Getting Started with React Hooks and React Data Grid in 5 minutes

Alan Richardson - Sep 27 '21 - - Dev Community

Getting Started with React Hooks and React Data Grid in 5 minutes

In previous blog posts we have shown how to use classes in React: get started in 5 minutes and customising react data grid, in this post we will cover Getting Started using Hooks and how to optimise components which use the React Data Grid.

Hooks let us use React features from functions so you won't see any classes in this Getting Started Guide.

Video Tutorial

Example Code

If you want to run the example from this blog post then you can find the repository on Github:

Then run the example in the getting-started-5-mins-hooks directory:

cd getting-started-5-mins-hooks
npm install
npm start
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Creating Project From Scratch

Since this is a getting started post I'll summarise the absolute basic steps to getting started, I assume you have npm installed.

  • use npx create-react-app to create the project 
npx create-react-app getting-started-5-mins-hooks
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • change directory into the project 
cd getting-started-5-mins-hooks
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • install AG Grid and the AG React Library 
npm install --save ag-grid-community ag-grid-react
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • then start the project running so we can view it in a browser 
npm start
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Create a Grid Component

Rather than add all the code into my App.js I'm going to create a component to render data using AG Grid. I'll use our basic cars data set so I'll amend my App.js to us a CarsGrid.

function App() {
  return (
    <CarsGrid />
  );
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

I'll write my CarsGrid in a carsgrid.js file and import it.

import {CarsGrid} from `./carsgrid`
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

carsgrid.js

The content of carsgrid.js is as basic as it gets.

I import the React and AG Grid features I will use:

import React, {useState} from 'react';
import {AgGridColumn, AgGridReact} from 'ag-grid-react';

import 'ag-grid-community/dist/styles/ag-grid.css';
import 'ag-grid-community/dist/styles/ag-theme-alpine.css';
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Then I will create the data that I will load into the grid. Initially I'll create this as a simple array and we'll consider alternatives later in the post.

const InitialRowData = [
    {make: "Toyota", model: "Celica", price: 35000},
    {make: "Ford", model: "Mondeo", price: 32000},
    {make: "Porsche", model: "Boxter", price: 72000}
];
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Finally I'll create a JavaScript function for my React Component which:

  • sets the data to render use state as rowData
  • returns the JSX that renders data using AG Grid. 
export function CarsGrid() {

    // set to default data
    const [rowData, setRowData] = useState(InitialRowData);

   return (
       <div className="ag-theme-alpine" style={{height: 400, width: 600}}>   
           <AgGridReact
                defaultColDef={{sortable: true, filter: true }}
                pagination={true}
                rowData={rowData}
                >
                <AgGridColumn field="make"></AgGridColumn>
                <AgGridColumn field="model"></AgGridColumn>
                <AgGridColumn field="price" editable={true}></AgGridColumn>
           </AgGridReact>
       </div>
   )
};
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

This gives me a very basic grid that will render the data.

Getting Started with React Hooks and React Data Grid in 5 minutes

Since AG Grid offers a lot of features out of the box, I'll enable some of those like:

  • in cell editing
  • sorting
  • filtering
  • pagination

In Cell Editing

To enable a cell as editable, I change the column definition to have an additional attribute: editable={true}

e.g.

<AgGridColumn field="price" editable={true}></AgGridColumn>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

This will make the price cells editable.

Sorting and Filtering

To make a column sortable or filterable I again add an attribute to the column e.g.

  • Sortable
    • <AgGridColumn field="make" sortable={true}></AgGridColumn>
  • Filterable
    • <AgGridColumn field="model" filter={true}></AgGridColumn>

I can control each column via individual attributes.

But I'd rather configure all the columns to be sortable and filterable at the same time, and I can do that by adding a default column definition on the grid itself.

   <AgGridReact
        defaultColDef={{sortable: true, filter: true }}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Getting Started with React Hooks and React Data Grid in 5 minutes

Data Grid Pagination

If I want to add pagination to the grid then I can enable this with a single attribute on the grid pagination={true}.

   <AgGridReact
        defaultColDef={{sortable: true, filter: true }}
        pagination={true}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

But, there is really no point in having a pagination, sorting and filtering on a grid with such a small amount of data.

As soon as I load data into the grid we can then see some of the benefits of using a React Data Grid like AG Grid.

  React.useEffect(() => {
        fetch('https://www.ag-grid.com/example-assets/row-data.json')
            .then(result => result.json())
            .then(rowData => setRowData(rowData))
    }, []);
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

By loading a lot of data into the grid we can see that:

  • the grid maintains is position on the page
  • pagination and rendering happens automatically
  • sorting and filtering are fast with no additional programming required

Getting Started with React Hooks and React Data Grid in 5 minutes

There is another feature that we get free with AG Grid.

If I amend the initial state to be unassigned, then AG Grid will display a loading... message while we load data into the grid from the server.

const [rowData, setRowData] = useState();
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Getting Started with React Hooks and React Data Grid in 5 minutes

Optimising React Data Grid for Hooks

At this point the blog post has covered most of the same ground as the class based getting started post.

We should learn a few ways to optimise the component:

  • make it easier to amend by using state and objects
  • reduce rendering cycles

Column Definitions as Objects

At the moment our grid has the column definitions defined declaratively:

    <AgGridColumn field="make"></AgGridColumn>
    <AgGridColumn field="model"></AgGridColumn>
    <AgGridColumn field="price" editable={true}></AgGridColumn>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

This reduces the flexibility available to me to customise the grid at run time.

If I want to adjust the column definitions then I would be better off setting them as objects via state.

    const [colDefs, setColDefs] = useState([
        {field: 'make'},
        {field: 'model'},
        {field: 'price', editable: 'true'},
    ]);
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

And amending my grid to use the state.

   <AgGridReact
        defaultColDef={{sortable: true, filter: true }}
        pagination={true}
        rowData={rowData}
        columnDefs={colDefs}>
   </AgGridReact>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

This way I can add or remove columns from the state, or adjust their attributes to make them editable or have custom rendering, and the component would automatically re-render to accomodate the changes to the state.

This way our complete intial functional component using hooks looks as follows:

import React, {useState} from 'react';
import {AgGridColumn, AgGridReact} from 'ag-grid-react';

import 'ag-grid-community/dist/styles/ag-grid.css';
import 'ag-grid-community/dist/styles/ag-theme-alpine.css';

export function CarsGrid() {

    const [rowData, setRowData] = useState();

    const [colDefs, setColDefs] = useState([
        {field: 'make'},
        {field: 'model'},
        {field: 'price', editable: 'true'},
    ]);

    React.useEffect(() => {
        fetch('https://www.ag-grid.com/example-assets/row-data.json')
            .then(result => result.json())
            .then(rowData => setRowData(rowData))
    }, []);

   return (
       <div className="ag-theme-alpine" style={{height: 400, width: 600}}>   
           <AgGridReact
                defaultColDef={{sortable: true, filter: true }}
                pagination={true}
                rowData={rowData}
                columnDefs={colDefs}
                >
           </AgGridReact>
       </div>
   )
};
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Reducing Rendering by Memoizing

If we didn't want to update the column definitions at run time, that doesn't mean we should go back to declarative definitions.

We still make the code easier to maintain longer term by using objects. But we should memoize them to make sure we don't unnecessarily add more render cycles than we need to.

The AG Grid React Data Grid is already well optmised for rendering, but in typical real world usage, we will wrap AG Grid in our own components for common styling and configuration.

I would memoize the colDefs as follows:

    const colDefs = useMemo( ()=> [
        {field: 'make'},
        {field: 'model'},
        {field: 'price', editable: 'true'},
    ], []);
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

The Column Definitions are constant and won't trigger a re-render should the parent component change.

Learn More React Data Grid

We have a longer Getting started guide in our documentation which also covers selection, grouping and changing themes.

We also have some React examples to study which show more use cases of AG Grid.

The code for this post is in the react-data-grid repo in the getting-started-5-mins-hooks folder.

Image
#Hacktoberfest2024##

hacktoberfestchallenge, programming, tutorial
Image
10 Essentials On Chaise Lounges You Didn't Learn In School
Image
16 Must-Follow Facebook Pages To Compensation For Asbestos-Related Businesses
Image
Do You Know How To Explain Electric Patio Space Heater To Your Mom
Image
Impostor Syndrome Doesn’t Define You, Dev

career, programming, discuss, community
Image
17 Signs You're Working With Chaise Sofa
Image
Protecting Routes in Next.js with Unkey: A Personal Experience

webdev, nextjs, unkey, productivity
Image
10 Facts About Bifold Door Repair That Make You Feel Instantly A Good Mood
Image
16 Must-Follow Facebook Pages For Car Key Fob Programming Near Me-Related Businesses
Image
How do you take the first steps in a daunting and complicated software project?

discuss
Image
10 Strategies To Build Your 2 Seater Chesterfield Couch Empire
Image
Login/cadastro com firebase + Vue JS #PASSO 3️⃣ (login)

javascript, vue, beginners, programming
Image
Login/cadastro com firebase + Vue JS #PASSO 2️⃣ (cadastro)

javascript, vue, beginners, programming
Image
Keep Your Phone Safe with a Waterproof Phone Pouch.
Image
Three valid ways to structure your simple to do list app (and one stupid one).

beginners, programming, react, webdev
Image
14 Common Misconceptions About Asbestos Settlement
Image
What Is Outdoor Heater For Patio Electric? How To Make Use Of It
Image
🎃 Crypto Trading Horror Stories: How Many Nightmares Have You Survived?
Image
How Mastering Async JavaScript Can Make You a Better Developer Fast

webdev, javascript, beginners, programming
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Terabox Video Player