input$sidebarItemExpanded does not work with convertMenuItem in R Shiny - r

Question

For convertMenuItem, see reference here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/48212169
When I try to get the name of expanded menuItem, it doesn't work. Here's a standalone example:
library(shiny)
library(shinydashboard)
convertMenuItem <- function(mi,tabName) {
mi$children[[1]]$attribs['data-toggle']="tab"
mi$children[[1]]$attribs['data-value'] = tabName
if(length(mi$attribs$class)>0 && mi$attribs$class=="treeview"){
mi$attribs$class=NULL
}
mi
}
ui <- dashboardPage(
dashboardHeader(),
dashboardSidebar(
sidebarMenu(
menuItem("Dashboard", tabName = "dashboard", icon = icon("dashboard")),
menuItem("Widgets", icon = icon("th"), tabName = "widgets"),
convertMenuItem(menuItem("Charts", tabName = "charts", icon = icon("bar-chart-o"), expandedName = "CHARTS",
menuSubItem("Sub-item 1", tabName = "subitem1"),
menuSubItem("Sub-item 2", tabName = "subitem2")
), "charts")
),
textOutput("res")
),
dashboardBody(
tabItems(
tabItem("dashboard", "Dashboard tab content"),
tabItem("widgets", "Widgets tab content"),
tabItem("subitem1", "Sub-item 1 tab content"),
tabItem("subitem2", "Sub-item 2 tab content")
)
)
)
server <- function(input, output, session) {
output$res <- renderText({
req(input$sidebarItemExpanded)
paste("Expanded menuItem:", input$sidebarItemExpanded)
print(input$sidebarItemExpanded)
})
}
shinyApp(ui, server)
Is there a way to further modify this function so that Expanded Item functionality is also supported?

Answer 1

The following is a workaround to avoid using convertMenuItem.
Instead of it I'm using a hidden menuItem which is displayed once the childful menuItem "Charts" is expanded.
This way input$sidebarItemExpanded works as expected.
library(shiny)
library(shinydashboard)
library(shinyjs)
ui <- dashboardPage(
dashboardHeader(),
dashboardSidebar(
sidebarMenu(
id = "sidebarID",
menuItem("Dashboard", tabName = "dashboard", icon = icon("dashboard")),
menuItem("Widgets", icon = icon("th"), tabName = "widgets"),
menuItem("Charts", tabName = "charts", icon = icon("bar-chart-o"), expandedName = "CHARTS",
menuSubItem("Sub-item 1", tabName = "subitem1"),
menuSubItem("Sub-item 2", tabName = "subitem2")
),
hidden(menuItem("hiddenCharts", tabName = "hiddenCharts"))
),
textOutput("res")
),
dashboardBody(
useShinyjs(),
tabItems(
tabItem("dashboard", "Dashboard tab content"),
tabItem("widgets", "Widgets tab content"),
tabItem("hiddenCharts", "Charts Tab"),
tabItem("subitem1", "Sub-item 1 tab content"),
tabItem("subitem2", "Sub-item 2 tab content")
)
)
)
server <- function(input, output, session) {
observeEvent(input$sidebarItemExpanded, {
if(input$sidebarItemExpanded == "CHARTS"){
updateTabItems(session, "sidebarID", selected = "hiddenCharts")
}
})
output$res <- renderText({
req(input$sidebarItemExpanded)
paste("Expanded menuItem:", input$sidebarItemExpanded)
print(input$sidebarItemExpanded)
})
}
shinyApp(ui, server)