IBM App Configuration React Client SDK

IBM Cloud App Configuration React Client SDK is used to perform feature flag and property evaluation in web applications based on the configuration on IBM Cloud App Configuration service.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Installation
• Initialize SDK
• License

Overview

IBM Cloud App Configuration is a centralized feature management and configuration service on IBM Cloud for use with web and mobile applications, microservices, and distributed environments.

Instrument your web applications with App Configuration React Client SDK, and use the App Configuration dashboard, CLI or API to define feature flags or properties, organized into collections and targeted to segments. Toggle feature flag states in the cloud to activate or deactivate features in your application or environment, when required. You can also manage the properties for distributed applications centrally.

Compatibility

The SDK is compatible with React version 16.8.0 and higher. This SDK builds on App Configuration JavaScript Client SDK to provide a better integration for use in React applications. As a result, much of the App Configuration JavaScript Client SDK functionality is also available for the React Client SDK to use. Read more about App Configuration JavaScript Client SDK from here.

Installation

Install the SDK.

npm install ibm-appconfiguration-react-client-sdk

Initialize SDK

Initialize the sdk to connect with your App Configuration service instance as shown below. Wrapping your app component with AppConfigProvider lets you access features & properties from any level of your component hierarchy.

import { withAppConfigProvider } from 'ibm-appconfiguration-react-client-sdk';

(async () => {
  const AppConfigProvider = await withAppConfigProvider({
    region: 'us-south',
    guid: '<guid>',
    apikey: '<apikey>',
    collectionId: 'airlines-webapp',
    environmentId: 'dev'
  })

  ReactDOM.render(
    <AppConfigProvider>
        <YourApp />
    </AppConfigProvider>,
    document.getElementById('root')
  );
})();

• region : Region name where the App Configuration service instance is created. Use
  • us-south for Dallas
  • eu-gb for London
  • au-syd for Sydney
  • us-east for Washington DC
  • eu-de for Frankfurt
• guid : Instance Id of the App Configuration service. Obtain it from the service credentials section of the App Configuration dashboard.
• apikey : ApiKey of the App Configuration service. Obtain it from the service credentials section of the App Configuration dashboard.
• collectionId: Id of the collection created in App Configuration service instance under the Collections section.
• environmentId: Id of the environment created in App Configuration service instance under the Environments section.

:red_circle: Important :red_circle:

Ensure to create the service credentials of the role Client SDK for using with the React SDK. API key of the Client SDK role has minimal access permissions that are suitable to use in browser based applications.

Get single feature

import { useFeature } from 'ibm-appconfiguration-react-client-sdk';

const feature = useFeature('featureId'); // returns undefined incase the featureId is invalid or doesn't exist

if (feature !== undefined) {
  console.log(`Feature Name ${feature.getFeatureName()} `);
  console.log(`Feature Id ${feature.getFeatureId()} `);
  console.log(`Feature Type ${feature.getFeatureDataType()} `);
  console.log(`Is feature enabled? ${feature.isEnabled()} `);
}

Get all features

import { useFeatures } from 'ibm-appconfiguration-react-client-sdk';

const features = useFeatures();
const feature = features['featureId'];

if (feature !== undefined) {
  console.log(`Feature Name ${feature.getFeatureName()} `);
  console.log(`Feature Id ${feature.getFeatureId()} `);
  console.log(`Feature Type ${feature.getFeatureDataType()} `);
  console.log(`Is feature enabled? ${feature.isEnabled()} `);
}

Evaluate a feature

Use the feature.getCurrentValue(entityId, entityAttributes) method to evaluate the value of the feature flag. This method returns one of the Enabled/Disabled/Overridden value based on the evaluation. The data type of returned value matches that of feature flag.

const entityId = 'john_doe';
const entityAttributes = {
  city: 'Bangalore',
  country: 'India',
};

const feature = useFeature('featureId');
const featureValue = feature.getCurrentValue(entityId, entityAttributes);

• entityId: Id of the Entity. This will be a string identifier related to the Entity against which the feature is evaluated. For example, an entity might be an instance of an app that runs on a mobile device, or a user accessing the web application. For any entity to interact with App Configuration, it must provide a unique entity ID.
• entityAttributes: A JSON object consisting of the attribute name and their values that defines the specified entity. This is an optional parameter if the feature flag is not configured with any targeting definition. If the targeting is configured, then entityAttributes should be provided for the rule evaluation. An attribute is a parameter that is used to define a segment. The SDK uses the attribute values to determine if the specified entity satisfies the targeting rules, and returns the appropriate feature flag value.

Get single property

import { useProperty } from 'ibm-appconfiguration-react-client-sdk';

const property = useProperty('propertyId'); // returns undefined incase the propertyId is invalid or doesn't exist

if (property !== undefined) {
  console.log(`Property Name ${property.getPropertyName()} `);
  console.log(`Property Id ${property.getPropertyId()} `);
  console.log(`Property Type ${property.getPropertyDataType()} `);
}

Get all properties

import { useProperties } from 'ibm-appconfiguration-react-client-sdk';

const properties = useProperties();
const property = properties['propertyId'];

if (property !== undefined) {
  console.log(`Property Name ${property.getPropertyName()} `);
  console.log(`Property Id ${property.getPropertyId()} `);
  console.log(`Property Type ${property.getPropertyDataType()} `);
}

Evaluate a property

Use the property.getCurrentValue(entityId, entityAttributes) method to evaluate the value of the property. This method returns the default property value or its overridden value based on the evaluation. The data type of returned value matches that of property.

const entityId = 'john_doe';
const entityAttributes = {
  city: 'Bangalore',
  country: 'India',
};

const property = useProperty('propertyId');
const propertyValue = property.getCurrentValue(entityId, entityAttributes);

• entityId: Id of the Entity. This will be a string identifier related to the Entity against which the property is evaluated. For example, an entity might be an instance of an app that runs on a mobile device, or a user accessing the web application. For any entity to interact with App Configuration, it must provide a unique entity ID.
• entityAttributes: A JSON object consisting of the attribute name and their values that defines the specified entity. This is an optional parameter if the property is not configured with any targeting definition. If the targeting is configured, then entityAttributes should be provided for the rule evaluation. An attribute is a parameter that is used to define a segment. The SDK uses the attribute values to determine if the specified entity satisfies the targeting rules, and returns the appropriate property value.

Using fallback values with the React Client SDK

In case of a connection error with the App Configuration, the SDK relies on the most recently assessed flag values retained in memory. However, if no prior values exist in memory, it's advisable for users to establish fallback values within their code, ensuring smooth operation. An example showcasing this fallback approach is provided below.

import { useFeatures } from 'ibm-appconfiguration-react-client-sdk';

export default function App {
  const features = useFeatures();
  const defaultFlagValues = {
    'flight-booking': false
  }
  const entityId = 'john_doe';
  const entityAttributes = {
    city: 'Bangalore',
    country: 'India',
  };

  const getAppConfigurationFlags = (featureID, features) => {
    if (Object.keys(features).length === 0 && features.constructor === Object) {
      return defaultFlagValues[featureID];
    }
    
    return feature[featureID]
      ? feature[featureID].getCurrentValue(entityId, entityAttributes)
      : defaultFlagValues[featureID];
  };

  return getAppConfigurationFlags('flight-booking', features) ? <div>Flight Booking</div> : '';
}

Supported Data types

App Configuration service allows to configure the feature flag and properties in the following data types : Boolean, Numeric, String. The String data type can be of the format of a text string , JSON or YAML. The SDK processes each format accordingly as shown in the below table.

| Feature or Property value | DataType | DataFormat | Type of data returned by getCurrentValue() | Example output | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------ | -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | true | BOOLEAN | not applicable | boolean | true | | 25 | NUMERIC | not applicable | number | 25 | | "a string text" | STRING | TEXT | string | a string text | | { "firefox": { "name": "Firefox", "pref_url": "about:config" }} | STRING | JSON | JSON object | {"firefox":{"name":"Firefox","pref_url":"about:config"}} | | men: - John Smith - Bill Joneswomen: - Mary Smith - Susan Williams | STRING | YAML | string | "men:\n - John Smith\n - Bill Jones\nwomen:\n - Mary Smith\n - Susan Williams" |

const feature = useFeature('json-feature');
feature.getFeatureDataType(); // STRING
feature.getFeatureDataFormat(); // JSON

// Example (traversing the returned JSON)
let result = feature.getCurrentValue(entityId, entityAttributes);
console.log(result.key) // prints the value of the key

const feature = useFeature('yaml-feature');
feature.getFeatureDataType(); // STRING
feature.getFeatureDataFormat(); // YAML
feature.getCurrentValue(entityId, entityAttributes); // returns the stringified yaml (check above table)

const property = useProperty('json-property');
property.getPropertyDataType(); // STRING
property.getPropertyDataFormat(); // JSON

// Example (traversing the returned JSON)
let result = property.getCurrentValue(entityId, entityAttributes);
console.log(result.key) // prints the value of the key

const property = useProperty('yaml-property');
property.getPropertyDataType(); // STRING
property.getPropertyDataFormat(); // YAML
property.getCurrentValue(entityId, entityAttributes); // returns the stringified yaml (check above table)

Listen to configuration data changes

The SDK automatically subscribes to event-based mechanism and re-renders the enclosed components when feature flag's or property's configuration changes.

License

This project is released under the Apache 2.0 license. The license's full text can be found in LICENSE