component from react-router-dom misbehaves on cancelling navigation
Explanation of the problem
After migrating from version 3 to version 4.1.2 of the software, the expectation was that a particular bug caused by the setRouteLeaveHook
function would be resolved in the <Prompt />
component provided by react-router-dom
. The bug pertains to a specific use case of the <Prompt />
component, where a user on a form page refreshes the page, makes changes to some fields, and then clicks the back button. In this scenario, a confirmation alert is expected to appear, and if the user cancels the navigation, they should remain on the page. However, it has been observed that although the user stays on the page, the URL changes and no longer corresponds to the current form page.
Troubleshooting with the Lightrun Developer Observability Platform
Getting a sense of what’s actually happening inside a live application is a frustrating experience, one that relies mostly on querying and observing whatever logs were written during development.
Lightrun is a Developer Observability Platform, allowing developers to add telemetry to live applications in real-time, on-demand, and right from the IDE.
- Instantly add logs to, set metrics in, and take snapshots of live applications
- Insights delivered straight to your IDE or CLI
- Works where you do: dev, QA, staging, CI/CD, and production
Start for free today
Problem solution for <Prompt /> component from react-router-dom misbehaves on cancelling navigation
Problem: No routes matched warning is too noisy
One common problem with React Router is that the “No routes matched” warning can be too noisy, appearing frequently when navigating between routes. This can be particularly frustrating when using dynamic routes or when using subpaths.
Solution:
To solve this problem, you can add a switch
component to your router and set the exact
prop on each route. This will ensure that only one route is matched at a time, and the warning will only appear when no routes match. Here is an example of how you can use the exact
prop in your routes:
import { Switch, Route } from 'react-router-dom'
function App() {
return (
<Switch>
<Route exact path='/' component={Home} />
<Route exact path='/about' component={About} />
<Route exact path='/contact' component={Contact} />
</Switch>
)
}
Problem: Handling 404 errors
Another common problem with React Router is handling 404 errors when a user navigates to a non-existent route. By default, React Router does not provide a way to handle these errors, and the user will simply see a blank page or the “No routes matched” warning.
Solution:
You can handle 404 errors by using the switch
component and providing a catch-all route. By using the path='*'
you can match any route that has not been matched before. Here is an example of how you can use a catch-all route to handle 404 errors:
import { Switch, Route } from 'react-router-dom'
function App() {
return (
<Switch>
<Route exact path='/' component={Home} />
<Route exact path='/about' component={About} />
<Route exact path='/contact' component={Contact} />
<Route path='*' component={NotFound} />
</Switch>
)
}
Problem: Lazy loading routes
Another common problem with React Router is lazy loading routes. When an application has many routes, it can lead to slow load times and a large bundle size. Lazy loading routes can help to mitigate this issue by only loading the components that are needed for a particular route.
Solution:
You can use the React.lazy()
function to lazy load routes. It allows you to load a component lazily when a route is accessed. Here is an example of how you can use React.lazy()
to load a component lazily:
import { Switch, Route, Suspense } from 'react-router-dom'
const Home = React.lazy(() => import('./Home'))
const About = React.lazy(() => import('./About'))
const Contact = React.lazy(() => import('./Contact'))
function App() {
return (
<Suspense fallback={<div>Loading...</div>}>
<Switch>
<Route exact path='/' component={Home} />
<Route exact path='/about' component={About} />
<Route exact path='/contact' component={Contact} />
</Switch>
</Suspense>
)
}
A brief introduction to React Router
Remix Run React Router is a client-side routing library for React applications. It allows developers to declaratively map URL paths to components, allowing for intuitive navigation and dynamic updates to the user interface. The library utilizes the React Hooks API to manage the routing state within the application and provides a set of hooks for accessing and modifying that state, such as useParams
and useNavigate
.
Remix Run React Router also supports dynamic routing, where a portion of the URL path is treated as a variable and passed as a prop to the corresponding component. This allows for the creation of dynamic, parameterized routes that can be used to display different content based on the values in the URL. Additionally, the library provides a Link
component that can be used to navigate to different routes within the application, and a Redirect
component for redirecting users to a different route. All of these features make Remix Run React Router an excellent choice for building complex, feature-rich React applications with dynamic navigation.
Most popular use cases for React Router
- Client-side routing: Remix Run React Router can be used to declaratively map URL paths to React components, providing a seamless navigation experience for users and dynamic updates to the user interface. This allows developers to create complex, feature-rich React applications with intuitive navigation.
- Dynamic routing: Remix Run React Router supports dynamic routing, where a portion of the URL path is treated as a variable and passed as a prop to the corresponding component. This allows for the creation of dynamic, parameterized routes that can be used to display different content based on the values in the URL. This feature can be implemented using code block like
<Router>
<Route path="/users/:userId" component={UserProfile} />
</Router>
- Navigation and Redirection: Remix Run React Router provides a
Link
component that can be used to navigate to different routes within the application, and aRedirect
component for redirecting users to a different route. This makes it easy to build complex, feature-rich React applications with dynamic navigation.
<Link to="/about">About</Link>
<Redirect to="/login" />
These features make Remix Run React Router a powerful tool for building React applications with dynamic navigation and client-side routing.
It’s Really not that Complicated.
You can actually understand what’s going on inside your live applications.