📝 formstash

formstash is a React component wrapper designed to simplify form handling by saving form data in real-time to IndexedDB. This package ensures that user data is preserved even if the user goes offline, providing a seamless offline experience.

To install the package, you can use npm or yarn:

npm install formstash

or

yarn add formstash

Wrap your form with the FormWrapper component to enable offline data saving:

import React from "react";
import { FormWrapper } from "formstash";

const App = () => {
  return (
    <FormWrapper formName="myForm">
      <label>
        Name:
        <input type="text" name="name" />
      </label>
      <br />
      <label>
        Email:
        <input type="email" name="email" />
      </label>
      <br />
      <button type="submit">Submit</button>
    </FormWrapper>
  );
};

export default App;

The FormWrapper component automatically saves form data to IndexedDB as users input data. This ensures that user information is preserved even if they navigate away or close the browser.

When users go offline, the data entered into the form is saved locally in IndexedDB. Once the connection is restored, the saved data can be synchronized with your backend or used as needed.

The component automatically restores previously saved data when the form is loaded. Users will see their last entered data, enhancing their experience and reducing data entry redundancy.

FormWrapper supports a wide range of input types, including:

• Text Input: <input type="text" />
• Email Input: <input type="email" />
• Password Input: <input type="password" />
• Date Input: <input type="date" />
• Select Dropdown: <select>...</select>
• Checkbox: <input type="checkbox" />
• Textarea: <textarea />
• File Input: <input type="file" />
• Number Input: <input type="number" />
• Range Input: <input type="range" />

The setupDatabase function initializes IndexedDB for storing form data.

import { setupDatabase } from "formstash";

// Usage
const db = await setupDatabase();

The saveFormData function saves the form data to IndexedDB. It is called automatically whenever form data changes.

import { saveFormData } from "formstash";

// Usage within FormWrapper
const handleInputChange = async (event) => {
  const formElement = event.target.closest("form");
  if (formElement && db) {
    const formData = new FormData(formElement);
    const data = {};
    formData.forEach((value, key) => {
      data[key] = value;
    });
    await saveFormData(db, "myForm", data);
  }
};

The autofillFormFields function restores saved data into the form fields when the component is initialized.

import { autofillFormFields } from "formstash";

// Usage within FormWrapper
const initialize = async () => {
  const database = await setupDatabase();
  await autofillFormFields(database, "myForm", formElement);
};

On form submission, data is saved and IndexedDB is cleared. A notification is shown based on the success or failure of the operation.

import React from "react";
import { toast } from "react-toastify";
import { saveFormData, clearFormData } from "formstash";

const handleSubmit = async (event) => {
  event.preventDefault();
  try {
    const formElement = event.target.closest("form");
    const formData = new FormData(formElement);
    const data = {};
    formData.forEach((value, key) => {
      data[key] = value;
    });

    // Save form data
    await saveFormData(db, "myForm", data);

    // Clear form data
    await clearFormData(db, "myForm");

    // Show success message
    toast.success("Form submitted successfully!");
  } catch (error) {
    // Show error message
    toast.error("Failed to submit form. You might be offline.");
  }
};

For detailed documentation and advanced usage, refer to the documentation page (replace # with your documentation URL).

To build the package:

npm run build

To start a local development server:

npm start

If you have any questions or issues, feel free to open an issue on the GitHub repository.

This package is licensed under the MIT License.