react-custom-events

react-custom-events

Why

React way of handling events is to pass callbacks to child components. This becomes cumbersome when child is several levels deep.

One way to avoid passing callbacks deep is using Context

But context is not meant for all use cases and not so intuitive.

I prefer the web components way, as they are close to native html tags and most common way of handling events in them is CustomEvent.

This package is a react layer above CustomEvent

How to use

Installation

npm i react-custom-events

Emit Event

import { emitCustomEvent } from 'react-custom-events'

emitCustomEvent('my-event')

Attach data to event

emitCustomEvent('my-event', data)

Listen Event

import { useCustomEventListener } from 'react-custom-events'

its a custom hook, so can be used in function component only

useCustomEventListener('my-event', (data) => {
	doSomethingWithData(data)
})

If using state in listener handler, it's recommended to provide dependency list (same as second parameter of useEffect)

useCustomEventListener(
	'my-event',
	(data) => {
		doSomethingWithDataAndStates(data, state1, state2)
	},
	[state1, state2]
)

No need to remove event listener, it uses react's useEffect hook to remove listener on component unmount

And no need to worry about where component is present in dom, these events can be sent and listened to anywhere

Event Bubbling

If you want to listen events from child elements only (ignoring events from non-child elements), then need to attach listener and emitter to elements.

Emit Event in Child component

import { newCustomEventEmitter } from 'react-custom-events'

const ChildComponent = () => {
	const emitter = newCustomEventEmitter()

	const handler = () => {
		emitter.emit('my-event', data)
	}

	return (
		<button ref={emitter} onClick={handler}>
			Fire Event
		</button>
		// or <button ref={el => emitter(el)} />
	)
}

Listen Event in Parent Component

import { useCustomEventListener } from 'react-custom-events'

const ParentComponent = () => {
	const listener = useCustomEventListener('my-event', (data) => {
		doSomethingWithData(data)
	})

	return (
		<div ref={listener}>
			<ChildComponent />
		</div>
		// or <div ref={el => listener(el)} />
	)
}

This uses bubble feature of DOM Events, so make sure listener element is parent of emitter element in your DOM