[javascript] react-router go back a page how do you configure history?

In react-router v4.x you can use history.goBack which is equivalent to history.go(-1).

App.js

import React from "react";
import { render } from "react-dom";
import { BrowserRouter as Router, Route, Link } from "react-router-dom";
import Home from "./Home";
import About from "./About";
import Contact from "./Contact";
import Back from "./Back";

const styles = {
  fontFamily: "sans-serif",
  textAlign: "left"
};

const App = () => (
  <div style={styles}>
    <Router>
      <div>
        <ul>
          <li><Link to="/">Home</Link></li>
          <li><Link to="/about">About</Link></li>
          <li><Link to="/contact">Contact</Link></li>
        </ul>

        <hr />

        <Route exact path="/" component={Home} />
        <Route path="/about" component={About} />
        <Route path="/contact" component={Contact} />

        <Back />{/* <----- This is component that will render Back button */}
      </div>
    </Router>
  </div>
);

render(<App />, document.getElementById("root"));

Back.js

import React from "react";
import { withRouter } from "react-router-dom";

const Back = ({ history }) => (
  <button onClick={history.goBack}>Back to previous page</button>
);

export default withRouter(Back);

Demo: https://codesandbox.io/s/ywmvp95wpj

Please remember that by using history your users can leave because history.goBack() can load a page that visitor has visited before opening your application.

To prevent such situation as described above, I've created a simple library react-router-last-location that watch your users last location.

Usage is very straight forward. First you need to install react-router-dom and react-router-last-location from npm.

npm install react-router-dom react-router-last-location --save

Then use LastLocationProvider as below:

App.js

import React from "react";
import { render } from "react-dom";
import { BrowserRouter as Router, Route, Link } from "react-router-dom";
import { LastLocationProvider } from "react-router-last-location";
//              ?
//              |
//              |
//
//       Import provider
//
import Home from "./Home";
import About from "./About";
import Contact from "./Contact";
import Back from "./Back";

const styles = {
  fontFamily: "sans-serif",
  textAlign: "left"
};

const App = () => (
  <div style={styles}>
    <h5>Click on About to see your last location</h5>
    <Router>
      <LastLocationProvider>{/* <---- Put provider inside <Router> */}
        <div>
          <ul>
            <li><Link to="/">Home</Link></li>
            <li><Link to="/about">About</Link></li>
            <li><Link to="/contact">Contact</Link></li>
          </ul>

          <hr />

          <Route exact path="/" component={Home} />
          <Route path="/about" component={About} />
          <Route path="/contact" component={Contact} />

          <Back />
        </div>
      </LastLocationProvider>
    </Router>
  </div>
);

render(<App />, document.getElementById("root"));

Back.js

import React from "react";
import { Link } from "react-router-dom";
import { withLastLocation } from "react-router-last-location";
//              ?
//              |
//              |
//
//    `withLastLocation` higher order component
//    will pass `lastLocation` to your component               
//
//                   |
//                   |
//                   ?
const Back = ({ lastLocation }) => (
  lastLocation && <Link to={lastLocation || '/'}>Back to previous page</Link>
);


//          Remember to wrap
//   your component before exporting
//
//                   |
//                   |
//                   ?
export default withLastLocation(Back);

Demo: https://codesandbox.io/s/727nqm99jj