redux-idle-callback

Redux middleware that queues an action to be dispatched during the Redux store's idle periods.

Motivation

In a single-page application, accurately reporting a page load when modules are being loaded on to the page asynchronously can be hard. A timeout could be used to report the page load after an arbitrary time, but in large applications, that solution is unreliable as each page has their own requirements. redux-idle-callback will flag when your Redux store has been idle for a certain amount of time. If an application ties the modules' loading state to a Redux store, redux-idle-callback can flag when the page is done loading, because the store will have an idle period once all the modules are done loading.

redux-idle-callback vs requestIdleCallback

requestIdleCallback will wait until the browser is idle to call its callback function. redux-idle-callback will wait until the Redux store is idle to dispatch an action. Both of these are similar in that they wait for idle periods to run less important work. However, requestIdleCallback is limited by browser whereas redux-idle-callback can only be used with applications that use Redux.

Installation

npm i --save redux-idle-callback

Usage:

  import { createStore, applyMiddleware } from 'redux';
  import createIdleMiddleware from 'redux-idle-callback';
  import reducer from './reducer';
 
  const store = createStore(
    reducer,
    applyMiddleware(createIdleMiddleware())
  );
 

createIdleMiddleware

createIdleMiddleware will setup the conditions for when or how often you want the idle state to be reported. By default, createIdleMiddleware returns middleware that will stop polling for idleness after dispatching its first idle action.

const myActionCreator = () => ({ type: 'STORE_IS_IDLE' });

createIdleMiddleware({ idleTime: 500, intervalTime: 100, alwaysOn: false, idleAction: myActionCreator });

Parameters

Param	Type	Description
idleTime	number	The amount of time idle before we dispatch an IS_IDLE or actionIdle action. Defaults to 500 ms.
intervalTime	number	How often we poll for idleness. Defaults to polling every 100 ms.
alwaysOn	boolean	Option to continually check for idleness without ever stopping.
idleAction	function/object	Action creator/action that will be dispatched instead of IS_IDLE when idle.

Return Value

Returns a middleware that can be used with your redux store with the specific options.

IS_IDLE

IS_IDLE is the action type dispatched by the middleware. You can add this to your reducer.

  import { IS_IDLE } from 'redux-idle-callback';
 
  const reducer = (state, action) => {
    switch(action.type) {
      case IS_IDLE: {
        /* Do something when idle  */
      }
    }
  };

START_IDLE

START_IDLE is the action type the middleware listens for in order to restart polling for idleness. You can add this to your reducer.

  import { START_IDLE } from 'redux-idle-callback';
 
  const reducer = (state, action) => {
    switch(action.type) {
      case START_IDLE: {
        /* Do something when polling has restarted  */
      }
    }
  };

startIdle

startIdle creates an action that, when dispatched, will restart polling for idleness. If alwaysOn is true, this will not start another instance of setInterval.

  import { startIdle } from 'redux-idle-callback';
 
  (dispatch) => {
    dispatch(startIdle);
  };

Return Value

Returns a action that, when dispatched, will restart polling for idleness.

Tips

alwaysOn is not recommended, as having a setInterval poll continuously can impact performance.

Contributing

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Please feel free to open pull requests and see CONTRIBUTING.md for commit formatting details.

License

Any contributions made under this project will be governed by the Apache License 2.0.

Code of Conduct

This project adheres to the American Express Community Guidelines. By participating, you are expected to honor these guidelines.