convert HTML string to HTML in React (all advance methods)
Tags: react, webdev, programming, codenewbie
Published: 2023-08-13 14:40:51

If you need an advanced way to convert an HTML string to actual rendered content in React, you might be looking at incorporating richer features, interactions, or handling components. Below are a few approaches that offer advanced rendering:

1. **Custom Component Parsing**

   Instead of simply rendering the HTML string, you can parse the HTML and convert specific elements to React components. This is helpful if you want certain parts of your HTML to be more interactive or behave differently than standard HTML.

   Libraries like `react-html-parser` make this possible.

   ```bash
   npm install react-html-parser
   ```

   Here's how to use it:

   ```javascript
   import ReactHtmlParser, { processNodes, convertNodeToElement, htmlparser2 } from 'react-html-parser';

   function HtmlContent({ htmlString }) {
     const transform = (node, index) => {
       if (node.type === 'tag' && node.name === 'button') {
         return <button key={index}>{node.children[0].data}</button>;
       }
     };

     return <div>{ReactHtmlParser(htmlString, { transform })}</div>;
   }
   ```

2.**Portals**

   If you're looking to render the HTML string in a different part of the DOM (outside your React app's root, for example), then React Portals are the way to go. This is handy for modals or other UI elements that need to break out of their container.

   ```javascript
   import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';

   function Modal({ htmlString }) {
     return ReactDOM.createPortal(
       <div dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: htmlString }} />,
       document.getElementById('modal-root')
     );
   }
   ```

3.**Custom Hooks**

   If you're working with the HTML string regularly and applying various transformations or sanitizations, it might be worth creating a custom hook.

   ```javascript
   import DOMPurify from "dompurify";

   function useSanitizedHtml(htmlString) {
     return DOMPurify.sanitize(htmlString);
   }

   function HtmlContent({ htmlString }) {
     const sanitizedHtml = useSanitizedHtml(htmlString);
     return <div dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: sanitizedHtml }} />;
   }
   ```

4.**CSS-in-JS Solutions with Scoped Styles**

   If the HTML content has associated styles and you want to scope them to avoid conflicts, you can use libraries like `styled-components` or `emotion` to apply styles only to that chunk of content.

5.**Shadow DOM**

   You can render the content inside a shadow root which provides encapsulation for JavaScript, CSS, and templates. This can be done using React refs and direct DOM manipulation but is more involved.

The method you select should align with your project requirements. Always remember the security risks associated with rendering raw HTML and sanitize the content appropriately.

Thank you for reading. I encourage you to follow me on Twitter where I regularly share content about JavaScript and React, as well as contribute to open-source projects. I am currently seeking a remote job or internship.

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