[javascript] Toggle Class in React

I'm using react for a project where I have a menu button.

<a ref="btn" href="#" className="btn-menu show-on-small"><i></i></a>

And a Sidenav component like:

<Sidenav ref="menu" />

And I wrote the following code to toggle the menu:

class Header extends React.Component {

    constructor(props){
        super(props);
        this.toggleSidenav = this.toggleSidenav.bind(this);
    }

    render() {
        return (
          <div className="header">
            <i className="border hide-on-small-and-down"></i>
            <div className="container">
          <a ref="btn" href="#" className="btn-menu show-on-small"><i></i></a>
          <Menu className="menu hide-on-small-and-down"/>
          <Sidenav />
        </div>
          </div>
        )
    }

    toggleSidenav() {
        this.refs.btn.classList.toggle('btn-menu-open');
    }

    componentDidMount() {
        this.refs.btn.addEventListener('click', this.toggleSidenav);
    }

    componentWillUnmount() {
        this.refs.btn.removeEventListener('click', this.toggleSidenav);
    }
}

The thing is that this.refs.sidenav is not a DOM element and I cant add a class on him.

Can someone explain me how to toggle class on the Sidenav component like I do on my button?

This question is related to javascript reactjs

The answer is


You have to use the component's State to update component parameters such as Class Name if you want React to render your DOM correctly and efficiently.

UPDATE: I updated the example to toggle the Sidemenu on a button click. This is not necessary, but you can see how it would work. You might need to use "this.state" vs. "this.props" as I have shown. I'm used to working with Redux components.

constructor(props){
    super(props);
}

getInitialState(){
  return {"showHideSidenav":"hidden"};
}

render() {
    return (
        <div className="header">
            <i className="border hide-on-small-and-down"></i>
            <div className="container">
                <a ref="btn" onClick={this.toggleSidenav.bind(this)} href="#" className="btn-menu show-on-small"><i></i></a>
                <Menu className="menu hide-on-small-and-down"/>
                <Sidenav className={this.props.showHideSidenav}/>
            </div>
        </div>
    )
}

toggleSidenav() {
    var css = (this.props.showHideSidenav === "hidden") ? "show" : "hidden";
    this.setState({"showHideSidenav":css});
}

Now, when you toggle the state, the component will update and change the class name of the sidenav component. You can use CSS to show/hide the sidenav using the class names.

.hidden {
   display:none;
}
.show{
   display:block;
}

Toggle function in react

At first you should create constructor like this

constructor(props) {
        super(props);
        this.state = {
            close: true,
        };
    }

Then create a function like this

yourFunction = () => {
        this.setState({
            close: !this.state.close,
        });
    };

then use this like

render() {
        const {close} = this.state;
        return (

            <Fragment>

                 <div onClick={() => this.yourFunction()}></div>

                 <div className={close ? "isYourDefaultClass" : "isYourOnChangeClass"}></div>

            </Fragment>
        )
    }
}

Please give better solutions


Ori Drori's comment is correct, you aren't doing this the "React Way". In React, you should ideally not be changing classes and event handlers using the DOM. Do it in the render() method of your React components; in this case that would be the sideNav and your Header. A rough example of how this would be done in your code is as follows.

HEADER

class Header extends React.Component {
constructor(props){
    super(props);
}

render() {
    return (
        <div className="header">
            <i className="border hide-on-small-and-down"></i>
            <div className="container">
                <a ref="btn" href="#" className="btn-menu show-on-small"
                onClick=this.showNav><i></i></a>
                <Menu className="menu hide-on-small-and-down"/>
                <Sidenav ref="sideNav"/>
            </div>
        </div>
    )
}

showNav() {
  this.refs.sideNav.show();
}
}

SIDENAV

 class SideNav extends React.Component {
   constructor(props) {
     super(props);
     this.state = {
       open: false
     }
   }

   render() {
     if (this.state.open) {
       return ( 
         <div className = "sideNav">
            This is a sidenav 
         </div>
       )
     } else {
       return null;
     }

   }

   show() {
     this.setState({
       open: true
     })
   }
 }

You can see here that we are not toggling classes but using the state of the components to render the SideNav. This way, or similar is the whole premise of using react. If you are using bootstrap, there is a library which integrates bootstrap elements with the react way of doing things, allowing you to use the same elements but set state on them instead of directly manipulating the DOM. It can be found here - https://react-bootstrap.github.io/

Hope this helps, and enjoy using React!


refs is not a DOM element. In order to find a DOM element, you need to use findDOMNode menthod first.

Do, this

var node = ReactDOM.findDOMNode(this.refs.btn);
node.classList.toggle('btn-menu-open');

alternatively, you can use like this (almost actual code)

this.state.styleCondition = false;


<a ref="btn" href="#" className={styleCondition ? "btn-menu show-on-small" : ""}><i></i></a>

you can then change styleCondition based on your state change conditions.


For anybody reading this in 2019, after React 16.8 was released, take a look at the React Hooks. It really simplifies handling states in components. The docs are very well written with an example of exactly what you need.