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Add instructions and best practices to the README for dependent props
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tgolen authored Sep 14, 2023
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Expand Up @@ -137,6 +137,46 @@ export default withOnyx({

It is preferable to use the HOC over `Onyx.connect()` in React code as `withOnyx()` will delay the rendering of the wrapped component until all keys have been accessed and made available.

### Dependent Onyx Keys and withOnyx()
Some components need to subscribe to multiple Onyx keys at once and sometimes, one key might rely on the data from another key. This is similar to a JOIN in SQL.

Example: To get the policy of a report, the `policy` key depends on the `report` key.

```javascript
export default withOnyx({
report: {
key: ({reportID) => `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT}${reportID}`,
},
policy: {
key: ({report}) => `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.POLICY}${report.policyID}`,
},
})(App);
```

Background info:
- The `key` value can be a function that returns the key that Onyx subscribes to
- The first argument to the `key` function is the `props` from the component

**Detailed explanation of how this is handled and rendered:**
1. The component mounts with a `reportID={1234}` prop
2. `withOnyx` evaluates the mapping
3. `withOnyx` connects to the key `reports_1234` because of the prop passed to the component
3. `withOnyx` connects to the key `policices_undefined` because `report` doesn't exist in the props yet, so the `policyID` defaults to `undefined`. * (see note below)
4. Onyx reads the data and updates the state of `withOnyx` with:
- `report={{reportID: 1234, policyID: 1, ... the rest of the object ...}}`
- `policy={undefined}` (since there is no policy with ID `undefined`)
5. There is still an `undefined` key in the mapping, so Onyx reads the data again
6. This time `withOnyx` connects to the key `policies_1` because the `report` object exists in the component's state and it has a `policyID: 1`
7. Onyx reads the data and updates the state of withOnyx with:
- `policy={{policyID: 1, ... the rest of the object ...}`
8. Now all mappings have values that are defined (not undefined) and the component is rendered with all necessary data

* It is VERY important to NOT use empty string default values like `report.policyID || ''`. This results in the key returned to `withOnyx` as `policies_` which subscribes to the ENTIRE POLICY COLLECTION and is most assuredly not what you were intending. You can use a default of `0` (as long as you are reasonably sure that there is never a policyID=0). This allows Onyx to return `undefined` as the value of the policy key, which is handled by `withOnyx` appropriately.

DO NOT use more than one `withOnyx` component at a time. It adds overhead and prevents some optimizations like batched rendering from working to its full potential.

It's also beneficial to use a [selector](https://github.com/Expensify/react-native-onyx/blob/main/API.md#connectmapping--number) with the mapping in case you need to grab a single item in a collection (like a single report action).

## Collections

Collections allow keys with similar value types to be subscribed together by subscribing to the collection key. To define one, it must be included in the `ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION` object and it must be suffixed with an underscore. Member keys should use a unique identifier or index after the collection key prefix (e.g. `report_42`).
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