Detecting an index child route in React Router
2024-06-24
In react-router, how do we detect programmatically that we are on an index path of a child route? This took me a while to figure out, so here it is for all to see:
In React Router, detecting if you are on the index path of a child route can be done by using the useLocation
and useMatch
hooks. Here’s a step-by-step guide to achieve this:
-
Install React Router: Ensure you have React Router installed in your project. If not, you can install it using npm or yarn:
npm install react-router-dom
-
Set Up Routes: Define your routes using
react-router-dom
. For example:import { BrowserRouter as Router, Routes, Route } from 'react-router-dom'; import Home from './Home'; import Parent from './Parent'; import Child from './Child'; function App() { return ( <Router> <Routes> <Route path="/" element={<Home />} /> <Route path="parent" element={<Parent />}> <Route index element={<Child />} /> </Route> </Routes> </Router> ); } export default App;
-
Detect Index Route in Child Component: Use the
useLocation
anduseMatch
hooks to check if the current path matches the index path of the child route.import { useLocation, useMatch } from 'react-router-dom'; function Child() { const location = useLocation(); const isIndex = useMatch('/parent'); return ( <div> <h1>Child Component</h1> {isIndex && location.pathname === '/parent' && ( <p>This is the index path of the child route</p> )} </div> ); } export default Child;
In the Child
component, we use useLocation
to get the current location and useMatch
to check if the current route matches the parent route. The condition isIndex && location.pathname === '/parent'
ensures that we are on the index path of the child route.
The useMatch
is key here. I don't know why the documentation about it is so sparse. It just says (as of July 2024) "returns match data about a route at the given path relative to the current location."
By following these steps, you can programmatically detect if you are on an index path of a child route in React Router.