javascriptreactjsjavascript-objectsjavascriptmvcmapbox-gl-js

Access object from multiple React components


I have a MapboxMap React component that initialises and renders a Mapbox map (under the map const), and needs to render MapMarker components inside of it.

This is what MapboxMap looks like:

import React from 'react'
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
import MapMarker from './MapMarker'

const MapboxMap = React.createClass({

  componentDidMount(argument) {
    mapboxgl.accessToken = 'access_token'
    // This is what I want to access from inside of <MapMarker />
    const map = new mapboxgl.Map({
      container: ReactDOM.findDOMNode(this),
      style: 'mapbox://styles/mapbox/streets-v8',
      center: [-74.50, 40],
      zoom: 9
    })
  },

  render() {
    const errors = this.props.errors
    const photos = this.props.photos
    return (
      <div className='map'>
        {errors.length > 0 && errors.map((error, index) => (
          <pre key={index}>Error: {error}</pre>
        ))}
        {errors.length === 0 && photos.map(photo => (
          <MapMarker key={photo.id} photo={photo} />
        ))}
      </div>
    )
  }
})

module.exports = MapboxMap

This is what MapMarker looks like.

import React from 'react'
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
import MapboxMap from './MapboxMap'

const MapMarker = React.createClass({

  render() {
    const photo = this.props.photo
    console.log(photo)
    // I want to be able to access `map` inside of this component
    return (
      <div className='marker'></div>
    )
  }

})

module.exports = MapMarker

How can I structure my two components so that I can access map from both components, but specifically render the map inside of the MapboxMap component?


Solution

  • Create the map variable in some other Lifecycle method like componentWillMount() or componentWillReceiveProps() and assign the value of map to this.state via setState() method.

    eg:

    state = {map: {}}                           // defined a default state
    componentWillReceiveProps(nextProps){
      map =  new mapboxgl.Map({ //your code });
      this.setState({ map: map});
    }
    

    Now, pass this.state.map as props to child MapMarker. Inside your render() method in <MapboxMap/>,

    <MapMarker key={photo.id} photo={photo} map={this.state.map}/>
    

    Now inside <MapMarker/> component the map from your parent <MapboxMap/> component will be accessible as this.props.map.

    PS: Refer Component Specs and Lifecycle from React Docs for understanding where to use setState() method and where not.