Self review: Use JS component as background listener for link clicks

src/js/src/index.js

@@ -12,18 +12,53 @@ export function bind(node) {
   };
 }
 
-export function History({ onChange }) {
+export function History({ onBrowserBack }) {
   // Capture browser "history go back" action and tell the server about it
   // Note: Browsers do not allow you to detect "history go forward" actions.
   React.useEffect(() => {
+    // Register a listener for the "popstate" event and send data back to the server using the `onBrowserBack` callback.
     const listener = () => {
-      onChange({
+      onBrowserBack({
         pathname: window.location.pathname,
         search: window.location.search,
       });
     };
+
+    // Register the event listener
     window.addEventListener("popstate", listener);
+
+    // Delete the event listener when the component is unmounted
     return () => window.removeEventListener("popstate", listener);
   });
   return null;
 }
+
+export function Link({ onClick, linkClass }) {
+  // This component is not the actual anchor link.
+  // It is an event listener for the link component created by ReactPy.
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    // Event function that will tell the server about clicks
+    const handleClick = (event) => {
+      event.preventDefault();
+      let to = event.target.getAttribute("href");
+      window.history.pushState({}, to, new URL(to, window.location));
+      onClick({
+        pathname: window.location.pathname,
+        search: window.location.search,
+      });
+    };
+
+    // Register the event listener
+    document
+      .querySelector(`.${linkClass}`)
+      .addEventListener("click", handleClick);
+
+    // Delete the event listener when the component is unmounted
+    return () => {
+      document
+        .querySelector(`.${linkClass}`)
+        .removeEventListener("click", handleClick);
+    };
+  });
+  return null;
+}

src/reactpy_router/components.py

@@ -2,12 +2,11 @@
 
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any
-from urllib.parse import urljoin
 from uuid import uuid4
 
-from reactpy import component, event, html, use_connection
+from reactpy import component, html
 from reactpy.backend.types import Location
-from reactpy.core.types import VdomChild, VdomDict
+from reactpy.core.types import VdomDict
 from reactpy.web.module import export, module_from_file
 
 from reactpy_router.hooks import _use_route_state
@@ -17,57 +16,43 @@
     module_from_file("reactpy-router", file=Path(__file__).parent / "static" / "bundle.js"),
     ("History"),
 )
-link_js_content = (Path(__file__).parent / "static" / "link.js").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+Link = export(
+    module_from_file("reactpy-router", file=Path(__file__).parent / "static" / "bundle.js"),
+    ("Link"),
+)
 
 
 @component
-def link(*children: VdomChild, to: str, **attributes: Any) -> VdomDict:
+def link(*attributes_and_children: Any, to: str | None = None, **kwargs: Any) -> VdomDict:
     """A component that renders a link to the given path."""
-    # FIXME: This currently works in a "dumb" way by trusting that ReactPy's script tag \
-    # properly sets the location. When a client-server communication layer is added to a \
-    # future ReactPy release, this component will need to be rewritten to use that instead. \
-    set_location = _use_route_state().set_location
-    current_path = use_connection().location.pathname
-
-    @event(prevent_default=True)
-    def on_click(_event: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
-        pathname, search = to.split("?", 1) if "?" in to else (to, "")
-        if search:
-            search = f"?{search}"
-
-        # Resolve relative paths that match `../foo`
-        if pathname.startswith("../"):
-            pathname = urljoin(current_path, pathname)
-
-        # Resolve relative paths that match `foo`
-        if not pathname.startswith("/"):
-            pathname = urljoin(current_path, pathname)
-
-        # Resolve relative paths that match `/foo/../bar`
-        while "/../" in pathname:
-            part_1, part_2 = pathname.split("/../", 1)
-            pathname = urljoin(f"{part_1}/", f"../{part_2}")
-
-        # Resolve relative paths that match `foo/./bar`
-        pathname = pathname.replace("/./", "/")
-
-        set_location(Location(pathname, search))
+    if to is None:
+        raise ValueError("The `to` attribute is required for the `Link` component.")
 
     uuid_string = f"link-{uuid4().hex}"
     class_name = f"{uuid_string}"
+    set_location = _use_route_state().set_location
+    attributes = {}
+    children: tuple[Any] = attributes_and_children
+
+    if attributes_and_children and isinstance(attributes_and_children[0], dict):
+        attributes = attributes_and_children[0]
+        children = attributes_and_children[1:]
     if "className" in attributes:
         class_name = " ".join([attributes.pop("className"), class_name])
-    # TODO: This can be removed when ReactPy stops supporting underscores in attribute names
     if "class_name" in attributes:  # pragma: no cover
+        # TODO: This can be removed when ReactPy stops supporting underscores in attribute names
         class_name = " ".join([attributes.pop("class_name"), class_name])
 
     attrs = {
         **attributes,
         "href": to,
-        "onClick": on_click,
         "className": class_name,
     }
-    return html._(html.a(attrs, *children), html.script(link_js_content.replace("UUID", uuid_string)))
+
+    def on_click(_event: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
+        set_location(Location(**_event))
+
+    return html._(html.a(attrs, *children, **kwargs), Link({"onClick": on_click, "linkClass": uuid_string}))
 
 
 def route(path: str, element: Any | None, *routes: Route) -> Route:

src/reactpy_router/routers.py

@@ -68,10 +68,13 @@ def router(
             )
             for element, params in match
         ]
+
+        def on_browser_back(event: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
+            """Callback function used within the JavaScript `History` component."""
+            set_location(Location(**event))
+
         return ConnectionContext(
-            History(  # type: ignore
-                {"onChange": lambda event: set_location(Location(**event))}
-            ),
+            History({"onBrowserBack": on_browser_back}),  # type: ignore[return-value]
             html._(route_elements),
             value=Connection(old_conn.scope, location, old_conn.carrier),
         )