Unlock the Power of Inline Editable UI Components in React
As React client-side UI libraries continue to evolve, user interfaces are becoming increasingly complex. Today, we can create more exciting user experiences by experimenting with React inline editable UI components, such as editable tables, lists, and text fields.
Popular Products with Inline Editable UI
Before we dive into building our own inline editable UI components, let’s take a look at some popular products that have successfully implemented this feature:
- Asana: Known for its custom UI with inline editable tables and forms
- Jira: Offers custom inline editing functionality for fields
- Trello: Allows users to edit cards by simply clicking on them
- Airtable and Notion: Modern apps that utilize inline editable UI elements
- Google Sheets: Features an inline editable smart table UI for the web
React Inline Editable UI Component Libraries
There are several existing React component libraries that can help you achieve various inline editable UI elements. Some popular ones include:
- react-easy-edit: Allows for inline editing on HTML 5 input components
- Atlassian: Offers a design system with inline-edit functionality
- react-editext: Converts textarea elements into editable content
- react-contenteditable: Enables inline editing of HTML, not just text content
- React Table: A popular UI library for building tables and data grids with inline editable features
- Ag Grid: Another popular library for building data grids with inline editable functionality
How Inline Editable UI Works
So, how do these inline editable UI components work? It’s quite simple. They display a label initially, which transforms into a custom input element when clicked. The input element can be an input field, textarea, select component, date picker, or any other custom form component. When the user clicks Enter or Escape, the component returns to its initial state, displaying the label.
Building a Simple React Component for Inline Editable UI
Let’s create a simple React component for inline editable UI using Create React App and Tailwind CSS for styling. We’ll create an Editable component that takes a children prop, which can be an input or textarea element. The component will display the label if the isEditing state is false, and the input element if it’s true.
Solving Focus Issues and Glitches with Keydown Events
However, we’ll encounter a few problems when building our inline editable UI component. For instance, when we click on the label, it won’t auto-focus on the input element. We’ll need to use a reference to the input element and focus it when the edit state is set. Additionally, we’ll need to handle keydown events carefully, as the input element’s keys, including Enter, Escape, and Tab, will set the isEditing state to false.
Accessibility and Limitations of Inline Editable UI in React
When building inline editable UI components, we need to consider accessibility and limitations. For instance, we need to ensure that our component can be navigated using the Tab key, and that it’s accessible on mobile devices. We also need to account for showing errors and supporting mouse events, touch events, and mobile layouts.
When to Use React Inline Editable UI
So, when should you use React inline editable UI? It’s best suited for complex React applications where you have lots of content with edit options. By building both view and edit in a single place, you can maintain a single UI and reduce complexity.
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