Tabs and ContextProviders

[LechK]

We're using the Paste Tabs component to create a tabbed interface within a Twilio Flex Custom View. Our goal is to have each tab panel wrapped in its own provider to manage the data and functionality specific to that tab. Here's the setup example We have implemented:

const DirectoryTabs: FC = () => ( <Tabs baseId="id"> <TabList aria-label="TabList"> <Tab id="tab1">Agents</Tab> <Tab id="tab2">Queues</Tab> </TabList> <TabPanels> <AgentsTab id="panel1" /> <RTSProvider> <InternalQueuesTab id="panel2" /> </RTSProvider> </TabPanels> </Tabs> );

Issue Description
Expected Behavior: We expect that the RTSProvider (Real-Time Statistics Provider) should only be active and influence the data and behavior of the QueuesTab when it is selected. Ideally, this means that the provider's functionality is isolated to the specific tab panel it wraps, ensuring that resources are used efficiently, and irrelevant data fetching or updates are minimized.

Actual Behavior: Despite our expectation, we've observed that the RTSProvider is active regardless of which tab is selected. This means that even when the AgentsTab is the active view, the RTSProvider associated with the QueuesTab is still active and performing its functions (e.g., fetching data, updating statistics). This behavior suggests that the entire Tabs component is treated as a single entity in terms of React component rendering and state management, leading to potential inefficiency and unnecessary data processing.

Question
Is this behavior — where the provider is active across all tabs, regardless of which tab is selected — expected with the current implementation of the Paste Tabs component in Twilio Flex Custom Views? If so, should an alternative approach be considered to isolate each tab panel's data management and functionality more effectively?

Or it would be better to switch to another components, which would fulfill our needs?

[dosubot[bot]]

🤖

Hello @LechK! 👋 I'm Dosu, a friendly bot here to assist you with bugs, answer your questions, and guide you on becoming a contributor while you wait for a human maintainer. I'm diving into your issue regarding Tabs and ContextProviders in the Paste design system to provide a detailed response shortly. Let's solve this together!

[TwilioPasteBot]

Disclaimer: This is a very experimental bot using OpenAI's GPT-4. The answers may not be correct, a human will review the answer and update it if necessary.

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Sorry, I don't know how to help with that.

I did do a search though, and I managed to find these other Discussions that might be similar or related to your question. Give them a read to see if they answer your question. If they do, head back here and update this discussion and mark it as answered, pointing others to the related discussion:

• Tab API Issues (updated: 06/30/2022, similarity score: 85%)
• Tab Component Like Code Editor Tabs (updated: 08/24/2022, similarity score: 84%)
• Responsive tabs and accessible alternatives (updated: 10/09/2023, similarity score: 84%)

[dosubot[bot]]

🤖

Based on the information provided, it seems like the behavior you're experiencing is due to how React handles context providers and the lifecycle of components. When a context provider is used, it becomes part of the React component tree and its lifecycle is managed by React. This means that even if the component it wraps (in this case, the InternalQueuesTab) is not currently visible due to the tab selection, the provider itself is still part of the component tree and remains active.

The Paste Tabs component does not unmount inactive tabs. Instead, it hides them using CSS. This means that all child components of the Tabs component, including any context providers, remain mounted and active regardless of the tab selection.

If you want to ensure that the RTSProvider is only active when the QueuesTab is selected, you might need to manage this state yourself. One possible approach could be to use the useState and useEffect hooks in your component to control when the RTSProvider is active based on the tab selection.

Here's a rough example of how you might do this:

const [activeTab, setActiveTab] = useState('tab1');

useEffect(() => {
  if (activeTab === 'tab2') {
    // Activate RTSProvider
  } else {
    // Deactivate RTSProvider
  }
}, [activeTab]);

return (
  <Tabs baseId="id" onChange={setActiveTab}>
    <TabList aria-label="TabList">
      <Tab id="tab1">Agents</Tab>
      <Tab id="tab2">Queues</Tab>
    </TabList>
    <TabPanels>
      <AgentsTab id="panel1" />
      {activeTab === 'tab2' && (
        <RTSProvider>
          <InternalQueuesTab id="panel2" />
        </RTSProvider>
      )}
    </TabPanels>
  </Tabs>
);

In this example, the RTSProvider is only rendered when the QueuesTab is selected. When the AgentsTab is selected, the RTSProvider is unmounted and its state is reset.

Please note that this is a simplified example and you might need to adjust it based on your specific use case and the implementation of your RTSProvider.

I hope this helps! If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

Sources

• packages/paste-core/components/tabs/src/Tab.tsx

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[TheSisb]

Hi @LechK,

A possible solution would be to move the provider inside the InternalQueuesTab component. If that doesn't work, could you provide a reproduction on Codesandbox please so I can test it out?

Thanks!

[TheSisb]

The response from Dosubot may actually be the answer as well