ko-react

npm install @retsam/ko-react

A library for allowing Knockout observables to be used with React components. Knockout's observable system is very similar to MobX, so in practice this is very much like using mobx-react.

This intended as a migration path for legacy Knockout codebases - the knockout html template engine can be replaced with React templates, while leaving the core Knockout logic intact, allowing for an incremental migration path to React.

This library provides utilities for allowing React components to rerender, driven by observables (like MobX), and a bindingHandler to bridge from ko templates to react components. There is preliminary support for the reverse - react components to knockout logic - in the form of the useKnockoutBindings hook.

API

Hooks

useComputed

A hook version of ko.pureComputed, wraps a function, returns the value of evaluating the function, and recomputes the function whenever any observables that are read by the function change.

interface FullNameProps {
    firstName: KnockoutObservable<string>,
    lastName: KnockoutObservable<string>
}

// Re-renders if either firstName or lastName change
const Greeter = ({firstName, lastName}: FullNameProps) => useComputed(() => (
    <span>
        Hello, {firstName()} {lastName()}
    </span>
));

Can largely be used as a drop-in replacement for the observe HOC.

useObservable

Reads and subscribes to an observable - if the observable's value changes the component re-renders:

interface FullNameProps {
    firstName: KnockoutObservable<string>,
    lastName: KnockoutObservable<string>
}

// Re-renders only if firstName changes
const Greeter = ({firstName, lastName}: FullNameProps) => {
    const fName = useObservable(firstName)
    return (
        <span>
            Hello, {fName} {lastName()}
        </span>
    );
}

useSubscription

Sets up a subscription to an observable (or any subscribable) - runs the provided callback whenever the observable emits a new value, without triggering a rerender (unless the callback modifies state). Disposes the subscription when the component is unmounted.

type PageTitleComponentProps = {
    text: KnockoutObservable<string>,
    prefix: string,
}
const PageTitleComponent = ({}) => {
    const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

    useSubscription(text, newText => {
        // count will always be the latest value, no need for a `deps` array.
        document.title = `${count} - ${newText}`
    });

    return <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>Click</button>;
}

Knockout bindingHandler reactComponent

Used to host a react tree inside a Knockout app, useful for incrementally migrating from knockout templates to React components.

<div data-bind="
    reactComponent: {
        Component: MyComponent,
        props: {prop: 'propValue'}
    }
"><!-- MyComponent will render here --></div>

Must be registered in ko.bindingHandlers, can be done by calling the exported register function.

Shorthand syntax

If registerShorthandSyntax is called, knockout preprocessNode logic will be registered which allows the previous example to be written as:

<!-- react: MyComponent {
    prop: 'propValue'
} -->

This will insert a div and render MyComponent inside it.

React to Knockout

While the majority of this library is aimed at hosting React trees inside of Knockout, the reverse may be useful (primarily for migration purposes), so a few utilities are provided for that purpose:

🚧 useKnockoutBindings 🚧

This hook takes an element ref and a set of knockout bindings and applies those bindings to the element.

const MessageComponent = ({text}: {text: string}) => {
    const elementRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);

    const viewModel = { name: text };
    useKnockoutBindings(elementRef, viewModel);

    return (
        // Ref of the element where knockout bindings will be applied
        <div ref={elementRef}>
            // Standard knockout data-binding
            Hello, <span data-bind="text: name" />
        </div>
    );
};

⚠ Caveats:

• This hook assumes that the ref is stable: if the ref is pointed from one element to a different the bindings won't be reapplied to the new element.

• Currently no mechanism for setting knockout context, in a Knockout -> React -> Knockout situation, the inner knockout tree won't have access to the outer knockout tree's context. Consider applying the let binding if this is necessary.

• There's some danger here about React and Knockout both trying to control the same elements: it's likely safest to not use this hook directly, but to use the provided KnockoutTemplate component, which wraps this hook to provide a React version of the template bindingHandler.

KnockoutTemplate

A React component which takes a knockout template and data as props, and renders that template inside a

. Currently the safest way to host knockout content inside a React tree.

const KnockoutGreeter = ({firstName, lastName}) => (
    <KnockoutTemplate
        name="knockoutGreeterTemplate"
        data={{firstName, lastName}}
    />
);

⚠️ NOTE: the same caveat about context from useKnockoutBindings applies here.

Higher Order Component - observe

A Higher Order Component which wraps a component such that any observables that are read during the render function will cause the component to rerender.

interface FullNameProps {
    firstName: KnockoutObservable<string>,
    lastName: KnockoutObservable<string>
}

// Re-renders if either firstName or lastName change
const Greeter = observe(({firstName, lastName}: FullNameProps) => (
    <span>
        Hello, {firstName()} {lastName()}
    </span>
));

The implementation details of observe however, are somewhat ugly, and it should be considered deprecated in favor of the hooks API.