Example of GridView using FlatList in React Native

GridView has the same popularity as Listview, both are used to arrange items in a proper manner. So here is the Example of GridView using FlatList in React Native.

GridView can be used when we have to make a View Group that displays items in a two-dimensional, scrollable grid. The most usable example of the Grid is the image gallery where we have to showcase all the images. In this example, we will use FlatList to make our GridView.  React Native FlatList is a simple list. It is among the simple but mostly used components.

To Import FlatList in Code

import { FlatList} from 'react-native'

Render Using

<FlatList
  data={this.state.dataSource}
  renderItem={({ item }) => (
    <View
      style={{
        flex: 1,
        flexDirection: 'column',
        margin: 1
      }}>
      <Image
        style={styles.imageThumbnail}
        source={{ uri: item.src }}
      />
    </View>
  )}
  //Setting the number of column
  numColumns={3}
  keyExtractor={(item, index) => index.toString()}
/>

In this example of GridView, we will make a simple image gallery to showcase the images in the GridView. So let’s get started.

To Make a React Native App

Getting started with React Native will help you to know more about the way you can make a React Native project. We are going to use react native command line interface to make our React Native App.

If you have previously installed a global react-native-cli package, please remove it as it may cause unexpected issues:

npm uninstall -g react-native-cli @react-native-community/cli

Run the following commands to create a new React Native project

npx react-native init ProjectName

If you want to start a new project with a specific React Native version, you can use the --version argument:

npx react-native init ProjectName --version X.XX.X

Note If the above command is failing, you may have old version of react-native or react-native-cli installed globally on your pc. Try uninstalling the cli and run the cli using npx.

This will make a project structure with an index file named App.js in your project directory.

Code

Open App.js in any code editor and replace the code with the following code

App.js

// Example of GridView using FlatList in React Native
// https://aboutreact.com/example-of-gridview-using-flatlist-in-react-native/

// import React in our code
import React, {useEffect, useState} from 'react';

// import all the components we are going to use
import {
  SafeAreaView,
  StyleSheet,
  View,
  FlatList,
  Image
} from 'react-native';

const App = () => {
  const [dataSource, setDataSource] = useState([]);

  useEffect(() => {
    let items = Array.apply(null, Array(60)).map((v, i) => {
      return {
        id: i,
        src: 'https://unsplash.it/400/400?image=' + (i + 1)
      };
    });
    setDataSource(items);
  }, []);

  return (
    <SafeAreaView style={styles.container}>
      <FlatList
        data={dataSource}
        renderItem={({item}) => (
          <View
            style={{
              flex: 1,
              flexDirection: 'column',
              margin: 1
            }}>
            <Image
              style={styles.imageThumbnail}
              source={{uri: item.src}}
            />
          </View>
        )}
        //Setting the number of column
        numColumns={3}
        keyExtractor={(item, index) => index}
      />
    </SafeAreaView>
  );
};
export default App;

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    justifyContent: 'center',
    backgroundColor: 'white',
  },
  imageThumbnail: {
    justifyContent: 'center',
    alignItems: 'center',
    height: 100,
  },
});

To Run the React Native App

Open the terminal again and jump into your project using.

cd ProjectName

1. Start Metro Bundler

First, you will need to start Metro, the JavaScript bundler that ships with React Native. To start Metro bundler run following command:

npx react-native start

Once you start Metro Bundler it will run forever on your terminal until you close it. Let Metro Bundler run in its own terminal. Open a new terminal and run the application.

2. Start React Native Application

To run the project on an Android Virtual Device or on real debugging device:

npx react-native run-android

or on the iOS Simulator by running (macOS only)

npx react-native run-ios

Output Screenshots

Output in Online Emulator

That was React Native GridView using FlatList. If you have any doubts or want to share something about the topic you can comment below or contact us here. There will be more posts coming soon. Stay tuned!

Hope you liked it. 🙂