A component to integrate P5.js sketches into React apps.
Note: Version 5 is still in development, currently 5.0.0-rc.0 has been released for internal development testing ONLY. It is recommended to continue utilising version 4.4.0 until it is out of the
rcversioning scheme.
To install, use the following command in the format appropriate to your chosen package manager:
[npm|yarn|pnpm] [install|add] p5 @p5-wrapper/reactPlease note that p5, react and react-dom are peer dependencies, meaning
you should ensure they are installed before installing React P5 Wrapper.
"peerDependencies": {
"p5": ">= 1.4.1",
"react": ">= 18.2.0",
"react-dom": ">= 18.2.0"
},If you would like to use Typescript, you should install p5 types in the
development environment:
[npm|yarn|pnpm] [install|add] -D @types/p5If you plan to use this component within a Next.js application, you should instead use our Next.js dynamic implementation instead. To do get started, you can run:
[npm|yarn|pnpm] [install|add] p5 @p5-wrapper/next @p5-wrapper/reactPlease continue reading these docs and also look at the Next.js dynamic implementation docs for further supporting information.
A live demo can be viewed at P5-wrapper.github.io/react.
The repository contains further examples.
To try them out for yourself fork the repository, be sure you have PNPM installed and then run the following:
git clone git@github.com:<your username>/react.git
cd react
pnpm install
pnpm previewThen just open http://localhost:3001 in a browser.
import * as React from "react";
import { ReactP5Wrapper } from "@p5-wrapper/react";
function sketch(p5) {
p5.setup = () => p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
p5.draw = () => {
p5.background(250);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.push();
p5.rotateZ(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateX(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateY(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.plane(100);
p5.pop();
};
}
export function App() {
return <ReactP5Wrapper sketch={sketch} />;
}TypeScript sketches can be declared in two different ways, below you will find two ways to declare a sketch, both examples do the exact same thing.
In short though, the ReactP5Wrapper component requires you to pass a sketch
prop. The sketch prop is simply a function which takes a p5 instance as it's
first and only argument.
import * as React from "react";
import { P5CanvasInstance, ReactP5Wrapper } from "@p5-wrapper/react";
function sketch(p5: P5CanvasInstance) {
p5.setup = () => p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
p5.draw = () => {
p5.background(250);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.push();
p5.rotateZ(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateX(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateY(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.plane(100);
p5.pop();
};
}
export function App() {
return <ReactP5Wrapper sketch={sketch} />;
}Using the Sketch type has one nice benefit over using P5CanvasInstance and
that is that the p5 argument passed to the sketch function is auto-typed as a
P5CanvasInstance for you.
Side note:
In general, it comes down to personal preference as to how you declare your sketches and there is nothing wrong with using the
P5CanvasInstancemanually in a regularfunctiondeclaration.
import * as React from "react";
import { ReactP5Wrapper, Sketch } from "@p5-wrapper/react";
const sketch: Sketch = p5 => {
p5.setup = () => p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
p5.draw = () => {
p5.background(250);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.push();
p5.rotateZ(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateX(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateY(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.plane(100);
p5.pop();
};
};
export function App() {
return <ReactP5Wrapper sketch={sketch} />;
}We also support the use of Generics to add type definitions for your props. If
used, the props will be properly typed when the props are passed to the
updateWithProps method.
To utilise generics you can use one of two methods. In both of the examples
below, we create a custom internal type called MySketchProps which is a union
type of SketchProps and a custom type which has a rotation key applied to
it.
Side note:
We could also write the
MySketchPropstype as an interface to do exactly the same thing if that is to your personal preference:interface MySketchProps extends SketchProps { rotation: number; }
This means, in these examples, that when the rotation prop that is provided as
part of the props passed to the updateWithProps function, it will be
correctly typed as a number.
import {
P5CanvasInstance,
ReactP5Wrapper,
SketchProps
} from "@p5-wrapper/react";
import React, { useEffect, useState } from "react";
type MySketchProps = SketchProps & {
rotation: number;
};
function sketch(p5: P5CanvasInstance<MySketchProps>) {
let rotation = 0;
p5.setup = () => p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
p5.updateWithProps = props => {
if (props.rotation) {
rotation = (props.rotation * Math.PI) / 180;
}
};
p5.draw = () => {
p5.background(100);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.noStroke();
p5.push();
p5.rotateY(rotation);
p5.box(100);
p5.pop();
};
}
export function App() {
const [rotation, setRotation] = useState(0);
useEffect(() => {
const interval = setInterval(
() => setRotation(rotation => rotation + 100),
100
);
return () => {
clearInterval(interval);
};
}, []);
return <ReactP5Wrapper sketch={sketch} rotation={rotation} />;
}import { ReactP5Wrapper, Sketch, SketchProps } from "@p5-wrapper/react";
import React, { useEffect, useState } from "react";
type MySketchProps = SketchProps & {
rotation: number;
};
const sketch: Sketch<MySketchProps> = p5 => {
let rotation = 0;
p5.setup = () => p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
p5.updateWithProps = props => {
if (props.rotation) {
rotation = (props.rotation * Math.PI) / 180;
}
};
p5.draw = () => {
p5.background(100);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.noStroke();
p5.push();
p5.rotateY(rotation);
p5.box(100);
p5.pop();
};
};
export function App() {
const [rotation, setRotation] = useState(0);
useEffect(() => {
const interval = setInterval(
() => setRotation(rotation => rotation + 100),
100
);
return () => {
clearInterval(interval);
};
}, []);
return <ReactP5Wrapper sketch={sketch} rotation={rotation} />;
}import * as React from "react";
import { ReactP5Wrapper } from "@p5-wrapper/react";
function setup(p5) {
return () => {
p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
};
}
function draw(p5) {
return () => {
p5.background(250);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.push();
p5.rotateZ(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateX(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateY(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.plane(100);
p5.pop();
};
}
function sketch(p5) {
p5.setup = setup(p5);
p5.draw = draw(p5);
}
export function App() {
return <ReactP5Wrapper sketch={sketch} />;
}The only required property of the ReactP5Wrapper component is the sketch
prop. The sketch prop is a function that will be passed a p5 instance to use
for rendering your sketches as shown in the usage section above.
You can pass as many custom props as you want to the ReactP5Wrapper component
and these will all be passed into the updateWithProps method if you have
defined it within your sketch.
In the below example you see the updateWithProps method being used. This is
called when the component initially renders and when the props passed to the
wrapper are changed, if it is set within your sketch. This way we can render our
ReactP5Wrapper component and react to component prop changes directly within
our sketches!
import { ReactP5Wrapper } from "@p5-wrapper/react";
import React, { useEffect, useState } from "react";
function sketch(p5) {
let rotation = 0;
p5.setup = () => p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
p5.updateWithProps = props => {
if (props.rotation) {
rotation = (props.rotation * Math.PI) / 180;
}
};
p5.draw = () => {
p5.background(100);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.noStroke();
p5.push();
p5.rotateY(rotation);
p5.box(100);
p5.pop();
};
}
export function App() {
const [rotation, setRotation] = useState(0);
useEffect(() => {
const interval = setInterval(
() => setRotation(rotation => rotation + 100),
100
);
return () => {
clearInterval(interval);
};
}, []);
return <ReactP5Wrapper sketch={sketch} rotation={rotation} />;
}To render a component on top of the sketch, you can add it as a child of the
ReactP5Wrapper component and then use the exported P5WrapperClassName
constant in your css-in-js library of choice to style one element above the
other via css.
For instance, using styled components, we could center some text on top of our sketch like so:
import { P5WrapperClassName, ReactP5Wrapper } from "@p5-wrapper/react";
import styled, { createGlobalStyle } from "styled-components";
const GlobalWrapperStyles = createGlobalStyle`
.${P5WrapperClassName} {
position: relative;
}
`;
const StyledCentredText = styled.span`
.${P5WrapperClassName} & {
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
left: 50%;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
color: white;
font-size: 2rem;
margin: 0;
text-align: center;
}
`;
export function App() {
const [rotation, setRotation] = useState(0);
useEffect(() => {
const interval = setInterval(
() => setRotation(rotation => rotation + 100),
100
);
return () => {
clearInterval(interval);
};
}, []);
return (
<Fragment>
<GlobalWrapperStyles />
<ReactP5Wrapper sketch={sketch} rotation={rotation}>
<StyledCentredText>Hello world!</StyledCentredText>
</ReactP5Wrapper>
</Fragment>
);
}Of course, you can also use any other css-in-js library or by just using simple css to achieve almost anything you can imagine just by using the wrapper class as your root selector.
Lets say you want to have a fallback UI in case the sketch ever falls out of
sync or is undefined for some reason. If this is a use case for you then you
call use the fallback prop to provide the necessary UI to show in the case
that the sketch becomes undefined. An example could be as follows:
import * as React from "react";
import { ReactP5Wrapper } from "@p5-wrapper/react";
function sketchOne(p5) {
p5.setup = () => p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
p5.draw = () => {
p5.background(250);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.push();
p5.rotateZ(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateX(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateY(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.plane(100);
p5.pop();
};
}
function sketchTwo(p5) {
p5.setup = () => p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
p5.draw = () => {
p5.background(500);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.push();
p5.rotateZ(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateX(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateY(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.plane(100);
p5.pop();
};
}
export function App() {
const [sketch, setSketch] = React.useState(undefined);
const chooseNothing = () => setSketch(undefined);
const chooseSketchOne = () => setSketch(sketchOne);
const chooseSketchTwo = () => setSketch(sketchTwo);
return (
<>
<ul>
<li>
<button onClick={chooseNothing}>Choose nothing</button>
</li>
<li>
<button onClick={chooseSketchOne}>Choose sketch 1</button>
</li>
<li>
<button onClick={chooseSketchTwo}>Choose sketch 2</button>
</li>
</ul>
<ReactP5Wrapper
fallback={<h1>No sketch selected yet.</h1>}
sketch={sketch}
/>
</>
);
}In this case, by default the fallback UI containing
<h1>No sketch selected yet.</h1> will be rendered, then if you select a
sketch, it will be rendered until you choose to once again "show nothing" which
falls back to the fallback UI.
Since version 4.4.0, it was possible to add a fallback prop, see the section
on fallbacks.
Since version 5 it is now possible to pass an error and loading prop to the
wrapper which allow the user to pass different UIs for error and loading states.
- The
errorstate will trigger if the sketch or the wrapper encounter an issue, otherwise a default error view will be shown. - The
loadingstate will trigger while the wrapper is being lazy loaded, otherwise a default loading view will be shown.
To show a custom UI when an error occurs within the sketch or the wrapper, you
can pass a lazy function to the error prop.
import * as React from "react";
import { P5CanvasInstance, ReactP5Wrapper } from "@p5-wrapper/react";
// This child will throw an error, oh no!
function ErrorChild() {
throw new Error("oops");
}
// This view will catch the thrown error and give you access to what exactly was thrown.
function ErrorUI(error: any) {
if (error instanceof Error) {
return <p>An error occured: {error.message}</p>;
}
return <p>An unknown error occured: {error.toString()}</p>;
}
function sketch(p5: P5CanvasInstance) {
p5.setup = () => p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
p5.draw = () => {
p5.background(250);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.push();
p5.rotateZ(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateX(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateY(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.plane(100);
p5.pop();
};
}
export function App() {
return (
<ReactP5Wrapper sketch={sketch} error={ErrorUI}>
<ErrorChild />
</ReactP5Wrapper>
);
}Instead of the sketch, this will render <p>An error occured: oops</p>. Note
that in truth, the ErrorView will always receive any values since JS /
TS allow you to throw whatever values you want to, this is why we have to add
the error instanceof Error check to be sure the value we got was actually an
Error instance and not some other value like a number, string, object or
anything else that could be thrown by JS / TS.
As mentioned above, the error state will trigger if the sketch or the wrapper
encounter an issue, otherwise a default error view will be shown.
To show a custom UI while the sketch UI is being lazy loaded, you can pass a
lazy function to the loading prop.
import * as React from "react";
import { P5CanvasInstance, ReactP5Wrapper } from "@p5-wrapper/react";
function LoadingUI() {
return <p>The sketch is being loaded.</p>;
}
function sketch(p5: P5CanvasInstance) {
p5.setup = () => p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
p5.draw = () => {
p5.background(250);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.push();
p5.rotateZ(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateX(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateY(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.plane(100);
p5.pop();
};
}
export function App() {
return <ReactP5Wrapper sketch={sketch} loading={LoadingUI} />;
}In the initial period between the sketch render starting and it's lazy loading
ending, the LoadingUI will be shown!
As mentioned above, the loading state will trigger while the wrapper is being
lazy loaded, otherwise a default loading view will be shown.
As discussed in multiple issues such as #11, #23, #61 and #62, there seems to be confusion as to how we can use P5 plugins and constructors out of the box. This section aims to clarify these!
Since P5 is being used in P5 instance mode as part of this project, P5 will not automatically load global plugins like it usually might in global mode.
Let's say we want to use the P5 sound plugin in our component, we could do the following:
import * as p5 from "p5";
import { ReactP5Wrapper, Sketch } from "@p5-wrapper/react";
import React, { useEffect, useState } from "react";
(window as any).p5 = p5;
await import("p5/lib/addons/p5.sound");
const sketch: Sketch = p5 => {
let song: p5.SoundFile;
let button: p5.Element;
p5.setup = () => {
p5.createCanvas(600, 400, p5.WEBGL);
p5.background(255, 0, 0);
button = p5.createButton("Toggle audio");
button.mousePressed(() => {
if (!song) {
const songPath = "/piano.mp3";
song = p5.loadSound(
songPath,
() => {
song.play();
},
() => {
console.error(
`Could not load the requested sound file ${songPath}`
);
}
);
return;
}
if (!song.isPlaying()) {
song.play();
return;
}
song.pause();
});
};
p5.draw = () => {
p5.background(250);
p5.normalMaterial();
p5.push();
p5.rotateZ(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateX(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.rotateY(p5.frameCount * 0.01);
p5.plane(100);
p5.pop();
};
};
export default function App() {
return <ReactP5Wrapper sketch={sketch} />;
}In this Typescript + React example, we can see a few key things.
- Firstly we need to set
p5on thewindowobject manually. This is becausep5.soundrequires that it be executed client side only AND thatp5be available BEFORE it is imported into the global (window) scope. - Secondly, we ensure that audio is played after a user action, in our case this happens on a button click. This is because in some browsers, without waiting for a user interaction before playing audio, the audio will be blocked by the browser from playing at all.
- Thirdly and relevant especially to Safari users, Safari blocks audio from all tabs by default, you will need to manually change this setting in your Safari settings. This could affect other browsers but sadly this is a browser decision and until P5 Sound is updated to support newer audio APIs and browser requirements. This could happen at anytime in other places and is a P5 Sound issue most generally because it does not ask for permissions by default, even though browsers have been requiring it for some time.
Note: The above example requires support for top level await, dynamic import statements and the stream API to be supported in your browser. Furthermore, the stream API built into the browser requires that HTTPS is used to ensure secure data transmission.
To access P5 constructors such as p5.Vector or p5.Envelope, you need to use
the instance mode syntax instead. For example:
| Constructor | Global mode accessor | Instance mode accessor |
|---|---|---|
| Vector | p5.Vector | p5.constructor.Vector |
| Envelope | p5.Envelope | p5.constructor.Envelope |
So now that we know this, let's imagine we want a random 2D Vector instance. In
our sketch function we would simply call p5.constructor.Vector.random2D()
instead of p5.Vector.random2D(). This is because of how the
P5 instance mode
was implemented by the P5 team. While I am not sure why they decided to change
the API for instance mode specifically, it is still quite simple to use the
constructs we are used to without much extra work involved.
NOTE: The source code for the component is in the src directory.
To build, watch and serve the examples which will also watch the component source, run:
pnpm preview