component-playground
A component for rendering React Components and ES6 code with editable source and live preview
Demo
https://formidable.com/open-source/component-playground/
Installation
npm install component-playground
Set up
In the head of your html document, either add the css files from the demo or from a CDN like:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/codemirror/5.0.0/codemirror.min.css"/>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/codemirror/5.0.0/theme/monokai.min.css"/>
In your JSX, require the component and use it like this:
'use strict';
var React = require('react/addons');
var ReactDOM = require('react-dom');
var Playground = require('component-playground');
var Button = require('./components/button');
var componentExample = require("raw!./examples/component.example");
var Index = React.createClass({
render() {
return (
<div className="component-documentation">
<Playground codeText={componentExample} scope={{React: React, Button: Button}}/>
</div>
);
}
});
ReactDOM.render(<Index/>, document.getElementById('root'));
Props
codeText
React.PropTypes.string.isRequired
codeText
takes a string of JSX markup as its value. While you can just pass it a string, I find it is easier to make a separate file and use Webpack's raw loader to load in the raw source. In the example above I use the .example extension, and an examples folder to organize my samples.
An example file would look like:
<Button style={{background: '#3498db'}}>Hi</Button>
scope
React.PropTypes.object.isRequired
When evaluating the JSX, it needs to be provided a scope object. At the very least, React needs to be provided to the scope, if any custom tags aren't being used. See below:
<Playground codeText={componentExample} scope={{React: React}}/>
Any module/component that is used inside the playground needs to be added to the scope object. See /demo
for an example of how this works.
theme
React.PropTypes.string
String specifying which CodeMirror theme to initialize with. Defaults to 'monokai'.
collapsableCode
React.PropTypes.bool
Allows the user to collapse the code block.
<Playground collapsableCode={true} codeText={componentExample} scope={{React: React}}/>
initiallyExpanded
React.PropTypes.bool
Makes collapsable code block initially expanded.
<Playground
collapsableCode={true}
initiallyExpanded={true}
codeText={componentExample}
scope={{React: React}}/>
docClass
React.PropTypes.node
A component class that will be used to auto-generate docs based on that component's propTypes
. See propDescriptionMap
below for how to annotate the generate prop docs.
<Playground docClass={MyComponent} codeText={componentExample} scope={{React: React}}/>
propDescriptionMap
React.PropTypes.string
Annotation map for the docClass. The key is the prop to annotate, the value is the description of that prop.
<Playground
docClass={MyComponent}
propDescriptionMap={{
collapsableCode: "Allows the user to collapse the code block"
}}
codeText={componentExample}
scope={{React: React}}/>
es6Console
React.PropTypes.bool
Turns preview into a simple console for testing out ES6 code. Use console.log()
in the playground to generate output.
<Playground
es6Console={true}
codeText={es6Example} />
noRender
React.PropTypes.bool
Defaults to true. If set to false, allows you bypass the component-playground
's component wrapper and render method.
You can use this option to write higher order components directly in your example code and use your
own Render method.
NOTE: This option requires that the React.render
method be in your code
var ComponentExample = React.createClass({
render: function() {
return (
<p>Hi</p>
)
}
});
React.render(<ComponentExample/>, mountNode);
There are multiple options when it comes to live, editable React component environments. Formidable actually has two first class projects to help you out: component-playground
and react-live
. Let's briefly look at the libraries, use cases, and factors that might help in deciding which is right for you.
Here's a high-level decision tree:
- If you want fast and easy setup and integration, then
component-playground
may be the ticket! - If you want a smaller bundle, SSR, and more flexibility, then
react-live
is for you!
Here are the various factors at play:
- Build:
component-playground
uses babel-standalone
, react-live
uses bublé
. (Note: react-live
might make transpiler customizable in the future). - Bundle size:
component-playground
has a larger bundle, but uses a more familiar editor setup. react-live
is smaller, but more customized editor around prism
. - Ease vs. flexibility:
react-live
is more modular/customizable, while component-playground
is easier/faster to set up. - SSR:
component-playground
is not server-side renderable, react-live
is. - Extra features:
component-playground
supports raw evaluation and pretty-printed output out-of-the-box, while react-live
does not. - Error handling:
component-playground
might have more predictable error handling than react-live
in some cases (due to react-dom
, although this might change with React 16).