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Creating a React Native app using Apollo Graphql v3
In this tutorial we will build a react-native shopping cart app using the version 3 of Apollo Graphql. This tutorial is based on these great three part series of articles focusing on Apollo v3 and a basic structure of projects using this technology stack.
Note: this tutorial assumes that you have a working knowledge of React-native, typescript and node.
The final source code of this tutorial can be obtained by acessing https://github.com/HarrisonHenri/rick-morty-react-native-shop.
Firstly, we create a brand new react-native app using react-native cli:
npx react-native init rickmortyshop --template react-native-template-typescript
and then, we remove the App.tsx file, add a new index.tsx file at src and modify the content of index.js to:
/**
* @format
*/
import { AppRegistry } from 'react-native';
import App from './src/index';
import { name as appName } from './app.json';
AppRegistry.registerComponent(appName, () => App);
Now we will Add the necessary packages from apollo:
yarn add graphql @apollo/client graphql-tag
The setup is very simillar to presented at https://dev.to/komyg/creating-an-app-using-react-and-apollo-graphql-1ine, so I'll describe this part very succinctly:
To create our connection between the client app and the Graphql server at src/common/config/apollo/http-link.ts we write:
import { HttpLink } from '@apollo/client/link/http';
export function createHttpLink() {
return new HttpLink({
uri: 'https://rickandmortyapi.com/graphql',
});
}
Now, to to handle errors at our requests at src/common/config/apollo/error-link.ts we write:
import { onError } from '@apollo/client/link/error';
export const errorLink = onError(({ graphQLErrors, networkError, response, operation }) => {
if (graphQLErrors) {
for (const error of graphQLErrors) {
console.error(
`[GraphQL error]: Message: ${error.message}, Location: ${error.locations}, Path: ${error.path}`,
operation,
response
);
}
}
if (networkError) {
console.error(`[Network error]: ${networkError}`, operation, response);
}
});
Here, different from https://dev.to/komyg/creating-an-app-using-react-and-apollo-graphql-1ine, we just write (at src/common/config/apollo/local-cache.ts):
import {InMemoryCache} from '@apollo/client';
export const localCache = new InMemoryCache();
That's why, we don't need to freezeResults
anymore because now this is the default behavior.
At src/common/apollo-client.ts we write:
import { ApolloClient, ApolloLink } from '@apollo/client';
import { errorLink } from './apollo/error-link';
import { createHttpLink } from './apollo/http-link';
import { localCache } from './apollo/local-cache';
export function createApolloClient() {
const httpLink = createHttpLink();
const apolloClient = new ApolloClient({
link: ApolloLink.from([errorLink, httpLink]),
connectToDevTools: process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production',
cache: localCache,
assumeImmutableResults: true,
});
return apolloClient;
}
Here we are putting everything together and creating our ApolloClient
object. Now at src/index.tsx
we write:
import React from 'react';
import { ApolloProvider } from '@apollo/client';
import { Text, View } from 'react-native';
import { createApolloClient } from './common/config/apollo-client';
const apolloClient = createApolloClient();
const App = () => {
return (
<ApolloProvider client={apolloClient}>
<View>
<Text>Hello</Text>
</View>
</ApolloProvider>
);
};
export default App;
in order to make the ApolloProvider available globally.
Now we will install and setup the graphql codegen,a tool that automatically generates typescript types based on the server schema. After installing, execute the cli using:
yarn graphql-codegen init
then, follow the steps bellow:
- Application built with React.
- Type the Rick and Morty Graphql api url: https://rickandmortyapi.com/graphql.
- Use the default value (
src/**/*.graphql
) for the fragment and operations. - Then pick the following plugins:
TypeScript
,TypeScript Operators
,TypeScript React Apollo
andIntrospection Fragment Matcher
. - Type the following value:
src/common/generated/graphql.tsx
. - Answer no when it asks if you want to generate an introspection file.
- Use the default value for the name of the config file.
- Type in
gen-graphql
when it asks the name of the script in the package.json that will be used to generate the graphql files.
and the yarn install
to install all necessary plugins.
First, we will create our first query to retrieve all characters from Rick and Morty cartoon. To achieve this, at src/common/graphql/queries/get-characters.query.graphql we paste:
query GetCharacters {
characters {
__typename
results {
id
__typename
name
image
species
origin {
id
__typename
name
}
location {
id
__typename
name
}
}
}
}
Then we run:
yarn gen-graphql
and if the command runs successfully, you should see that a graphql.tsx file was created. Now, at src/common/components/CharacterCard.tsx we paste the code bellow:
import React from 'react';
import { Image, StyleSheet, Text, View } from 'react-native';
interface Props {
data: {
image?: string | null;
name?: string | null;
};
}
const CharacterCard: React.FC<Props> = ({ data }) => {
return (
<View style={styles.container}>
{data.image && (
<Image source={{ uri: data.image }} style={styles.image} />
)}
<View style={styles.details}>
<Text style={styles.text}>{data.name}</Text>
</View>
</View>
);
};
export default CharacterCard;
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
container: {
width: '100%',
borderRadius: 20,
marginVertical: 8,
paddingHorizontal: 8,
paddingVertical: 24,
backgroundColor: '#F0F0F0',
flexDirection: 'row',
},
image: { width: 70, height: 70 },
details: {
marginLeft: 8,
justifyContent: 'space-between',
flex: 1,
},
text: {
fontSize: 16,
fontWeight: 'bold',
},
});
Now, at scr/screens/Home.tsx we write:
import React from 'react';
import { ActivityIndicator, FlatList, StyleSheet, View } from 'react-native';
import { Character, useGetCharactersQuery } from '../common/generated/graphql';
import CharacterCard from '../common/components/CharacterCard';
const Home = () => {
const { data, loading } = useGetCharactersQuery();
if (loading) {
return (
<View style={styles.container}>
<ActivityIndicator color="#32B768" size="large" />
</View>
);
}
return (
<View style={styles.container}>
<FlatList
data={data?.characters?.results}
renderItem={({ item }) => <CharacterCard data={item as Character} />}
contentContainerStyle={styles.characterList}
/>
</View>
);
};
export default Home;
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
container: {
flex: 1,
backgroundColor: '#FFFFFF',
},
characterList: {
padding: 16,
},
});
Here we are using the useGetCharactersQuery
hook provided by the graphql codegen. The hook provided useful fetch tools like the server response (data
) and the loading
state. Then, finally at src/index.tsx we write:
import React from 'react';
import { ApolloProvider } from '@apollo/client';
import { createApolloClient } from './common/config/apollo-client';
import Home from './screens/Home';
const apolloClient = createApolloClient();
const App = () => {
return (
<ApolloProvider client={apolloClient}>
<Home />
</ApolloProvider>
);
};
export default App;
If everything goes well, when you run yarn start
you will se your app cards with all Ricky Morty characters presented!
Now that we are retrieving the data from the remote server we can start to create the shopping cart logic. First we will write our local-shema at src/common/config/local-schema.graphql:
type Query {
shoppingCart: ShoppingCart!
}
extend type Character {
chosenQuantity: Int!
unitPrice: Int!
}
type ShoppingCart {
id: ID!
totalPrice: Int!
numActionFigures: Int!
}
And then, at src/common/graphql/fragments/character.fragment.graphql we write:
fragment characterData on Character {
id
__typename
name
unitPrice @client
chosenQuantity @client
}
Here we create this fragment to insert @client fields (fields that only exists at our local cache state) and also to use this fragment at our character query. So, in order to do this, we update the src/common/graphql/queries/get-characters.query.graphql pasting the code bellow:
query GetCharacters {
characters {
__typename
results {
...characterData
image
species
origin {
id
__typename
name
}
location {
id
__typename
name
}
}
}
}
Finally, we paste the code bellow at src/common/graphql/queries/shopping-cart.query.graphql to create our shopping cart query:
query GetShoppingCart {
shoppingCart @client {
id
totalPrice
numActionFigures
}
}
Now that we have our local queries, we will update our local cache at src/common/config/apollo/local-cache.ts:
import { gql, InMemoryCache } from '@apollo/client';
export const localCache = new InMemoryCache();
export const LocalCacheInitQuery = gql`
query LocalCacheInit {
shoppingCart
}
`;
export function initialLocalCache() {
localCache.writeQuery({
query: LocalCacheInitQuery,
data: {
shoppingCart: null,
},
});
}
Here we are initializating our shopping cart with a null value. After that, at src/common/config/apollo-client.ts we paste the code bellow to initializate our local cache:
import { ApolloClient, ApolloLink } from '@apollo/client';
import { errorLink } from './apollo/error-link';
import { createHttpLink } from './apollo/http-link';
import { initialLocalCache, localCache } from './apollo/local-cache';
export function createApolloClient() {
const httpLink = createHttpLink();
const apolloClient = new ApolloClient({
link: ApolloLink.from([errorLink, httpLink]),
connectToDevTools: process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production',
cache: localCache,
assumeImmutableResults: true,
});
return apolloClient;
}
initialLocalCache();
Now, instead of using resolvers (they are being deprecated in Apollo v3) we will use the fieldPolicies to initialize the local fields. Back to src/common/config/apollo/local-cache.ts we paste:
import { gql, InMemoryCache } from '@apollo/client';
export const localCache = new InMemoryCache({
typePolicies: {
Character: {
fields: {
chosenQuantity: {
read(chosenQuantity) {
if (chosenQuantity === undefined || chosenQuantity === null) {
return 0;
}
return chosenQuantity;
},
},
unitPrice: {
read(_, { readField }) {
const charName = readField('name');
switch (charName) {
case 'Albert Einstein':
return 25;
case 'Rick Sanchez':
case 'Morty Smith':
return 10;
default:
return 5;
}
},
},
},
},
},
});
export const LocalCacheInitQuery = gql`
query LocalCacheInit {
shoppingCart
}
`;
export function initialLocalCache() {
localCache.writeQuery({
query: LocalCacheInitQuery,
data: {
shoppingCart: null,
},
});
}
Let's dive in what are we doing here, piece by piece:
- We modify our InMemoryCache object, adding field policies to the Character type.
- At the chosenQuantity's field policy we add a read function based on the existing value of
chosenQuantity
field. If this field is notfalsy
we return its value, if not, return0
. Since this is a local field, the value obtained from the server is initially falsy. - At the unitPrice's field policy we add another read function based on the value of name field. To achieve this we use the
readField
function helper, passing the name of the field that we are interested. In this particular case, we are looking for change the character'sunitPrice
based on its ownname
.
Now, at codegen.yml we paste:
overwrite: true
schema: "https://rickandmortyapi.com/graphql"
documents: "src/**/*.graphql"
generates:
src/common/generated/graphql.tsx:
schema: "./src/common/config/local-schema.graphql"
plugins:
- "typescript"
- "typescript-operations"
- "typescript-react-apollo"
- "fragment-matcher"
src/common/generated/fragment-matcher.json:
schema: "./src/common/config/local-schema.graphql"
plugins:
- "fragment-matcher"
And finallly we can generate the typing again running:
yarn gen-graphql
After that, we install some dependencies that will be used now, and later on:
yarn add react-native-vector-icons @types/react-native-vector-icons @react-navigation/native react-native-gesture-handler react-native-reanimated react-native-screens react-native-safe-area-context @react-native-community/masked-view
and update the src/common/components/CharacterCard.tsx:
import React from 'react';
import { Image, StyleSheet, Text, View } from 'react-native';
import { RectButton } from 'react-native-gesture-handler';
import Icon from 'react-native-vector-icons/Entypo';
interface Props {
data: {
image?: string | null;
name?: string | null;
unitPrice?: number;
chosenQuantity?: number;
};
}
const CharacterCard: React.FC<Props> = ({ data }) => {
return (
<View style={styles.container}>
{data.image && (
<Image source={{ uri: data.image }} style={styles.image} />
)}
<View style={styles.details}>
<Text style={styles.text}>{data.name}</Text>
<Text style={styles.text}>{`U$ ${data.unitPrice}`}</Text>
</View>
<View style={styles.choseQuantityContainer}>
<RectButton>
<Icon name="minus" size={24} color="#3D7199" />
</RectButton>
<Text style={styles.choseQuantityText}>{data.chosenQuantity}</Text>
<RectButton>
<Icon name="plus" size={24} color="#3D7199" />
</RectButton>
</View>
</View>
);
};
export default CharacterCard;
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
container: {
width: '100%',
borderRadius: 20,
marginVertical: 8,
paddingHorizontal: 8,
paddingVertical: 24,
backgroundColor: '#F0F0F0',
flexDirection: 'row',
},
image: { width: 70, height: 70 },
details: {
marginLeft: 8,
justifyContent: 'space-between',
flex: 1,
},
text: {
fontSize: 16,
fontWeight: 'bold',
},
choseQuantityContainer: {
flex: 1,
alignItems: 'center',
justifyContent: 'space-between',
flexDirection: 'row',
},
choseQuantityText: {
padding: 8,
borderRadius: 8,
backgroundColor: '#fff',
fontSize: 16,
fontWeight: 'bold',
},
});
At this update we are presenting the new local fields unitPrice
, chosenQuantity
and the RectButton
to increase and decrease the quantities. Now we will build this logic to update the chosenQuantity
at src/common/hooks/use-update-chosen-quantity.ts:
import { useApolloClient } from '@apollo/client';
import { useCallback } from 'react';
import {
CharacterDataFragment,
CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
GetShoppingCartDocument,
GetShoppingCartQuery,
} from '../generated/graphql';
interface UpdateChosenQuantity {
(): {
onIncreaseChosenQuantity: (id: string) => void;
onDecreaseChosenQuantity: (id: string) => void;
};
}
export const useUpdateChosenQuantity: UpdateChosenQuantity = () => {
const client = useApolloClient();
const getCharacter = useCallback(
(id: string) =>
client.readFragment<CharacterDataFragment>({
fragment: CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
id: `Character:${id}`,
}),
[client],
);
const getShoppingCartParams = useCallback(() => {
const shoppingCart = client.readQuery<GetShoppingCartQuery>({
query: GetShoppingCartDocument,
})?.shoppingCart;
if (!shoppingCart) {
return {
id: 'ShoppingCart:1',
totalPrice: 0,
numActionFigures: 0,
};
}
return {
...shoppingCart,
};
}, [client]);
const increaseShoppingCart = useCallback(
(unitPrice: number) => {
let { id, totalPrice, numActionFigures } = getShoppingCartParams();
totalPrice = totalPrice + unitPrice;
numActionFigures = numActionFigures + 1;
client.writeQuery<GetShoppingCartQuery>({
query: GetShoppingCartDocument,
data: {
shoppingCart: {
id,
numActionFigures,
totalPrice,
},
},
});
},
[client, getShoppingCartParams],
);
const decreaseShoppingCart = useCallback(
(unitPrice: number) => {
let { id, totalPrice, numActionFigures } = getShoppingCartParams();
totalPrice = totalPrice - unitPrice;
numActionFigures = numActionFigures - 1;
if (totalPrice < 0) {
totalPrice = 0;
}
if (numActionFigures < 0) {
numActionFigures = 0;
}
client.writeQuery<GetShoppingCartQuery>({
query: GetShoppingCartDocument,
data: {
shoppingCart: {
id,
numActionFigures,
totalPrice,
},
},
});
},
[client, getShoppingCartParams],
);
const onIncreaseChosenQuantity = useCallback(
(id: string) => {
const character = getCharacter(id);
client.writeFragment<CharacterDataFragment>({
fragment: CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
id: `Character:${id}`,
data: {
...(character as CharacterDataFragment),
chosenQuantity: (character?.chosenQuantity ?? 0) + 1,
},
});
increaseShoppingCart(character?.unitPrice as number);
},
[client, getCharacter, increaseShoppingCart],
);
const onDecreaseChosenQuantity = useCallback(
(id: string) => {
const character = getCharacter(id);
let chosenQuantity = (character?.chosenQuantity ?? 0) - 1;
if (chosenQuantity < 0) {
chosenQuantity = 0;
}
client.writeFragment<CharacterDataFragment>({
fragment: CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
id: `Character:${id}`,
data: {
...(character as CharacterDataFragment),
chosenQuantity,
},
});
decreaseShoppingCart(character?.unitPrice as number);
},
[client, getCharacter, decreaseShoppingCart],
);
return {
onIncreaseChosenQuantity,
onDecreaseChosenQuantity,
};
};
Let's carve up what we are doing here:
- Firs't we import our types from the generated file.
- Then we create an interface to type our local api.
- Then we get the
useApolloClient()
hook. - After that we create a helper
getCharacter
to read our character fragment, passing the fragment doc and theid
of the fragment (usually the apollo saves the fragments in a normalized way, using thetypename:id
as a unique key). - After this we create the
getShoppingCartParams
to retrive theshoppingCart
data from the cache. If theshoppingCart
is null we return some default values. - On
increaseShoppingCart
we retrieve the data fromgetShoppingCartParams
and add theunitPrice
from the character being edited. The same happens to decreaseShoppingCart. - On
onIncreaseChosenQuantity
wegetCharacter
, update his chosenQuantity properly and passes itsunitPrice
to theincreaseShoppingCart
. The similar ocurs with the onDecreaseChosenQuantity. - Finally we expose this api.
At src/common/components/character-cart.tsx we write:
import React from 'react';
import { Image, StyleSheet, Text, View } from 'react-native';
import { RectButton } from 'react-native-gesture-handler';
import Icon from 'react-native-vector-icons/Entypo';
import { useUpdateChosenQuantity } from '../hooks/use-update-chosen-quantity';
interface Props {
data: {
id?: string | null;
image?: string | null;
name?: string | null;
unitPrice?: number;
chosenQuantity?: number;
};
}
const CharacterCard: React.FC<Props> = ({ data }) => {
const { onIncreaseChosenQuantity, onDecreaseChosenQuantity } =
useUpdateChosenQuantity();
return (
<View style={styles.container}>
{data.image && (
<Image source={{ uri: data.image }} style={styles.image} />
)}
<View style={styles.details}>
<Text style={styles.text}>{data.name}</Text>
<Text style={styles.text}>{`U$ ${data.unitPrice}`}</Text>
</View>
<View style={styles.choseQuantityContainer}>
<RectButton
onPress={onDecreaseChosenQuantity.bind(null, data.id as string)}>
<Icon name="minus" size={24} color="#3D7199" />
</RectButton>
<Text style={styles.choseQuantityText}>{data.chosenQuantity}</Text>
<RectButton
onPress={onIncreaseChosenQuantity.bind(null, data.id as string)}>
<Icon name="plus" size={24} color="#3D7199" />
</RectButton>
</View>
</View>
);
};
export default CharacterCard;
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
container: {
width: '100%',
borderRadius: 20,
marginVertical: 8,
paddingHorizontal: 8,
paddingVertical: 24,
backgroundColor: '#F0F0F0',
flexDirection: 'row',
},
image: { width: 70, height: 70 },
details: {
marginLeft: 8,
justifyContent: 'space-between',
flex: 1,
},
text: {
fontSize: 16,
fontWeight: 'bold',
},
choseQuantityContainer: {
flex: 1,
alignItems: 'center',
justifyContent: 'space-between',
flexDirection: 'row',
},
choseQuantityText: {
padding: 8,
borderRadius: 8,
backgroundColor: '#fff',
fontSize: 16,
fontWeight: 'bold',
},
});
Here we are just adding the onPress
event listener using our local api useUpdateChosenQuantity
.
Now that we have our shopping cart logic, we can build our cart screen (src/screens/Cart.tsx
):
import React, { useCallback } from 'react';
import { useNavigation } from '@react-navigation/native';
import { StyleSheet, Text, View, SafeAreaView, Button } from 'react-native';
import { useGetShoppingCartQuery } from '../common/generated/graphql';
const Cart = () => {
const navigation = useNavigation();
const { data } = useGetShoppingCartQuery();
const handleNavigation = useCallback(() => {
navigation.navigate('Home');
}, [navigation]);
return (
<SafeAreaView style={styles.container}>
{data?.shoppingCart?.numActionFigures ? (
<>
<View style={styles.content}>
<Text style={styles.emoji}>🤗</Text>
<Text
style={
styles.subtitle
}>{`Total number of items: ${data?.shoppingCart.numActionFigures}`}</Text>
<Text
style={
styles.subtitle
}>{`Total price: U$ ${data?.shoppingCart.totalPrice}`}</Text>
</View>
</>
) : (
<>
<View style={styles.content}>
<Text style={styles.emoji}>😢</Text>
<Text style={styles.title}>Empty cart!</Text>
<View style={styles.footer}>
<Button title="Go back to shop" onPress={handleNavigation} />
</View>
</View>
</>
)}
</SafeAreaView>
);
};
export default Cart;
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
container: {
flex: 1,
alignItems: 'center',
justifyContent: 'center',
},
content: {
flex: 1,
alignItems: 'center',
justifyContent: 'center',
width: '100%',
},
title: {
fontSize: 24,
marginTop: 15,
lineHeight: 32,
textAlign: 'center',
},
subtitle: {
fontSize: 16,
lineHeight: 32,
marginTop: 8,
textAlign: 'center',
paddingHorizontal: 20,
},
emoji: {
fontSize: 44,
textAlign: 'center',
},
footer: {
width: '100%',
paddingHorizontal: 20,
},
});
Here we are just adding our Cart view, using the shoppingCart
query to printing the info. Finally we install the react-native bottom tabs:
yarn add @react-navigation/bottom-tabs
At src/routes.tsx we write:
import React from 'react';
import { StyleSheet, Text, View } from 'react-native';
import { createBottomTabNavigator } from '@react-navigation/bottom-tabs';
import { useGetShoppingCartQuery } from './common/generated/graphql';
import MaterialIcons from 'react-native-vector-icons/MaterialIcons';
import Home from './screens/Home';
import Cart from './screens/Cart';
const TabRoutes = createBottomTabNavigator();
const Routes: React.FC = () => {
const { data } = useGetShoppingCartQuery();
return (
<TabRoutes.Navigator
tabBarOptions={{
labelPosition: 'beside-icon',
style: {
height: 64,
alignItems: 'center',
},
}}>
<TabRoutes.Screen
name="Home"
component={Home}
options={{
tabBarIcon: ({ size, color }) => (
<MaterialIcons size={size * 1.2} color={color} name="home" />
),
}}
/>
<TabRoutes.Screen
name="Cart"
component={Cart}
options={{
tabBarIcon: ({ size, color }) =>
data?.shoppingCart?.numActionFigures ? (
<View style={styles.badgeIconView}>
<Text style={styles.badge}>
{data?.shoppingCart?.numActionFigures}
</Text>
<MaterialIcons
size={size * 1.2}
color={color}
name="shopping-cart"
/>
</View>
) : (
<MaterialIcons
size={size * 1.2}
color={color}
name="shopping-cart"
/>
),
}}
/>
</TabRoutes.Navigator>
);
};
export default Routes;
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
badgeIconView: {
position: 'relative',
},
badge: {
position: 'absolute',
zIndex: 10,
left: 24,
bottom: 20,
padding: 1,
borderRadius: 20,
fontSize: 14,
},
});
Then at src/index.tsx we finally update:
import React from 'react';
import { ApolloProvider } from '@apollo/client';
import { NavigationContainer } from '@react-navigation/native';
import { createApolloClient } from './common/config/apollo-client';
import Routes from './routes';
const apolloClient = createApolloClient();
const App = () => {
return (
<ApolloProvider client={apolloClient}>
<NavigationContainer>
<Routes />
</NavigationContainer>
</ApolloProvider>
);
};
export default App;
If all goes well, when you run our app you should be able to increase and decrease the desired quantity of action figures and see the cart screen with the total price and the total number of action figures in the shopping cart. Finally, I'll be happy if you could provide me any feedback about the code, structure, doubt or anything that could make me a better developer!
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