React provides a powerful way to build user interfaces, but sometimes you encounter situations where you need to render components outside of the normal React tree. This is where portals come in handy. Portals allow you to render a component outside its parent DOM hierarchy, often useful for scenarios like modals, tooltips, or other overlays.

In this article, we'll explore a custom React hook called usePortal that simplifies the process of creating portals in your React applications.

Introducing usePortal

The usePortal hook is designed to be a reusable utility that encapsulates the logic for creating and managing portals. Let's dive into the key aspects of this hook.

1. Basic Usage The usePortal hook takes a configuration object as an argument, including an id for the portal, optional attributes for styling, and other customization options. Here's a basic example:

   import { usePortal } from 'path-to-usePortal';

   const MyComponent = () => {
     const { elRef, id } = usePortal({ id: 'myPortal' });

     // Use elRef in your component as a reference to the portal element
     return (
       <div>
         {/* Your regular React component content */}
         <div ref={elRef}>
           {/* Portal content goes here */}
           This content is rendered outside the component hierarchy!
         </div>
       </div>
     );
   };

1. Custom Styling You can customize the styling of the portal by providing additional options like className, elementClass, and attributes. For example:

   const MyStyledPortal = () => {
     const { elRef, id } = usePortal({
       id: 'styledPortal',
       className: 'my-custom-styles',
       elementClass: 'portal-content',
       attributes: { zIndex: 100 },
     });

     return (
       <div>
         <div ref={elRef}>Stylish portal content goes here!</div>
       </div>
     );
   };

1. Dynamically Changing Portals The usePortal hook is also designed to handle scenarios where the portal configuration changes dynamically. For example, you can update the portal ID, attributes, or other options during the component lifecycle.

   const DynamicPortal = ({ dynamicId }) => {
     const { elRef, id } = usePortal({ id: dynamicId });
     return (
       <div>
         <div ref={elRef}>Content for the dynamic portal!</div>
       </div>
     );
   };

 Under the Hood

Now, let's take a peek under the hood to understand how the usePortal hook achieves its magic.

• Portal Element Creation: The hook utilizes a MutableRefObject to keep track of the portal element. If it doesn't exist, it creates a new div element.

• Appending to DOM: The hook uses the useEffect hook to manage the lifecycle of the portal. It checks if the portal root exists and creates it if not. Then, it appends the portal element to the portal root.

• Cleanup: The useEffect hook also ensures proper cleanup by removing the portal element from the DOM when the component unmounts.

Conclusion

The usePortal hook is a versatile tool for handling portal creation in React applications. Whether you're building modals, tooltips, or any other overlay components, this hook provides a clean and reusable solution. Feel free to customize it to suit your specific use cases.

Happy coding!