infinite post loop when calling action

Question

This is not so much of a specific error, I'm getting an infinite post loop when calling the function

getLikes = (id) =>   {
    // console.log(id);
    this.props.getLikeCount(id)
    console.log(this.props.likeCount)
}

visually it looks like this

it's an infinite loop. We refactored the code so that a user can add a like to a post, retrieve the amount of likes for a specific post, and update the state of likes.

Like.js

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
import { FontAwesomeIcon } from '@fortawesome/react-fontawesome';
import { faCoffee, faAdjust } from '@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons';
import {connect} from 'react-redux';
import {  getLikeCount} from '../actions/';
class Like extends Component{
    constructor(props){
        super(props);
        this.state = {
            likes: null
        }
    }
    getLikes = (id) =>   {
        // console.log(id);
        this.props.getLikeCount(id)
        console.log(this.props.likeCount)
    }
    render(){
        return(
            <div style={{float:'right', fontSize: '1.5em', color:'tomato'}} >
            <i style={{ marginRight: '140px'}} className="fa fa-heart-o">
                    <span style={{ marginLeft: '6px'}}>
                        <a href="#" onClick={this.props.like}>Like </a>
                        {this.getLikes(this.props.postId)}
                    </span>
                    {/* gets the like counts */}
                    {this.props.likeCount}
                </i>
            </div>
        )
    }
}
const mapStateToProps = (state) => ({
    isEditingId: state.post.isEditingId,
    likeCount:state.post.likes
})
const mapDispatchToProps = (dispatch) => ({
    getLikeCount: (id) => dispatch(getLikeCount(id)),
    // Pass id to the DeletePost functions.
});
export default connect(mapStateToProps, mapDispatchToProps)(Like);

Actions.js

export const postLike = (id) => {
    return (dispatch) => {
        // console.log(userId);
        return Axios.post('/api/posts/like', {
            postId: id
        }).then( (like) => {
            dispatch({type: ADD_LIKE})
                // console.log('you have liked this', like)
        }).catch( (err)=> {
                console.log('there seem to be an error', err);
        })

    }
}

export const getLikeCount = (id) => {
    return (dispatch, getState) => {
        return Axios.get(`/api/posts/likes/count/${id}`)
            .then( (res) => {
                 const data = res.data
                 console.log(data); // logs data and i can see an array 
                 dispatch({type: GET_LIKES_COUNT, data})
             })

    }
}

Reducer

import {  ADD_LIKE, GET_LIKES_COUNT} from '../actions/';

const initialState = {

    likes:0,

}

export default (state = initialState, action) => {
    switch (action.type) {

        case GET_LIKES_COUNT:
            // console.log(action.data)
            return({
                ...state,
                likes:action.data
            })

        case ADD_LIKE:
            return({
                ...state,
                likes: state.likes + 1
            })
        default:
            return state
    }
}

PostList.js

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import Paper from '@material-ui/core/Paper';
import Button from '@material-ui/core/Button';
import Typography from '@material-ui/core/Typography';
import moment from 'moment';
import {connect} from 'react-redux';
import {DeletePost,  getLikeCount, postLike, UpdatePost,EditChange, DisableButton} from '../actions/';
import PostItem from './PostItem';
const Styles = {
    myPaper: {
        margin: '20px 0px',
        padding: '20px'
    }
}
class PostList extends Component{
    constructor(props){
        super(props);
        this.state ={
            title: '',
        }
    }
    // Return a new function. Otherwise the DeletePost action will be dispatch each
     // time the Component rerenders.
    removePost = (id) => () => {
        this.props.DeletePost(id);
    }
    onChange = (e) => {
        e.preventDefault();
        this.setState({
            title: e.target.value
        })
    }
    clickLike = (id)  => {
        this.props.postLike(id);
    }
    formEditing = (id) => ()=> {;
        this.props.EditChange(id);
    }
    render(){
        const {posts} = this.props;
        return (
            <div>
                {posts.map((post, i) => (
                    <Paper key={post.id} style={Styles.myPaper}>
                    {/* {...post} prevents us from writing all of the properties out */}
                        <PostItem
                            clickLike={this.clickLike(post.id)}
                             myTitle={this.state.title} 
                             editChange={this.onChange} 
                             editForm={this.formEditing} 
                             isEditing={this.props.isEditingId === post.id} 
                             removePost={this.removePost} 
                             {...post} 
                        />
                    </Paper>
                ))}
            </div>
        )
    }
}
const mapStateToProps = (state) => ({
    isEditingId: state.post.isEditingId,
})
const mapDispatchToProps = (dispatch) => ({
    // pass creds which can be called anything, but i just call it credentials but it should be called something more 
    // specific.
    EditChange: (id) => dispatch(EditChange(id)),
    UpdatePost: (creds) => dispatch(UpdatePost(creds)),
    getLikeCount: (id) => dispatch(getLikeCount(id)),
    postLike: (id) => dispatch( postLike(id)),
    // Pass id to the DeletePost functions.
    DeletePost: (id) => dispatch(DeletePost(id))
});
export default connect(mapStateToProps, mapDispatchToProps)(PostList);

PostItem.js

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import Paper from '@material-ui/core/Paper';
import Button from '@material-ui/core/Button';
import Typography from '@material-ui/core/Typography';
import moment from 'moment';
import Editable from './Editable';
import {connect} from 'react-redux';
import {UpdatePost, getLikeCount, postLike} from '../actions/';
import Like from './Like';
import Axios from '../Axios';
const Styles = {
    myPaper: {
        margin: '20px 0px',
        padding: '20px'
    },
    button:{
        marginRight:'30px'
    }
}
class PostItem extends Component{
    constructor(props){
        super(props);
        this.state = {
            disabled: false,
        }
    }
    onUpdate = (id, title) => () => {
        // we need the id so express knows what post to update, and the title being that only editing the title. 
        if(this.props.myTitle !== null){
            const creds = {
                id, title
            }
            this.props.UpdatePost(creds); 
        }
    }
    render(){
        const {title, id, userId, removePost, createdAt, post_content, username, editForm, isEditing, editChange, myTitle, postUpdate, likes,  clickLike} = this.props
        return(
            <div>
                   <Typography variant="h6" component="h3">
                   {/* if else teneray operator */}
                   {isEditing ? (
                          <Editable editField={myTitle ? myTitle : title} editChange={editChange}/>
                   ): (
                       <div>
                           {title}
                       </div>    
                   )}         
                   </Typography>
                   <Typography component="p">
                       {post_content}
                       <h5>
                           by: {username}</h5>
                       <Typography color="textSecondary">{moment(createdAt).calendar()}</Typography>
                       <Like like={clickLike} postId={id}/>
                   </Typography>
                   {!isEditing ? (
                       <Button variant="outlined" type="submit" onClick={editForm(id)}>
                           Edit
                       </Button>
                   ):(     
                       // pass id, and myTitle which as we remember myTitle is the new value when updating the title
                        <div>
                            <Button 
                                disabled={myTitle.length <= 3}
                                variant="outlined" 
                                onClick={this.onUpdate(id, myTitle)}>
                                Update
                            </Button>
                            <Button 
                                variant="outlined" 
                                style={{marginLeft: '0.7%'}}
                                onClick={editForm(null)}>
                                Close
                            </Button>
                        </div>
                   )}
                   {!isEditing && (
                    <Button
                        style={{marginLeft: '0.7%'}}
                        variant="outlined"
                        color="primary"
                        type="submit"
                        onClick={removePost(id)}>
                        Remove
                    </Button>
                    )}
           </div>
       )
    }
}
const mapStateToProps = (state) => ({
    isEditingId: state.post.isEditingId,
})
const mapDispatchToProps = (dispatch) => ({
    // pass creds which can be called anything, but i just call it credentials but it should be called something more 
    // specific.
    UpdatePost: (creds) => dispatch(UpdatePost(creds)),
    getLikeCount: (id) => dispatch(getLikeCount(id)),
    postLike: (id) => dispatch( postLike(id))
    // Pass id to the DeletePost functions.
});
export default connect(null, mapDispatchToProps)(PostItem);

Posts.js

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import PostList from './PostList';
import {connect} from 'react-redux';
import { withRouter, Redirect} from 'react-router-dom';
import {GetPosts} from '../actions/';
const Styles = {
    myPaper:{
      margin: '20px 0px',
      padding:'20px'
    }
    , 
    wrapper:{
      padding:'0px 60px'
    }
}
class Posts extends Component {
  state = {
    posts: [],
    loading: true,
    isEditing: false, 
  }
  async componentWillMount(){
    await this.props.GetPosts();
    this.setState({ loading: false })
    const reduxPosts = this.props.myPosts;
    const ourPosts = reduxPosts  
    console.log(reduxPosts); // shows posts line 35
  }

  render() {
    const {loading} = this.state;
    const { myPosts} = this.props
    if (!this.props.isAuthenticated) {
      return (<Redirect to='/signIn' />);
    }
    if(loading){
      return "loading..."
    }
    return (
      <div className="App" style={Styles.wrapper}>
        <h1> Posts </h1>
        <PostList posts={myPosts}/>
      </div>
    );
  }
}
const mapStateToProps = (state) => ({
  isAuthenticated: state.user.isAuthenticated,
  myPosts: state.post.posts
})
const mapDispatchToProps = (dispatch, state) => ({
  GetPosts: () => dispatch( GetPosts())
});
export default withRouter(connect(mapStateToProps,mapDispatchToProps)(Posts));

API call sequelize express back end

router.get('/likes/count/:postId', (req, res) => {
   models.Likes.count ({
      where: { postId: req.params.postId }
    })
      .then (likes=> res.status(200).json(likes))
      .catch (e => res.status(404))
});

Answer 1

Consider a situation that your data is looking like this:

posts=[
    {id: 0, msg: foo, likes: 0},
    {id: 1, msg: bar, likes: 1}
]

and you wanna to dispatch an upvote for one of post, for example post with id:0

in your file component:

import React, {Component} from 'react';
import {connect} from "react-redux";
import {upVote} from "./action";

class MyApp extends Component {

  handleUpVote = (id) => this.props.dispatch(upVote(id));

  render() {
    return (
      <div>
        {this.props.posts.map(post => (
          <div key={post.id}>
            <button onClick={() => this.handleUpVote(post.id)}>Like</button>
            <p>{post.likes}</p>
          </div>
        ))}
      </div>
    );
  }
}

const mapStateToProps = state => {
  const posts = state.posts;
  return {posts}
};

export default connect(mapStateToProps)(MyApp);

in action.js:

const UP_VOTE_LIKES = 'UP_VOTE_LIKES';

const upVote = (id) => ({type: UP_VOTE_LIKES, id});

export {
  UP_VOTE_LIKES,
  upVote,
}

and finally, in your reducer:

import {UP_VOTE_LIKES} from "./action";

const initialState = {
  posts: []
};

const reducer = (state = initialState, action) => {
  switch (action.type) {
    case(UP_VOTE_LIKES):
      return {
        ...state,
        posts: state.posts.map(post => {
          if (post.id === action.id) {
            return {
              ...post,
              likes: post.likes + 1
            }
          } else return post
        })
      };
    default:
      return state
  }
};

export default reducer

first, look on reducer is very complex, but actually, it's not weird.

Answer 2

To make this things more simpler, i moved

clickLike = (id)  => {
    this.props.postLike(id);
}

Within the Like Component. However its now

clickLike = (id) => () =>  {
        this.props.postLike(id);
  }

() => () => prevents the infinite onClick method from firing without your consent :).

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
import { FontAwesomeIcon } from '@fortawesome/react-fontawesome';
import { faCoffee, faAdjust } from '@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons';
import {connect} from 'react-redux';
import {  getLikeCount, postLike} from '../actions/';
class Like extends Component{
    constructor(props){
        super(props);
        this.state = {
            likes: null
        }
    }
    clickLike = (id) => () =>  {
        this.props.postLike(id);
    }
    render(){
        return(
            <div style={{float:'right', fontSize: '1.5em', color:'tomato'}} >
            <i style={{ marginRight: '140px'}} className="fa fa-heart-o">
                    <span style={{ marginLeft: '6px'}}>
                        <a href="#" onClick={this.clickLike(this.props.like)}>Like </a>       
                    </span>
                    {/* gets the like counts */}
                    {this.props.likeCount}
                </i>
            </div>
        )
    }
}
const mapStateToProps = (state) => ({
    isEditingId: state.post.isEditingId,
    likeCount:state.post.likes
})
const mapDispatchToProps = (dispatch) => ({
    getLikeCount: (id) => dispatch(getLikeCount(id)),
    postLike: (id) => dispatch( postLike(id))
    // Pass id to the DeletePost functions.
});
export default connect(mapStateToProps, mapDispatchToProps)(Like);

this.props.like will get the post id from the PostItem Component. It will be passed in the <Like/> Component.

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import Paper from '@material-ui/core/Paper';
import Button from '@material-ui/core/Button';
import Typography from '@material-ui/core/Typography';
import moment from 'moment';
import Editable from './Editable';
import {connect} from 'react-redux';
import {UpdatePost, getLikeCount, postLike} from '../actions/';
import Like from './Like';
import Axios from '../Axios';
const Styles = {
    myPaper: {
        margin: '20px 0px',
        padding: '20px'
    },
    button:{
        marginRight:'30px'
    }
}
class PostItem extends Component{
    constructor(props){
        super(props);
        this.state = {
            disabled: false,
        }
    }
    onUpdate = (id, title) => () => {
        // we need the id so expres knows what post to update, and the title being that only editing the title. 
        if(this.props.myTitle !== null){
            const creds = {
                id, title
            }
            this.props.UpdatePost(creds); 
        }
    }
    render(){
        const {title, id, userId, removePost, createdAt, post_content, username, editForm, isEditing, editChange, myTitle, postUpdate, likes,  clickLike} = this.props
        return(
            <div>
                   <Typography variant="h6" component="h3">
                   {/* if else teneray operator */}
                   {isEditing ? (
                          <Editable editField={myTitle ? myTitle : title} editChange={editChange}/>
                   ): (
                       <div>
                           {title}
                       </div>    
                   )}         
                   </Typography>
                   <Typography component="p">
                       {post_content}
                       <h5>
                           by: {username}</h5>
                       <Typography color="textSecondary">{moment(createdAt).calendar()}</Typography>
                       <Like like={id}/>
                   </Typography>
                   {!isEditing ? (
                       <Button variant="outlined" type="submit" onClick={editForm(id)}>
                           Edit
                       </Button>
                   ):(     
                       // pass id, and myTitle which as we remember myTitle is the new value when updating the title
                        <div>
                            <Button 
                                disabled={myTitle.length <= 3}
                                variant="outlined" 
                                onClick={this.onUpdate(id, myTitle)}>
                                Update
                            </Button>
                            <Button 
                                variant="outlined" 
                                style={{marginLeft: '0.7%'}}
                                onClick={editForm(null)}>
                                Close
                            </Button>
                        </div>
                   )}
                   {!isEditing && (
                    <Button
                        style={{marginLeft: '0.7%'}}
                        variant="outlined"
                        color="primary"
                        type="submit"
                        onClick={removePost(id)}>
                        Remove
                    </Button>
                    )}
           </div>
       )
    }
}
const mapStateToProps = (state) => ({
    isEditingId: state.post.isEditingId,
})
const mapDispatchToProps = (dispatch) => ({
    // pass creds which can be called anything, but i just call it credentials but it should be called something more 
    // specific.
    UpdatePost: (creds) => dispatch(UpdatePost(creds)),
    getLikeCount: (id) => dispatch(getLikeCount(id)),
    postLike: (id) => dispatch( postLike(id))
    // Pass id to the DeletePost functions.
});
export default connect(null, mapDispatchToProps)(PostItem);

{this.getLikes(post.id)} will be called in the PostList Component. I don't really understand why this works better here than In The Like Component. It's a wierd way you have to place components when mapping through posts. All in all, their is no more infinite onClick methods being dispatched. Which was the problem i was having.

PostList.js

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import Paper from '@material-ui/core/Paper';
import Button from '@material-ui/core/Button';
import Typography from '@material-ui/core/Typography';
import moment from 'moment';
import {connect} from 'react-redux';
import {DeletePost,  getLikeCount, postLike, UpdatePost,EditChange, DisableButton} from '../actions/';
import PostItem from './PostItem';
const Styles = {
    myPaper: {
        margin: '20px 0px',
        padding: '20px'
    }
}
class PostList extends Component{
    constructor(props){
        super(props);
        this.state ={
            title: '',
        }
    }
    // Return a new function. Otherwise the DeletePost action will be dispatch each
     // time the Component rerenders.
    removePost = (id) => () => {
        this.props.DeletePost(id);
    }
    onChange = (e) => {
        e.preventDefault();
        this.setState({
            title: e.target.value
        })
    }

    formEditing = (id) => ()=> {;
        this.props.EditChange(id);
    }
    getLikes = (id) =>  {
        // console.log(id);
        this.props.getLikeCount(id)
        console.log(this.props.likeCount)
    }
    render(){
        const {posts} = this.props;
        return (
            <div>
                {posts.map((post, i) => (
                    <Paper key={post.id} style={Styles.myPaper}>
                     {this.getLikes(post.id)}
                    {/* {...post} prevents us from writing all of the properties out */}
                        <PostItem
                             myTitle={this.state.title} 
                             editChange={this.onChange} 
                             editForm={this.formEditing} 
                             isEditing={this.props.isEditingId === post.id} 
                             removePost={this.removePost} 
                             {...post} 
                        />
                    </Paper>
                ))}
            </div>
        )
    }
}
const mapStateToProps = (state) => ({
    isEditingId: state.post.isEditingId,
})
const mapDispatchToProps = (dispatch) => ({
    // pass creds which can be called anything, but i just call it credentials but it should be called something more 
    // specific.
    EditChange: (id) => dispatch(EditChange(id)),
    UpdatePost: (creds) => dispatch(UpdatePost(creds)),
    getLikeCount: (id) => dispatch(getLikeCount(id)),
    postLike: (id) => dispatch( postLike(id)),
    // Pass id to the DeletePost functions.
    DeletePost: (id) => dispatch(DeletePost(id))
});
export default connect(mapStateToProps, mapDispatchToProps)(PostList);

This solves most of my issues. However, the following code has some issues still.

Liking a post for one post, will like a post for all. So im fixing it atm.