How can I update deeply nested object inside array? - redux

Question

Hello good people of the stack!
I am working on a react-redux application and I am trying to update a property on a deeply nested structure in my reducer. The data structure is as follows and I want to update the text property:
state = {
assessment: {
requirements: [
questions: [
{
text
}
]
]
}
}
so I have tried the following:
// reducer code...
return {
...state,
[assessmentId]: {
...state[assessmentId],
requirements: [
...state[assessmentId].requirements,
[requirementId]: [
...state[assessmentId].requirements[requirementsId],
questions: [
...state[assessmentId].requirements[requirementsId].questions,
[questionId]: {
text: action.payload.response.text
},
],
] ,
],
},
};
This is more pseudo code than actual code to remove complexity.
I do not see any change in redux dev tools so I am wondering if I have made a mistake the way I get the nested objects and array elements.
I was also curious about using combine reducers here. I asked a colleague and they suggested to use that but I am unsure how you would take that approach here. As always, any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

I recommend immer for deep state changes in your reducers.
It adds a little weight to your bundle, and you'll get better performance from using the spread operator, but if you can live with that it'll make your code easier to read and write.
import produce from "immer";
// reducer code...
return produce(state, draft => {
draft[assessmentId].requirements[requirementsId].questions[questionsIndex].text = action.payload.response.text;
});
I'd say your issue stems from questions being an array which will take a little more work to keep straight than object based state.
As it is you appear to be trying to set the question value as if questions was an object. Maybe you just need to drop the [questionId] syntax, eg
questions: [
...state[assessmentId].requirements[requirementsId].questions,
{ text: action.payload.response.text },
],
This will set the text object as a new item on the end of the array though.
Depending on what you need to do (ie what already exists in the array and whether you are trying to add or update) you'll want to have a read of:
https://redux.js.org/recipes/structuring-reducers/immutable-update-patterns#inserting-and-removing-items-in-arrays
https://redux.js.org/recipes/structuring-reducers/immutable-update-patterns#updating-an-item-in-an-array