This tutorial will help you integrate Flexmonster with the React Native framework. It is based on the React Native: Getting Started guide.
To run a simple application you will need Node.js and npm. Download them here if they are not already installed on your machine.
Then install the Expo CLI globally by running:
npm install -g expo-cli
After that, choose one of the following options:
Step 1. Download the .zip archive with the sample project or clone it from GitHub with the following commands:
git clone https://github.com/flexmonster/pivot-react-native
cd pivot-react-native
Step 2. Install the npm packages described in package.json:
npm install
Step 3. Run your application from the console:
expo start
The application can be shut down manually with Ctrl + C.
The sample project contains several examples of using Flexmonster methods and events in React Native.
When initialized, the component is subscribed to the cellclick event. As a cell is clicked for the first time, the cellclick‘s handler is removed, and the component subscribes to the update event.
The application also has two buttons: Show chart and Show grid. The Show chart button switches to the charts view using the showCharts() method. Show grid uses the showGrid() method to switch to the grid view.
Learn more about using methods and events in this section.
To integrate Flexmonster into a React Native app, follow these steps:
Step 1. If you don’t already have a React Native app, create one by running these commands in the console:
expo init my-app --template blank
cd my-app
Step 2. If you created a new app, install the packages described in package.json:
npm install
Step 3. Install the Flexmonster React Native module with the following command:
npm install react-native-flexmonster --save
Step 4. Import FlexmonsterReactNative into App.js:
import * as FlexmonsterReactNative from 'react-native-flexmonster';
Step 5. Insert Flexmonster Pivot into App.js:
export default function App() {
return (
<View style={{ flex: 1 }}>
<FlexmonsterReactNative.Pivot
report="https://cdn.flexmonster.com/reports/report.json"
/>
</View>
);
}
Step 6. Run your application from the console:
expo start
The application can be shut down manually with Ctrl + C.
The React Native module provides many of Flexmonster’s methods and events that make the component highly customizable in a React Native application. Have a look at which methods and events are available for usage out of the box.
This section explains how to use events and methods in React Native.
To use Flexmonster methods and events in React Native, we will need a React ref to the Flexmonster instance. Create a ref and attach it to the FlexmonsterReactNative.Pivot element:
this.flexmonster = React.createRef();
<FlexmonsterReactNative.Pivot
ref={(flexmonster) => { this.flexmonster = flexmonster }}
report="https://cdn.flexmonster.com/reports/report.json"
/>
Now we can reference the Flexmonster instance throughout the React component.
See how the ref is attached to the component in the sample project.
A method’s usage depends on its role. There are two types of methods:
To call methods that perform some action, just use the ref to Flexmonster instance:
this.flexmonster = React.createRef();
function showMyChart() {
this.flexmonster.showCharts("pie");
}
return (
<View style={{ flex: 1 }}>
<FlexmonsterReactNative.Pivot
ref={(flexmonster) => { this.flexmonster = flexmonster }}
report="https://cdn.flexmonster.com/reports/report.json"
/>
</View>
);
See how methods that perform an action are used in our sample project.
Methods that return a value are called similarly to methods that perform an action. To use their returned value, catch it with the then() method:
this.flexmonster = React.createRef();
function reportComplete() {
this.flexmonster.getReport().then(function(report) {
console.log(report);
});
}
return (
<View style={{ flex: 1 }}>
<FlexmonsterReactNative.Pivot
ref={(flexmonster) => { this.flexmonster = flexmonster }}
report="https://cdn.flexmonster.com/reports/report.json"
/>
</View>
);
You can subscribe to events in two ways:
To subscribe to events via props, simply define the needed event as a FlexmonsterReactNative.Pivot prop and assign an event handler to it:
return (
<View style={{ flex: 1 }}>
<FlexmonsterReactNative.Pivot
cellclick={this.onclickHandler}
report="https://cdn.flexmonster.com/reports/report.json"
/>
</View>
);
onclickHandler = () => {
alert("The cell was clicked!");
}
The sample React Native project demonstrates how to subscribe to an event via props.
You can also subscribe to an event using the on() API call. Now we will need the previously created this.flexmonster ref:
return (
<View style={{ flex: 1 }}>
<FlexmonsterReactNative.Pivot
ref={(flexmonster) => { this.flexmonster = flexmonster }}
report="https://cdn.flexmonster.com/reports/report.json"
/>
</View>
);
myFunction = () => {
this.flexmonster.on("aftergriddraw", () => {
alert("aftergriddraw");
});
}
To unsubscribe from an event, use the off() method:
return (
<View style={{ flex: 1 }}>
<FlexmonsterReactNative.Pivot
ref={(flexmonster) => { this.flexmonster = flexmonster }}
report="https://cdn.flexmonster.com/reports/report.json"
/>
</View>
);
myFunction = () => {
this.flexmonster.on("aftergriddraw", () => {
alert("aftergriddraw");
this.flexmonster.off("aftergriddraw");
});
}
Have a look at the sample React Native project and see how on() and off() methods are used.
This section describes the specifics of customizing Flexmonster in React Native.
The Flexmonster React Native module embeds the component into a React Native application using the WebView library, which creates a separate browser window with Flexmonster. Since WebView is an independent part of the application, the component cannot be accessed directly from the app and vice versa.
This approach comes with some limitations. Methods that are defined in the application and require direct access to Flexmonster cannot be used. This includes, for example, customizeCell, customizeContextMenu, and beforetoolbarcreated.
To use these features, you need to modify the Flexmonster React Native module. Follow the steps below to see how the React Native module can be customized.
Follow steps 1-3 from the guide on how to run the sample project from GitHub.
The sample project includes the Flexmonster React Native module as an npm dependency, but we will connect it manually to add custom functionality.
Download the .zip archive with the module from GitHub or run the following command in the console:
git clone https://github.com/flexmonster/react-native-flexmonster
Copy the src/index.js file from the react-native-flexmonster/ folder to the project folder (e.g., pivot-react-native/). Rename the file if needed (e.g., to react-native-flexmonster.js).
Replace the React Native module from npm with the module from GitHub by updating the module import statement in the App.js file:
import * as FlexmonsterReactNative from './react-native-flexmonster';
Make the necessary updates to the react-native-flexmonster.js file. Note that all the updates should be made in the HTML template.
The steps below describe how to customize cells on the grid:
Step 5.1. Add a customizeCellFunction to the module’s htmlTemplate variable:
<script>
new Flexmonster({
// initialization parameters
});
function customizeCellFunction (cell, data) {
if (data.type == "value") {
if (data.rowIndex % 2 == 0) {
cell.addClass("alter1");
} else {
cell.addClass("alter2");
}
}
}
${this.registerEvents()}
</script>
Step 5.2. Add CSS classes that will be applied to the rows. This can be done right after the <script></script> section of the htmlTemplate variable:
<script>
new Flexmonster(
// initialization parameters
);
function customizeCellFunction (cell, data) {
// function implementation
}
${this.registerEvents()}
</script>
<style>
#fm-pivot-view #fm-grid-view div.alter1 {
background-color: #f7f7f7;
}
#fm-pivot-view #fm-grid-view div.alter2 {
background-color: #fcfcfc;
}
</style>
Step 5.3. Call the customizeCell method and pass the customizeCellFunction to it. Note that customizeCell can be defined in two ways:
<script>
new Flexmonster({
// initialization parameters
});
function customizeCellFunction (cell, data) {
// function implementation
}
${this.registerEvents()}
flexmonster.customizeCell(customizeCellFunction);
</script>
new Flexmonster({
container: "pivotContainer",
//other initialization parameters
report: JSON.parse('${JSON.stringify(this.props.report)}'),
customizeCell: customizeCellFunction
});
Run the project from the console with the following command:
expo start
Now all the cells on the grid will be customized by the customizeCellFunction. Other customizations can be achieved in the same way.
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