Skip to main content

ReactJS to Manage the List of Categories

  • Updated

ReactJS to Manage the List of Categories

In this sample we will write a simplistic web page utilizing ReactJS to manage a list of items - the data source categories.

Prerequisites

  1. This sample is a continuation of ReactJS to manage a scalar value.
  2. This sample re-uses the folder structure created in ReactJS to manage a scalar value.
  3. The uncompressed, development version of react.js and react-dom.js has been put into “ui_react_examples/vendor” folder. (They are in the starter kit available at https://facebook.github.io/react/downloads.html)

Boilerplate code for an array

With these APIs, we will be managing an array of objects, so:

  • We model the data in this.state in an array called categoryArray.
  • We modify render method to display a list of items
  • We render a new Add button to insert a new category
  • We modify reflectChangedData method to update categoryArray with user input.

We also make one code improvement to pass the API server IP and port via the parameter rootUrl to the ReactJS component.

  1. In “ui_react_examples” folder, create a blank text file and name it “ReactJS to manage the list of categories.html”.
  2. Edit the file with a text editor such as Notepad or Notepad++ and paste the following boilerplate HTML code:
<!doctype html>
						<html>
						<head>
						<script src="vendor/jquery-1.12.2.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
						<script src="vendor/react.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
						<script src="vendor/react-dom.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
						<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/babel-core/5.8.24/browser.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
						</head>
						<body>
						<section id="app"></section>
						<script type="text/babel">
						var CategoryList = React.createClass({
						getInitialState: function() {
						return {
						categoryArray: new Array()
						};
						},
						componentDidMount: function() {
						this.fetchData();
						},
						render: function() {
						var lines = this.state.categoryArray.map(function(category) {
						return (
						<li key={category.id}>
						<input type="text" id={category.id} value={category.name} onChange={this.reflectChangedData.bind(this,category.id)} />&nbsp;
						<button onClick={this.removeCategory.bind(this,category.id)}>Remove</button>
						</li>
						)
						}.bind(this));
						return (
						<div style={{"border": "1px solid black", "width": "400px"}}>
						<button onClick={this.addCategory}>Add</button>
						<ul> {lines} </ul>
						<button onClick={this.pushData}>Save</button>
						</div>
						)
						},
						fetchData: function() {
						// TODO
						},
						reflectChangedData: function(id, event) {
						var categories = this.state.categoryArray;
						var pos = categories.map(function(x) {return x.id; }).indexOf(id);
						categories[pos].name = event.target.value;
						this.setState({categoryArray : categories});
						},
						pushData: function() {
						// TODO
						},
						addCategory: function(e) {
						// TODO
						},
						removeCategory: function(id, event) {
						// TODO
						}
						});
						ReactDOM.render(<CategoryList rootUrl={"http://127.0.0.1:8888/api/"} />, document.getElementById('app'));
						</script>
						</body>
						</html>

Note:

If using Notepad++, we can set the Language as JavaScript to see proper syntax highlighting.

  • We render the list of categories in an unordered list <ul> tag, with an <li> tag wrapping around the <input> tag for each category.
  • In onChange event of the input box, reflectChangedData is binded with category.id so that in the method we can know the change happended in which category and update that category only.
  • In reflectChangedData, data in this.state is immutable so that is why we could not assign this.state.categoryArray.name directly.

Since this is a list of items, apart from fetchData and pushData we need 2 more custom methods:

  • addCategory to add a new category
  • removeCategory to remove a category

Implement fetchData

From the API documentation GET advancedSetting/category/(tenant_id), the //TODO in fetchData would be replaced by this ajax call:

$.ajax({url:this.props.rootUrl+"advancedSetting/category/",type:"GET",contentType:"application/json",success:function(response){this.setState({categoryArray:response});}.bind(this),error:function(response){console.log(JSON.stringify(response));}})

Now open the page in web browser and we can see the list of existing categories.

Implement pushData

From the API documentation POST advancedSetting/category, the //TODO in pushData would be replaced by this ajax call:

$.ajax({url:this.props.rootUrl+"advancedSetting/category/",type:"POST",contentType:"application/json",data:JSON.stringify(this.state.categoryArray),success:function(response){if(!response.success){console.log(JSON.stringify(response))}this.fetchData();}.bind(this),error:function(response){console.log(JSON.stringify(response));this.fetchData();}})

Implement addCategory

e.preventDefault();varcategories=this.state.categoryArray;varnewId='xxxxxxxx-xxxx-4xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx'.replace(/[xy]/g,function(c){varr=Math.random()*16|0,v=c=='x'?r:(r&0x3|0x8);returnv.toString(16);});categories.push({id:newId,name:null});this.setState({categoryArray:categories});

The Add button only needs to modify categoryArray, then the changed data in this.state will trigger the render method. Also, the newly-added category has its name as null so that ReactJS will render a new blank editable input box.

Implement removeCategory

From the API documentation DELETE advancedSetting/category/{category_id}, the //TODO in pushData would be replaced by this ajax call:

$.ajax({url:this.props.rootUrl+"advancedSetting/category/"+id,type:"DELETE",contentType:"application/json",success:function(response){if(!response.success){console.log(JSON.stringify(response))}this.fetchData();}.bind(this),error:function(response){console.log(JSON.stringify(response));this.fetchData();}.bind(this)});

Summary

In this sample, we went through a ReactJS structure to manage a list of items.

Full source code in this sample:
<!doctype html>
							<html>
							<head>
							<script src="vendor/jquery-1.12.2.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
							<script src="vendor/react.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
							<script src="vendor/react-dom.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
							<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/babel-core/5.8.24/browser.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
							</head>
							<body>
							<section id="app"></section>
							<script type="text/babel">
							var CategoryList = React.createClass({
							getInitialState: function() {
							return {
							categoryArray: new Array()
							};
							},
							componentDidMount: function() {
							this.fetchData();
							},
							render: function() {
							var lines = this.state.categoryArray.map(function(category) {
							return (
							<li key={category.id}>
							<input type="text" id={category.id} value={category.name} onChange={this.reflectChangedData.bind(this,category.id)} />&nbsp;
							<button onClick={this.removeCategory.bind(this,category.id)}>Remove</button>
							</li>
							)
							}.bind(this));
							return (
							<div style={{"border": "1px solid black", "width": "400px"}}>
							<button onClick={this.addCategory}>Add</button>
							<ul> {lines} </ul>
							<button onClick={this.pushData}>Save</button>
							</div>
							)
							},
							fetchData: function() {
							$.ajax({
							url: this.props.rootUrl + "advancedSetting/category/",
							type: "GET",
							contentType: "application/json",
							success: function(response) {
							this.setState({
							categoryArray: response
							});
							}.bind(this),
							error: function(response) {
							console.log(JSON.stringify(response));
							}
							})
							},
							reflectChangedData: function(id, event) {
							var categories = this.state.categoryArray;
							var pos = categories.map(function(x) {return x.id; }).indexOf(id);
							categories[pos].name = event.target.value;
							this.setState({categoryArray : categories});
							},
							pushData: function() {
							$.ajax({
							url: this.props.rootUrl + "advancedSetting/category/",
							type: "POST",
							contentType: "application/json",
							data: JSON.stringify(this.state.categoryArray),
							success: function(response) {
							if (!response.success) {
							console.log(JSON.stringify(response))
							}
							this.fetchData();
							}.bind(this),
							error: function(response) {
							console.log(JSON.stringify(response));
							this.fetchData();
							}
							})
							},
							addCategory: function(e) {
							e.preventDefault();
							var categories = this.state.categoryArray;
							var newId = 'xxxxxxxx-xxxx-4xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx'.replace(/[xy]/g, function(c) {
							var r = Math.random()*16|0, v = c == 'x' ? r : (r&0x3|0x8);
							return v.toString(16);
							});
							categories.push({id: newId, name: null});
							this.setState({categoryArray : categories});
							},
							removeCategory: function(id, event) {
							$.ajax({
							url: this.props.rootUrl + "advancedSetting/category/" + id,
							type: "DELETE",
							contentType: "application/json",
							success: function(response) {
							if (!response.success) {
							console.log(JSON.stringify(response))
							}
							this.fetchData();
							}.bind(this),
							error: function(response) {
							console.log(JSON.stringify(response));
							this.fetchData();
							}.bind(this)
							});
							}
							});
							ReactDOM.render(<CategoryList rootUrl={"http://127.0.0.1:8888/api/"} />, document.getElementById('app'));
							</script>
							</body>
							</html>