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javascriptreactjscanvasref

React canvas with ref omitting calling ref.current and ctx?

Is it possible to omit to call

const canvas = canvasRef.current;
const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');

each time I want to refer to canvas DOM node in a function or useEffect hook?

const drawCanvas = () => {
  const canvasRef = React.useRef(null);
  const [position, setPosition] = React.useState({});

  React.useEffect(() => {
    const canvas = canvasRef.current;
    const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
    ctx.fillRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
  }, []);

  React.useEffect(() => {
    const canvas = canvasRef.current;
    const x = canvas.width;
    const y = canvas.height;
    setPosition({ x, y });
  }, []);

  return <canvas ref={canvasRef} />;
};
Solution

  • Indeed, you cannot set the current ref node to a variable.

    If you have to implement the same logic in different components, you could create your own hook:

    const useCanvas = (callback) => {
  const canvasRef = React.useRef(null);

  React.useEffect(() => {
    const canvas = canvasRef.current;
    const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
    callback([canvas, ctx]);
  }, []);

  return canvasRef;
}

const Canvas = () => {
  const [position, setPosition] = React.useState({});
  const canvasRef = useCanvas(([canvas, ctx]) => {
    ctx.fillRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
    const x = canvas.width;
    const y = canvas.height;
    setPosition({ x, y });
  });

  return (<canvas ref={canvasRef} />);
};

    A few remarks: