@gechiui/data

Data

GeChiUI' data module serves as a hub to manage application state for both plugins and GeChiUI itself, providing tools to manage data within and between distinct modules. It is designed as a modular pattern for organizing and sharing data: simple enough to satisfy the needs of a small plugin, while scalable to serve the requirements of a complex single-page application.

The data module is built upon and shares many of the same core principles of Redux, but shouldn't be mistaken as merely Redux for GeChiUI, as it includes a few of its own distinguishing characteristics. As you read through this guide, you may find it useful to reference the Redux documentation — particularly its glossary — for more detail on core concepts.

Installation

Install the module

npm install @gechiui/data --save

This package assumes that your code will run in an ES2015+ environment. If you're using an environment that has limited or no support for such language features and APIs, you should include the polyfill shipped in @gechiui/babel-preset-default in your code.

Registering a Store

Use the register function to add your own store to the centralized data registry. This function accepts one argument – a store descriptor that can be created with createReduxStore factory function. createReduxStore accepts two arguments: a name to identify the module, and a configuration object with values describing how your state is represented, modified, and accessed. At a minimum, you must provide a reducer function describing the shape of your state and how it changes in response to actions dispatched to the store.

import apiFetch from '@gechiui/api-fetch';
import { createReduxStore, register } from '@gechiui/data';

const DEFAULT_STATE = {
	prices: {},
	discountPercent: 0,
};

const actions = {
	setPrice( item, price ) {
		return {
			type: 'SET_PRICE',
			item,
			price,
		};
	},

	startSale( discountPercent ) {
		return {
			type: 'START_SALE',
			discountPercent,
		};
	},

	fetchFromAPI( path ) {
		return {
			type: 'FETCH_FROM_API',
			path,
		};
	},
};

const store = createReduxStore( 'my-shop', {
	reducer( state = DEFAULT_STATE, action ) {
		switch ( action.type ) {
			case 'SET_PRICE':
				return {
					...state,
					prices: {
						...state.prices,
						[ action.item ]: action.price,
					},
				};

			case 'START_SALE':
				return {
					...state,
					discountPercent: action.discountPercent,
				};
		}

		return state;
	},

	actions,

	selectors: {
		getPrice( state, item ) {
			const { prices, discountPercent } = state;
			const price = prices[ item ];

			return price * ( 1 - 0.01 * discountPercent );
		},
	},

	controls: {
		FETCH_FROM_API( action ) {
			return apiFetch( { path: action.path } );
		},
	},

	resolvers: {
		*getPrice( item ) {
			const path = '/gc/v2/prices/' + item;
			const price = yield actions.fetchFromAPI( path );
			return actions.setPrice( item, price );
		},
	},
} );

register( store );

The return value of createReduxStore is the StoreDescriptor object that contains two properties:

• name (string) – the name of the store
• instantiate (Function) - it returns a Redux-like store object with the following methods:
  • getState(): Returns the state value of the registered reducer
    • Redux parallel: getState
  • subscribe( listener: Function ): Registers a function called any time the value of state changes.
    • Redux parallel: subscribe
  • dispatch( action: Object ): Given an action object, calls the registered reducer and updates the state value.
    • Redux parallel: dispatch

Redux Store Options

reducer

A reducer is a function accepting the previous state and action as arguments and returns an updated state value.

actions

The actions object should describe all action creators available for your store. An action creator is a function that optionally accepts arguments and returns an action object to dispatch to the registered reducer. Dispatching actions is the primary mechanism for making changes to your state.

selectors

The selectors object includes a set of functions for accessing and deriving state values. A selector is a function which accepts state and optional arguments and returns some value from state. Calling selectors is the primary mechanism for retrieving data from your state, and serve as a useful abstraction over the raw data which is typically more susceptible to change and less readily usable as a normalized object.

resolvers

A resolver is a side-effect for a selector. If your selector result may need to be fulfilled from an external source, you can define a resolver such that the first time the selector is called, the fulfillment behavior is effected.

The resolvers option should be passed as an object where each key is the name of the selector to act upon, the value a function which receives the same arguments passed to the selector, excluding the state argument. It can then dispatch as necessary to fulfill the requirements of the selector, taking advantage of the fact that most data consumers will subscribe to subsequent state changes (by subscribe or withSelect).

controls

A control defines the execution flow behavior associated with a specific action type. This can be particularly useful in implementing asynchronous data flows for your store. By defining your action creator or resolvers as a generator which yields specific controlled action types, the execution will proceed as defined by the control handler.

The controls option should be passed as an object where each key is the name of the action type to act upon, the value a function which receives the original action object. It should returns either a promise which is to resolve when evaluation of the action should continue, or a value. The value or resolved promise value is assigned on the return value of the yield assignment. If the control handler returns undefined, the execution is not continued.

Refer to the documentation of @gechiui/redux-routine for more information.

initialState

An optional preloaded initial state for the store. You may use this to restore some serialized state value or a state generated server-side.

Generic Stores

The @gechiui/data module offers a more advanced and generic interface for the purposes of integrating other data systems and situations where more direct control over a data system is needed. In this case, a data store will need to be implemented outside of @gechiui/data and then plugged in via three functions:

• getSelectors(): Returns an object of selector functions, pre-mapped to the store.
• getActions(): Returns an object of action functions, pre-mapped to the store.
• subscribe( listener: Function ): Registers a function called any time the value of state changes.
  • Behaves as Redux subscribe with the following differences:
    • Doesn't have to implement an unsubscribe, since the registry never uses it. - Only has to support one listener (the registry).

By implementing the above interface for your custom store, you gain the benefits of using the registry and the withSelect and withDispatch higher order components in your application code. This provides seamless integration with existing and alternative data systems.

Integrating an existing redux store with its own reducers, store enhancers and middleware can be accomplished as follows:

Example:

import { mapValues } from 'lodash';
import { register } from '@gechiui/data';
import existingSelectors from './existing-app/selectors';
import existingActions from './existing-app/actions';
import createStore from './existing-app/store';

const reduxStore = createStore();

const boundSelectors = mapValues(
	existingSelectors,
	( selector ) => ( ...args ) => selector( reduxStore.getState(), ...args )
);

const boundActions = mapValues( existingActions, ( action ) => ( ...args ) =>
	reduxStore.dispatch( action( ...args ) )
);

const genericStore = {
	name: 'existing-app',
	instantiate: () => ( {
		getSelectors: () => boundSelectors,
		getActions: () => boundActions,
		subscribe: reduxStore.subscribe,
	} ),
};

register( genericStore );

It is also possible to implement a completely custom store from scratch:

Example:

import { register } from '@gechiui/data';

function customStore() {
	return {
		name: 'custom-data',
		instantiate: () => {
			const listeners = new Set();
			const prices = { hammer: 7.5 };

			function storeChanged() {
				for ( const listener of listeners ) {
					listener();
				}
			}

			function subscribe( listener ) {
				listeners.add( listener );
				return () => listeners.delete( listener );
			}

			const selectors = {
				getPrice( itemName ) {
					return prices[ itemName ];
				},
			};

			const actions = {
				setPrice( itemName, price ) {
					prices[ itemName ] = price;
					storeChanged();
				},
			};

			return {
				getSelectors: () => selectors,
				getActions: () => actions,
				subscribe,
			};
		},
	};
}

register( customStore );

Comparison with Redux

The data module shares many of the same core principles and API method naming of Redux. In fact, it is implemented atop Redux. Where it differs is in establishing a modularization pattern for creating separate but interdependent stores, and in codifying conventions such as selector functions as the primary entry point for data access.

The higher-order components were created to complement this distinction. The intention with splitting withSelect and withDispatch — where in React Redux they are combined under connect as mapStateToProps and mapDispatchToProps arguments — is to more accurately reflect that dispatch is not dependent upon a subscription to state changes, and to allow for state-derived values to be used in withDispatch (via higher-order component composition).

The data module also has built-in solutions for handling asynchronous side-effects, through resolvers and controls. These differ slightly from standard redux async solutions like redux-thunk or redux-saga.

Specific implementation differences from Redux and React Redux:

• In Redux, a subscribe listener is called on every dispatch, regardless of whether the value of state has changed.
  • In @gechiui/data, a subscriber is only called when state has changed.
• In React Redux, a mapStateToProps function must return an object.
  • In @gechiui/data, a withSelect mapping function can return undefined if it has no props to inject.
• In React Redux, the mapDispatchToProps argument can be defined as an object or a function.
  • In @gechiui/data, the withDispatch higher-order component creator must be passed a function.

API

AsyncModeProvider

Context Provider Component used to switch the data module component rerendering between Sync and Async modes.

Usage

import { useSelect, AsyncModeProvider } from '@gechiui/data';

function BlockCount() {
	const count = useSelect( ( select ) => {
		return select( 'core/block-editor' ).getBlockCount();
	}, [] );

	return count;
}

function App() {
	return (
		<AsyncModeProvider value={ true }>
			<BlockCount />
		</AsyncModeProvider>
	);
}

In this example, the BlockCount component is rerendered asynchronously. It means if a more critical task is being performed (like typing in an input), the rerendering is delayed until the browser becomes IDLE. It is possible to nest multiple levels of AsyncModeProvider to fine-tune the rendering behavior.

Parameters

• props.value boolean: Enable Async Mode.

Returns

• GCComponent: The component to be rendered.

combineReducers

The combineReducers helper function turns an object whose values are different reducing functions into a single reducing function you can pass to registerReducer.

Usage

import { combineReducers, createReduxStore, register } from '@gechiui/data';

const prices = ( state = {}, action ) => {
	return action.type === 'SET_PRICE'
		? {
				...state,
				[ action.item ]: action.price,
		  }
		: state;
};

const discountPercent = ( state = 0, action ) => {
	return action.type === 'START_SALE' ? action.discountPercent : state;
};

const store = createReduxStore( 'my-shop', {
	reducer: combineReducers( {
		prices,
		discountPercent,
	} ),
} );
register( store );

Parameters

• reducers Object: An object whose values correspond to different reducing functions that need to be combined into one.

Returns

• Function: A reducer that invokes every reducer inside the reducers object, and constructs a state object with the same shape.

controls

Undocumented declaration.

createReduxStore

Creates a data store descriptor for the provided Redux store configuration containing properties describing reducer, actions, selectors, controls and resolvers.

Usage

import { createReduxStore } from '@gechiui/data';

const store = createReduxStore( 'demo', {
	reducer: ( state = 'OK' ) => state,
	selectors: {
		getValue: ( state ) => state,
	},
} );

Parameters

• key string: Unique namespace identifier.
• options ReduxStoreConfig: Registered store options, with properties describing reducer, actions, selectors, and resolvers.

Returns

• StoreDescriptor: Store Object.

createRegistry

Creates a new store registry, given an optional object of initial store configurations.

Parameters

• storeConfigs Object: Initial store configurations.
• parent Object?: Parent registry.

Returns

• GCDataRegistry: Data registry.

createRegistryControl

Creates a control function that takes additional curried argument with the registry object. While a regular control has signature

( action ) => iteratorOrPromise;

where the control works with the action that it's bound to, a registry control has signature:

( registry ) => ( action ) => iteratorOrPromise;

A registry control is typically used to select data or dispatch an action to a registered store.

When registering a control created with createRegistryControl with a store, the store knows which calling convention to use when executing the control.

Parameters

• registryControl Function: Function receiving a registry object and returning a control.

Returns

• Function: Registry control that can be registered with a store.

createRegistrySelector

Creates a selector function that takes additional curried argument with the registry select function. While a regular selector has signature

( state, ...selectorArgs ) => result;

that allows to select data from the store's state, a registry selector has signature:

( select ) => ( state, ...selectorArgs ) => result;

that supports also selecting from other registered stores.

Usage

const getCurrentPostId = createRegistrySelector( ( select ) => ( state ) => {
	return select( 'core/editor' ).getCurrentPostId();
} );

const getPostEdits = createRegistrySelector( ( select ) => ( state ) => {
	// calling another registry selector just like any other function
	const postType = getCurrentPostType( state );
	const postId = getCurrentPostId( state );
	return select( 'core' ).getEntityRecordEdits(
		'postType',
		postType,
		postId
	);
} );

Note how the getCurrentPostId selector can be called just like any other function, (it works even inside a regular non-registry selector) and we don't need to pass the registry as argument. The registry binding happens automatically when registering the selector with a store.

Parameters

• registrySelector Function: Function receiving a registry select function and returning a state selector.

Returns

• Function: Registry selector that can be registered with a store.

dispatch

Given the name of a registered store, returns an object of the store's action creators. Calling an action creator will cause it to be dispatched, updating the state value accordingly.

Note: Action creators returned by the dispatch will return a promise when they are called.

Usage

import { dispatch } from '@gechiui/data';

dispatch( 'my-shop' ).setPrice( 'hammer', 9.75 );

Parameters

• storeNameOrDescriptor string|StoreDescriptor: Unique namespace identifier for the store or the store descriptor.

Returns

• Object: Object containing the action creators.

plugins

Object of available plugins to use with a registry.

Related

• use

Type

• Object

register

Registers a standard @gechiui/data store descriptor.

Usage

import { createReduxStore, register } from '@gechiui/data';

const store = createReduxStore( 'demo', {
	reducer: ( state = 'OK' ) => state,
	selectors: {
		getValue: ( state ) => state,
	},
} );
register( store );

Parameters

• store StoreDescriptor: Store descriptor.

registerGenericStore

Deprecated Use register( storeDescriptor ) instead.

Registers a generic store instance.

Parameters

• name string: Store registry name.
• store Object: Store instance ({ getSelectors, getActions, subscribe }).

registerStore

Deprecated Use register instead.

Registers a standard @gechiui/data store.

Parameters

• storeName string: Unique namespace identifier for the store.
• options Object: Store description (reducer, actions, selectors, resolvers).

Returns

• Object: Registered store object.

RegistryConsumer

A custom react Context consumer exposing the provided registry to children components. Used along with the RegistryProvider.

You can read more about the react context api here: https://reactjs.org/docs/context.html#contextprovider

Usage

import {
  RegistryProvider,
  RegistryConsumer,
  createRegistry
} from '@gechiui/data';

const registry = createRegistry( {} );

const App = ( { props } ) => {
  return <RegistryProvider value={ registry }>
    <div>Hello There</div>
    <RegistryConsumer>
      { ( registry ) => (
        <ComponentUsingRegistry
        		{ ...props }
        	  registry={ registry }
      ) }
    </RegistryConsumer>
  </RegistryProvider>
}

RegistryProvider

A custom Context provider for exposing the provided registry to children components via a consumer.

See RegistryConsumer documentation for example.

resolveSelect

Given the name of a registered store, returns an object containing the store's selectors pre-bound to state so that you only need to supply additional arguments, and modified so that they return promises that resolve to their eventual values, after any resolvers have ran.

Usage

import { resolveSelect } from '@gechiui/data';

resolveSelect( 'my-shop' ).getPrice( 'hammer' ).then( console.log );

Parameters

• storeNameOrDescriptor string|StoreDescriptor: Unique namespace identifier for the store or the store descriptor.

Returns

• Object: Object containing the store's promise-wrapped selectors.

select

Given the name or descriptor of a registered store, returns an object of the store's selectors. The selector functions are been pre-bound to pass the current state automatically. As a consumer, you need only pass arguments of the selector, if applicable.

Usage

import { select } from '@gechiui/data';

select( 'my-shop' ).getPrice( 'hammer' );

Parameters

• storeNameOrDescriptor string|StoreDescriptor: Unique namespace identifier for the store or the store descriptor.

Returns

• Object: Object containing the store's selectors.

subscribe

Given a listener function, the function will be called any time the state value of one of the registered stores has changed. This function returns a unsubscribe function used to stop the subscription.

Usage

import { subscribe } from '@gechiui/data';

const unsubscribe = subscribe( () => {
	// You could use this opportunity to test whether the derived result of a
	// selector has subsequently changed as the result of a state update.
} );

// Later, if necessary...
unsubscribe();

Parameters

• listener Function: Callback function.

use

Extends a registry to inherit functionality provided by a given plugin. A plugin is an object with properties aligning to that of a registry, merged to extend the default registry behavior.

Parameters

• plugin Object: Plugin object.

useDispatch

A custom react hook returning the current registry dispatch actions creators.

Note: The component using this hook must be within the context of a RegistryProvider.

Usage

This illustrates a pattern where you may need to retrieve dynamic data from the server via the useSelect hook to use in combination with the dispatch action.

import { useDispatch, useSelect } from '@gechiui/data';
import { useCallback } from '@gechiui/element';

function Button( { onClick, children } ) {
	return (
		<button type="button" onClick={ onClick }>
			{ children }
		</button>
	);
}

const SaleButton = ( { children } ) => {
	const { stockNumber } = useSelect(
		( select ) => select( 'my-shop' ).getStockNumber(),
		[]
	);
	const { startSale } = useDispatch( 'my-shop' );
	const onClick = useCallback( () => {
		const discountPercent = stockNumber > 50 ? 10 : 20;
		startSale( discountPercent );
	}, [ stockNumber ] );
	return <Button onClick={ onClick }>{ children }</Button>;
};

// Rendered somewhere in the application:
//
// <SaleButton>Start Sale!</SaleButton>

Parameters

• storeNameOrDescriptor [string|StoreDescriptor]: Optionally provide the name of the store or its descriptor from which to retrieve action creators. If not provided, the registry.dispatch function is returned instead.

Returns

• Function: A custom react hook.

useRegistry

A custom react hook exposing the registry context for use.

This exposes the registry value provided via the Registry Provider to a component implementing this hook.

It acts similarly to the useContext react hook.

Note: Generally speaking, useRegistry is a low level hook that in most cases won't be needed for implementation. Most interactions with the @gechiui/data API can be performed via the useSelect hook, or the withSelect and withDispatch higher order components.

Usage

import { RegistryProvider, createRegistry, useRegistry } from '@gechiui/data';

const registry = createRegistry( {} );

const SomeChildUsingRegistry = ( props ) => {
	const registry = useRegistry();
	// ...logic implementing the registry in other react hooks.
};

const ParentProvidingRegistry = ( props ) => {
	return (
		<RegistryProvider value={ registry }>
			<SomeChildUsingRegistry { ...props } />
		</RegistryProvider>
	);
};

Returns

• Function: A custom react hook exposing the registry context value.

useSelect

Custom react hook for retrieving props from registered selectors.

In general, this custom React hook follows the rules of hooks.

Usage

import { useSelect } from '@gechiui/data';

function HammerPriceDisplay( { currency } ) {
	const price = useSelect(
		( select ) => {
			return select( 'my-shop' ).getPrice( 'hammer', currency );
		},
		[ currency ]
	);
	return new Intl.NumberFormat( 'en-US', {
		style: 'currency',
		currency,
	} ).format( price );
}

// Rendered in the application:
// <HammerPriceDisplay currency="USD" />

In the above example, when HammerPriceDisplay is rendered into an application, the price will be retrieved from the store state using the mapSelect callback on useSelect. If the currency prop changes then any price in the state for that currency is retrieved. If the currency prop doesn't change and other props are passed in that do change, the price will not change because the dependency is just the currency.

When data is only used in an event callback, the data should not be retrieved on render, so it may be useful to get the selectors function instead.

Don't use useSelect this way when calling the selectors in the render function because your component won't re-render on a data change.

import { useSelect } from '@gechiui/data';

function Paste( { children } ) {
	const { getSettings } = useSelect( 'my-shop' );
	function onPaste() {
		// Do something with the settings.
		const settings = getSettings();
	}
	return <div onPaste={ onPaste }>{ children }</div>;
}

Parameters

• mapSelect Function|StoreDescriptor|string: Function called on every state change. The returned value is exposed to the component implementing this hook. The function receives the registry.select method on the first argument and the registry on the second argument. When a store key is passed, all selectors for the store will be returned. This is only meant for usage of these selectors in event callbacks, not for data needed to create the element tree.
• deps Array: If provided, this memoizes the mapSelect so the same mapSelect is invoked on every state change unless the dependencies change.

Returns

• Function: A custom react hook.

withDispatch

Higher-order component used to add dispatch props using registered action creators.

Usage

function Button( { onClick, children } ) {
	return (
		<button type="button" onClick={ onClick }>
			{ children }
		</button>
	);
}

import { withDispatch } from '@gechiui/data';

const SaleButton = withDispatch( ( dispatch, ownProps ) => {
	const { startSale } = dispatch( 'my-shop' );
	const { discountPercent } = ownProps;

	return {
		onClick() {
			startSale( discountPercent );
		},
	};
} )( Button );

// Rendered in the application:
//
// <SaleButton discountPercent="20">Start Sale!</SaleButton>

In the majority of cases, it will be sufficient to use only two first params passed to mapDispatchToProps as illustrated in the previous example. However, there might be some very advanced use cases where using the registry object might be used as a tool to optimize the performance of your component. Using select function from the registry might be useful when you need to fetch some dynamic data from the store at the time when the event is fired, but at the same time, you never use it to render your component. In such scenario, you can avoid using the withSelect higher order component to compute such prop, which might lead to unnecessary re-renders of your component caused by its frequent value change. Keep in mind, that mapDispatchToProps must return an object with functions only.

function Button( { onClick, children } ) {
	return (
		<button type="button" onClick={ onClick }>
			{ children }
		</button>
	);
}

import { withDispatch } from '@gechiui/data';

const SaleButton = withDispatch( ( dispatch, ownProps, { select } ) => {
	// Stock number changes frequently.
	const { getStockNumber } = select( 'my-shop' );
	const { startSale } = dispatch( 'my-shop' );
	return {
		onClick() {
			const discountPercent = getStockNumber() > 50 ? 10 : 20;
			startSale( discountPercent );
		},
	};
} )( Button );

// Rendered in the application:
//
//  <SaleButton>Start Sale!</SaleButton>

Note: It is important that the mapDispatchToProps function always returns an object with the same keys. For example, it should not contain conditions under which a different value would be returned.

Parameters

• mapDispatchToProps Function: A function of returning an object of prop names where value is a dispatch-bound action creator, or a function to be called with the component's props and returning an action creator.

Returns

• GCComponent: Enhanced component with merged dispatcher props.

withRegistry

Higher-order component which renders the original component with the current registry context passed as its registry prop.

Parameters

• OriginalComponent GCComponent: Original component.

Returns

• GCComponent: Enhanced component.

withSelect

Higher-order component used to inject state-derived props using registered selectors.

Usage

import { withSelect } from '@gechiui/data';

function PriceDisplay( { price, currency } ) {
	return new Intl.NumberFormat( 'en-US', {
		style: 'currency',
		currency,
	} ).format( price );
}

const HammerPriceDisplay = withSelect( ( select, ownProps ) => {
	const { getPrice } = select( 'my-shop' );
	const { currency } = ownProps;

	return {
		price: getPrice( 'hammer', currency ),
	};
} )( PriceDisplay );

// Rendered in the application:
//
//  <HammerPriceDisplay currency="USD" />

In the above example, when HammerPriceDisplay is rendered into an application, it will pass the price into the underlying PriceDisplay component and update automatically if the price of a hammer ever changes in the store.

Parameters

• mapSelectToProps Function: Function called on every state change, expected to return object of props to merge with the component's own props.

Returns

• GCComponent: Enhanced component with merged state data props.

batch

As a response of dispatch calls, GeChiUI data based applications updates the connected components (Components using useSelect or withSelect). This update happens in two steps:

• The selectors are called with the update state.
• If the selectors return values that are different than the previous (strict equality), the component rerenders.

As the application grows, this can become costful, so it's important to ensure that we avoid running both these if possible. One of these situations happen when an interaction requires multiple consisecutive dispatch calls in order to update the state properly. To avoid rerendering the components each time we call dispatch, we can wrap the sequential dispatch calls in batch which will ensure that the components only call selectors and rerender once at the end of the sequence.

Usage

import { useRegistry } from '@gechiui/data';

function Component() {
	const registry = useRegistry();

	function callback() {
		// This will only rerender the components once.
		registry.batch( () => {
			registry.dispatch( someStore ).someAction();
			registry.dispatch( someStore ).someOtherAction();
		} );
	}

	return <button onClick={ callback }>Click me</button>;
}

Going further

• What is GeChiUI Data?

Contributing to this package

This is an individual package that's part of the Gutenberg project. The project is organized as a monorepo. It's made up of multiple self-contained software packages, each with a specific purpose. The packages in this monorepo are published to npm and used by GeChiUI as well as other software projects.

To find out more about contributing to this package or Gutenberg as a whole, please read the project's main contributor guide.