Frontly - Create Dynamic App Pages Using Block Versions & Local State

Summary

In this tutorial, Patrick demonstrates how to utilize block versions and local state variables in Frontleaf to create responsive interfaces that update in real-time. He guides viewers through setting up a button that toggles between 'inactive' and 'active' states upon clicks. Patrick further explains how to manage local state values, which can control the visibility of elements like tables based on specific conditions. The video is a practical guide to building dynamic and interactive web applications.

Takeaways

• 🛠️ Patrick demonstrates how to use block versions and local state variables to create responsive blocks that update in real-time.
• 🔘 He starts by creating a button with a default state of 'inactive' and shows how to change it to 'active' upon user interaction.
• 🔧 Patrick explains the concept of block versions as settings that are active only when the version is selected in the editor.
• 📝 He introduces local state as a way to store values that can be accessed and modified throughout the app.
• 🔑 Local state is accessed using a key-value pair, where 'status' is the key used in the tutorial.
• 🎨 Patrick shows how to set conditions for block versions to determine when they should appear based on the local state.
• 🔄 He creates a click action to toggle the local state value between 'active' and 'inactive', which in turn changes the button's state.
• 📊 The tutorial also covers how to use local state to control the visibility of other elements, like a table, based on the state of the button.
• 💡 Patrick suggests using a text block to display the local state value during development for easier debugging and tracking.
• 🌟 The features discussed are powerful for creating responsive and interactive elements in apps.

Q & A

What is the main feature Patrick is going to demonstrate in the video?

Patrick is going to demonstrate how to use block versions feature combined with local state variable feature to build responsive blocks that update in real time based on user interactions.

What is the default state of the button Patrick creates in the video?

The default state of the button Patrick creates is 'inactive'.

How does Patrick change the button state from 'inactive' to 'active'?

Patrick changes the button state by creating a new version of the block named 'active' and setting a condition that checks for the local state variable 'status' being equal to 'active'.

What is a version in the context of this video?

A version, in this context, refers to the settings that are changed while the version is active in the editor, which determines what will appear when the version is active.

What is local state and how is it used in the video?

Local state is a feature that allows storing values which can be accessed and used throughout the app. In the video, Patrick uses local state to store the status of the button, toggling it between 'active' and 'inactive'.

How does Patrick set the condition for the 'active' version of the block to appear?

Patrick sets the condition by using a variable injector to insert 'local state.status equals active' as the condition for the 'active' version of the block to appear.

What action does Patrick add to the button to toggle its state?

Patrick adds a click action to the button that updates the local state variable 'status' to 'active' or 'inactive' depending on the current state.

How does Patrick use local state to control the visibility of a table in the app?

Patrick uses a display condition on the table block to show or hide it based on the value of the local state variable 'status'. If 'status' equals 'active', the table appears; otherwise, it remains hidden.

What additional tip does Patrick give for managing local state during development?

Patrick recommends adding a text block to the page to display the value of the local state, which helps in keeping track of the current state during development.

What is the purpose of using block versions and local state according to the video?

The purpose of using block versions and local state is to create responsive and interactive elements in the app that update in real time based on user actions, enhancing the user experience.

Outlines

00:00

🛠️ Introduction to Block Versions and Local State Variables

Patrick introduces a tutorial on using block versions and local state variables to create responsive blocks that update in real time based on user interactions, such as button clicks. He demonstrates creating a button with a default state of 'inactive' and an 'active' state that appears when the button is clicked. Patrick guides through creating a new block version for the 'active' state, setting a condition using a local state variable named 'status', and updating the button's text and background color accordingly. The tutorial aims to show how to toggle the button state and introduce the concept of local state as a storage for values that can be accessed and manipulated to control the appearance and behavior of blocks.

05:01

🔄 Implementing Toggle Actions and Display Conditions

In the second paragraph, Patrick continues the tutorial by detailing how to implement toggle actions for the button's state. He adds an 'update local state' action to change the 'status' from 'inactive' to 'active' and vice versa upon button clicks. Patrick also explores the use of display conditions to control the visibility of other elements on the page, such as a table, based on the state of the local state variable. He demonstrates setting a condition for the table to only appear when the 'status' is 'active'. Patrick suggests using a text block to display the local state value during development for easier tracking and debugging. The paragraph concludes with a preview of the functional button and table, showcasing the real-time responsiveness of the local state and block versions features.

Keywords

💡Block Versions

Block Versions refer to the ability to create different states or versions of a block within a web application. In the context of the video, Patrick demonstrates how to use this feature to create a button that changes its text and appearance based on user interaction. This feature is crucial for building responsive and dynamic user interfaces.

💡Local State Variable

A Local State Variable is a way to store and manage data within a user's session without needing to save it to a database. In the video, Patrick uses a local state variable named 'status' to track the active state of a button. This variable is updated when the button is clicked, demonstrating how local state can be used to control the visibility and behavior of UI elements in real-time.

💡Responsive Blocks

Responsive Blocks are UI components that change their appearance or behavior based on user interactions or other conditions. Patrick shows how to create a button that updates in real-time as a user clicks it, toggling between 'inactive' and 'active' states. This concept is central to creating interactive and user-friendly web applications.

💡Real-Time Updates

Real-Time Updates are changes that occur instantly in the user interface as a result of user actions. The video script describes how the button's state updates immediately when clicked, thanks to the use of local state variables and block versions. This feature enhances user experience by providing immediate feedback.

💡Conditional Display

Conditional Display is the technique of showing or hiding UI elements based on certain conditions being met. Patrick explains how to use display conditions to control the visibility of a table on a page, which only appears when the local state variable 'status' equals 'active'. This is a powerful way to manage the complexity of a UI by dynamically adjusting what the user sees.

💡User Interaction

User Interaction refers to the actions taken by users within an application, such as clicking buttons or entering data. In the video, user interaction with the button triggers changes in the local state variable, which in turn affects the display of other UI elements like the button's text and the visibility of a table.

💡Dynamic Rendering

Dynamic Rendering is the process of generating or updating web content in response to user actions or other events. Patrick uses the term to describe how the button's appearance changes dynamically as the local state variable is updated, showcasing the interactivity made possible through modern web development techniques.

💡Variable Injection

Variable Injection is the process of inserting a variable's value into a field or component. In the script, Patrick uses variable injection to set the condition for displaying the 'active' version of the button block, where the local state variable 'status' is checked against the value 'active'.

💡Action Steps

Action Steps are the individual actions or operations that can be performed within a block or component, such as updating a local state variable. Patrick demonstrates adding an action step to update the local state when the button is clicked, which is a fundamental part of creating interactive elements in the application.

💡Session Management

Session Management involves tracking and managing a user's interaction with an application over a period of time. The video mentions that local state values are maintained as long as the session is active, implying that session management is crucial for maintaining the state of dynamic UI elements across user interactions.

💡Text Block

A Text Block is a UI component used to display text on a webpage. Patrick suggests adding a text block to display the value of the local state variable, which can be helpful during development to monitor the current state of the application. This serves as a debugging tool and provides a visual representation of the local state's value.

Highlights

Introduction to using block versions and local state variables to create responsive blocks that update in real time.

Creating a button with default 'inactive' text and changing it to 'active' upon user interaction.

Creating a new block version called 'active' to represent the button's state when activated.

Setting up a condition for the 'active' block version to determine when it should appear.

Using local state to store values that can be accessed and changed dynamically.

Injecting the local state variable into the block's field to set conditions.

Defining the local state variable 'status' and setting its value to 'active' for the active block version.

Changing the button's text and background color to reflect its 'active' state.

Setting up click actions to toggle the button's state between 'active' and 'inactive'.

Using the 'update local state' action to change the state value upon button clicks.

Previewing the app to demonstrate the real-time update of the button's state.

Exploring additional use cases for local state, such as controlling the visibility of a table based on the button's state.

Setting a display condition for the table to show only when the 'status' is 'active'.

Discussing the power of local state and block versions for creating responsive and interactive elements in apps.

Recommendation to use a text block to display the local state value for development and debugging purposes.

Final thoughts on the utility of local state, block versions, and display conditions for app development.

Transcripts

hey this is Patrick from front Le in

this video I'm going to show you how to

use our block versions feature combined

with our local state variable feature

which allows you to build responsive

blocks that update in real time based on

users clicking buttons and things like

that so it's really powerful and it's

actually pretty easy to set up so I'm

going to jump right into it and I'm

going to create a button so I'm going to

set this button text to say inactive

that's going to be the default state of

this button so when the page loads by

default I'm going to have it say

inactive and then if the user clicks on

the button I'm going to make it say

active and I will show you how to do

that right now so the first thing I'm

going to do is I'm going to create a new

version of this block and this is going

to be the active version so um I'm going

to click on this edit symbol I just

created a new version so now it's

appearing in this dropdown to edit the

version I click on this edit button here

and I'm going to give the version a name

so I can keep track of what this state

is in this case I'm just going to call

it active and I will add a condition to

this version which is how I determine

when this version of this block is going

to appear and so a version is actually

just only the settings that I change

while this version is active in the

editor that's essentially what will

appear so you'll see how it all works as

I go to the next steps but right now I'm

going to create a condition that tells

frontally when this version of the block

should should show instead of the

default so we haven't created the local

state action yet but what we're going to

do is we're going to go click on this

variable insertion and we're going to

select local state so what local state

is if you've never used it it's just

essentially a imagine a a bucket where

you get to store values and they can be

whatever kind of values you want um

essentially there's just a name and a

value we call the name a key um that's

the way that you access the value and

then the value is kind of whatever you

want so in this case I'm being asked for

the field I'm just going to call this um

I'm going to call this status and you'll

see how this is used so because I use

this variable injector it's injecting

this variable right into the field for

me I could also just type it in with uh

two brackets local state with a capital

S and then local state DOT whatever the

the key of my variable is so again we'll

set the local state in the next step and

then everything will come together so

I'm going to say local state. status

equals active so that's the condition

that I want to be true for this version

of the block to show and now that I've

set this up and I'm currently editing

the active version of this block I can

go change the text so I can change this

to say active and I can change the

background color let's say when it's

active we want it to be uh a nice green

color and if I want just to make it more

fun I should make the inactive um more

of like an an inactive color say we'll

say it's a gray so it's colorless it's

inactive now now this is the default

version of the block all we have to do

now that we've defined these two

versions and we've defined the variable

uh that we want to to use we just have

to create the click actions to trigger

this back and forth um thing that we're

going to put together here so I'm going

to go add my click action I'm going to

click on this empty action step and I

have all these different options right

now we're only concerned about the

update local state so this is where you

can set local state values for dynamic

rendering that's exactly what we're

doing and so you can add multiple values

to the local state at the same time if

you want if you had multiple things you

needed to store there again just think

of this as sort of a closet that you're

you're putting information that you can

access whenever you want um from any of

your pages as long as the the the

session hasn't been ended by the user

refreshing the page or logging out or

something like that so I'm just going to

set this to uh step status and then the

value is going to be active so that's it

I've I've decided that I'm calling this

status so this isn't you know this isn't

some predefined thing I'm making this up

and I'm saying I'm going to store this

value called status or this this uh

value active under the key called status

in the local state so just from doing

that when I click on this button it's

actually going to toggle the uh the

button state to change but the only

other thing need to do is now just

because that's what I want to do is I

want to go to the active version and I

want to do the same but the opposite so

I'm going to add another update local

state and I'm going to say status equals

inactive and So based on the conditions

that I set up here this default is going

to show because the active condition

won't be met so that's all I have to do

I'm going to hit save and I'm going to

hit preview so we're going to go go to

my sample app as you can see the default

state is here and if I click on this it

updates right away to the active State

and because I also set a click action on

the active button I can just go back and

forth now so this is really cool um but

maybe I should show you one more example

of why this is useful so let's say that

I did want to create some kind of toggle

here where you know you're deactivating

and activating something but I don't

have to limit the uh the local state

value to be only used for for that maybe

I want to have an entire table on my

page that uses my you know order data

and maybe I only want this to show when

this is set to active and so in this

case to do that I won't use block

versions what I'm going to do is I'm

going to go into the more tab for this

table that I just added and I'm going to

go down um I'm going to find yes the

display conditions so you'll find

conditions all over the app you can see

these ones here uh allow editing allow

deleting so these are all conditions are

just a set of these U conditions that

have to be met in order for something to

happen and in this context this is the

visibility section and so a display

condition on the Block Level is going to

actually show or hide the entire block

from the page based on if it meets these

conditions so I'm going to add a

condition just like we did I'll even

type this one in just to show you so I

can go local state make sure there's a

capital S there local state.

status

equals active so again all I've done is

I've told this page that when this

condition is true I want this table to

appear but if not I don't want the table

to appear so I'm going to go back to my

page and I'm going to refresh so if I

set it up correctly the button is here

it says inactive and when I press active

it reveals the table in real time

and then the data loads for the table so

it's really powerful because you can

create these pages that are showing and

hiding different sections and have these

very Nic looking uh responsive and

reactive elements so just a very cool

thing that you can use in your apps and

I hope this tutorial helps you

understand um the local state a little

bit better um one thing that I will

mention that that I would mention when

you

are one thing that I would recommend

commend when using local state

especially at the start is to add a text

block to your page somewhere and you can

display the value of the local state in

it so you can go local

state.

status and I'll even type in status

colon local state status so all that's

going to do this would just be sort of

during development if if you don't need

that just so you can keep track of what

the local state value is current set to

um especially if you're using a lot of

different local state values and you're

kind of unsure about how things are this

kind of helps so I can see that when I

click on this it updates in real time

and then when I deactivate it it just

helps me keep track so anyway um I hope

you enjoy playing around with the local

state and block versions and display

conditions they're very powerful

features