What is react-error-overlay?
The react-error-overlay package is used to display an overlay in your React application during development that shows runtime errors, including stack traces. It is commonly included in development environments like Create React App to improve the developer experience by providing clear and immediate feedback on errors that occur during development.
What are react-error-overlay's main functionalities?
Displaying runtime errors in an overlay
This feature allows developers to display a full-screen overlay in their React application when a runtime error occurs. The overlay includes the error message, stack trace, and the file where the error occurred.
import { reportRuntimeError } from 'react-error-overlay';
reportRuntimeError(new Error('This is a runtime error'));
Customizing the overlay
Developers can customize the behavior of the overlay, such as setting a custom handler to open the source file in an editor when an error location is clicked.
import { setEditorHandler } from 'react-error-overlay';
setEditorHandler(function editorHandler(errorLocation) {
// Custom logic to open the source file in an editor
});
Dismissing the overlay
This feature allows developers to programmatically dismiss the error overlay, which can be useful for handling errors gracefully or when implementing custom error recovery logic.
import { dismissRuntimeErrors } from 'react-error-overlay';
dismissRuntimeErrors();
Other packages similar to react-error-overlay
redbox-react
Redbox-react is a package for displaying error messages in a red box overlay in React applications. It is similar to react-error-overlay but with a simpler and less intrusive UI. It does not provide stack traces by default.
error-overlay-webpack-plugin
This Webpack plugin provides an error overlay that is similar to react-error-overlay. It works with Webpack's dev server and shows compile-time errors. It does not handle runtime errors in the same way as react-error-overlay.
friendly-errors-webpack-plugin
While not providing an overlay, this Webpack plugin improves the developer experience by cleaning up Webpack error messages and presenting them in a more friendly and readable format. It's a different approach to error handling compared to react-error-overlay.