README.md

react-ref-compare

A simple utility for comparing refs in React.js with either refs or DOM Elements.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
• Getting Started
• Usage
  • 1. compareRef ( object1, object2 )
  • 2. stringify ( Object )

Features

• Compare DOM and Virtual DOM elements by comparing ref with ref or with DOM Element.
• Get a unique String representation of the DOM Element or ref Object.

Installation

npm i react-ref-compare

Getting Started

import compareRef, { stringify } from "react-ref-compare";

Usage

1. compareRef ( object1, object2 )

Use this method to compare two objects where each object is either a react ref or a DOM Element. This method returns boolean value.

Note: You cannot compare refs that are not of DOM or Virtual DOM elements

import compareRef, { stringify } from "react-ref-compare";
function CustomTextInput(props) {
  const ref1 = useRef(null);
  const ref2 = useRef(null);
  const ref3 = useRef(3);

  function handleClick(e) {
    //comparing ref with ref
    if (compareRef(ref1, ref2)) {
      //do something
    }

    //comparing ref with domElement
    const domElement = document.elementFromPoint(e.clientX, e.clientY);
    if (compareRef(ref1, domElement)) {
      //do something
    }

    //invalid usage
    compareRef(ref1, ref3);
  }

  return (
    <div>
      <input type="text" ref={ref1} />
      <input
        type="button"
        value="Focus the text input"
        ref={ref2}
        onClick={handleClick}
      />
    </div>
  );
}

2. stringify ( Object )

This method returns a String that can be used to identify a DOM / Virtual DOM element. This type of string can be seen when you log elements in console. This returns a string of the format

//dom element
<div id="container" class="container-fluid outer-box">Some content</div>;

//stringify output -> tagName#id.className
div#container.container-fluid outer-box;