React Navigation
This is an Example to Switch from One Screen to another using React Navigation (Router). We will use react-navigation
library for the Navigation.
This example is for React Navigation V4. For the update React Navigation V5 please visit Navigate Between Screens using React Navigation V5 in React Native.
React Native Navigation is used to switch from one screen to another in the desired manner. This navigation solution is written entirely in JavaScript (so you can read and understand all of the sources), on top of powerful native primitives.
To Navigate
this.props.navigation.navigate('SecondPage')
In this example, we will navigate from the first screen to second on a click of a button. 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.
Installation of Dependencies
To switch between the screens we need to add react-navigation in our application.
To install the dependencies open the terminal and jump into your project
cd ProjectName
1. Install react-navigation
dependency to import createAppContainer
npm install react-navigation --save
2. Other supporting libraries for react-navigation
npm install react-native-gesture-handler react-native-safe-area-context @react-native-community/masked-view react-native-screens react-native-reanimated --save
3. Install react-navigation-stack
to import createStackNavigator
npm install react-navigation-stack --save
These commands will copy all the dependencies into your node_module directory.
CocoaPods Installation
Please use the following command to install CocoaPods
cd ios && pod install && cd ..
Project Structure
To start with this Example you need to create a directory named pages in your project and create two files FirstPage.js and SecondPage.js
Code
Now Open App.js in any code editor and replace the code with the following code.
App.js
//This is an example code for Navigator//
import React, { Component } from 'react';
//import react in our code.
//Import react-navigation
import { createAppContainer } from 'react-navigation';
import { createStackNavigator} from 'react-navigation-stack';
import FirstPage from './pages/FirstPage';
import SecondPage from './pages/SecondPage';
//import all the screens we are going to switch
const App = createStackNavigator({
//Constant which holds all the screens like index of any book
FirstPage: { screen: FirstPage },
//First entry by default be our first screen if we do not define initialRouteName
SecondPage: { screen: SecondPage },
},
{
initialRouteName: 'FirstPage',
}
);
export default createAppContainer(App);
Open FirstPage.js in any code editor and replace the code with the following code.
FirstPage.js
//This is an example code for Navigator//
import React, { Component } from 'react';
//import react in our code.
import { StyleSheet, View, Button} from 'react-native';
//import all the components we are going to use.
export default class FirstPage extends Component {
static navigationOptions = {
title: 'First Page',
//Sets Header text of Status Bar
headerStyle: {
backgroundColor: '#f4511e',
//Sets Header color
},
headerTintColor: '#fff',
//Sets Header text color
headerTitleStyle: {
fontWeight: 'bold',
//Sets Header text style
},
};
render() {
const { navigate } = this.props.navigation;
return (
<View style={styles.container}>
<Button title='Go next'
onPress={() =>navigate('SecondPage')}
/>
</View>
);
}
}
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
container: {
flex: 1,
backgroundColor: '#fff',
alignItems: 'center',
justifyContent: 'center',
},
});
Open SecondPage.js in any code editor and replace the code with the following code.
SecondPage.js
//This is an example code for Navigator//
import React, { Component } from 'react';
//import react in our code.
import { StyleSheet, View, Text} from 'react-native';
//import all the components we are going to use.
export default class SecondPage extends Component {
static navigationOptions = {
title: 'Second Page',
//Sets Header text of Status Bar
};
render() {
const { navigate } = this.props.navigation;
return (
<View style={styles.container}>
<Text>You are on SecondPage</Text>
</View>
);
}
}
const styles = StyleSheet.create({
container: {
flex: 1,
backgroundColor: '#fff',
margin:50,
alignItems: 'center',
justifyContent: 'center',
},
});
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
IOS
Android
Output in Online Emulator
That was the React Native Navigation. If you have any doubts or you 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. 🙂