React router Link not causing component to update within nested routes

Question

This is driving me crazy. When I try to use React Router\'s Link within a nested route, the link updates in the browser but the view isn\'t changing. Yet if I refresh the page t

Answer 1

componentWillReceiveProps is the answer to this one, but it's a little annoying. I wrote a BaseController "concept" which sets a state action on route changes EVEN though the route's component is the same. So imagine your routes look like this:

So then a BaseController would check the route update:

import React from "react";

/**
 * conceptual experiment
 * to adapt a controller/action sort of approach
 */
export default class BaseController extends React.Component {


    /**
     * setState function as a call back to be set from
     * every inheriting instance
     *
     * @param setStateCallback
     */
    init(setStateCallback) {
        this.setStateCall = setStateCallback
        this.setStateCall({action: this.getActionFromPath(this.props.location.pathname)})
    }

    componentWillReceiveProps(nextProps) {

        if (nextProps.location.pathname != this.props.location.pathname) {
            this.setStateCall({action: this.getActionFromPath(nextProps.location.pathname)})
        }
    }

    getActionFromPath(path) {

        let split = path.split('/')
        if(split.length == 3 && split[2].length > 0) {
            return split[2]
        } else {
            return 'index'
        }

    }

    render() {
        return null
    }

}

You can then inherit from that one:

import React from "react"; import BaseController from './BaseController'

export default class TestController extends BaseController {


    componentWillMount() {
        /**
         * convention is to call init to
         * pass the setState function
         */
        this.init(this.setState)
    }

    componentDidUpdate(){
        /**
         * state change due to route change
         */
        console.log(this.state)
    }


    getContent(){

        switch(this.state.action) {

            case 'index':
                return  Index action 
            case 'anything':
                return Anything action route
            case 'edit':
                return Edit action route
            default:
                return 404 I guess

        }

    }

    render() {

        return (

                    
Test page
                    

                        {this.getContent()}
                    
            
)
        }

}