What is the “key” which changes on every route change with connected-react-router?











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When an action for navigating to a route is triggered, an action triggers a new state where the router.location.pathname changes according to the browser's history.



Another property changes as well: router.location.key, to a new random string.



The diff between two states, showing how key changes alongside a pathname.



Even when the pathname itself doesn't change (clicking on a link to a page from the page itself), the key still updates.



The diff between two states, showing how only the key changes.



What's the purpose of the key property? In which situations would I want my own state to have a randomly generated key which updates on very action dispatch? Why is it not a number which simply increments?










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    When an action for navigating to a route is triggered, an action triggers a new state where the router.location.pathname changes according to the browser's history.



    Another property changes as well: router.location.key, to a new random string.



    The diff between two states, showing how key changes alongside a pathname.



    Even when the pathname itself doesn't change (clicking on a link to a page from the page itself), the key still updates.



    The diff between two states, showing how only the key changes.



    What's the purpose of the key property? In which situations would I want my own state to have a randomly generated key which updates on very action dispatch? Why is it not a number which simply increments?










    share|improve this question
























      up vote
      0
      down vote

      favorite









      up vote
      0
      down vote

      favorite











      When an action for navigating to a route is triggered, an action triggers a new state where the router.location.pathname changes according to the browser's history.



      Another property changes as well: router.location.key, to a new random string.



      The diff between two states, showing how key changes alongside a pathname.



      Even when the pathname itself doesn't change (clicking on a link to a page from the page itself), the key still updates.



      The diff between two states, showing how only the key changes.



      What's the purpose of the key property? In which situations would I want my own state to have a randomly generated key which updates on very action dispatch? Why is it not a number which simply increments?










      share|improve this question













      When an action for navigating to a route is triggered, an action triggers a new state where the router.location.pathname changes according to the browser's history.



      Another property changes as well: router.location.key, to a new random string.



      The diff between two states, showing how key changes alongside a pathname.



      Even when the pathname itself doesn't change (clicking on a link to a page from the page itself), the key still updates.



      The diff between two states, showing how only the key changes.



      What's the purpose of the key property? In which situations would I want my own state to have a randomly generated key which updates on very action dispatch? Why is it not a number which simply increments?







      redux react-router-v4 connected-react-router






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      asked Nov 10 at 9:44









      Lazar Ljubenović

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      9,05942451
























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          connected-react-router simply stores the location object from react-router which in turn creates the location object using the history package. In the readme of history the key property is described:




          Locations may also have the following properties:



          location.key - A unique string representing this location (supported in
          createBrowserHistory and createMemoryHistory)




          It is used internally (e.g. in https://github.com/ReactTraining/history/blob/master/modules/createBrowserHistory.js to find locations in the current history stack) and should be treated as an implementation detail of react-router. I suspect a random key instead of a incrementing sequence number was simply the easiest way to implement unique ids (you don't have to store the current sequence number).






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            1 Answer
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            up vote
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            down vote



            accepted










            connected-react-router simply stores the location object from react-router which in turn creates the location object using the history package. In the readme of history the key property is described:




            Locations may also have the following properties:



            location.key - A unique string representing this location (supported in
            createBrowserHistory and createMemoryHistory)




            It is used internally (e.g. in https://github.com/ReactTraining/history/blob/master/modules/createBrowserHistory.js to find locations in the current history stack) and should be treated as an implementation detail of react-router. I suspect a random key instead of a incrementing sequence number was simply the easiest way to implement unique ids (you don't have to store the current sequence number).






            share|improve this answer

























              up vote
              1
              down vote



              accepted










              connected-react-router simply stores the location object from react-router which in turn creates the location object using the history package. In the readme of history the key property is described:




              Locations may also have the following properties:



              location.key - A unique string representing this location (supported in
              createBrowserHistory and createMemoryHistory)




              It is used internally (e.g. in https://github.com/ReactTraining/history/blob/master/modules/createBrowserHistory.js to find locations in the current history stack) and should be treated as an implementation detail of react-router. I suspect a random key instead of a incrementing sequence number was simply the easiest way to implement unique ids (you don't have to store the current sequence number).






              share|improve this answer























                up vote
                1
                down vote



                accepted







                up vote
                1
                down vote



                accepted






                connected-react-router simply stores the location object from react-router which in turn creates the location object using the history package. In the readme of history the key property is described:




                Locations may also have the following properties:



                location.key - A unique string representing this location (supported in
                createBrowserHistory and createMemoryHistory)




                It is used internally (e.g. in https://github.com/ReactTraining/history/blob/master/modules/createBrowserHistory.js to find locations in the current history stack) and should be treated as an implementation detail of react-router. I suspect a random key instead of a incrementing sequence number was simply the easiest way to implement unique ids (you don't have to store the current sequence number).






                share|improve this answer












                connected-react-router simply stores the location object from react-router which in turn creates the location object using the history package. In the readme of history the key property is described:




                Locations may also have the following properties:



                location.key - A unique string representing this location (supported in
                createBrowserHistory and createMemoryHistory)




                It is used internally (e.g. in https://github.com/ReactTraining/history/blob/master/modules/createBrowserHistory.js to find locations in the current history stack) and should be treated as an implementation detail of react-router. I suspect a random key instead of a incrementing sequence number was simply the easiest way to implement unique ids (you don't have to store the current sequence number).







                share|improve this answer












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                answered Nov 11 at 14:06









                Johannes Reuter

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