Use Apollo to Manage the App's Local State

This is a three part tutorial series in which we will build a simple shopping cart app using React and Apollo Graphql. The idea is to build a table in which the user can choose which Rick and Morty action figures he wants to buy.

• Part 1: Creating an App using React and Apollo Graphql.
• Part 2: Use Apollo to manage the app's local state.
• Part 3: Unit Tests with Enzyme and Apollo Graphql

On this second part we will create and manage the local application state using the Apollo In Memory Cache. Our objective is to allow the user to choose how many action figures from the Rick and Morty show he wants to buy and display a checkout screen with the total price and the summary of the chosen items.

This tutorial builds on top of the code generated in the Part 1. You can get it here.

The complete code for the Part 2 is available in this repository and the website here: https://komyg.github.io/rm-shop-v2/.

Note: this tutorial assumes that you have a working knowledge of React and Typescript.

Getting Started

To begin, clone the repository that we used on the Part 1.

After you cloned the repository, run yarn install to download the necessary packages.

Creating a local schema

First we will create a local schema to extend the properties that we have on the Rick and Morty API and create new ones. To do this, create a new file called: local-schema.graphql inside the src folder and paste the code below:

type Query {
  shoppingCart: ShoppingCart!
}

type Mutation {
  increaseChosenQuantity(input: ChangeProductQuantity!): Boolean
  decreaseChosenQuantity(input: ChangeProductQuantity!): Boolean
}

extend type Character {
  chosenQuantity: Int!
  unitPrice: Int!
}

type ShoppingCart {
  id: ID!
  totalPrice: Int!
  numActionFigures: Int!
}

input ChangeProductQuantity {
  id: ID!
}

Here is the breakdown our local schema:

• As with all Graphql schemas we have the two basic types: Query and Mutation.
• Inside the Query type we added a shoppingCart query that will return a ShoppingCart object that is stored locally on the Apollo In Memory Cache.
• We also added two mutations: increaseChosenQuantity and decreaseChosenQuantity. Both will change the quantity the user has chosen for an action figure and update the shopping cart.
• We extended the Character type from the Rick and Morty API to add two extra fields: chosenQuantity and unitPrice that will only exist in our local state.
• We created an input type called ChangeProductQuantity that will be used inside the mutations. Note that we could send the characterId directly to the mutation, but we created the input type to illustrate its use. Also, a query or mutation can only accept a scalar or an input types as its arguments. They do not support regular types.

Note: the exclamation mark (!) at the end of the types, indicates that they are obligatory, therefore they cannot be null or undefined.

Updating the Grapqhql Codegen config file

Update the codegen.yml file to include the local schema we just created. We are also going to add the fragment matcher generator, so that we can use fragments on our queries and mutations.

overwrite: true
schema: "https://rickandmortyapi.com/graphql"
documents: "src/**/*.graphql"
generates:
  src/generated/graphql.tsx:
    schema: "./src/local-schema.graphql" # Local Schema
    plugins:
      - "typescript"
      - "typescript-operations"
      - "typescript-react-apollo"
      - "fragment-matcher"

    # Add this to use hooks:
    config:
      withHooks: true

  # Fragment Matcher
  src/generated/fragment-matcher.json:
    schema: "./src/local-schema.graphql"
    plugins:
      - "fragment-matcher"

Creating an initial state

When our application loads, it is good to initialize Apollo's InMemoryCache with an initial state based on our local schema. To do this, let's add the initLocalCache function to the config/apollo-local-cache.ts file:

export function initLocalCache() {
  localCache.writeData({
    data: {
      shoppingCart: {
        __typename: 'ShoppingCart',
        id: btoa('ShoppingCart:1'),
        totalPrice: 0,
        numActionFigures: 0,
      },
    },
  });
}

Here we are initializing the ShoppingCart objet with default values. Also note that we using an ID pattern of [Typename]:[ID] encoded in base 64. You can use this or any other pattern you like for the ID's as long as they are always unique.

Also note that it if we chose not to initialize the ShoppingCart object, it would be better to set it as null instead of leaving it as undefined. This is to avoid errors when running the readQuery function on the Apollo's InMemoryCache. If the object we are querying is undefined, then the readQuery will throw an error, but if it is null, then it will return null without throwing an exception.

Initializing the ShoppingCart to null would look like this:

// Don't forget that in this tutorial we want to have the shoppingCart initialized, so don't copy and paste the code below
export function initLocalCache() {
  localCache.writeData({
    data: {
      shoppingCart: null,
  });
}

Now lets call the initLocalCache function after the Apollo Client has been initialized in the config/apollo-client.ts file:

export const apolloClient = new ApolloClient({
  link: ApolloLink.from([errorLink, httpLink]),
  connectToDevTools: process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production',
  cache: localCache,
  assumeImmutableResults: true,
});

initLocalCache();

Creating resolvers

Resolvers are functions that will manage our local InMemoryCache, by reading data from it and writing data to it. If you are accustomed to Redux, the resolvers would be similar to the reducer functions, even though they are not required to be synchronous nor are the changes to the InMemoryCache required to be immutable, although we chose to use immutability in the Part 1 of this tutorial in return for performance improvements.

Type resolvers

Type resolvers are used to initialize the local fields of a remote type. In our case, we have extended the Character type with the chosenQuantity and unitPrice fields.

To start, create the src/resolvers folder. Then create the set-unit-price.resolver.ts file and copy the contents below:

import ApolloClient from 'apollo-client';
import { Character } from '../generated/graphql';
import { InMemoryCache } from 'apollo-cache-inmemory';

export default function setChosenQuantity(
  root: Character,
  variables: any,
  context: { cache: InMemoryCache; getCacheKey: any; client: ApolloClient<any> },
  info: any
) {
  switch (root.name) {
    case 'Rick Sanchez':
      return 10;

    case 'Morty Smith':
      return 10;

    default:
      return 5;
  }
}

This resolver will receive each character from the backend and assign it unit price based on the character's name.

Then, lets connect this resolver our client. To do this, create the file: config/apollo-resolvers.ts and paste the contents below:

import setUnitPrice from '../resolvers/set-unit-price.resolver';

export const localResolvers = {
  Character: {
    chosenQuantity: () => 0,
    unitPrice: setUnitPrice,
  },
};

Since the initial value for the chosenQuantity will always be 0, then we will just create a function that returns 0.

Then, add the localResolvers to our client config in: config/apollo-client.ts.

export const apolloClient = new ApolloClient({
  link: ApolloLink.from([errorLink, httpLink]),
  connectToDevTools: process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production',
  cache: localCache,
  assumeImmutableResults: true,
  resolvers: localResolvers,
});

initLocalCache();

Creating local queries

Now we can create a new query that will return the ShoppingCart object. To do this, create a new file called: graphql/get-shopping-cart.query.graphql and paste the contents below:

query GetShoppingCart {
  shoppingCart @client {
    id
    __typename
    totalPrice
    numActionFigures
  }
}

Now run the yarn gen-graphql command to generate its types. Notice that we can get the ShoppingCart without having to create a resolver, because the ShoppingCart object is a direct child of the root query.

Mutation resolvers

Now we are going to create mutations that will handle increasing and decreasing the quantity of a Character. First we should create a graphql file that will describe the mutation. Create the file: graphql/increase-chosen-quantity.mutation.graphql and paste the contents below:

mutation IncreaseChosenQuantity($input: ChangeProductQuantity!) {
  increaseChosenQuantity(input: $input) @client
}

Here we are using the @client annotation to indicate that this mutation should be ran locally on the InMemoryCache.

Also create another file: graphql/decrease-chosen-quantity.mutation.graphql and paste the contents below:

mutation DecreaseChosenQuantity($input: ChangeProductQuantity!) {
  decreaseChosenQuantity(input: $input) @client
}

Finally, let's also create a fragment that will be useful to retrieve a single Character directly from the cache. In Graphql a fragment is a pice of code that can be reused in queries and mutations. It can also be used to retrieve and update data directly in the Apollo's InMemoryCache without having to go through the root query.

This means that through the fragment below, we can get a single Character using its __typename and id.

Note: here we should have used the character(id: ID) query that is available in the graphql server, but I preferred to do this locally to demonstrate how it is done.

Create the graphql/character-data.fragment.graphql file:

fragment characterData on Character {
  id
  __typename
  name
  unitPrice @client
  chosenQuantity @client
}

Now run the Graphql Code Gen command to update our generated files: yarn gen-graphql. Then update the config/apollo-local-cache.ts with the fragment matcher:

import { InMemoryCache, IntrospectionFragmentMatcher } from 'apollo-cache-inmemory';
import introspectionQueryResultData from '../generated/fragment-matcher.json';

export const localCache = new InMemoryCache({
  fragmentMatcher: new IntrospectionFragmentMatcher({ introspectionQueryResultData }),
  freezeResults: true,
});

export function initLocalCache() {
  localCache.writeData({
    data: {
      shoppingCart: {
        __typename: 'ShoppingCart',
        id: btoa('ShoppingCart:1'),
        totalPrice: 0,
        numActionFigures: 0,
      },
    },
  });
}

Now let's create the resolvers themselves. First create the resolvers/increase-chosen-quantity.resolver.ts:

import ApolloClient from 'apollo-client';
import { InMemoryCache } from 'apollo-cache-inmemory';
import {
  CharacterDataFragment,
  CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
  IncreaseChosenQuantityMutationVariables,
  GetShoppingCartQuery,
  GetShoppingCartDocument,
} from '../generated/graphql';

export default function increaseChosenQuantity(
  root: any,
  variables: IncreaseChosenQuantityMutationVariables,
  context: { cache: InMemoryCache; getCacheKey: any; client: ApolloClient<any> },
  info: any
) {
  const character = getCharacterFromCache(variables.input.id, context.cache, context.getCacheKey);
  if (!character) {
    return false;
  }

  updateCharacter(character, context.cache, context.getCacheKey);
  updateShoppingCart(character, context.cache);

  return true;
}

function getCharacterFromCache(id: string, cache: InMemoryCache, getCacheKey: any) {
  return cache.readFragment<CharacterDataFragment>({
    fragment: CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
    id: getCacheKey({ id, __typename: 'Character' }),
  });
}

function updateCharacter(character: CharacterDataFragment, cache: InMemoryCache, getCacheKey: any) {
  cache.writeFragment<CharacterDataFragment>({
    fragment: CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
    id: getCacheKey({ id: character.id, __typename: 'Character' }),
    data: {
      ...character,
      chosenQuantity: character.chosenQuantity + 1,
    },
  });
}

function updateShoppingCart(character: CharacterDataFragment, cache: InMemoryCache) {
  const shoppingCart = getShoppingCart(cache);
  if (!shoppingCart) {
    return false;
  }

  cache.writeQuery<GetShoppingCartQuery>({
    query: GetShoppingCartDocument,
    data: {
      shoppingCart: {
        ...shoppingCart,
        numActionFigures: shoppingCart.numActionFigures + 1,
        totalPrice: shoppingCart.totalPrice + character.unitPrice,
      },
    },
  });
}

function getShoppingCart(cache: InMemoryCache) {
  const query = cache.readQuery<GetShoppingCartQuery>({
    query: GetShoppingCartDocument,
  });

  return query?.shoppingCart;
}

There is quite a bit happening here:

• First we have the getCharacterFromCache function that retrieves a Character from the cache using the CharacterData fragment. This way we can retrieve the character directly, instead of having to go through the root query.
• Then we have the updateCharacter function that increases the chosen quantity for this character by one. Notice that we are using the same CharacterData fragment to update the cache and that we are not updating the character directly, instead we are using the spread operator to update the cache with a copy of the original Character object. We've done this, because we decided to use immutable objects.
• Then we update the ShoppingCart, by using the GetShoppingCartQuery to get the current state of the ShoppingCart and update the number of chosen Characters and the total price. Here we can use a query to retrieve the ShoppingCart, because it is a child of the root query, so we can get it directly.
• When using fragments, we use the getCacheKey function to get an object's cache key. By default, the Apollo Client stores the data in a de-normalized fashion, so that we can use fragments and the cache key to access any object directly. Usually each cache key is composed as __typename:id, but it is a good practice to use the getCacheKey function in case you want to use a custom function to create the cache keys.
• Notice that we are using the readQuery function to retrieve the current state of the ShoppingCart. We can do this, because we have set the initial state for the shopping cart, however if we had not set it, then this function would throw an exception the first time it ran, because its result would be undefined. If you do not want to set a definite state for a cache object, then it is good to set its initial state as null, instead of leaving it as undefined. This way, when you execute the readQuery function it will not throw an exception.
• It is also worth mentioning, that we could use the client.query function instead of the cache.readQuery, this way we would not have to worry about the ShoppingCart being undefined, because the client.query function does not throw an error if the object it wants to retrieve is undefined. However the cache.readQuery is faster and it is also synchronous (which is useful in this context).
• It is also worth mentioning that whenever we write data to the InMemoryCache using either the writeQuery or the writeFragment functions, than only the fields that are specified in the query or the fragment are updated, all other fields are ignored. So we wouldn't be able to update a character's image by using the characterData fragment, because the image parameter is not specified on it.

Now we will create a new resolver to decrease a Character chosen quantity. Please create the file: resolvers/decrease-chosen-quantity.resolver.ts and copy and paste the contents below:

import ApolloClient from 'apollo-client';
import { InMemoryCache } from 'apollo-cache-inmemory';
import {
  CharacterDataFragment,
  CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
  IncreaseChosenQuantityMutationVariables,
  GetShoppingCartQuery,
  GetShoppingCartDocument,
} from '../generated/graphql';

export default function decreaseChosenQuantity(
  root: any,
  variables: IncreaseChosenQuantityMutationVariables,
  context: { cache: InMemoryCache; getCacheKey: any; client: ApolloClient<any> },
  info: any
) {
  const character = getCharacterFromCache(variables.input.id, context.cache, context.getCacheKey);
  if (!character) {
    return false;
  }

  updateCharacter(character, context.cache, context.getCacheKey);
  updateShoppingCart(character, context.cache);

  return true;
}

function getCharacterFromCache(id: string, cache: InMemoryCache, getCacheKey: any) {
  return cache.readFragment<CharacterDataFragment>({
    fragment: CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
    id: getCacheKey({ id, __typename: 'Character' }),
  });
}

function updateCharacter(character: CharacterDataFragment, cache: InMemoryCache, getCacheKey: any) {
  let quantity = character.chosenQuantity - 1;
  if (quantity < 0) {
    quantity = 0;
  }

  cache.writeFragment<CharacterDataFragment>({
    fragment: CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
    id: getCacheKey({ id: character.id, __typename: 'Character' }),
    data: {
      ...character,
      chosenQuantity: quantity,
    },
  });
}

function updateShoppingCart(character: CharacterDataFragment, cache: InMemoryCache) {
  const shoppingCart = getShoppingCart(cache);
  if (!shoppingCart) {
    return false;
  }

  let quantity = shoppingCart.numActionFigures - 1;
  if (quantity < 0) {
    quantity = 0;
  }

  let price = shoppingCart.totalPrice - character.unitPrice;
  if (price < 0) {
    price = 0;
  }

  cache.writeQuery<GetShoppingCartQuery>({
    query: GetShoppingCartDocument,
    data: {
      shoppingCart: {
        ...shoppingCart,
        numActionFigures: quantity,
        totalPrice: price,
      },
    },
  });
}

function getShoppingCart(cache: InMemoryCache) {
  const query = cache.readQuery<GetShoppingCartQuery>({
    query: GetShoppingCartDocument,
  });

  return query?.shoppingCart;
}

This resolver is very similar to the other one, with the exception that we do not allow the quantities and the total price to be less than 0.

Finally let's connect these two resolvers to the Apollo client, by updating the config/apollo-resolvers.ts file:

import setUnitPrice from '../resolvers/set-unit-price.resolver';
import increaseChosenQuantity from '../resolvers/increase-chosen-quantity.resolver';
import decreaseChosenQuantity from '../resolvers/decrease-chosen-quantity.resolver';

export const localResolvers = {
  Mutations: {
    increaseChosenQuantity,
    decreaseChosenQuantity,
  },
  Character: {
    chosenQuantity: () => 0,
    unitPrice: setUnitPrice,
  },
};

Query resolvers

Technically we won't be needing any query resolvers for this app, but I think that it might be useful to do an example. So we are going to create a resolver that will return the data available for a Character.

Note that in a real project we should use the character(id: ID) query that is already available from the server instead of creating a new query.

To begin, update the Query type in our local schema:

type Query {
  shoppingCart: ShoppingCart!
  getCharacter(id: ID!): Character
}

Now, create a new file called: graphql/get-character.query.graphql and paste the contents below:

query GetCharacter($id: ID!) {
  getCharacter(id: $id) @client {
    ...characterData
  }
}

Now re-generate the graphql files with the command: yarn gen-graphql.

For the resolver itself, create a new file called: resolvers/get-character.resolver.ts:

import { InMemoryCache } from 'apollo-cache-inmemory';
import ApolloClient from 'apollo-client';
import {
  CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
  CharacterDataFragment,
  GetCharacterQueryVariables,
} from '../generated/graphql';

export default function getCharacter(
  root: any,
  variables: GetCharacterQueryVariables,
  context: { cache: InMemoryCache; getCacheKey: any; client: ApolloClient<any> },
  info: any
) {
  return context.cache.readFragment<CharacterDataFragment>({
    fragment: CharacterDataFragmentDoc,
    id: context.getCacheKey({ id: variables.id, __typename: 'Character' }),
  });
}

Finally let's connect this new resolver to the Apollo client by updating the config/apollo-resolvers.ts file:

import setUnitPrice from '../resolvers/set-unit-price.resolver';
import increaseChosenQuantity from '../resolvers/increase-chosen-quantity.resolver';
import decreaseChosenQuantity from '../resolvers/decrease-chosen-quantity.resolver';
import getCharacter from '../resolvers/get-character.resolver';

export const localResolvers = {
  Query: {
    getCharacter,
  },
  Mutation: {
    increaseChosenQuantity,
    decreaseChosenQuantity,
  },
  Character: {
    chosenQuantity: () => 0,
    unitPrice: setUnitPrice,
  },
};

Updating our components

Now that we have created our mutations and resolvers we will update our components to use them. First let's update our GetCharactersQuery to include our new local fields. Open the graphql/get-characters.query.graphql file and paste the contents below:

query GetCharacters {
  characters {
    __typename
    results {
      id
      __typename
      name
      image
      species
      chosenQuantity @client
      unitPrice @client
      origin {
        id
        __typename
        name
      }
      location {
        id
        __typename
        name
      }
    }
  }
}

Here we added the chosenQuantity and unitPrice fields with the @client annotation to tell Apollo that these fields are used only on the client.

Don't forget to regenerate our graphql types by running the yarn gen-graphql command on your console.

Now let's update our table to add these new fields. First open the components/character-table/character-table.tsx file and add two more columns to our table, one for the unit price and the other for the chosen quantity:

// Display the data
return (
  <TableContainer component={Paper}>
    <Table>
      <TableHead>
        <TableRow>
          <TableCell>
            <strong>Name</strong>
          </TableCell>
          <TableCell>
            <strong>Species</strong>
          </TableCell>
          <TableCell>
            <strong>Origin</strong>
          </TableCell>
          <TableCell>
            <strong>Location</strong>
          </TableCell>
          <TableCell>
            <strong>Price</strong>
          </TableCell>
          <TableCell>
            <strong>Quantity</strong>
          </TableCell>
        </TableRow>
      </TableHead>
      <TableBody>
        {data.characters.results.map(character => (
          <CharacterData character={character} key={character?.id!} />
        ))}
      </TableBody>
    </Table>
  </TableContainer>
);
);

Now we are going to create a new component to handle the user's choices. First add the Material UI Icons package: yarn add @material-ui/icons. Then create the file: components/character-quantity/character-quantity.tsx and paste the contents below:

import React, { ReactElement, useCallback } from 'react';
import { Box, IconButton, Typography } from '@material-ui/core';
import ChevronLeftIcon from '@material-ui/icons/ChevronLeft';
import ChevronRightIcon from '@material-ui/icons/ChevronRight';
import {
  useIncreaseChosenQuantityMutation,
  useDecreaseChosenQuantityMutation,
} from '../../generated/graphql';

interface Props {
  characterId: string;
  chosenQuantity: number;
}

export default function CharacterQuantity(props: Props): ReactElement {
  // Mutation Hooks
  const [increaseQty] = useIncreaseChosenQuantityMutation({
    variables: { input: { id: props.characterId } },
  });
  const [decreaseQty] = useDecreaseChosenQuantityMutation();

  // Callbacks
  const onIncreaseQty = useCallback(() => {
    increaseQty();
  }, [increaseQty]);
  const onDecreaseQty = useCallback(() => {
    decreaseQty({ variables: { input: { id: props.characterId } } });
  }, [props.characterId, decreaseQty]);

  return (
    <Box display='flex' alignItems='center'>
      <IconButton color='primary' disabled={props.chosenQuantity <= 0} onClick={onDecreaseQty}>
        <ChevronLeftIcon />
      </IconButton>
      <Typography>{props.chosenQuantity}</Typography>
      <IconButton color='primary' onClick={onIncreaseQty}>
        <ChevronRightIcon />
      </IconButton>
    </Box>
  );
}

In this component we are using two hooks to instantiate our mutations and then we are using two callbacks to call them whenever the user clicks on the increase or decrease quantity buttons.

You will notice that we've set the input for the useIncreaseChosenQuantityMutation when it was first instantiated and that we've set the input for the useDecreaseChosenQuantityMutation on the callback. Both options will work in this context, but it is worth saying that the input defined on the first mutation is static, and the input defined on the second mutation is dynamic. So, if we were working with a form for example, then we should have chosen to set the mutation's input when it is called not when it is first instantiated, otherwise it will always be called with our form's initial values.

Also there is no need to call another query here to get the character's chosen quantity, because this value already comes from the query we made in the CharacterTable component and it will be automatically updated by Apollo and passed down to this component when we fire the mutations.

Now open the file: components/character-data/character-data.tsx and include our new fields:

export default function CharacterData(props: Props): ReactElement {
  const classes = useStyles();

  return (
    <TableRow>
      <TableCell className={classes.nameTableCell}>
        <Box>
          <img src={props.character?.image!} alt='' className={classes.characterImg} />
        </Box>
        <Typography variant='body2' className={classes.characterName}>
          {props.character?.name}
        </Typography>
      </TableCell>
      <TableCell>{props.character?.species}</TableCell>
      <TableCell>{props.character?.origin?.name}</TableCell>
      <TableCell>{props.character?.location?.name}</TableCell>
      <TableCell>{props.character?.unitPrice}</TableCell>
      <TableCell>
        <CharacterQuantity
          characterId={props.character?.id!}
          chosenQuantity={props.character?.chosenQuantity!}
        />
      </TableCell>
    </TableRow>
  );
}

Now run our project using the yarn start command. You should see the unit price we set for each character (Rick and Morty should have a higher price than the others) and you should be able to increase and decrease each character's chosen quantity.

The Shopping Cart

Now let's add a shopping cart component that will show the total price and the total number of action figures that were chosen by the user. To do this, create a new component: components/shopping-cart-btn/shopping-cart-btn.tsx and paste the content below:

import React, { ReactElement } from 'react';
import { Fab, Box, makeStyles, createStyles, Theme, Typography } from '@material-ui/core';
import { useGetShoppingCartQuery } from '../../generated/graphql';
import ShoppingCartIcon from '@material-ui/icons/ShoppingCart';

const useStyles = makeStyles((theme: Theme) =>
  createStyles({
    root: {
      position: 'fixed',
      bottom: theme.spacing(4),
    },
    quantityText: {
      position: 'absolute',
      top: '4px',
      left: '50px',
      color: 'white',
    },
    btnElement: {
      padding: theme.spacing(1),
    },
  })
);

export default function ShoppingCartBtn(): ReactElement {
  const classes = useStyles();
  const { data } = useGetShoppingCartQuery();

  if (!data || data.shoppingCart.numActionFigures <= 0) {
    return <Box className={classes.root} />;
  }

  return (
    <Box className={classes.root}>
      <Fab variant='extended' color='primary'>
        <Box>
          <ShoppingCartIcon className={classes.btnElement} />
          <Typography variant='caption' className={classes.quantityText}>
            {data.shoppingCart.numActionFigures}
          </Typography>
        </Box>

        <Typography className={classes.btnElement}>
          {formatPrice(data.shoppingCart.totalPrice)}
        </Typography>
      </Fab>
    </Box>
  );
}

function formatPrice(price: number) {
  return `US$ ${price.toFixed(2)}`;
}

In this component we are using the useGetShoppingCart query hook to get the number of action figures that the user selected and the total price. The state of the ShoppingCart is handled on the Apollo InMemoryCache and is updated whenever we increase or decrease the action figure's quantities by their respective resolvers. We are also hiding this component until the customer has chosen at least one action figure.

Notice that we didn't needed to create a resolver to get the shopping cart's state. That is because the shopping cart's state is available as a direct child of the root Query, therefore we can get it more easily.

Note: in a real project, this button would take the user to some kind of checkout screen in which he would be able to review and place his order.

Finally let's update our app component to contain our new button. To do this, open the components/app/app.tsx file and add the ShoppingCartBtn component:

export default function App(): ReactElement {
  const classes = useStyles();

  return (
    <Container className={classes.root}>
      <Box display='flex' justifyContent='center' alignContent='center'>
        <CharacterTable />
        <ShoppingCartBtn />
      </Box>
    </Container>
  );
}

Conclusion

If all goes well, when you run our app you should be able to increase and decrease the desired quantity of action figures and see the total number and total price of the chosen products.

Comments

[Peter Kellner]

You might want to put a note on top saying that Apollo is obsoleting local resolvers and removing them from the stack in the future.

[1awaleed]

Thanks a lot @felipe for the awesome article

I followed what you have done to the teeth but I used typePolicies instead of resolvers as peter noted

I need your help in a small question, If I need to overwrite a type in the remote scheme? what should I do?

For example, my remote schema has:
type foo{
bar: string
}

but I want to change that to

type foo{
bar: boolean
}

I am manipulating the result of this field in the read function of the typePolicy.

Thanks again for the awesome read. Been super helpful.

[Felipe Armoni]

Hi,

I am glad that the article was helpful! I do have to update it to Apollo v3, but I haven't had the time yet.

As for your question, I am not sure if you can overwrite a field that comes from your remote schema. Did you try to add the @client annotation on the field? Did that trigger your read function? If not, maybe you can try creating a resolver for this particular field.

We had a problem a little while ago, in which we had an object that did not have an ID field. We wanted to add it in the client so that we could use the readFragment and writeFragment functions from Apollo and optimize our data handling.

We tried to use a read function for this, but it wasn't working, so we had to create a custom resolver for it, even though we are using Apollo 3. I am not sure if this was because the ID field is a special one, since it is used in the cache denormalisation, but it was the recommendation that we received from the Apollo dev team.

Thanks,
Felipe

[1awaleed]

Thanks @felipe for your reply.

Adding @client should when I am using a value as a client local state but this is not what I am trying todo. Using @client works great. I am using the typePolicy read function to read a string field bar and returning either true or false. The functionality is working fine but typescript is complaining 😭 The remote type used here with introspection is string but I want to use it everywhere in the code as boolean. This is called scheme stitching (I think?)

Regarding your problem, I think the problem is with the ID but no worries, In apollo/client v3, Now you can set a function that defines & returns unique keys for specific types without the need for resolvers. You can read more about it here: apollographql.com/docs/react/cachi...

I have a small question regarding how you use readFragment and writeFragment.
does readFragment reads sibling fields of the same type? Another thing is what would happen if you read a field of an instance of an object that was never fetched before? does it crash or throw error or try to fetch that field?

So far, Apollo's experience have been great and I am already seeing a lot of benefits using it.

Thanks
A. Waleed

[Felipe Armoni]

Hi @1awaleed ,

Thanks for the tip regarding the ID. I will look into that.

As for your schema stiching problem, if you are using the Graphql Codegen, you could try to extend the remote object using something like this:

extend type Product {
  quantity: Int!
  isValid: Boolean!
}

But I have only used this to add extra fields to an existing type, not to override existing ones. On that subject, is it absolutely necessary to override the remote field? Can't you create a local boolean field that uses the remote one as a reference?

As for the readFragment and writeFragment question: yes, you use them with sibling fields and with any other type that has an ID and a __typename. For example:

{
  "productEdge": {
    "id": "UHJvZHVjdEVkZ2U6MQ==",
    "__typename": "ProductEdge",
    "edges": [
      {
        "node": {
          "id": "UHJvZHVjdDox",
          "__typename": "Product",
          "numericalId": 1,
          "name": "Product 1"
        }
      },
      {
        "node": {
          "id": "UHJvZHVjdDoy",
          "__typename": "Product",
          "numericalId": 2,
          "name": "Product 2"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

You can read and write the products above like this:

const productFragment = gql`
  fragment product on Product {
    numericalId
    name
  }
`

const product1 = client.readFragment({ fragment: productFragment, id: 'Product:UHJvZHVjdDox' });
const product2 = client.readFragment({ fragment: productFragment, id: 'Product:UHJvZHVjdDoy' });

client.writeFragment({ fragment: productFragment, id: 'Product:UHJvZHVjdDox', data: { ...product2, name: 'new name' } });

So you can read and write to sibling fields using readFragment and writeFragment, but since you have to pass the ID of the object you want, you can only read and write to one at the time.

If you want to change two or more siblings at the same time, I would recommend using either using a query or a fragment that retrieves a higher level element, for example:

const productQuery = gql`
  query ProductQuery {
    productsEdge {
      edges {
        node {
          numericalId
          name
        }
      }
    }
  }
`;

const productsFragment = gql`
  fragment products on ProductEdge {
    edges {
      node {
        numericalId
        name
      }
    }
  }
`;

I hope this answers you question.

Thanks,
Felipe

[1awaleed]

Thanks a lot @ Felipe, you have been helped a lot.