I want to implement an X icon inside Input ponent that will clear the input field. I can easily do it if I control the state. But is it actually possible with stateless ponent? I use react-semantic-ui, their stateful ponents have auto controlled state.

So I want to create an input that can be used like this:

//Controlled
class App extends React.Component {
  state = {
    value:''
  }

  onChange = (event, props) => {
    this.setState({value: props.value});
  }

  onClearInput = () => {
    this.setState({value: ''});
  }
  
  render() {
    return (
        <MyInput
          clearable
          value={this.state.value}
          onChange={this.onChange}
          onClearInput={this.onClearInput}
        />
      )
  }
}

I want to implement an X icon inside Input ponent that will clear the input field. I can easily do it if I control the state. But is it actually possible with stateless ponent? I use react-semantic-ui, their stateful ponents have auto controlled state.

So I want to create an input that can be used like this:

//Controlled
class App extends React.Component {
  state = {
    value:''
  }

  onChange = (event, props) => {
    this.setState({value: props.value});
  }

  onClearInput = () => {
    this.setState({value: ''});
  }
  
  render() {
    return (
        <MyInput
          clearable
          value={this.state.value}
          onChange={this.onChange}
          onClearInput={this.onClearInput}
        />
      )
  }
}

Or

// Uncontrolled
class App extends React.Component {
  onChange = (event, props) => {
    doSomething(props.value);
  }

  render() {
    return (
        <MyInput
          clearable
          onChange={this.onChange}
        />
      )
  }
}

In the second example, clearable feature will not work because we're not controlling the value.

MyInput can be implemented like this:

import React from 'react';
import { Input } from 'semantic-ui-react';
import ClearIcon from './ClearIcon';

function MyInput(props) {
  const prepareProps = {...props};
  if (props.clearable) {
    prepareProps.icon=<ClearIcon onClick={props.onClearInput} />;
    delete prepareProps.clearable;
  }
  delete prepareProps.onClearInput;
  return (
    <div className="my-input">
      <Input {...prepareProps} />
    </div>
  );
}
...etc.

My problems:

1. clearable feature must work in both controlled and uncontrolled manner.

2. clearable feature should not require a handler. It would be nice to just provide a prop and handle the render and behavior of the X button under the hood.

I don't see any way to make this work. Any ideas?

• javascript
• reactjs
• semantic-ui

• Why does it have to work on uncontrolled inputs? – trixn Commented Mar 26, 2018 at 12:44
• @trixn, why not? :-) I just want to create a versatile ponent without forcing people to use it in any specific way. So if you just put <MyInput clearable /> in your app you will have an input with X button that will just work out of the box. I don't think it's possible, but maybe I'm missing something. That's why I asked the question. – artemean Commented Mar 26, 2018 at 12:54
• Yeah but if you write the ponent that gets used by somebody else, why should they care if it internally uses a controlled or an uncontrolled input? I don't understand the problem. – trixn Commented Mar 26, 2018 at 12:56
• I agree with @trixn. You can use render props reactjs/docs/render-props.html, this will let the person using your ponent consume your controlled props into their own view or just control the input. The only other scenario I can see, is that the user of your ponent will have to pass you a ref to their input. – pkuzhel Commented Mar 26, 2018 at 13:16
• Right, people should not care what I do internally. But they should be able to use the ponent both controlled/uncontrolled way. The problem is that I cannot control value internally because then users won't be able to set their own value. On the other hand, if I don't control the value I cannot clear it. @pkuzhel I don't see how render prop can help me here. Can you explain, please? – artemean Commented Mar 26, 2018 at 13:38

2 Answers 2

Allowing the user of your ponent to set the value via props and still being able to clear the input can be easily achieved, e.g. like this:

class MyInput extends React.Component {
    constructor(props) {
        super(props);
        this.state = {value: props.value || ''};
    }

    handleChange = event => {
        const { onChange } = this.props;
        this.setState({ value: event.currentTarget.value });
        onChange && onChange(event);
    };

    handleClear = () => {
        const { onClearInput } = this.props;
        this.setState({ value: "" });
        onClearInput && onClearInput();
    };

    render() {
        const { value } = this.state;
        const { clearable, onChange, ...inputProps } = this.props;

        const clearIcon = clearable && <ClearIcon onClick={this.handleClear} />;

        return (
            <div className="my-input">
                <Input value={value} icon={clearIcon} onChange={this.handleChange} {...inputProps} />
            </div>
        );
    }
}

You could even make it more posable by using an hoc or render props as proposed by @pkuzhel.

Look at this codesandbox example to see it in action.

@Andrey

Would you try this below code? and let me know if that resolves your issue.

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import { Input, Button } from 'semantic-ui-react'

class App extends Component {
  clear = () => {
    console.log(this.inputRef.target.value);
    this.inputRef.target.value = '';
  }
  render() {
    return (
      <div className="App">
        <Input placeholder='Search...' onChange={(input) => {input.persist(); this.inputRef = input}} />
        <Button onClick={this.clear}>Clear</Button>
      </div>
    );
  }
}