How to integrate Reactjs frontend with php codeigniter application on apache server?
The CodeIgniter application was developed much earlier without plans to integrate ReactJS at that time. A later requirement was added to integrate another ReactJS project with this backend and replace the current frontend (views).
The CodeIgniter application is not done as a RESTful API. The .php view files could not be replaced with .js files of the reactjs app as the server is Apache. Running a nodejs server would not render the CodeIgniter views.
Bootstrap, jquery, and simple javascript can be included within the view of the CodeIgniter application. But is it possible to replace the PHP view files in CodeIgniter with javascript files?
Answer
The PHP view files do not need to be replaced with js files. JavaScript can easily be added to PHP files using <script> tags. Below is the Add React in One Minute demo in a CodeIgniter app.
To integrate the React demo into CodeIgniter start with a simple controller - React.php
<?php
defined('BASEPATH') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');
class React extends CI_Controller
{
public function index()
{
$this->load->view('react_view');
}
}
The "view" file is straight from the React demo but it's put in a .php file instead of .html.
The only change made to the demo code is in the script tag at the bottom of the page. My assets folder is on the same level as CodeIgniter's /application folder. There are subfolders in assets for css, js, and images.
/public_html
/application
/system
/assets
/js
/css
/img
So I've changed the src for the tag that loads like_button.js to work with my file layout.
The "view" file react_view.php
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<title>Add React in One Minute</title>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Add React in One Minute</h2>
<p>This page demonstrates using React with no build tooling.</p>
<p>React is loaded as a script tag.</p>
<p>
This is the first comment.
<!-- We will put our React component inside this div. -->
<div class="like_button_container" data-commentid="1"></div>
</p>
<p>
This is the second comment.
<!-- We will put our React component inside this div. -->
<div class="like_button_container" data-commentid="2"></div>
</p>
<p>
This is the third comment.
<!-- We will put our React component inside this div. -->
<div class="like_button_container" data-commentid="3"></div>
</p>
<!-- Load React. -->
<!-- Note: when deploying, replace "development.js" with "production.min.js". -->
<script src="https://unpkg.com/react@16/umd/react.development.js" crossorigin></script>
<script src="https://unpkg.com/react-dom@16/umd/react-dom.development.js" crossorigin></script>
<!-- Load our React component. -->
<script src="assets/js/like_button.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
/assets/js/like_button.js
'use strict';
const e = React.createElement;
class LikeButton extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = { liked: false };
}
render() {
if (this.state.liked) {
return 'You liked comment number ' + this.props.commentID;
}
return e(
'button',
{ onClick: () => this.setState({ liked: true }) },
'Like'
);
}
}
// Find all DOM containers, and render Like buttons into them.
document.querySelectorAll('.like_button_container')
.forEach(domContainer => {
// Read the comment ID from a data-* attribute.
const commentID = parseInt(domContainer.dataset.commentid, 10);
ReactDOM.render(
e(LikeButton, { commentID: commentID }),
domContainer
);
});