ReactJs: What should the PropTypes be for this.props.children?

d3ming picture d3ming · Feb 8, 2017 · Viewed 115.1k times · Source

Given a simple component that renders its children:

class ContainerComponent extends Component {
  static propTypes = {
    children: PropTypes.object.isRequired,
  }

  render() {
    return (
      <div>
        {this.props.children}
      </div>
    );
  }
}

export default ContainerComponent;

Question: What should the propType of the children prop be?

When I set it as an object, it fails when I use the component with multiple children:

<ContainerComponent>
  <div>1</div>
  <div>2</div>
</ContainerComponent>

Warning: Failed prop type: Invalid prop children of type array supplied to ContainerComponent, expected object.

If I set it as an array, it will fail if I give it only one child, i.e.:

<ContainerComponent>
  <div>1</div>
</ContainerComponent>

Warning: Failed prop type: Invalid prop children of type object supplied to ContainerComponent, expected array.

Please advise, should I just not bother doing a propTypes check for children elements?

Answer

Alexander Staroselsky picture Alexander Staroselsky · Feb 8, 2017

Try something like this utilizing oneOfType or PropTypes.node

import PropTypes from 'prop-types'

...

static propTypes = {
    children: PropTypes.oneOfType([
        PropTypes.arrayOf(PropTypes.node),
        PropTypes.node
    ]).isRequired
}

or

static propTypes = {
    children: PropTypes.node.isRequired,
}