Unable to force render Context in React

Question

I'm working on a React application that features a complex, multiple-page form. The form's data is managed through a context, where each page has its own set of state variables. One challenge I'm encountering is ensuring that when a user navigates away from the form, such as by clicking a link in the navigation bar, and subsequently returns, the form resets to the first page.

The structure involves a navigation bar with three links corresponding to different sections of the application. Let's say the user is on the second page of the form, clicks on one of the navigation links, and then returns to the form. In this scenario, I want the form to reset to the first page, with all the state variables in the context being cleared or set to their initial values. I've attempted to use the useMemo hook to memoize the context value, but I'm struggling to figure out how to trigger a complete reset of the form when returning to it. The goal is to force a re-render of the entire context, leading to the reset of all the states associated with the form.

How can I achieve this behavior effectively? Are there alternative approaches or best practices for managing the state of a multi-page form within a React context, especially when needing to enforce a reset upon returning to the form?

export const FormProvider = ({ children }) => {

  const [forceRender, setForceRender] = useState(false);
  const [page, setPage] = useState(1);
  const [nights, setNights] = useState(null);
  const [subPage, setSubPage] = useState(1)
  const [currentState, setCurrentState] = useState(null);
  const [isLoading,setIsLoading] = useState(false);
  const [states, setStates] = useState([]);
  const [arrivalDepartureList,setArrivalDepartureList] =useState([]);
  const toggleRender = ()=>{
    setForceRender(prevState => !prevState)
  }
  return (
    <FormContext.Provider
      value={{ 
    // FORM EXPORTS
        title, 
        page, setPage, 
        nights, setNights,
        subPage,setSubPage,
        travellerDetails, setTravellerDetails, 
        canSubmit, 
        handleChange, 
        disableBack, disableNext,
        currentState,setCurrentState,
        states,setStates,
        arrivalDepartureList,setArrivalDepartureList,
        days,setDays,
        isLoading,setIsLoading,

    // Force Render
    toggleRender,forceRender
      }}
    >
      {children}
    </FormContext.Provider>
  );
};

export default FormContext;

@QuackE.Duck, Its funny I noticed it after 6 months of posting this issue. And here I was wondering why no one answer this issue. Thanks for mentioning it. — Dawood Trumboo
– Dawood Trumboo, Commented Jun 25, 2024 at 12:13
I'm glad you found a working solution! Instead of adding it to the end of the question, can you post it as an answer to the question instead? This will help other viewers with the same problem find your solution. stackoverflow.com/help/self-answer — Quack E. Duck
– Quack E. Duck, Commented Jun 25, 2024 at 16:39
Or, if you're looking for a different solution than your reset function, it would be helpful if you mention this too, along with why you believe there may be a better method, or what specifically you'd want it to do differently. — Quack E. Duck
– Quack E. Duck, Commented Jun 25, 2024 at 16:44
@QuackE.Duck Will gladly do that. I'm happy to contribute to this platform. — Dawood Trumboo
– Dawood Trumboo, Commented Jun 28, 2024 at 10:03

Dawood Trumboo · Accepted Answer · 2024-06-28 10:02:46Z

I was able to fix this issue by by creating a function where I reseted all the states of that context and exported that function from the context, and called that function whenever I needed to reset the context. In the above case, the created the following function:

 const forceRender = ()=>{
      
      setPage(1);
      setNights(null)
      setSubPage(1)
      setCurrentState(null)
      setIsLoading(false)
      setStates([])
      setArrivalDepartureList([])
      
     }
    return (
    <FormContext.Provider
      value={{ 
    // FORM EXPORTS
        page, setPage, 
        nights, setNights,
        subPage,setSubPage,
        currentState,setCurrentState,
        states,setStates,
        arrivalDepartureList,setArrivalDepartureList,
        isLoading,setIsLoading,
        
        //export force Render
        forceRender
    >
      {children}
      </FormContext.Provider>
      );
    };

     export default FormContext;

I also think this might not be an optimal solution because in a use case where there are multiple states in the context, I would've to write functions for each one of them to reset, so I think this is not a good practice. If someone finds a better solution to this, please do provide the solution for it.

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