Countdown timer in React

I have seen lots of countdown timers in JavaScript and wanted to get one working in React.

I have borrowed this function I found online:

secondsToTime(secs){
    let hours = Math.floor(secs / (60 * 60));

    let divisor_for_minutes = secs % (60 * 60);
    let minutes = Math.floor(divisor_for_minutes / 60);

    let divisor_for_seconds = divisor_for_minutes % 60;
    let seconds = Math.ceil(divisor_for_seconds);

    let obj = {
        "h": hours,
        "m": minutes,
        "s": seconds
    };
    return obj;
  };

And then I have written this code myself

  initiateTimer = () => {
    let timeLeftVar = this.secondsToTime(60);
    this.setState({ timeLeft: timeLeftVar })
  };

  startTimer = () => {
    let interval = setInterval(this.timer, 1000);
    this.setState({ interval: interval });
  };

  timer = () => {
    if (this.state.timeLeft >0){
      this.setState({ timeLeft: this.state.timeLeft -1 });
    }
    else {
      clearInterval(this.state.interval);
      //this.postToSlack();
    }
  };

Currently onclick it will set the time on screen to: Time Remaining: 1 m : 0 s But it does not reduce it to Time Remaining: 0 m : 59 s and then Time Remaining: 0 m : 58 s etc etc

I think I need to call the function again with a different parameter. how can I go about doing this ?

Edit: I forgot to say, I would like the functionality so that I can use seconds to minutes & seconds


You have to setState every second with the seconds remaining (every time the interval is called). Here's an example:

class Example extends React.Component {
  constructor() {
    super();
    this.state = { time: {}, seconds: 5 };
    this.timer = 0;
    this.startTimer = this.startTimer.bind(this);
    this.countDown = this.countDown.bind(this);
  }

  secondsToTime(secs){
    let hours = Math.floor(secs / (60 * 60));

    let divisor_for_minutes = secs % (60 * 60);
    let minutes = Math.floor(divisor_for_minutes / 60);

    let divisor_for_seconds = divisor_for_minutes % 60;
    let seconds = Math.ceil(divisor_for_seconds);

    let obj = {
      "h": hours,
      "m": minutes,
      "s": seconds
    };
    return obj;
  }

  componentDidMount() {
    let timeLeftVar = this.secondsToTime(this.state.seconds);
    this.setState({ time: timeLeftVar });
  }

  startTimer() {
    if (this.timer == 0 && this.state.seconds > 0) {
      this.timer = setInterval(this.countDown, 1000);
    }
  }

  countDown() {
    // Remove one second, set state so a re-render happens.
    let seconds = this.state.seconds - 1;
    this.setState({
      time: this.secondsToTime(seconds),
      seconds: seconds,
    });
    
    // Check if we're at zero.
    if (seconds == 0) { 
      clearInterval(this.timer);
    }
  }

  render() {
    return(
      <div>
        <button onClick={this.startTimer}>Start</button>
        m: {this.state.time.m} s: {this.state.time.s}
      </div>
    );
  }
}

ReactDOM.render(<Example/>, document.getElementById('View'));
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/15.1.0/react.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/15.1.0/react-dom.min.js"></script>
<div id="View"></div>

Here is a solution using hooks, Timer component, I'm replicating same logic above with hooks

import React from 'react'
import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

const Timer = (props:any) => {
    const {initialMinute = 0,initialSeconds = 0} = props;
    const [ minutes, setMinutes ] = useState(initialMinute);
    const [seconds, setSeconds ] =  useState(initialSeconds);
    useEffect(()=>{
    let myInterval = setInterval(() => {
            if (seconds > 0) {
                setSeconds(seconds - 1);
            }
            if (seconds === 0) {
                if (minutes === 0) {
                    clearInterval(myInterval)
                } else {
                    setMinutes(minutes - 1);
                    setSeconds(59);
                }
            } 
        }, 1000)
        return ()=> {
            clearInterval(myInterval);
          };
    });

    return (
        <div>
        { minutes === 0 && seconds === 0
            ? null
            : <h1> {minutes}:{seconds < 10 ?  `0${seconds}` : seconds}</h1> 
        }
        </div>
    )
}

export default Timer;