484
votes

I am new to ReactJS and JSX and I am having a little problem with the code below.

I am trying to add multiple classes to the className attribute on each li:

<li key={index} className={activeClass, data.class, "main-class"}></li>

My React component is:

var AccountMainMenu = React.createClass({
  getInitialState: function() {
    return { focused: 0 };
  },

  clicked: function(index) {
    this.setState({ focused: index });
  },

  render: function() {
    var self = this;
    var accountMenuData = [
      {
        name: "My Account",
        icon: "icon-account"
      },
      {
        name: "Messages",
        icon: "icon-message"
      },
      {
        name: "Settings",
        icon: "icon-settings"
      }
    /*{
        name:"Help &amp; Support &nbsp; <span class='font-awesome icon-support'></span>(888) 664.6261",
        listClass:"no-mobile last help-support last"
      }*/
    ];

    return (
      <div className="acc-header-wrapper clearfix">
        <ul className="acc-btns-container">
          {accountMenuData.map(function(data, index) {
            var activeClass = "";

            if (self.state.focused == index) {
              activeClass = "active";
            }

            return (
              <li
                key={index}
                className={activeClass}
                onClick={self.clicked.bind(self, index)}
              >
                <a href="#" className={data.icon}>
                  {data.name}
                </a>
              </li>
            );
          })}
        </ul>
      </div>
    );
  }
});

ReactDOM.render(<AccountMainMenu />, document.getElementById("app-container"));
30
I found a breif answer here stackoverflow.com/a/36209517/4125588, just use JavaScript to join this classes, static or dynamic, with '+' operator, remember to insert ' ' before the classes except the first one, as the real class in HTML should be like 'a b c', also space between them.Fadeoc Khaos
Why don't classNames={{foo: true, bar: true, baz: false}} and classNames={["foo", "bar"]} just work?Peter V. Mørch
Then why are you assigning only one class name "active" to the li element?John McGovern
You can check out npmjs.com/package/@ivanhanak_com/react-join-classnames, where basically you can use <div className={classes(isTrue && "willRenderThisClass")} />Ivan Hanák

30 Answers

277
votes

I use classnames when there is a fair amount of logic required for deciding the classes to (not) use. An overly simple example:

...
    var liClasses = classNames({
      'main-class': true,
      'activeClass': self.state.focused === index
    });

    return (<li className={liClasses}>{data.name}</li>);
...

That said, if you don't want to include a dependency then there are better answers below.

501
votes

I use ES6 template literals. For example:

const error = this.state.valid ? '' : 'error'
const classes = `form-control round-lg ${error}`

And then just render it:

<input className={classes} />

One-liner version:

<input className={`form-control round-lg ${this.state.valid ? '' : 'error'}`} />
222
votes

Just use JavaScript.

<li className={[activeClass, data.klass, "main-class"].join(' ')} />

If you want to add classes based keys and values in an object you can use the following:

function classNames(classes) {
  return Object.entries(classes)
    .filter(([key, value]) => value)
    .map(([key, value]) => key)
    .join(' ');
}

const classes = {
  'maybeClass': true,
  'otherClass': true,
  'probablyNotClass': false,
};

const myClassNames = classNames(classes);
// Output: "maybeClass otherClass"

<li className={myClassNames} />

Or even simpler:

const isEnabled = true;
const isChecked = false;

<li className={[isEnabled && 'enabled', isChecked && 'checked']
  .filter(e => !!e)
  .join(' ')
} />
// Output:
// <li className={'enabled'} />
147
votes

Concat

No need to be fancy I am using CSS modules and it's easy

import style from '/css/style.css';

<div className={style.style1+ ' ' + style.style2} />

This will result in:

<div class="src-client-css-pages-style1-selectionItem src-client-css-pages-style2">

In other words, both styles

Conditionals

It would be easy to use the same idea with if's

const class1 = doIHaveSomething ? style.style1 : 'backupClass';

<div className={class1 + ' ' + style.style2} />

ES6

For the last year or so I have been using the template literals, so I feel its worth mentioning, i find it very expressive and easy to read:

`${class1} anotherClass ${class1}`
80
votes

This can be achieved with ES6 template literals:

<input className={`base-input-class ${class1} ${class2}`}>

(edited for clarity)

45
votes

You can create an element with multiple class names like this:

<li className="class1 class2 class3">foo</li>

Naturally, you can use a string containing the class names and manipulate this string to update the class names of the element.

var myClassNammes = 'class1 class2 class3';
...
<li className={myClassNames}>foo</li>
25
votes

This is how you can do that with ES6:

className = {`
      text-right
      ${itemId === activeItemId ? 'active' : ''}
      ${anotherProperty === true ? 'class1' : 'class2'}
`}

You can list multiple classes and conditions and also you can include static classes. It is not necessary to add an additional library.

Good luck ;)

20
votes

I don't think we need to use an external package for just adding multiple classes.

I personally use

<li className={`li active`}>Stacy</li>

or

<li className={`li ${this.state.isActive ? 'active' : ''}`}>Stacy<li>

or

<li className={'li ' + (this.state.isActive ? 'active' : '') }>Stacy<li>

the second and third one in case you need to add or remove classes conditionally.

18
votes

Vanilla JS

No need for external libraries - just use ES6 template strings:

<i className={`${styles['foo-bar-baz']} fa fa-user fa-2x`}/>
10
votes

Maybe classnames can help you.

var classNames = require('classnames');
classNames('foo', {'xx-test': true, bar: false}, {'ox-test': false}); // => 'foo xx-test'
9
votes

You could do the following:

<li key={index} className={`${activeClass} ${data.class} main-class`}></li>

A short and simple solution, hope this helps.

8
votes

It can be done with https://www.npmjs.com/package/clsx :

https://www.npmjs.com/package/clsx

First install it:

npm install --save clsx

Then import it in your component file:

import clsx from  'clsx';

Then use the imported function in your component:

<div className={ clsx(classes.class1, classes.class2)}>
8
votes

Generally people do like

<div className={  `head ${style.class1} ${Style.class2}`  }><div>

OR

<div className={  'head ' + style.class1 + ' ' + Style.class2 }><div>

OR

<div className={  ['head', style.class1 , Style.class2].join(' ')  }><div>

But you can choose to Create a function to do this job

function joinAll(...classes) {
  return classes.join(" ")
}

then call it like:-

<div className={joinAll('head', style.class1 , style.class2)}><div>
7
votes

You can create an element with multiple class names like this, I tryed these both way, its working fine...

If you importing any css then you can follow this way : Way 1:

import React, { Component, PropTypes } from 'react';
import csjs from 'csjs';
import styles from './styles';
import insertCss from 'insert-css';
import classNames from 'classnames';
insertCss(csjs.getCss(styles));
export default class Foo extends Component {
  render() {
    return (
      <div className={[styles.class1, styles.class2].join(' ')}>
        { 'text' }
      </div>
    );
  }
}

way 2:

import React, { Component, PropTypes } from 'react';
import csjs from 'csjs';
import styles from './styles';
import insertCss from 'insert-css';
import classNames from 'classnames';
insertCss(csjs.getCss(styles));
export default class Foo extends Component {
  render() {
    return (
      <div className={styles.class1 + ' ' + styles.class2}>
        { 'text' }
      </div>
    );
  }
}

**

If you applying css as internal :

const myStyle = {
  color: "#fff"
};

// React Element using Jsx
const myReactElement = (
  <h1 style={myStyle} className="myClassName myClassName1">
    Hello World!
  </h1>
);

ReactDOM.render(myReactElement, document.getElementById("app"));
.myClassName {
  background-color: #333;
  padding: 10px;
}
.myClassName1{
  border: 2px solid #000;
}
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/16.4.0/umd/react.production.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react-dom/16.4.0/umd/react-dom.production.min.js"></script>
<div id="app">
  
</div>
6
votes

Just adding, we can filter out empty strings.

className={[
    'read-more-box',
    this.props.className,
    this.state.isExpanded ? 'open' : 'close',
].filter(x => !!x).join(' ')}
6
votes

for more classes adding

... className={`${classes.hello} ${classes.hello1}`...
5
votes

I know this is a late answer, but I hope this will help someone.

Consider that you have defined following classes in a css file 'primary', 'font-i', 'font-xl'

  • The first step would be to import the CSS file.
  • Then

<h3 class = {` ${'primary'} ${'font-i'} font-xl`}> HELLO WORLD </h3>

would do the trick!

For more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5P9FHiBVNo&list=PLC3y8-rFHvwgg3vaYJgHGnModB54rxOk3&index=20

4
votes

Late to the party, but why use third party for such a simple problem?

You could either do it as @Huw Davies mentioned - the best way

1. <i className={`${styles['foo-bar-baz']} fa fa-user fa-2x`}/>
2. <i className={[styles['foo-bar-baz'], 'fa fa-user', 'fa-2x'].join(' ')}

Both are good. But writing can become complex for a large app. To make it optimal, I do the same above things but put it in a helper class

Using my below helper function, allows me to keep the logic separate for future editing, and also gives me multiple ways to add the classes

classNames(styles['foo-bar-baz], 'fa fa-user', 'fa-2x')

or

classNames([styles['foo-bar-baz], 'fa fa-user', 'fa-2x'])

This is my helper function below. I've put it in a helper.js where I keep all my common methods. Being such a simple function, I avoided using 3rd party to keep control

export function classNames (classes) {
    if(classes && classes.constructor === Array) {
        return classes.join(' ')
    } else if(arguments[0] !== undefined) {
        return [...arguments].join(' ')
    }
    return ''
}
4
votes

You can use arrays and then join them using space.

<li key={index} className={[activeClass, data.class, "main-class"].join(' ')}></li>

This will result in :

<li key={index} class="activeClass data.class main-class"></li>
3
votes

Create a function like this

function cssClass(...c) {
  return c.join(" ")
}

Call it when needed.

<div className={cssClass("head",Style.element,"black")}><div>
2
votes

Using facebook's TodoTextInput.js example

render() {
    return (
      <input className={
        classnames({
          edit: this.props.editing,
          'new-todo': this.props.newTodo
        })}
        type="text"
        placeholder={this.props.placeholder}
        autoFocus="true"
        value={this.state.text}
        onBlur={this.handleBlur}
        onChange={this.handleChange}
        onKeyDown={this.handleSubmit} />
    )
  } 

replacing classnames with plain vanilla js code will look like this:

render() {
    return (
      <input
        className={`
          ${this.props.editing ? 'edit' : ''} ${this.props.newTodo ? 'new-todo' : ''}
        `}
        type="text"
        placeholder={this.props.placeholder}
        autoFocus="true"
        value={this.state.text}
        onBlur={this.handleBlur}
        onChange={this.handleChange}
        onKeyDown={this.handleSubmit} />
    )
  }
2
votes

If you don't feel like importing another module, this function works like the classNames module.

function classNames(rules) {
    var classes = ''

    Object.keys(rules).forEach(item => {    
        if (rules[item])
            classes += (classes.length ? ' ' : '') + item
    })

    return classes
} 

You can use it like this:

render() {
    var classes = classNames({
        'storeInfoDiv': true,  
        'hover': this.state.isHovered == this.props.store.store_id
    })   

    return (
        <SomeComponent style={classes} />
    )
}
2
votes

Use https://www.npmjs.com/package/classnames

import classNames from 'classnames';

  1. Can use multiple classes using comas seperated:

    <li className={classNames(classes.tableCellLabel, classes.tableCell)}>Total</li>
    
  2. Can use multiple classes using comas separated with condition:

    <li className={classNames(classes.buttonArea, !nodes.length && classes.buttonAreaHidden)}>Hello World</li> 
    

Using array as props to classNames will also work, but gives warning e.g.

className={[classes.tableCellLabel, classes.tableCell]}
2
votes

This seem to work for me

<Link className={[classes.button, classes.buttonFirst]}>
1
votes

That's what I do:

Component:

const Button = ({ className }) => (
  <div className={ className }> </div>
);

Calling Component:

<Button className = 'hashButton free anotherClass' />
1
votes

I am using React 16.6.3 and @Material UI 3.5.1, and is able to use arrays in className like className={[classes.tableCell, classes.capitalize]}

So in your example, the following would be similar.

<li key={index} className={[activeClass, data.class, "main-class"]}></li>
1
votes

When I have many varying classes, I have found the following to be useful.

The filter removes any of the null values and the join puts all the remaining values into a space separated string.

const buttonClasses = [
    "Button", 
    disabled ? "disabled" : null,
    active ? "active" : null
].filter((class) => class).join(" ")

<button className={buttonClasses} onClick={onClick} disabled={disabled ? disabled : false}>
0
votes

I use rc-classnames package.

// ES6
import c from 'rc-classnames';

// CommonJS
var c = require('rc-classnames');

<button className={c('button', {
  'button--disabled': isDisabled,
  'button--no-radius': !hasRadius
})} />

You can add classes in any format (Array, Object, Argument). All truthy values from arrays or Arguments plus keys in objects that equal to true get merged together.

for example:

ReactClassNames('a', 'b', 'c') // => "a b c"
ReactClassNames({ 'a': true, 'b': false, c: 'true' }) // => "a c"
ReactClassNames(undefined, null, 'a', 0, 'b') // => "a b"
0
votes

I bind classNames to the css module imported to into the component.

import classNames from 'classnames'; 
import * as styles from './[STYLES PATH];
const cx = classNames.bind(styles); 

classnames gives the ability to declare className for a React element in a declarative way.

ex:

<div classNames={cx(styles.titleText)}> Lorem </div>

<div classNames={cx('float-left')}> Lorem </div> // global css declared without css modules
<div classNames={cx( (test === 0) ?
             styles.titleText : 
             styles.subTitleText)}>  Lorem </div> // conditionally assign classes

<div classNames={cx(styles.titleText, 'float-left')}> Lorem </div> //combine multiple classes
0
votes

I usually use it like this : (in your case)

    <li  key={index} className={
        "component " +
        `${activeClass? activeClass: " not-an-active-class "}` +
        `${data.class? " " + data.class : " no-data-class "}`
   } />

When it comes to JSX and (usually) we have some json... than you loop it ... component.map, plus some conditional to check if json property exists to render class name depending on property value from JSON. In example below component_color and component_dark_shade are properties from component.map()

   <div className={
        "component " +
        `${component_color? component_color: " no-color "}` +
        `${component_dark_shade? " " + component_dark_shade : " light "}`
   }/>

Output : <div class="component no-color light" .... Or: <div class="component blue dark" .... depending on values from map...