Exploring the Vue Composition API RFC Reference site, it's easy to find various uses of the watch module, but there is a lack of examples on how to watch component props.
This crucial information is not highlighted on the main page of Vue Composition API RFC or even on Github's vuejs/composition-api.
To address this issue, I have created a detailed demonstration in a Codesandbox.
<template>
<div id="app">
<img width="25%" src="./assets/logo.png">
<br>
<p>Prop watch demo with select input using v-model:</p>
<PropWatchDemo :selected="testValue"/>
</div>
</template>
<script>
import { createComponent, onMounted, ref } from "@vue/composition-api";
import PropWatchDemo from "./components/PropWatchDemo.vue";
export default createComponent({
name: "App",
components: {
PropWatchDemo
},
setup: (props, context) => {
const testValue = ref("initial");
onMounted(() => {
setTimeout(() => {
console.log("Changing input prop value after 3s delay");
testValue.value = "changed";
// This value change does not trigger watchers?
}, 3000);
});
return {
testValue
};
}
});
</script>
<template>
<select v-model="selected">
<option value="null">null value</option>
<option value>Empty value</option>
</select>
</template>
<script>
import { createComponent, watch } from "@vue/composition-api";
export default createComponent({
name: "MyInput",
props: {
selected: {
type: [String, Number],
required: true
}
},
setup(props) {
console.log("Setup props:", props);
watch((first, second) => {
console.log("Watch function called with args:", first, second);
// First arg function registerCleanup, second is undefined
});
// watch(props, (first, second) => {
// console.log("Watch props function called with args:", first, second);
// // Logs error:
// // Failed watching path: "[object Object]" Watcher only accepts simple
// // dot-delimited paths. For full control, use a function instead.
// })
watch(props.selected, (first, second) => {
console.log(
"Watch props.selected function called with args:",
first,
second
);
// Both props are undefined so it's just a bare callback func to be run
});
return {};
}
});
</script>
My initial question and code example were based on JavaScript, but now I'm using TypeScript. The first answer by Tony Tom worked, but there was a type error which I managed to resolve with Michal Levý's answer. Therefore, I added the typescript tag to this question.
Here is an enhanced version of the reactive connection for a custom select component, built on top of <b-form-select> from bootstrap-vue. Although the implementation is agnostic, this underlying component emits @input and @change events depending on user interaction or programmatic changes.
<template>
<b-form-select
v-model="selected"
:options="{}"
@input="handleSelection('input', $event)"
@change="handleSelection('change', $event)"
/>
</template>
<script lang="ts">
import {
createComponent, SetupContext, Ref, ref, watch, computed,
} from '@vue/composition-api';
interface Props {
value?: string | number | boolean;
}
export default createComponent({
name: 'CustomSelect',
props: {
value: {
type: [String, Number, Boolean],
required: false, // Accepts null and undefined as well
},
},
setup(props: Props, context: SetupContext) {
// Create a Ref from prop, as two-way binding is allowed only with sync -modifier,
// with passing prop in parent and explicitly emitting update event on child:
// Ref: https://v2.vuejs.org/v2/guide/components-custom-events.html#sync-Modifier
// Ref: https://medium.com/@jithilmt/vue-js-2-two-way-data-binding-in-parent-and-child-components-1cd271c501ba
const selected: Ref<Props['value']> = ref(props.value);
const handleSelection = function emitUpdate(type: 'input' | 'change', value: Props['value']) {
// For sync -modifier where 'value' is the prop name
context.emit('update:value', value);
// For @input and/or @change event propagation
// @input emitted by the select component when value changed <programmatically>
// @change AND @input both emitted on <user interaction>
context.emit(type, value);
};
// Watch prop value change and assign to value 'selected' Ref
watch(() => props.value, (newValue: Props['value']) => {
selected.value = newValue;
});
return {
selected,
handleSelection,
};
},
});
</script>