React - animate mount and unmount of a single component

This is a bit lengthy but I've used all the native events and methods to achieve this animation. No ReactCSSTransitionGroup, ReactTransitionGroup and etc.

Things I've used

  • React lifecycle methods
  • onTransitionEnd event

How this works

  • Mount the element based on the mount prop passed(mounted) and with default style(opacity: 0)
  • After mount or update, use componentDidMount (componentWillReceiveProps for further updates)to change the style (opacity: 1) with a timeout(to make it async).
  • During unmount, pass a prop to the component to identify unmount, change the style again(opacity: 0), onTransitionEnd, remove unmount the element from the DOM.

Continue the cycle.

Go through the code, you'll understand. If any clarification is needed, please leave a comment.

Hope this helps.

class App extends React.Component{
  constructor(props) {
    super(props)
    this.transitionEnd = this.transitionEnd.bind(this)
    this.mountStyle = this.mountStyle.bind(this)
    this.unMountStyle = this.unMountStyle.bind(this)
    this.state ={ //base css
      show: true,
      style :{
        fontSize: 60,
        opacity: 0,
        transition: 'all 2s ease',
      }
    }
  }
  
  componentWillReceiveProps(newProps) { // check for the mounted props
    if(!newProps.mounted)
      return this.unMountStyle() // call outro animation when mounted prop is false
    this.setState({ // remount the node when the mounted prop is true
      show: true
    })
    setTimeout(this.mountStyle, 10) // call the into animation
  }
  
  unMountStyle() { // css for unmount animation
    this.setState({
      style: {
        fontSize: 60,
        opacity: 0,
        transition: 'all 1s ease',
      }
    })
  }
  
  mountStyle() { // css for mount animation
    this.setState({
      style: {
        fontSize: 60,
        opacity: 1,
        transition: 'all 1s ease',
      }
    })
  }
  
  componentDidMount(){
    setTimeout(this.mountStyle, 10) // call the into animation
  }
  
  transitionEnd(){
    if(!this.props.mounted){ // remove the node on transition end when the mounted prop is false
      this.setState({
        show: false
      })
    }
  }
  
  render() {
    return this.state.show && <h1 style={this.state.style} onTransitionEnd={this.transitionEnd}>Hello</h1> 
  }
}

class Parent extends React.Component{
  constructor(props){
    super(props)
    this.buttonClick = this.buttonClick.bind(this)
    this.state = {
      showChild: true,
    }
  }
  buttonClick(){
    this.setState({
      showChild: !this.state.showChild
    })
  }
  render(){
    return <div>
        <App onTransitionEnd={this.transitionEnd} mounted={this.state.showChild}/>
        <button onClick={this.buttonClick}>{this.state.showChild ? 'Unmount': 'Mount'}</button>
      </div>
  }
}

ReactDOM.render(<Parent />, document.getElementById('app'))
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/15.3.2/react-with-addons.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/15.1.0/react-dom.min.js"></script>
<div id="app"></div>

Here is my solution using the new hooks API (with TypeScript), based on this post, for delaying the component's unmount phase:

function useDelayUnmount(isMounted: boolean, delayTime: number) {
    const [ shouldRender, setShouldRender ] = useState(false);

    useEffect(() => {
        let timeoutId: number;
        if (isMounted && !shouldRender) {
            setShouldRender(true);
        }
        else if(!isMounted && shouldRender) {
            timeoutId = setTimeout(
                () => setShouldRender(false), 
                delayTime
            );
        }
        return () => clearTimeout(timeoutId);
    }, [isMounted, delayTime, shouldRender]);
    return shouldRender;
}

Usage:

const Parent: React.FC = () => {
    const [ isMounted, setIsMounted ] = useState(true);
    const shouldRenderChild = useDelayUnmount(isMounted, 500);
    const mountedStyle = {opacity: 1, transition: "opacity 500ms ease-in"};
    const unmountedStyle = {opacity: 0, transition: "opacity 500ms ease-in"};

    const handleToggleClicked = () => {
        setIsMounted(!isMounted);
    }

    return (
        <>
            {shouldRenderChild && 
                <Child style={isMounted ? mountedStyle : unmountedStyle} />}
            <button onClick={handleToggleClicked}>Click me!</button>
        </>
    );
}

CodeSandbox link.


Using the knowledge gained from Pranesh's answer, I came up with an alternate solution that's configurable and reusable:

const AnimatedMount = ({ unmountedStyle, mountedStyle }) => {
  return (Wrapped) => class extends Component {
    constructor(props) {
      super(props);
      this.state = {
        style: unmountedStyle,
      };
    }

    componentWillEnter(callback) {
      this.onTransitionEnd = callback;
      setTimeout(() => {
        this.setState({
          style: mountedStyle,
        });
      }, 20);
    }

    componentWillLeave(callback) {
      this.onTransitionEnd = callback;
      this.setState({
        style: unmountedStyle,
      });
    }

    render() {
      return <div
        style={this.state.style}
        onTransitionEnd={this.onTransitionEnd}
      >
        <Wrapped { ...this.props } />
      </div>
    }
  }
};

Usage:

import React, { PureComponent } from 'react';

class Thing extends PureComponent {
  render() {
    return <div>
      Test!
    </div>
  }
}

export default AnimatedMount({
  unmountedStyle: {
    opacity: 0,
    transform: 'translate3d(-100px, 0, 0)',
    transition: 'opacity 250ms ease-out, transform 250ms ease-out',
  },
  mountedStyle: {
    opacity: 1,
    transform: 'translate3d(0, 0, 0)',
    transition: 'opacity 1.5s ease-out, transform 1.5s ease-out',
  },
})(Thing);

And finally, in another component's render method:

return <div>
  <ReactTransitionGroup>
    <Thing />
  </ReactTransitionGroup>
</div>