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How to dynamically add items to option in select tag (dropdown) in React

I am making a dynamic form component which takes input from the user and stores it in JSON format and then creates a form for the end-user. I have to dynamically add values to select tag options but one error is coming TypeError: data.emplist is not iterable

const addNewEmp=()=>{
      61 |     setEmpList((data)=>({
      62 |         inputValue: '',
    > 63 |         emplist: [
         | ^  64 |             ...data.emplist,
      65 |             {
      66 |                 empName: data.inputValue

I have done several changes but cant figure out whats wrong. My code Below

import React, { useState } from 'react'

const Select = () => {
    const [inputValue,setInputValue] = useState('')
    const [emplist, setEmpList] = useState([
        {
            empName: '---Select---'
        }
    ]);


  const  addNewEmp=()=>{
      setEmpList((data)=>({
          inputValue: '',
          emplist: [
              ...data.emplist,
              {
                  empName: data.inputValue
              }
          ]
      }))
  }

      let empRecords = emplist.map((data) => {
        return <option>{data.empName}</option>;
      });

    return (
      <>
       
        <input
          type="text"
          placeholder="add options"
          onChange={(e)=> setInputValue(e.target.value)}
        />
         <button onClick={addNewEmp}>Add +</button>
        <br />
         <select>{empRecords}</select>
         {inputValue}
       
      </>
    );
}

export default Select
about 4 years ago · Juan Pablo Isaza
3 answers
Answer question

0

You addEmpList function is overriding the old value of your empList which started as an Array with an Object. This is why you are getting this error because after you add a new item you cannot iterate over it anymore since Object do not have a definition of the Symbol.iterator as the Array does. Meaning you cannot iterate over an object.

If you want to dynamically add a new item to a select in React as stated in your question, you should be storing the result of your input change in a state, and whenever you need to (like a form submit), you can add this item in an array of items that will contain the dynamic options that will get rendered by React whenever this state change.

import React, {useState, useCallback} from "react";

const Select = () => {
  const [options, setOptions] = useState([]);
  const [text, setText] = useState("");
  const [value, setValue] = useState("");

  const handleTextChange = useCallback(changeEvent => {
    setText(changeEvent.currentTarget.value);
  }, [setText]);

  const handleValueChange = useCallback(changeEvent => {
    setValue(changeEvent.currentTarget.value);
  }, [setValue]);

  const handleSubmit = useCallback(submitEvent => {
    submitEvent.preventDefault();

    setOptions([
      ...options,
      {
        key: window.crypto.randomUUID(),
        text,
        value
      }
    ]);
  }, [text, value, options, setOptions]);

  return (
    <>
      <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
        <div>
          <label htmlFor="text">
            Text
          </label>
          <input id="text" type="text" value={text} onChange={handleTextChange} />
        </div>
        <div>
          <label htmlFor="value">
            Value
          </label>
          <input id="value" type="text" value={value} onChange={handleValueChange} />
        </div>
        <button type="submit">
          Add
        </button>
      </form>
      <select>
        {options.map(currentOption => (
          <option key={currentOption.key} value={currentOption.value}>
            {currentOption.text}
          </option>
        ))}
      </select>
    </>
  );
};

export default Select;
about 4 years ago · Juan Pablo Isaza Report

0

No need to write data.emplist or data.inputValue, you can directly access those things

setEmpList((data)=>({
      inputValue: '',
      emplist: [
          ...emplist,
          {
              empName: inputValue
          }
      ]
  }))
about 4 years ago · Juan Pablo Isaza Report

0

Answer

import React, {useState } from "react";
    
    const Select = () => {
      const [inputValue, setInputValue] = useState("");
    
      const [emplist, setEmpList] = useState([]);
    
      let empRecords =
        emplist.length > 0 &&
        emplist.map((data) => {
          return (
            <option value={data.empName} key={data.empName}>
              {data.empName}
            </option>
          );
        });
    
      const addNewEmp = () => {
        const addItems = {
          empName: inputValue,
          value: inputValue,
        };
    
        const addEmp = [...emplist];
        addEmp.push(addItems);
        setEmpList(addEmp);
      };
    
      return (
        <>
          <input
            type="text"
            placeholder="add options"
            onChange={(e)=> setInputValue(e.target.value)}
          />
          <button onClick={addNewEmp}>Add +</button>
          <br />
          <select>{empRecords}</select>
          {inputValue}
        </>
      );
    };
    
    export default Select;
about 4 years ago · Juan Pablo Isaza Report
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