[javascript] Storing an object in state of a React component?

this.setState({abc: {xyz: 'new value'}}); will NOT work, as state.abc will be entirely overwritten, not merged.

This works for me:

this.setState((previousState) => {
  previousState.abc.xyz = 'blurg';
  return previousState;
});

Unless I'm reading the docs wrong, Facebook recommends the above format. https://facebook.github.io/react/docs/component-api.html

Additionally, I guess the most direct way without mutating state is to directly copy by using the ES6 spread/rest operator:

const newState = { ...this.state.abc }; // deconstruct state.abc into a new object-- effectively making a copy
newState.xyz = 'blurg';
this.setState(newState);