Recursive data and components, later sampling, causing an error

Question

First with my graphql data model:

type Human {
  id: !String,
  name: !String,
  children: [Human]
}

The only route (relay route configuration) I use:

class extends Relay.Route {
  static queries = {
    human: () => Relay.QL`query RootQuery { viewer }`
  };
  static routeName = 'AppHomeRoute';
}

List Component:

class HumanList extends Component {
  render() {
    let {children} = this.props.human;

    let subListsHTML = human ? children.map(child => (
      <HumanListItem key={child.id} human={child}/>
    )) : '';

    return <ul>{subListsHTML}</ul>;
  }
}

export default Relay.createContainer(HumanList, {
  fragments: {
    human: () =>  Relay.QL`
      fragment on Human {
        children {
          id,
          ${HumanListItem.getFragment('human')}
        }
      }
    `
  }
});

List item element:

class HumanListItem extends Component {
  state = {expanded: false};

  render() {
    let {human} = this.props;

    let sublistHTML = '';
    if (this.state.expanded) {
      sublistHTML = <ul><HumanList human={human}/></ul>;
    }

    return (
      <li>
        <div onClick={this.onClickHead.bind(this)}>{human.name}</div>
        {sublistHTML}
      </li>
    );
  }

  onClickHead() {
    this.props.relay.setVariables({expanded: true});
    this.setState({expanded: true});
  }

}

HumanListItem.defaultProps = {viewer: {}};

export default Relay.createContainer(HumanListItem, {

  initialVariables: {
    expanded: false
  },

  fragments: {
    human: (variables) =>  Relay.QL`
      fragment on Human {
        name,
        ${HumanList.getFragment('human').if(variables.expanded)}
      }
    `
  }

});

Which is great for the root list. But as soon as I click on the ListItem and expand, I get the following error:

Warning: RelayContainer: Expected prop 'human' supplied 'HumanList' to be data fetched by Relay. This is likely an error unless you are purposely passing in mock data that conforms to the shape of this component fragment.

I can’t interpret this, because the data that I transmit is not mocked, but directly retrieved by Relay, as seen on comp.LiveList.

Answer 1

An error indicates that the object is <HumanList>displayed before its data is ready.

class HumanListItem extends Component {
  onClickHead() {
    this.props.relay.setVariables({expanded: true});
    this.setState({expanded: true});  // <-- this causes the component to re-render before data is ready
  }

:

class HumanListItem extends Component {
  // no need for `state.expanded`

  render() {
    let {human} = this.props;

    let sublistHTML = '';
    if (this.props.relay.variables.expanded) {
      // `variables` are the *currently fetched* data
      // if `variables.expanded` is true, expanded data is fetched
      sublistHTML = <ul><HumanList human={human}/></ul>;
    }

    return (
      <li>
        <div onClick={this.onClickHead.bind(this)}>{human.name}</div>
        {sublistHTML}
      </li>
    );
  }

  onClickHead() {
    this.props.relay.setVariables({expanded: true});
    // no need for `setState()`
  }

}

HumanListItem.defaultProps = {viewer: {}};

export default Relay.createContainer(HumanListItem, {

  initialVariables: {
    expanded: false
  },

  fragments: {
    human: (variables) =>  Relay.QL`
      fragment on Human {
        name,
        ${HumanList.getFragment('human').if(variables.expanded)}
      }
    `
  }

});