react-native-global-state-hooks v6.0.8

react-native-global-state-hooks 🌟

Hi There! Welcome to react-native-global-state-hooks your New State Management Solution for React Native Components 🚀

Are you looking for a solution to manage global state in your React Native components? Look no further!

react-native-global-state-hooks is your option for efficiently handling global state management in your React Native applications.

One line of code for a global state! try it out now on CODEPEN-react-global-state-hooks and witness the magic ✨.

For a deeper dive into how these hooks work, check out a comprehensive example at react-global-state-hooks-example 📘.

You can explore a TODO-LIST example using global state and asynchronous storage by heading to todo-list-with-global-hooks 📝.

For a more visual introduction, watch our informative video here! 🎥 and dive into the code on global-hooks-example 🧩.

The best part? react-hooks-global-states is compatible with both React and React Native. If you're building web applications, explore this react-global-state-hooks, and for your React Native projects, here you are at react-native-global-state-hooks. These specialized libraries extend the capabilities of react-hooks-global-states to perfectly fit your specific development environments. Discover the ease of global state management today! 🌐

Creating a global state

We are gonna create a global state hook useCount with one line of code.

import { createGlobalState } from "react-native-global-state-hooks";

export const useCount = createGlobalState(0);

That's it! Welcome to global hooks. Now, you can use this state wherever you need it in your application.

Let's see how to use it inside a simple component

const [count, setCount] = useCount();

return <Button onClick={() => setCount((count) => count + 1)}>{count}</Button>;

Isn't it cool? It works just like a regular useState. Notice the only difference is that now you don't need to provide the initial value since this is a global hook, and the initial value has already been provided.

Using async persist storage

Just add a key for the async storage

const useCountPersisted = createGlobalState(1, {
  asyncStorage: {
    key: "count",
  },
});

After this the metadata of the hooks will now include a flag which will help you to determinate if the async storage was already reached.

const [count, setCount, { isAsyncStorageReady }] = useCountPersisted();

If no key is provided, the default metadata is null. Otherwise, it's set to { isAsyncStorageReady: false }.

Upon the first successful retrieval from AsyncStorage, components will re-render with { isAsyncStorageReady: true } in the metadata. The metadata and components will be updated and re-rendered even if there's no difference between the value stored in AsyncStorage and the store's default value. This is the only instance where the metadata forces a re-render, after this the metadata will not update the component

Selectors

What if you already have a global state that you want to subscribe to, but you don't want your component to listen to all the changes of the state, only a small portion of it? Let's create a more complex state

import { createGlobalState } from "react-native-global-state-hooks";

export const useContacts = createGlobalState({
  isLoading: true,
  filter: "",
  items: [] as Contact[],
});

Now, let's say we want to have a filter bar for the contacts that will only have access to the filter.

FilterBar.tsx

const [{ filter }, setState] = useContacts(({ filter }) => ({ filter }));

return (
  <TextInput onChangeText={() => setState((state) => ({ ...state, filter }))} />
);

There you have it again, super simple! By adding a selector function, you are able to create a derivative hook that will only trigger when the result of the selector changes.

By the way, in the example, the selector returning a new object is not a problem at all. This is because, by default, there is a shallow comparison between the previous and current versions of the state, so the render won't trigger if it's not necessary.

What if you want to reuse the selector?

It will be super common to have the necessity of reusing a specific selector, and it can be a little annoying to have to do the same thing again and again. Right?

No problem, you can create a reusable derivative-state and use it across your components. Let's create one for our filter.

const useFilter = createDerivate(useContacts, ({ filter }) => ({ filter }));

Well, that's it! Now you can simply call useFilter inside your component, and everything will continue to work the same.

FilterBar.tsx

const [{ filter }, setState] = useFilter();

return (
  <TextInput onChangeText={() => setState((state) => ({ ...state, filter }))} />
);

Notice that the state changes, but the setter does not. This is because this is a DERIVATE state, and it cannot be directly changed. It will always be derived from the main hook.

State actions

Is common and often necessary to restrict the manipulation of state to a specific set of actions or operations. To achieve this, we can simplify the process by adding a custom API to the configuration of our useContacts.

By defining a custom API for the useContacts, we can encapsulate and expose only the necessary actions or operations that are allowed to modify the state. This provides a controlled interface for interacting with the state, ensuring that modifications stick to the desired restrictions.

import { createGlobalState } from "react-native-global-state-hooks";

const initialState = {
  isLoading: true,
  filter: "",
  items: [] as Contact[],
};

type State = typeof initialState;

export const useContacts = createGlobalState(initialState, {
  // this are the actions available for this state
  actions: {
    setFilter(filter: string) {
      return ({ setState }: StoreTools<State>) => {
        setState((state) => ({
          ...state,
          filter,
        }));
      };
    },
  } as const,
  onInit: async ({ setState }: StoreTools<State>) => {
    // fetch contacts
  },
});

That's it! In this updated version, the useContacts hook will no longer return state, stateSetter but instead will return state, actions. This change will provide a more intuitive and convenient way to access and interact with the state and its associated actions.

Let's see how that will look now into our FilterBar.tsx

const [{ filter }, { setFilter }] = useFilter();

return <TextInput onChangeText={setFilter} />;

Yeah, that's it! All the derived states and emitters (we will talk about this later) will inherit the new actions interface.

You can even derive from another derived state! Let's explore a few silly examples:

const useFilter = createDerivate(useContacts, ({ filter }) => ({ filter }));

const useFilterString = createDerivate(useFilter, { filter } => filter);

const useContacts = createDerivate(useContacts, ({ items }) => items);

const useContactsLength = createDerivate(useContacts, (items) => items.length);

const useIsContactsEmpty = createDerivate(useContactsLength, (length) => !length);

It can't get any simpler, right? Everything is connected, everything is reactive. Plus, these hooks are strongly typed, so if you're working with TypeScript, you'll absolutely love it.

Decoupled state access

If you need to access the global state outside of a component or a hook without subscribing to state changes, or even inside a ClassComponent, you can use the createGlobalStateWithDecoupledFuncs.

Decoupled state access is particularly useful when you want to create components that have editing access to a specific store but don't necessarily need to reactively respond to state changes.

Using decoupled state access allows you to retrieve the state when needed without establishing a reactive relationship with the state changes. This approach provides more flexibility and control over when and how components interact with the global state. Let's see and example:

import { createGlobalStateWithDecoupledFuncs } from "react-native-global-state-hooks";

export const [useContacts, contactsGetter, contactsSetter] =
  createGlobalStateWithDecoupledFuncs({
    isLoading: true,
    filter: "",
    items: [] as Contact[],
  });

That's great! With the addition of the contactsGetter and contactsSetter methods, you now have the ability to access and modify the state without the need for subscription to the hook.

While useContacts will allow your components to subscribe to the custom hook, using the contactsGetter method you will be able retrieve the current value of the state. This allows you to access the state whenever necessary, without being reactive to its changes. Let' see how:

// To synchronously get the value of the state
const value = contactsGetter();

// the type of value will be { isLoading: boolean; filter: string; items: Contact[] }

Additionally, to subscribe to state changes, you can pass a callback function as a parameter to the getter. This approach enables you to create a subscription group, allowing you to subscribe to either the entire state or a specific portion of it. When a callback function is provided to the getter, it will return a cleanup function instead of the state. This cleanup function can be used to unsubscribe or clean up the subscription when it is no longer needed.

/**
 * This not only allows you to retrieve the current value of the state...
 * but also enables you to subscribe to any changes in the state or a portion of it
 */
const removeSubscriptionGroup = contactsGetter<Subscribe>((subscribe) => {
  subscribe((state) => {
    console.log("state changed: ", state);
  });

  subscribe(
    (state) => state.isLoading,
    (isLoading) => {
      console.log("is loading changed", isLoading);
    }
  );
});

That's great, isn't it? everything stays synchronized with the original state!!

Emitters

So, we have seen that we can subscribe a callback to state changes, create derivative states from our global hooks, and derive hooks from those derivative states. Guess what? We can also create derivative emitters and subscribe callbacks to specific portions of the state. Let's review it:

const subscribeToFilter = createDerivateEmitter(
  contactsGetter,
  ({ filter }) => ({
    filter,
  })
);

Cool, it's basically the same, but instead of using the hook as a parameter, we just have to use the getter as a parameter, and that will make the magic.

Now we are able to add a callback that will be executed every time the state of the filter changes.

const removeFilterSubscription = subscribeToFilter<Subscribe>(({ filter }) => {
  console.log(`The filter value changed: ${filter}`);
});

By default, the callback will be executed once subscribed, using the current value of the state. If you want to avoid this initial call, you can pass an extra parameter to the subscribe function.

const removeFilterSubscription = subscribeToFilter<Subscribe>(
  ({ filter }) => {
    console.log(`The filter value changed: ${filter}`);
  },
  {
    skipFirst: true,
  }
);

Also, of course, if you have an exceptional case where you want to derivate directly from the current emitter, you can add a selector. This allows you to fine-tune the emitted values based on your requirements

const removeFilterSubscription = subscribeToFilter<Subscribe>(
  ({ filter }) => filter,
  /**
   *  Cause of the selector the filter now is an string
   */
  (filter) => {
    console.log(`The filter value changed: ${filter}`);
  },
  {
    skipFirst: true,
    /**
     * You can also override the default shallow comparison...
     * or disable it completely by setting the isEqual callback to null.
     */
    isEqual: (a, b) => a === b,
    // isEqual: null // this will avoid doing a shallow comparison
  }
);

And guess what again? You can also derive emitters from derived emitters without any trouble at all! It works basically the same. Let's see an example:

const subscribeToItems = createDerivateEmitter(
  contactsGetter,
  ({ items }) => items
);

const subscribeToItemsLength = createDerivateEmitter(
  subscribeToItems,
  (items) => items.length
);

The examples may seem a little silly, but they allow you to see the incredible things you can accomplish with these derivative states and emitters. They open up a world of possibilities!

Combining getters

What if you have two states and you want to combine them? You may have already guessed it right? ... you can create combined emitters and hooks from the hook getters.

By utilizing the approach of combining emitters and hooks, you can effectively merge multiple states and make them shareable. This allows for better organization and simplifies the management of the combined states. You don't need to refactor everything; you just need to combine the global state hooks you already have. Let's see a simple example:

Fist we are gonna create a couple of global state, is important to create them with the createGlobalStateWithDecoupledFuncs since we need the decoupled getter. (In case you are using an instance of GlobalStore or GlobalStoreAbstract you can just pick up the getters from the getHookDecoupled method)

const [useHook1, getter1, setter1] = createGlobalStateWithDecoupledFuncs({
  propA: 1,
  propB: 2,
});

const [, getter2] = createGlobalStateWithDecoupledFuncs({
  propC: 3,
  propD: 4,
});

Okay, cool, the first state as propA, propB while the second one has propC, propD, let's combine them:

const [useCombinedHook, getter, dispose] = combineAsyncGetters(
  {
    selector: ([state1, state2]) => ({
      ...state1,
      ...state2,
    }),
  },
  getter1,
  getter2
);

Well, that's it! Now you have access to a getter that will return the combined value of the two states. From this new getter, you can retrieve the value or subscribe to its changes. Let'see:

const value = getter(); // { propA, propB, propC, propD }

// subscribe to the new emitter
const unsubscribeGroup = getter<Subscribe>((subscribe) => {
  subscribe((state) => {
    console.log(subscribe); // full state
  });

  // Please note that if you add a selector,
  // the callback will only trigger if the result of the selector changes.
  subscribe(
    ({ propA, propD }) => ({ propA, propD }),
    (derivate) => {
      console.log(derivate); // { propA, propD }
    }
  );
});

Regarding the newly created hook, useCombinedHook, you can seamlessly utilize it across all your components, just like your other global state hooks. This enables a consistent and familiar approach for accessing and managing the combined state within your application.

const [combinedState] = useCombinedHook();

The main difference with combined hooks compared to individual global state hooks is the absence of metadata and actions. Instead, combined hooks provide a condensed representation of the underlying global states using simple React functionality. This streamlined approach ensures lightweight usage, making it easy to access and manage the combined state within your components.

Let's explore some additional examples.

Similar to your other global state hooks, combined hooks allow you to use selectors directly from consumer components. This capability eliminates the need to create an excessive number of reusable hooks if they are not truly necessary. By utilizing selectors, you can efficiently extract specific data from the combined state and utilize it within your components. This approach offers a more concise and focused way of accessing the required state values without the need for creating additional hooks unnecessarily.

const [fragment] = useCombinedHook(({ propA, propD }) => ({ propA, propD }));

Lastly, you have the flexibility to continue combining getters if desired. This means you can extend the functionality of combined hooks by adding more getters to merge additional states. By combining getters in this way, you can create a comprehensive and unified representation of the combined states within your application. This approach allows for modular and scalable state management, enabling you to efficiently handle complex state compositions.

Let's see an example:

const [useCombinedHook, combinedGetter1, dispose1] = combineAsyncGetters(
  {
    selector: ([state1, state2]) => ({
      ...state1,
      ...state2,
    }),
  },
  getter1,
  getter2
);

const [useHook3, getter3, setter3] = createGlobalStateWithDecoupledFuncs({
  propE: 1,
  propF: 2,
});

const [useIsLoading, isLoadingGetter, isLoadingSetter] =
  createGlobalStateWithDecoupledFuncs(false);

Once we created another peace of state, we can combine it with our other global hooks and emitters

const [useCombinedHook2, combinedGetter2, dispose2] = combineAsyncGetters(
  {
    selector: ([state1, state2, isLoading]) => ({
      ...state1,
      ...state2,
      isLoading,
    }),
  },
  combinedGetter1,
  getter3,
  isLoadingGetter
);

You have the freedom to combine as many global hooks as you wish. This means you can merge multiple states into a single cohesive unit by combining their respective hooks. This approach offers flexibility and scalability, allowing you to handle complex state compositions in a modular and efficient manner.

Quick note:

Please be aware that the third parameter is a dispose callback, which can be particularly useful in high-order functions when you want to release any resources associated with the hook. By invoking the dispose callback, the hook will no longer report any changes, ensuring that resources are properly cleaned up. This allows for efficient resource management and can be beneficial in scenarios where you need to handle resource cleanup or termination in a controlled manner.

Setter

Similarly, the contactsSetter method allows you to modify the state stored in useContacts. You can use this method to update the state with a new value or perform any necessary state mutations without the restrictions imposed by hooks.

These additional methods provide a more flexible and granular way to interact with the state managed by useContacts. You can retrieve and modify the state as needed, without establishing a subscription relationship or reactivity with the state changes.

Let's add more actions to the state and explore how to use one action from inside another.

Here's an example of adding multiple actions to the state and utilizing one action within another:

import { createGlobalState } from "react-native-global-state-hooks";

export const useCount = createGlobalState(0, {
  actions: {
    log: (currentValue: string) => {
      return ({ getState }: StoreTools<number>): void => {
        console.log(`Current Value: ${getState()}`);
      };
    },

    increase(value: number = 1) {
      return ({ getState, setState, actions }: StoreTools<number>) => {
        setState((count) => count + value);

        actions.log(message);
      };
    },

    decrease(value: number = 1) {
      return ({ getState, setState, actions }: StoreTools<number>) => {
        setState((count) => count - value);

        actions.log(message);
      };
    },
  } as const,
});

Notice that the StoreTools will contain a reference to the generated actions API. From there, you'll be able to access all actions from inside another one... the StoreTools is generic and allow your to set an interface for getting the typing on the actions.

If you don't want to create an extra type please use createGlobalStateWithDecoupledFuncs in that way you'll be able to use the decoupled actions which will have the correct typing. Let's take a quick look into that:

import { createGlobalStateWithDecoupledFuncs } from "react-native-global-state-hooks";

export const [useCount, getCount, $actions] =
  createGlobalStateWithDecoupledFuncs(0, {
    actions: {
      log: (currentValue: string) => {
        return ({ getState }: StoreTools<number>): void => {
          console.log(`Current Value: ${getState()}`);
        };
      },

      increase(value: number = 1) {
        return ({ getState, setState }: StoreTools<number>) => {
          setState((count) => count + value);

          $actions.log(message);
        };
      },
    } as const,
  });

In the example the hook will work the same and you'll have access to the correct typing.

Extending Global Hooks

[IMPORTANT!]: From version 6.0.0, you can continue creating your custom implementations or using your previous ones. However, now AsyncStorage is already integrated into the global hooks with @react-native-async-storage/async-storage. You simply need to add a key for the persistent storage, and that will do the trick.

// this is all you need fo using async storage
const useCountPersisted = createGlobalState(1, {
  asyncStorage: {
    key: "count",
  },
});

/**
 * Usage in your components:
 * [NOTE]: If no key is provided, the default metadata is null. Otherwise, it's set to { isAsyncStorageReady: false }.
 *
 * Upon the first successful retrieval from AsyncStorage, components will re-render with { isAsyncStorageReady: true } in the metadata.
 * The metadata and components will be updated and re-rendered even if there's no difference between the value stored in AsyncStorage and the store's default value. This is the only instance where the metadata forces a re-render, after this the metadata will not update the component
 */
const [count, setCount, { isAsyncStorageReady }] = useCountPersisted();

Now lets continue analizing how to create a custom GlobalStore!

Creating a global hook that connects to an asyncStorage is made incredibly easy with the createCustomGlobalState function.

This function returns a new global state builder wrapped with the desired custom implementation, allowing you to get creative! Le'ts see and example:

import { formatFromStore, formatToStore, createCustomGlobalState } = 'react-native-global-state-hooks'

// Optional configuration available for the consumers of the builder
type HookConfig = {
  asyncStorageKey?: string;
};

// This is the base metadata that all the stores created from the builder will have.
type BaseMetadata = {
  isAsyncStorageReady?: boolean;
};

export const createGlobalState = createCustomGlobalState<
  BaseMetadata,
  HookConfig
>({
  /**
   * This function executes immediately after the global state is created, before the invocations of the hook
   */
  onInitialize: async ({ setState, setMetadata }, config) => {
    setMetadata((metadata) => ({
      ...(metadata ?? {}),
      isAsyncStorageReady: null,
    }));

    const asyncStorageKey = config?.asyncStorageKey;
    if (!asyncStorageKey) return;

    const storedItem = (await asyncStorage.getItem(asyncStorageKey)) as string;

    // update the metadata, remember, metadata is not reactive
    setMetadata((metadata) => ({
      ...metadata,
      isAsyncStorageReady: true,
    }));

    if (storedItem === null) {
      return setState((state) => state, { forceUpdate: true });
    }

    const parsed = formatFromStore(storedItem, {
      jsonParse: true,
    });

    setState(parsed, { forceUpdate: true });
  },

  onChange: ({ getState }, config) => {
    if (!config?.asyncStorageKey) return;

    const state = getState();

    const formattedObject = formatToStore(state, {
      stringify: true,
    });

    asyncStorage.setItem(config.asyncStorageKey, formattedObject);
  },
});

It is important to use forceUpdate to force React to re-render our components and obtain the most recent state of the metadata. This is especially useful when working with primitive types, as it can be challenging to differentiate between a primitive value that originates from storage and one that does not.

It is worth mentioning that the onInitialize function will be executed only once per global state.

You can use to formatToStore, and formatFromStore to sanitize your data, These methods will help you transform objects into JSON strings and retrieve them back without losing any of the original data types. You will no longer encounter problems when stringifying Dates, Maps, Sets, and other complex data types. You could take a look in the API here: json-storage-formatter.

Let's see how to create a global state using our new builder:

const useTodos = createGlobalState(new Map<string, number>(), {
  config: {
    asyncStorageKey: "todos",
  },
});

That's correct! If you add an asyncStorageKey to the state configuration, the state will be synchronized with the asyncStorage

Let's see how to use this async storage hook into our components:

const [todos, setTodos, metadata] = useTodos();

return (<>
  {metadata.isAsyncStorageReady ? <TodoList todos={todos} /> : <Text>Loading...</Text>}
<>);

The metadata is not reactive information and can only be modified from inside the global state lifecycle methods.

Life cycle methods

There are some lifecycle methods available for use with global hooks, let's review them:

/**
* @description callback function called when the store is initialized
* @returns {void} result - void
* */
onInit?: ({
  /**
   * Set the metadata
   * @param {TMetadata} setter - The metadata or a function that will receive the metadata and return the new metadata
   * */
  setMetadata: MetadataSetter<TMetadata>;

  /**
   * Set the state
   * @param {TState} setter - The state or a function that will receive the state and return the new state
   * @param {{ forceUpdate?: boolean }} options - Options
   * */
  setState: StateSetter<TState>;

  /**
   * Get the state
   * @returns {TState} result - The state
   * */
  getState: () => TState;

  /**
   * Get the metadata
   * @returns {TMetadata} result - The metadata
   * */
  getMetadata: () => TMetadata;

  /**
   * Actions of the hook if configuration was provided
   */
  actions: TActions;
}: StateConfigCallbackParam<TState, TMetadata, TActions>) => void;

/**
* @description - callback function called every time the state is changed
*/
onStateChanged?: (parameters: StateChangesParam<TState, TMetadata, TActions>) => void;

/**
* callback function called every time a component is subscribed to the store
*/
onSubscribed?: (parameters: StateConfigCallbackParam<TState, TMetadata, TActions>) => void;

/**
* callback function called every time the state is about to change and it allows you to prevent the state change
*/
computePreventStateChange?: (parameters: StateChangesParam<TState, TMetadata, TActions>) => boolean;

You can pass this callbacks between on the second parameter of the builders like createGlobalState

const useData = createGlobalState(
  { value: 1 },
  {
    metadata: {
      someExtraInformation: "someExtraInformation",
    },
    // onSubscribed: (StateConfigCallbackParam) => {},
    // onInit // etc
    computePreventStateChange: ({ state, previousState }) => {
      const prevent = isEqual(state, previousState);

      return prevent;
    },
  }
);

Finally, if you have a very specific necessity but still want to use the global hooks, you can extend the GlobalStoreAbstract class. This will give you even more control over the state and the lifecycle of the global state.

Let's see an example again with the asyncStorage custom global hook but with the abstract class.

export class GlobalStore<
  TState,
  TMetadata extends {
    asyncStorageKey?: string;
    isAsyncStorageReady?: boolean;
  } | null = null,
  TStateSetter extends
    | ActionCollectionConfig<TState, TMetadata>
    | StateSetter<TState> = StateSetter<TState>
> extends GlobalStoreAbstract<TState, TMetadata, TStateSetter> {
  constructor(
    state: TState,
    config: GlobalStoreConfig<TState, TMetadata, TStateSetter> = {},
    actionsConfig: TStateSetter | null = null
  ) {
    super(state, config, actionsConfig);

    this.initialize();
  }

  protected onInitialize = async ({
    setState,
    setMetadata,
    getMetadata,
    getState,
  }: StateConfigCallbackParam<TState, TMetadata, TStateSetter>) => {
    setMetadata({
      ...(metadata ?? {}),
      isAsyncStorageReady: null,
    });

    const metadata = getMetadata();
    const asyncStorageKey = metadata?.asyncStorageKey;

    if (!asyncStorageKey) return;

    const storedItem = (await asyncStorage.getItem(asyncStorageKey)) as string;
    setMetadata({
      ...metadata,
      isAsyncStorageReady: true,
    });

    if (storedItem === null) {
      const state = getState();

      // force the re-render of the subscribed components even if the state is the same
      return setState(state, { forceUpdate: true });
    }

    const items = formatFromStore<TState>(storedItem, {
      jsonParse: true,
    });

    setState(items, { forceUpdate: true });
  };

  protected onChange = ({
    getMetadata,
    getState,
  }: StateChangesParam<TState, TMetadata, NonNullable<TStateSetter>>) => {
    const asyncStorageKey = getMetadata()?.asyncStorageKey;

    if (!asyncStorageKey) return;

    const state = getState();

    const formattedObject = formatToStore(state, {
      stringify: true,
    });

    asyncStorage.setItem(asyncStorageKey, formattedObject);
  };
}

Then, from an instance of the global store, you will be able to access the hooks.

const storage = new GlobalStore(0, {
  metadata: {
    asyncStorageKey: "counter",
    isAsyncStorageReady: false,
  },
});

const [getState, _, getMetadata] = storage.getHookDecoupled();
const useState = storage.getHook();

Note: The GlobalStore class is still available in the package in case you were already extending from it.

That's it for now!! hope you enjoy coding!!