I have the issue that I have an `Input` which on recomposition doesn't update the UI with the latest...

# compose-web

[Arjan van Wieringen]

I have the issue that I have an Input which on recomposition doesn't update the UI with the latest value, but it is visible in the DOM tree. The code is a bit like this

@Composable fun EditableTitle(value: String, onInputChange: (String) -> Unit = {}) {
    var editMode by remember { mutableStateOf(false) }
    val nativeElement = remember { mutableStateOf<HTMLInputElement?>(null) }

    // I need to use this as a hack to overwrite the value so that it works
    LaunchedEffect(value) {
        nativeElement.value?.value = value
    }

    LaunchedEffect(editMode, nativeElement.value) {
        when {
            editMode -> nativeElement.value?.select()
            !editMode && nativeElement.value != null -> {
                nativeElement.value?.value?.also(onInputChange)
                nativeElement.value?.blur()
            }
        }
    }

    Input(InputType.Text) {
        placeholder("Enter list name...")
        defaultValue(value) // when I use value(value) it blocks my UI
        refState(nativeElement) // this one uses DisposableEffect to fetch the nativeElement

        if (editMode && evt.key == "Enter") {
            editMode = false
        }
    }
}

I do some stuff with some other state variables to make it more UI friendly. The value parameter can be updated externally as well and when it has been modified at least once in the above Composable, the UI doesn't update if the input value into the composable is changed. When I use the LaunchedEffect(value) it works. Is this logical?

[Oleksandr Karpovich [JB]]

defaultValue sets only the initial value of the input. Subsequent changes of defaultValue won't do anything.
Ideally, no LaunchedEffect(value) should be needed and using value should not block the UI.

Do you have a minimal reproducer when value(value) leads to UI freeze?

[Arjan van Wieringen]

Since it is a very basic use case the most obvious thing will be that I am being dumb. So I will create a minimal example and hopefully prove otherwise

[Arjan van Wieringen]

Okay, so I've reduced to this:

fun main() {
    renderComposable("root") {
        MySimpleInput("Foo")
    }
}

@Composable fun MySimpleInput(
    value: String,
) {
    Input(InputType.Text) {
        value(value)
    }
}

I can't type anything in the input.

[Arjan van Wieringen]

When I remove value(value) I can type.

[Arjan van Wieringen]

And this works:
attr("value", value)

[Arjan van Wieringen]

Looking in the source:

fun defaultValue(value: Number): InputAttrsScope<ValueType> {
        attr("value", value.toString())
        return this
    }

I don't know what to say.....

[hfhbd]

Do you want to update the value? Then you need a mutableState

[Arjan van Wieringen]

Yes of course I want that, but I still would need to use value somehow right? So how would I do that then? Because even a minimal example freezes my input element.

[Arjan van Wieringen]

prop({ el: HTMLInputElement, v: String -> el.value = v}, value)

This also works

[hfhbd]

This should work:

fun main() {
    renderComposable("root") {
        var input by remember { mutableStateOf("Foo") }
        MySimpleInput(input) { input = it }
    }
}

@Composable fun MySimpleInput(
    value: String,
    onInput: (String) -> Unit
) {
    Input(InputType.Text) {
        value(value)
        onInput { onInput(it.value) }
    }
}

[Arjan van Wieringen]

You're right. But it got me totally confused, because it is subtlety different than Angular / React. For me it doesn't make sense that input-changes are not even registered when I don't update the mutableInput again. You know what I mean?

[hfhbd]

Yeah, you need to update the state manually. You could use the inputs uncontrolled, but this is not the (preferred) way. The android docs cover this topics deeply: https://developer.android.com/jetpack/compose/mental-model

[Arjan van Wieringen]

Thanks a lot for helping again 🙂

[Arjan van Wieringen]

I see now that this case is exactly described here:
https://github.com/JetBrains/compose-jb/blob/master/tutorials/Web/Controlled_Uncontrolled_Inputs/README.md