Javascript – How to make React Portal work with React Hook

javascriptreact-hooksreactjs

I have this specific need to listen to a custom event in the browser and from there, I have a button that will open a popup window. I'm currently using React Portal to open this other window (PopupWindow), but when I use hooks inside it doesn't work – but works if I use classes. By working I mean, when the window opens, both shows the div below it but the one with hooks erases it when the data from the event refreshes. To test, leave the window open for at least 5 seconds.

I have an example in a CodeSandbox, but I'm also post here in case the website is down or something:

https://codesandbox.io/s/k20poxz2j7

The code below won't run because I don't know how to make react hooks work via react cdn but you can test it with the link above by now

const { useState, useEffect } = React;
function getRandom(min, max) {
  const first = Math.ceil(min)
  const last = Math.floor(max)
  return Math.floor(Math.random() * (last - first + 1)) + first
}
function replaceWithRandom(someData) {
  let newData = {}
  for (let d in someData) {
    newData[d] = getRandom(someData[d], someData[d] + 500)
  }
  return newData
}

const PopupWindowWithHooks = props => {
  const containerEl = document.createElement('div')
  let externalWindow = null

  useEffect(
    () => {
      externalWindow = window.open(
        '',
        '',
        `width=600,height=400,left=200,top=200`
      )

      externalWindow.document.body.appendChild(containerEl)
      externalWindow.addEventListener('beforeunload', () => {
        props.closePopupWindowWithHooks()
      })
      console.log('Created Popup Window')
      return function cleanup() {
        console.log('Cleaned up Popup Window')
        externalWindow.close()
        externalWindow = null
      }
    },
    // Only re-renders this component if the variable changes
    []
  )
  return ReactDOM.createPortal(props.children, containerEl)
}

class PopupWindow extends React.Component {
  containerEl = document.createElement('div')
  externalWindow = null
  componentDidMount() {
    this.externalWindow = window.open(
      '',
      '',
      `width=600,height=400,left=200,top=200`
    )
    this.externalWindow.document.body.appendChild(this.containerEl)
    this.externalWindow.addEventListener('beforeunload', () => {
      this.props.closePopupWindow()
    })
    console.log('Created Popup Window')
  }
  componentWillUnmount() {
    console.log('Cleaned up Popup Window')
    this.externalWindow.close()
  }
  render() {
    return ReactDOM.createPortal(
      this.props.children,
      this.containerEl
    )
  }
}

function App() {
  let data = {
    something: 600,
    other: 200
  }
  let [dataState, setDataState] = useState(data)
  useEffect(() => {
    let interval = setInterval(() => {
      setDataState(replaceWithRandom(dataState))
      const event = new CustomEvent('onOverlayDataUpdate', {
        detail: dataState
      })
      document.dispatchEvent(event)
    }, 5000)
    return function clear() {
      clearInterval(interval)
    }
  }, [])
  useEffect(
    function getData() {
      document.addEventListener('onOverlayDataUpdate', e => {
        setDataState(e.detail)
      })
      return function cleanup() {
        document.removeEventListener(
          'onOverlayDataUpdate',
          document
        )
      }
    },
    [dataState]
  )
  console.log(dataState)

  // State handling
  const [isPopupWindowOpen, setIsPopupWindowOpen] = useState(false)
  const [
    isPopupWindowWithHooksOpen,
    setIsPopupWindowWithHooksOpen
  ] = useState(false)
  const togglePopupWindow = () =>
    setIsPopupWindowOpen(!isPopupWindowOpen)
  const togglePopupWindowWithHooks = () =>
    setIsPopupWindowWithHooksOpen(!isPopupWindowWithHooksOpen)
  const closePopupWindow = () => setIsPopupWindowOpen(false)
  const closePopupWindowWithHooks = () =>
    setIsPopupWindowWithHooksOpen(false)

  // Side Effect
  useEffect(() =>
    window.addEventListener('beforeunload', () => {
      closePopupWindow()
      closePopupWindowWithHooks()
    })
  )
  return (
    <div>
      <button type="buton" onClick={togglePopupWindow}>
        Toggle Window
      </button>
      <button type="buton" onClick={togglePopupWindowWithHooks}>
        Toggle Window With Hooks
      </button>
      {isPopupWindowOpen && (
        <PopupWindow closePopupWindow={closePopupWindow}>
          <div>What is going on here?</div>
          <div>I should be here always!</div>
        </PopupWindow>
      )}
      {isPopupWindowWithHooksOpen && (
        <PopupWindowWithHooks
          closePopupWindowWithHooks={closePopupWindowWithHooks}
        >
          <div>What is going on here?</div>
          <div>I should be here always!</div>
        </PopupWindowWithHooks>
      )}
    </div>
  )
}

const rootElement = document.getElementById('root')
ReactDOM.render(<App />, rootElement)
<script crossorigin src="https://unpkg.com/react@16.7.0-alpha.2/umd/react.development.js"></script>
<script crossorigin src="https://unpkg.com/react-dom@16.7.0-alpha.2/umd/react-dom.development.js"></script>
<div id="root"></div>

Best Answer

Thought id chime in with a solution that has worked very well for me which creates a portal element dynamically, with optional className and element type via props and removes said element when the component unmounts:

export const Portal = ({
  children,
  className = 'root-portal',
  element = 'div',
}) => {
  const [container] = React.useState(() => {
    const el = document.createElement(element)
    el.classList.add(className)
    return el
  })

  React.useEffect(() => {
    document.body.appendChild(container)
    return () => {
      document.body.removeChild(container)
    }
  }, [])

  return ReactDOM.createPortal(children, container)
}
Related Topic