Language selector menu for React

A flexible language selector component for React, where you can change the format and the look with many options. The actual state is stored in a context, whose value can be used in other parts of the project.
Part of the @kekalma component family.

Usage examples

The following simple code example demonstrates the use of the language selector, with separate (optional) context and an event handler function.
You should use at least one of context or onLanguageChange properties.

App.tsx

The <LanguageSelector> component can be placed into an <ul> element, as it produces a list item.

import React,{useState} from 'react'
import {LanguageSelector as Language, emptyLanguage} from '@kekalma/language-selector'
import type { languageType } from '@kekalma/language-selector'
import { languageContext } from './context'
import Info from './Info'
import { languages } from './languageList'

export default function App() {
  const [selectedLanguage, setSelectedLanguage] = useState<languageType>(emptyLanguage);
  const changeHandler = (newLang: languageType, oldLang: languageType) => {
    console.log("The language has been changed: ", oldLang.name, " -> ", newLang.flag)
  }
  return (
    <languageContext.Provider value={{language: selectedLanguage, setLanguage: setSelectedLanguage}}>
    <Info context={languageContext}/>
    <ul>
      <Language
          languages={languages}
          selectedLanguageFlag="us"   
          context={languageContext}
          onLanguageChange={changeHandler}
      />
    </ul>
      <Info/>
    </languageContext.Provider>
  )
}

languageList.ts

import React from 'react'
import type { languageType } from '@kekalma/language-selector'

export const languages: languageType[] = [
  { "code": "hu","name": "Hungarian" },
  { "code": "de","name": "German" },
  { "code": "en","name": "US English","flag": "us" },
  { "code": "en","name": "British English","flag": "gb" },
  { "code": "fr","name": "French" }
]

Note the use of the 'flag' property. It is only necessary, if the same language may be used with a different flag from country to country. The flag is the key, it should be unique!

context.ts

import React, {createContext} from 'react'
import type {languageType, languageContextType } from '@kekalma/language-selector'
import {emptyLanguage } from '@kekalma/language-selector'

export const languageContext = createContext<languageContextType>({
  language: emptyLanguage,
  setLanguage: (value: languageType):void =>{}
})

info.tsx

In this component you get an example, how to use the value from the context.

import React, {useContext} from 'react'
import { languageContext } from './context'
import {languageContextType} from '@kekalma/language-selector'

type myProps = { context: React.Context<languageContextType> }

export default function Info(props : myProps) {
  const { language : selectedLanguage } = useContext(props.context)
  return (
    <span style={{margin: "0 5px"}}>Selected language: {selectedLanguage.name} ({selectedLanguage.code}_{selectedLanguage.flag})</span>
  )
}

The currently selected value is stored in the following format (languageType):

{
  code: string,   // ISO language code (2 chars)
  name: string,   // Language name
  flag: string    // Flag code (2 chars)
}

Property parameters

Only the bold properties are obligatory, all others are optional, but you should use one of context or onLanguageChange.

property	format	Description
languages	languageType[ ]	(Required) The JSON list of the languages, defined in the example file above.
selectedLanguageFlag	flagCodeType	The initialy selected language. Default: first item. flagCodeType: The string literal values of useable flag codes.
context	React.Context <languageContextType>	Required. The context, to store the state and the handler. See the above example for the format.
onLanguageChange	Function (newLanguage: languageType, oldLanguage: languageType)	The callback function for the change event. It is called with two parameters, holding the new and the old language objects.
titleFormat	string	A definition of the freely formatted label text, put together with \|Flag\| \|Name\| \|Code\| \|FlagCode\| placeholder, where Flag represents the flag icon.
menuFormat	string	- same as the above -
align	left - left aligned right - right aligned center - centered auto - automaticaly aligned right if it is the last item in the list center auto - center aligned, but automaticaly aligned right if it is the last item in the list
format	dropdown : classic dropdown menu dropdown-ordered : dropdown, but the currently selected item is not listed flat : the selectable items appear in a row, under the title flat-reverse : same as the previous, but right aligned linear : the items are shown permanently in a row linear-ordered : same as before, but the selected item comes first in the list horizontal : same as the previous, but the list is shown only upon hover horizontal-reverse : same as the previous, but right aligned
titleFont	string	CSS font type, like "1rem bold Verdana"
titleFontColor	string	CSS font color, like "#11F"
titleFontColorHover	string	CSS font color during hover
titleBgColor	string	CSS background color
titleBgColorHover	string	CSS background color during hover
titleFlagSize	number	The size of the flag icon in pixels (without any dimension)
menuFont	string	CSS font type for the menu items
menuFontColor	string	CSS font color
menuFontColorHover	string	CSS font color during hover
menuFontColorSelected	string	CSS font color of the currently selected item
menuBgColor	string	CSS background color for the menu items
menuBgColorHover	string	CSS background color for the menu items during hover
menuBgColorSelected	string	CSS background color for the currently selected menu item
menuFlagSize	number	The size of the flag icon in pixels (without any dimension)
menuStyleSelected	CSSProperties	Inline CSS definition for the currently selected menu item
titleStyle	CSSProperties	Inline CSS definition for the title
menuStyle	CSSProperties	Inline CSS definition for the list items
style	CSSProperties	Global inline CSS definiton object

Exported items:

exported item	type	description
languageProps	type	All the properties listed above.
languageContextType	type	Context type definition.
languageType	type	Type holding the language properties: code, name, flag.
flagCodeType	type	The string literal values of useable flag codes.
emptyLanguage	object	The type languageType with empty values.
getLanguageByCode	function	Usage: getLanguageByCode(languages: languageType[], code: flagCodeType): languageType Input: Use the array from props.languages and the 2 character language or flag ISO code as flagCodeType. Return: An object of type languageType or if the code is not found, the emptyLanguage.

Format examples with property code samples:

dropdown:

titleFormat="|Flag| |Name|"
menuFormat="|Flag| |Name| (|Code|_|FlagCode|)"
format="dropdown"
align="left"

dropdown-ordered:

titleFormat="|Flag| |Name|"
menuFormat="|Flag| |Name|"
format="dropdown-ordered"

flat:

titleFormat="|Flag| |Name|"
menuFormat="|Flag| |Name|"
format="flat"

titleFormat="|Flag| |Name|"
menuFormat="|Flag| |Name|"
format="flat-reverse"
align="right"

titleFormat="|Flag| |Name|"
menuFormat="|Flag| |Name|"
format="flat"
align="center"

linear:

titleFormat="|Flag| |Name|"
menuFormat="|Flag| |Name|"
format="linear-ordered"

---

## __`Changelog:`__

Version	What's new, description
1.0.0	First official, working release.
1.0.1	Exporting the function getLanguageByCode and the type flagCodeType

License

MIT © kissato70

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