How should I parse this json object in react with lifecycle method? - json

Question

How should I parse this using lifecycle methods?
{"blocks":[{
"key":"33du7",
"text":"Hello there!",
"type":"unstyled",
"depth":0,
"inlineStyleRanges":[],
"entityRanges":[],
"data":{}}],
"entityMap":{}
}
I want to render the text in my component but I don't know why it throws undefined error. How should I call it?
This is my component:
class Blog extends Component{
constructor(props){
super(props);
this.blogContent = props.blogContent;
this.blogId = props.blogId;
this.handleRemoveBlog = this.handleRemoveBlog.bind(this);
this.state = {
blog__: '',
};
}
handleRemoveBlog(blogId){
this.props.removeBlog(blogId);
}
This is my lifecycle method , I would use this.setState but first of all it's giving undefined in console.
componentWillMount(){
this.state.blog__ = JSON.parse(this.blogContent);
console.log(this.state.blog__.text); // this gives undefined
}
This is the render part..
The data is coming from Firebase.
And {this.blogcontent} gives that json string that I previously mentioned.
render(props) {
return(
<div className = "blog header">
<p>{this.blog__.text}</p>
</div>
);
}
}
Blog.proptypes = {
blogContent: Proptypes.string
}

Answer 1

This would mostly depend on where you are getting this object from. If it is fetched over the network then the best place to pass it is in the componentDidMount. The reason for this is that the alternative lifecyle method (componentWillMount) does not guarantee a re-render of your component since it does not wait for async actions to finish execution before passing control down to your render method. Hence componentDidMount is best because as soon as new props are received or state is changed it will trigger a re-render. However, if this object is pulled from within the application then chances are, it will work just fine even if pulled within componentWillMount. This is because that operation would be much quicker, so much that control would be passed down to the render method with the new props. This is not guaranteed especially if you want to set state in the process (setting state is also async, so control might execute the rest of the code before all the required data is received).
In short, pass this to componentDidMount and in your render function, before accessing this prop, make sure that it exists. That is, instead of
render() {
return <div>{this.props.theObject.blocks[0].key}</div>
}
rather do:
render() {
return <div>{this.props.theObject && this.props.theObject.blocks[0].key}</div>
}
This is how you would do it (assuming you are getting the file over the network using axios)
componentDidMount() {
axios.get('url/to/the/file')
.then(fileData => this.setState({
data: fileData
});
}
render() {
// return whatever you want here and setting the inner html to what the state holds
}

Answer 2

You should not modify the state using
this.state.blog__ = JSON.parse(this.blogContent);
The proper way to do it is using the this.setState() method:
this.setState({blog__: JSON.parse(this.blogContent)})
Then, to ensure that the component will be re-rendered, use the method shouldComponentUpdate():
shouldComponentUpdate(nextProps,nextState) {
if(nextState != this.state) {
this.forceUpdate()
}
}
Take a look at the State and Lifecycle docs.
Other point: Use componentDidMount() instead of componentWillMount(), because it will get deprecated in the future.
Atention: The setState() is an asynchronous method. So, it won't instant update your state.

Answer 3

Use this.setState({}) in your componentWillMount function instead assign the data to the variable. Also I recommend to use componentDidMount instead of componentWillMount because it's getting deprecated in the future.
componentDidMount(){
let text = JSON.parse( this.blogContent );
this.setState({blog__: text });
}
Edit: Only use setState in componentDidMount according to #brandNew comment