What benefits do "async actions" of redux bring? - asynchronous

Redux documentation says that to do async calls—which would typically involve an action indicating the start of the async call, and a later action indicating its completion—I should use the "thunk" middleware. This allows me to write "actions creators" like this:
function fetchPosts(reddit) {
return dispatch => {
dispatch(requestPosts(reddit))
return fetch(`http://www.reddit.com/r/${reddit}.json`)
.then(response => response.json())
.then(json => dispatch(receivePosts(reddit, json)))
}
}
(Here requestPosts and receivePosts are action creators.)
The thunk middleware allow me to dispatch the (function) output of fetchPosts, e.g.,
store.dispatch(fetchPosts('reactjs')).then(() =>
...
But why involve middleware at all? Why is this better than just writing my own fetchPost function using the global store, like this:
function fetchPosts(reddit) {
store.dispatch(requestPosts(reddit));
return fetch(`http://www.reddit.com/r/${reddit}.json`)
.then(response => response.json())
.then(json => store.dispatch(receivePosts(reddit, json)))
}
}
Obviously, I can't dispatch this function, but that doesn't seem terribly important. What am I missing?

Related

Calling a helper function requiring dispatch from thunk

I'm using Redux Toolkit, though I don't think that makes a difference.
I've set up a snackbar that reads from store.data.message, and I write the message by setting a value and then clearing the message after a timeout. This happens in a helper function, showMessage.
I call showMessage from my thunks:
export const showMessage = (dispatch: any, message: string) => {
dispatch(setMessage(message))
setTimeout(() => dispatch(clearMessage()), 3000)
}
export const fetchDataState = (): AppThunk => async dispatch => {
const state = await getSystemState()
showMessage(dispatch, 'Fetched system state.')
dispatch(getStateSucceeded(state))
}
I simply want to know if there is a way to write these without having to pass dispatch in every time I call showMessage.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine I can't write it like a thunk because redux-thunk is middleware that calls the thunks in its own way, and I'm not calling them that way.
Yes, you can write it as a thunk like this:
export const showMessage = (message: string) => (dispatch: AppDispatch) => {
dispatch(setMessage(message))
setTimeout(() => dispatch(clearMessage()), 3000)
}
// call it:
dispatch(showMessage("Hi!"))

A clean way for an action to fire multiple asynchronous actions with createAsyncThunk

We're delaying the rendering of our React-Redux web app until several asynchronous app initialization tasks in the Redux store have been completed.
Here's the code that sets up the store and then fires off the initialization action:
export const setupStoreAsync = () => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
const store = setupStore()
store
.dispatch(fetchAppInitialization())
.then(unwrapResult)
.then(_ => resolve(store))
.catch(e => reject(e.message))
})
}
The promise rejection is very important since it's used to render an error message for the user in case the app cannot be properly set up. This code is very nice to read and works wonderfully.
The issue is with the action creator:
export const fetchAppInitialization = createAsyncThunk(
'app/initialization',
(_, thunkApi) =>
new Promise((resolve, reject) =>
Promise.all([thunkApi.dispatch(fetchVersionInfo())]).then(results => {
results.map(result => result.action.error && reject(result.error))
})
)
)
This code works beautifully. If any of these actions fail, the promise is rejected and the user sees an error message. But it's ugly - It's not as pretty as our normal action creators:
export const fetchVersionInfo = createAction('system/versionInfo', _ => ({
payload: {
request: { url: `/system/versionInfo` },
},
}))
We will at some point fire more than one fetch request in fetchAppInitialization, so the Promise.all function is definitely required. We'd love to be able to use Redux-Toolkit's createAction syntax to fire multiple promisified actions in order to shorten this action creator, but I have no idea if that's even possible.
Note: I'm using redux-requests to handle my axios requests.
Is createAsyncThunk even required?
Since I wasn't using the fetchAppInitialization action for anything but this single use case, I've simply removed it and moved the logic straight into the setupStoreAsync function. This is a bit more compact. It's not optimal, since the results.map logic is still included, but at least we don't use createAsyncThunk any more.
export const setupStoreAsync = () => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
const store = setupStore()
new Promise((resolve, reject) =>
Promise.all([store.dispatch(fetchVersionInfo())]).then(results => {
results.map(result => result.action.error && reject(result.error))
resolve()
})
)
.then(_ => resolve(store))
.catch(e => reject(e.message))
})
}
Update: I was able to make the code even prettier by using async/await.
export const setupStoreAsync = async () => {
const store = setupStore()
const results = await Promise.all([store.dispatch(fetchVersionInfo())])
results.forEach(result => {
if (result.action.error) throw result.error
})
return store
}

redux-observable dispatch actions

I need to dispatch some actions in some order using redux-observable however, it takes just last action to dispatch. Please see example:
export const fetchClientsEpic = (action$, { dispatch }) =>
action$
.ofType(fetchClients)
.mapTo(fetchClientsPending(true))
.mergeMap(() => {
return ajax
.getJSON('some/get/clients/api')
.map((clients: IClient[]) => {
return fetchClientsSuccess(
map(clients, (client, index) => ({
key: index,
...client,
})),
);
});
});
fetchClientsSuccess is dispatched with clients but fetchClientsPending not, I totally do not get it why. I could use dispatch because I get it in params, but I feel it is not good solution(?). It should be done in the stream I guess. I am starting with RxJs and redux-observable. Is it possible to do?
Operators are chains of Observables where the input of one stream is the output of another. So when you use mapTo you're mapping one action to the other. But then your mergeMap maps that Pending action and maps it to that other inner Observable that does the ajax and such, effectively throwing the Pending action away. So think of RxJS as a series of pipes where data flows through (a stream)
While there is no silver bullet, in this particular case what you want to achieve can be done by using startWith at the end of your inner Observable
export const fetchClientsEpic = (action$, { dispatch }) =>
action$
.ofType(fetchClients)
.mergeMap(() => {
return ajax
.getJSON('some/get/clients/api')
.map((clients: IClient[]) => {
return fetchClientsSuccess(
map(clients, (client, index) => ({
key: index,
...client,
})),
);
})
.startWith(fetchClientsPending(true)); // <------- like so
});
This is in fact the same thing as using concat with of(action) first, just shorthand.
export const fetchClientsEpic = (action$, { dispatch }) =>
action$
.ofType(fetchClients)
.mergeMap(() => {
return Observable.concat(
Observable.of(fetchClientsPending(true)),
ajax
.getJSON('some/get/clients/api')
.map((clients: IClient[]) => {
return fetchClientsSuccess(
map(clients, (client, index) => ({
key: index,
...client,
})),
);
})
);
});
That said, I would recommend against synchronously dispatching another action to set the state that fetching is pending and instead rely on the original fetchClients action itself for the same effect. It should be assumed by your reducers that if such an action is seen, that some how the fetching still start regardless. This saves you the boilerplate and helps a bit on micro-perf since you don't need to run through the reducers, epics, and rerender twice.
There's no rules though, so if you feel strongly about this, go for it :)

Share actions between domains

Usually I use redux-saga, but currently I need redux-thunk. I'm using ducks for modular structure and now for example I have two ducks: auth and user with async actions below:
auth-duck.js
register(credentials) {
return dispatch => {
dispatch(actions.registerRequest());
return service.requestRegister(credentials)
.then((response) => {
dispatch(actions.registerSuccess(...));
// Here I need to dispatch some action from user-duck.js
})
.catch(() => dispatch(actions.registerError(...)))
}
}
user-duck.js
fetchUser() {
return dispatch => {...}
}
I really don't know how to not mess these two modules and dispatch fetchUser after successful register.
I could return register result (e.g. token or something else) to container from here it was dispatched and then using chaining dispatch fetchUser.
AuthContainer.js
_onSubmit() {
this.props.register().then(() => this.props.fetchUser);
}
But I don't know is it the best way to manage such operations with redux-thunk?
There is no rule thunks can only make one HTTP request. If you need to fetch the user after login, then fetch it.
const login = credentials => dispatch => {
fetchLogin(credentials).then(() => {
dispatch({ type: "LoginSuccess" })
return fetchUser()
}).then(() => {
dispatch({ type: "UserFetched" })
})
}
If you want to reuse the user fetch action, then dispatch a thunk from a thunk.
const fetchCurrentUser = login => dispatch => {
return fetchUser(login.userId).then(user => {
dispatch({ type: "UserLoad" })
return user
})
}
const login = credentials => dispatch => {
return fetchLogin(credentials).then(login => {
dispatch({ type: "LoginSuccess" })
return dispatch(fetchCurrentUser(login))
}
}
In one of my apps, I call 7 action thunks after successful login.
After a long search I found two options how to share the logic from separate domains.
The first one is to use mapDispatchToProps (Thanks #DonovanM), just like this:
function mapDispatchToProps(dispatch) {
return {
login: (credentials) => {
return dispatch(authActions.login(credentials)).then(
() => dispatch(userActions.fetchUser())
);
}
}
}
login function returns Promise thats why we can chain it to another one.
And the second possible option:
Use something like a "bridge" file in our case it is app-sagas.js
app-duck.js
import {actions as authActions} from './auth-duck.js';
import {actions as userActions} from './user-duck.js';
export function doLogin(credentials) {
return dispatch => {
return dispatch(authAction.login(credentials)).then(
() => dispatch(userActions.fetchUser())
);
}
}
In the second case we can place all logic into ducks and avoid spreading the logic within containers. But I guess it is possible to combine both methods.

Redux timeout thunk error "Actions must be plain objects"

I'm using redux-thunk and I also want to dispatch some actions with timeout. Because of some reasons (i want all timeouts in an object, i want to able to cancel them, doesnt really matter now) I want to have custom 'timeout middleware' and 'action enchancer'
enchancer just emits special type of action:
const addTimeoutToAction = (delay, action) => ({
type: 'TIMEOUT'
, delay
, action
})
middleware just catches it and should dispatch action after timeout ends
({dispatch, getState}) => next => action => {
if (action && action.type === 'TIMEOUT') {
setTimeout(() => {
dispatch(action.action);
}, action.delay)
}
next(action);
}
So my expectation is that dispatch function in the middleware will send action back to the middleware chain, where it will start to go through all again.
My example code works with plain action, however thunked action is not. please help me understand how to reroute delayed action back to middleware chain.
Example code:
http://codepen.io/Fen1kz/pen/zKadmL?editors=0010
You code should look like this
const action3 = () => (dispatch, getState) => {
dispatch({
type: 'action3'
});
}
Whenever you use thunk middleware, you MUST call dispatch to dispatch actions, you cannot return an object.
Here is the corrected codepen: http://codepen.io/anon/pen/pEKWRK?editors=0010
Hope this helps.

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