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Custom Dropdown Element with React & TypeScript

A guide on how to create a simple React dropdown component using TypeScript.

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We will create a simple React dropdown component, just a simple example, and anyone can make it more advanced, and add more features to customize it. The logic behind the dropdown component is simple, you have one state which opens and closes the items that the dropdown shows, and whenever you change this state from false to true, we will open up the dropdown’s item, and whenever you choose one of the items, it will close up. There is a useEffect used to close the dropdown whenever the user clicks anywhere on the page, and the onValueChange function handles the state update and replaces the placeholder with the item that chooses from the dropdown. Quick Note: The styling is done with Tailwind CSS, but you can customize it based on your design and needs.

import { ArrowDownIcon } from 'Icons'; //you can use your icons
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
import cx from 'classnames';

export interface IDropdownOption {
	label: string | number;
	labelValue: string | number;
}

interface IDropdownProps {
	name?: string;
	options: IDropdownOption[];
	required?: boolean;
	tabIndex?: number;
	className?: string;
	type?: string;
	placeHolder?: string;
	labelName?: string;
}

function Dropdown({
	labelName,
	name,
	options,
	placeHolder,
	type,
	required,
	className,
	tabIndex,
}: IDropdownProps) {
	const [isFocused, setIsFocused] = React.useState(false);
	const [selectedItem, setSelectedItem] = React.useState<number | string>();
	const wrapperRef = useRef<any>(null);

	useEffect(() => {
		function handleClickOutside(event: any) {
			if (wrapperRef.current && !wrapperRef.current.contains(event.target)) {
				setIsFocused(false);
			}
		}

		document.addEventListener('mousedown', handleClickOutside);
		return () => {
			document.removeEventListener('mousedown', handleClickOutside);
		};
	}, [wrapperRef]);

	const onValueChange = (selectedValue: string | number) => {
		setSelectedItem(selectedValue);
		setIsFocused(false);
	};
	React.useEffect(() => {
		setIsFocused(false);
	}, [selectedItem]);

	const onClear = (e: any) => {
		e.stopPropagation();
		setSelectedItem(placeHolder);
		setIsFocused(false);
	};

	return (
		<div ref={wrapperRef} className="border-[#979797] relative"> //styling done with tailwind but you can create your own desing with pure css too :)
			<div className="flex flex-row items-center">
				<span className="text-sm text-[#A4A4A4] mb-2">{labelName}</span>
				{required && (
					<span className="text-[20px] text-[#FF0000] ml-2 top-0 ">*</span>
				)}
			</div>
			<div
				tabIndex={tabIndex}
				className={cx(
					'w-full bg-white h-[41px] rounded-lg drop-shadow-input pl-3 focus:outline-0 focus:drop-shadow-none transition relative flex items-center',
					{
						'rounded-b-[0]': isFocused,
					},
					className
				)}
				onClick={() => setIsFocused(!isFocused)}>
				<span>{selectedItem ?? placeHolder}</span>
				{type === 'arrow-down' && (
					<div className="right-3 transform -translate-y-1/2 z-10 absolute top-5">
						{selectedItem && selectedItem !== placeHolder ? (
							<div onClick={(e) => onClear(e)}>Temizle</div>
						) : (
							<ArrowDownIcon />
						)}
					</div>
				)}
			</div>
			{isFocused && (
				<ul className=" items-center gap-4 block absolute w-full">
					{options.map(({ label, labelValue }) => (
						<li
							onClick={() => onValueChange(labelValue)}
							className="rounded-sm shadow-[inset_1px_0px_0px_rgba(0,0,0,0.2) bg-white drop-shadow-input pl-3 focus:outline-0 focus:drop-shadow-none transition relative flex hover:bg-[#F7B500] ">
							{label}
						</li>
					))}
				</ul>
			)}
		</div>
	);
}

export default Dropdown;

Dropdown.defaultProps = {
	name: '',
	type: '',
	className: '',
	placeHolder: '',
	required: false,
	tabIndex: 0,
	labelName: '',
};

That’s all from me. Hope it will help you to create your own custom component with more features.

If you want to connect on LinkedIn, link down below:

AKIN KARAYUN | LinkedIn




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