installation



Install it:



```bash

npm install use-effect-reducer

```



Import it:



```js

import { useEffectReducer } from 'use-effect-reducer';

```



Create an effect reducer:



```js

const someEffectReducer = (state, event, exec) => {

  // execute effects like this:

  exec(() => {/* ... */});



  // or parameterized (better):

  exec({ type: 'fetchUser', user: event.user });



  // and treat this like a normal reducer!

  // ...



  return state;

};

```



[Use it:](#quick-start)



```js

// ...

const [state, dispatch] = useEffectReducer(someEffectReducer, initialState, {

  // implementation of effects

});



// Just like useReducer:

dispatch({ type: 'FETCH', user: 'Sophie' });

```



## Isn't this unsafe?



No - internally, `useEffectReducer` (as the name implies) is abstracting this pattern:



```js

// pseudocode

const myReducer = ([state], event) => {

  const effects = [];

  const exec = (effect) => effects.push(effect);

  

  const nextState = // calculate next state

  

  return [nextState, effects];

}



// in your component

const [[state, effects], dispatch] = useReducer(myReducer);



useEffect(() => {

  effects.forEach(effect => {

    // execute the effect

  });

}, [effects]);

```



Instead of being implicit about which effects are executed and _when_ they are executed, you make this explicit in the "effect reducer" with the helper `exec` function. Then, the `useEffectReducer` hook will take the pending effects and properly execute them within a `useEffect()` hook.



## Quick Start



An "effect reducer" takes 3 arguments:



1. `state` - the current state

2. `event` - the event that was dispatched to the reducer

3. `exec` - a function that captures effects to be executed and returns an [effect entity](#effect-entities) that allows you to control the effect



```js

import { useEffectReducer } from 'use-effect-reducer';



// I know, I know, yet another counter example

const countReducer = (state, event, exec) => {

  switch (event.type) {

    case 'INC':

      exec(() => {

        // "Execute" a side-effect here

        console.log('Going up!');

      });



      return {

        ...state,

        count: state.count + 1,

      };



    default:

      return state;

  }

};



const App = () => {

  const [state, dispatch] = useEffectReducer(countReducer, { count: 0 });



  return (

    


      Count: {state.count}

       dispatch('INC')}>Increment

    


  );

};

```



## Named Effects



A better way to make reusable effect reducers is to have effects that are **named** and **parameterized**. This is done by running `exec(...)` an effect object (instead of a function) and specifying that named effect's implementation as the 3rd argument to `useEffectReducer(reducer, initial, effectMap)`.



```js

const fetchEffectReducer = (state, event, exec) => {

  switch (event.type) {

    case 'FETCH':

      // Capture a named effect to be executed

      exec({ type: 'fetchFromAPI', user: event.user });



      return {

        ...state,

        status: 'fetching',

      };

    case 'RESOLVE':

      return {

        status: 'fulfilled',

        user: event.data,

      };

    default:

      return state;

  }

};



const initialState = { status: 'idle', user: undefined };



const fetchFromAPIEffect = (_, effect, dispatch) => {

  fetch(`/api/users/${effect.user}`)

    .then(res => res.json())

    .then(data => {

      dispatch({

        type: 'RESOLVE',

        data,

      });

    });

};



const Fetcher = () => {

  const [state, dispatch] = useEffectReducer(fetchEffectReducer, initialState, {

    // Specify how effects are implemented

    fetchFromAPI: fetchFromAPIEffect,

  });



  return (

     {

        dispatch({ type: 'FETCH', user: 42 });

      }}

    >

      Fetch user

    

  );

};

```



## Effect Implementations



An effect implementation is a function that takes 3 arguments:



1. The `state` at the time the effect was executed with `exec(effect)`

2. The `event` object that triggered the effect

3. The effect reducer's `dispatch` function to dispatch events back to it. This enables dispatching within effects in the `effectMap` if it is written outside of the scope of your component. If your effects require access to variables and functions in the scope of your component, write your `effectMap` there.



The effect implementation should return a disposal function that cleans up the effect:



```js

// Effect defined inline

exec(() => {

  const id = setTimeout(() => {

    // do some delayed side-effect

  }, 1000);



  // disposal function

  return () => {

    clearTimeout(id);

  };

});

```



```js

// Parameterized effect implementation

// (in the effect reducer)

exec({ type: 'doDelayedEffect' });



// ...



// (in the component)

const [state, dispatch] = useEffectReducer(someReducer, initialState, {

  doDelayedEffect: () => {

    const id = setTimeout(() => {

      // do some delayed side-effect

    }, 1000);



    // disposal function

    return () => {

      clearTimeout(id);

    };

  },

});

```



## Initial Effects



The 2nd argument to `useEffectReducer(state, initialState)` can either be a static `initialState` or a function that takes in an effect `exec` function and returns the `initialState`:



```js

const fetchReducer = (state, event) => {

  if (event.type === 'RESOLVE') {

    return {

      ...state,

      data: event.data,

    };

  }



  return state;

};



const getInitialState = exec => {

  exec({ type: 'fetchData', someQuery: '*' });



  return { data: null };

};



// (in the component)

const [state, dispatch] = useEffectReducer(fetchReducer, getInitialState, {

  fetchData(_, { someQuery }) {

    fetch(`/some/api?${someQuery}`)

      .then(res => res.json())

      .then(data => {

        dispatch({

          type: 'RESOLVE',

          data,

        });

      });

  },

});

```



## Effect Entities



The `exec(effect)` function returns an **effect entity**, which is a special object that represents the running effect. These objects can be stored directly in the reducer's state:



```js

const someReducer = (state, event, exec) => {

  // ...



  return {

    ...state,

    // state.someEffect is now an effect entity

    someEffect: exec(() => {

      /* ... */

    }),

  };

};

```



The advantage of having a reference to the effect (via the returned effect `entity`) is that you can explicitly [stop those effects](#effect-cleanup):



```js

const someReducer = (state, event, exec) => {

  // ...



  // Stop an effect entity

  exec.stop(state.someEffect);



  return {

    ...state,

    // state.someEffect is no longer needed

    someEffect: undefined,

  };

};

```



## Effect Cleanup



Instead of implicitly relying on arbitrary values in a dependency array changing to stop an effect (as you would with `useEffect`), effects can be explicitly stopped using `exec.stop(entity)`, where `entity` is the effect entity returned from initially calling `exec(effect)`:



```js

const timerReducer = (state, event, exec) => {

  if (event.type === 'START') {

    return {

      ...state,

      timer: exec(() => {

        const id = setTimeout(() => {

          // Do some delayed effect

        }, 1000);



        // Disposal function - will be called when

        // effect entity is stopped

        return () => {

          clearTimeout(id);

        };

      }),

    };

  } else if (event.type === 'STOP') {

    // Stop the effect entity

    exec.stop(state.timer);



    return state;

  }



  return state;

};

```



All running effect entities will automatically be stopped when the component unmounts.



## Replacing Effects



If you want to replace an effect with another (likely similar) effect, instead of calling `exec.stop(entity)` and calling `exec(effect)` to manually replace an effect, you can call `exec.replace(entity, effect)` as a shorthand:



```js

const doSomeDelay = () => {

  const id = setTimeout(() => {

    // do some delayed effect

  }, delay);



  return () => {

    clearTimeout(id);

  };

};



const timerReducer = (state, event, exec) => {

  if (event.type === 'START') {

    return {

      ...state,

      timer: exec(() => doSomeDelay()),

    };

  } else if (event.type === 'LAP') {

    // Replace the currently running effect represented by `state.timer`

    // with a new effect

    return {

      ...state,

      timer: exec.replace(state.timer, () => doSomeDelay()),

    };

  } else if (event.type === 'STOP') {

    // Stop the effect entity

    exec.stop(state.timer);



    return state;

  }



  return state;

};

```



## String Events



The events handled by the effect reducers are intended to be event objects with a `type` property; e.g., `{ type: 'FETCH', other: 'data' }`. For events without payload, you can dispatch the event type alone, which will be converted to an event object inside the effect reducer:



```js

// dispatched as `{ type: 'INC' }`

// and is the same as `dispatch({ type: 'INC' })`

dispatch('INC');

```



## API



### `useEffectReducer` hook



The `useEffectReducer` hook takes the same first 2 arguments as the built-in `useReducer` hook, and returns the current `state` returned from the effect reducer, as well as a `dispatch` function for sending events to the reducer.



```js

const SomeComponent = () => {

  const [state, dispatch] = useEffectReducer(someEffectReducer, initialState);



  // ...

};

```



The 2nd argument to `useEffectReducer(...)` can either be a static `initialState` or a function that takes in `exec` and returns an `initialState` (with executed initial effects). See [Initial Effects](#initial-effects) for more information.



```js

const SomeComponent = () => {

  const [state, dispatch] = useEffectReducer(

    someEffectReducer,

    exec => {

      exec({ type: 'someEffect' });

      return someInitialState;

    },

    {

      someEffect(state, effect) {

        // ...

      },

    }

  );



  // ...

};

```



Additionally, the `useEffectReducer` hook takes a 3rd argument, which is the implementation details for [named effects](#named-effects):



```js

const SomeComponent = () => {

  const [state, dispatch] = useEffectReducer(someEffectReducer, initialState, {

    log: (state, effect, dispatch) => {

      console.log(state);

    },

  });



  // ...

};

```



### `exec(effect)`



Used in an effect reducer, `exec(effect)` queues the `effect` for execution and returns an [effect entity](#effect-entities).



The `effect` can either be an effect object:



```js

// ...

const entity = exec({

  type: 'alert',

  message: 'hello',

});

```



Or it can be an inline effect implementation:



```js

// ...

const entity = exec(() => {

  alert('hello');

});

```



### `exec.stop(entity)`



Used in an effect reducer, `exec.stop(entity)` stops the effect represented by the `entity`. Returns `void`.



```js

// Queues the effect entity for disposal

exec.stop(someEntity);

```



## `exec.replace(entity, effect)`



Used in an effect reducer, `exec.replace(entity, effect)` does two things:



1. Queues the `entity` for disposal (same as calling `exec.stop(entity)`)

2. Returns a new [effect entity](#effect-entities) that represents the `effect` that replaces the previous `entity`.



## TypeScript



The effect reducer can be specified as an `EffectReducer`, where the generic types are:



- The `state` type returned from the reducer

- The `event` object type that can be dispatched to the reducer

- The `effect` object type that can be executed



```ts

import { useEffectReducer, EffectReducer } from 'use-effect-reducer';



interface User {

  name: string;

}



type FetchState =

  | {

      status: 'idle';

      user: undefined;

    }

  | {

      status: 'fetching';

      user: User | undefined;

    }

  | {

      status: 'fulfilled';

      user: User;

    };



type FetchEvent =

  | {

      type: 'FETCH';

      user: string;

    }

  | {

      type: 'RESOLVE';

      data: User;

    };



type FetchEffect = {

  type: 'fetchFromAPI';

  user: string;

};



const fetchEffectReducer: EffectReducer = (

  state,

  event,

  exec

) => {

  switch (event.type) {

    case 'FETCH':

    // State, event, and effect types will be inferred!



    // Also you should probably switch on

    // `state.status` first ;-)



    // ...



    default:

      return state;

  }

};

```