How to Detect Route Changes in Vue.js 3

In Vue.js applications, the Vue Router is a powerful tool for handling routing. It provides numerous features and capabilities for managing routes within your application. One such feature is the useRouter function from the Vue Router package, which gives us access to the route function and its api’s.

In this guide, we will explore how to detect route changes in a Vue.js application using the Vue Router.

Prerequisites

• Before we begin, ensure that you have Vue Router installed in your Vue.js project. If it’s not already installed, you can follow the steps in the guide below to add Vue Router to your project How to Handle Routing With Vue Router in Vue 3

In your Vue component, you can import and use the useRouter function from vue-router to get access to the router instance:

// Import the necessary functions and components
import { ref, onMounted } from "vue";
import { useRouter } from "vue-router";

export default {
  setup() {
    const router = useRouter();

    // Create a ref to store the previous route path
    const previousRoutePath = ref("");

    // Use the router's navigation guard to track route changes
    router.beforeEach((to, from, next) => {
      previousRoutePath.value = from.fullPath;
      next();
    });

    // Use onMounted to access the previous route path after the component is mounted
    onMounted(() => {
      console.log("Previous route path:", previousRoutePath.value);
    });

    return {
      router,
    };
  },
};

In this example, we use ref to create a previousRoutePath variable that will store the previous route’s path.

We use the useRouter function to get the router instance, and then we use the beforeEach navigation guard to track route changes. Inside the guard, we update the previousRoutePath variable with the previous route’s path.

Finally, we use the onMounted lifecycle hook to log the previous route path after the component is mounted. You can replace the console.log statement with any other logic you need to perform when a route change is detected.

By using useRouter and the beforeEach navigation guard, you can easily check if a route has changed in your Vue.js 3 application.

Situations where this might come in handy

• Dynamic Content Loading: Detecting route changes is crucial when you want to load different components or data based on the route. For example, in a single-page application (SPA), you might want to load different content for the home page, user profile page, and product details page.
• Navigation Guards: Route changes allow you to implement navigation guards. You can prevent or allow route changes based on certain conditions, such as user authentication or data validation. This helps enhance security and user experience.
• Analytics and Tracking: Route changes enable you to track user navigation patterns and gather analytics data. You can monitor which routes users frequently visit, how long they stay on a particular page, and what actions they take. This information is valuable for making data-driven decisions.
• URL Parameters: Detecting route changes is essential when dealing with routes that contain dynamic parameters. For instance, in an e-commerce application, you might have routes for product categories with different parameters. Detecting route changes helps you fetch and display the correct product information.
• Page Transitions: To create smooth page transitions or animations, you need to know when a route changes. This allows you to apply transition effects when navigating between pages, making the user experience more visually appealing.
• Error Handling: Detecting route changes helps you handle errors gracefully. You can display custom error messages or redirect users to an error page when they try to access an invalid or non-existent route.
• Progressive Web Apps (PWAs): In PWAs, detecting route changes is essential for handling offline mode and cache management. You can preload or update data when users navigate between routes while offline.
• User Experience Enhancements: Knowing when routes change allows you to enhance the overall user experience by showing loading spinners, updating the browser’s title and metadata, or triggering other user interface changes.

Conclusion

Detecting route changes in a Vue.js application is fundamental for controlling page content, tracking user behavior, and providing a better overall user experience.

Thank you for following this guide. Sharing it with others would be greatly appreciated. Should you have any questions, suggestions, or just want to chat, feel free to connect with me on X via @amjohnphilip. Your engagement is valued!

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