A Beginner's Guide to React Table: Getting Started with Basic Features
React Table is a powerful library for building tables in React applications. With its extensive feature set and customizable options, React Table is an excellent choice for developers looking to create interactive and dynamic tables.
In this beginner's guide to React Table, we'll cover the basics of getting started with React Table and some of its essential features. We'll go over how to install and set up React Table, create a basic table, and add features like sorting, filtering, and pagination.
Getting Started with React Table
Before we dive into the details of React Table, let's go over how to install and set up React Table in your React application.
To install React Table, you can use npm or yarn. Open up your terminal and type:Â
css
npm install react-table
or
sql
yarn add react-table
Once React Table is installed, you can import it in your component:Â
javascript
import ReactTable from 'react-table';
import 'react-table/react-table.css';
Now that we've installed React Table let's create a basic table.
Creating a Basic Table
To create a basic table, we'll first create an array of data that we want to display. For example, let's create an array of users with their names, ages, and countries:
javascript
const data = [
  { name: 'John', age: 30, country: 'USA' },
  { name: 'Jane', age: 25, country: 'Canada' },
  { name: 'Bob', age: 40, country: 'Mexico' },
  { name: 'Alice', age: 35, country: 'France' },
];
Now, we can create our React Table component and pass in our data:
javascript
Copy code
function BasicTable() {
  return (
<ReactTable data={data} />
  );
}
This will render a basic table with our data.
Adding Sorting
One of the most useful features of React Table is sorting. Sorting allows us to order our table data by a particular column.
To add sorting to our table, we'll need to specify which column(s) we want to make sortable. We can do this by passing in a columns array to our React Table component.
javascript
const columns = [
  {
Header: 'Name',
accessor: 'name',
  },
  {
Header: 'Age',
accessor: 'age',
  },
  {
Header: 'Country',
accessor: 'country',
  },
];
function SortingTable() {
  return (
<ReactTable data={data} columns={columns} />
  );
}
By default, columns are not sortable. To make a column sortable, we can set the sortable property to true:
javascript
const columns = [
  {
Header: 'Name',
accessor: 'name',
sortable: true,
  },
  {
Header: 'Age',
accessor: 'age',
sortable: true,
  },
  {
Header: 'Country',
accessor: 'country',
sortable: true,
  },
];
This will add a clickable arrow icon to the column header, indicating that the column is sortable.
Adding Filtering
In addition to sorting, React Table also supports filtering. Filtering allows us to search for specific data in our table.
To add filtering to our table, we'll need to add a filter property to our columns. We can use the built-in filter types or create our own custom filters.
javascript
const columns = [
  {
Header: 'Name',
accessor: 'name',
filterable: true,
  },
  {
Header: 'Age',
accessor: 'age',
filterable: true,
  },
Conclusion
React Table is a powerful library for building tables in React applications. With its extensive feature set and customizable options, it provides developers with a flexible and efficient way to display large amounts of data in an interactive and dynamic way.
In this beginner's guide to React Table, we've covered the basics of getting started with React Table and some of its essential features, including creating a basic table, adding sorting, filtering, and pagination.
React Table is highly customizable, and we can easily add our own custom filters, pagination controls, and other features to meet our specific needs. By understanding the basics of React Table, we can create robust and efficient tables that provide our users with a fast and responsive experience.
As we continue to explore React Table and its many features, we can create more advanced and sophisticated tables that provide our users with a seamless and intuitive experience, ultimately making our React applications more powerful and useful.
For more information check out this React Data Table blog from CopyCat.