Highcharts React

Official minimal Highcharts integration for React.

Table of Contents

1. Getting started
   1. General prerequisites
   2. Installing
   3. Using
      1. Basic usage example
      2. Highcharts with NextJS
      3. Highcharts with TypeScript
      4. Optimal way to update
2. Options details
3. Example with custom chart component
4. Get repository
5. Examples
6. Tests
7. Changelog
8. FAQ
   1. Where to look for help?
   2. Why highcharts-react-official and not highcharts-react is used?
   3. How to get a chart instance?
   4. How to add a module?
   5. How to add React component to a chart's element?
   6. Why Highcharts mutates my data?

Getting Started

General prerequisites

Make sure you have node, NPM and React up to date. Tested and required versions:

• node 8.11.3+
• npm 6.4.1+ or similar package manager

This integration also requires highcharts and react packages with the following versions installed in your project:

For version 2.x.x :

• react 16.4+
• highcharts 5.0.0+

For version 3.x.x :

• react 16.8+
• highcharts 6.0.0+

Installing

Get the package from NPM in your React app:

1npm install highcharts-react-official

If Highcharts is not already installed, get the package with Highcharts:

1npm install highcharts highcharts-react-official

Using

Basic usage example

Import into your React project and render a chart:

1import React from 'react'
2import { render } from 'react-dom'
3import Highcharts from 'highcharts'
4import HighchartsReact from 'highcharts-react-official'
5
6const options = {
7  title: {
8    text: 'My chart'
9  },
10  series: [{
11    data: [1, 2, 3]
12  }]
13}
14
15const App = () => <div>
16  <HighchartsReact
17    highcharts={Highcharts}
18    options={options}
19  />
20</div>
21
22render(<App />, document.getElementById('root'))

Highcharts with TypeScript

Live example: https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-starter-typescript-cfcznt

1import React, { useRef } from 'react';
2import * as Highcharts from 'highcharts';
3import { HighchartsReact } from 'highcharts-react-official';
4
5// The integration exports only a default component that at the same time is a
6// namespace for the related Props interface (HighchartsReact.Props) and
7// RefObject interface (HighchartsReact.RefObject). All other interfaces
8// like Options come from the Highcharts module itself.
9
10const options: Highcharts.Options = {
11    title: {
12        text: 'My chart'
13    },
14    series: [{
15        type: 'line',
16        data: [1, 2, 3]
17    }]
18};
19
20const App = (props: HighchartsReact.Props) => {
21  const chartComponentRef = useRef<HighchartsReact.RefObject>(null);
22
23  return (
24    <HighchartsReact
25      highcharts={Highcharts}
26      options={options}
27      ref={chartComponentRef}
28      {...props}
29    />
30  );
31};
32// Render your App component into the #root element of the document.
33ReactDOM.render(<App />, document.getElementById('root'));

Since version 3.2.1 it is also possible to import types for props and ref independently:

1import HighchartsReact, { HighchartsReactRefObject, HighchartsReactProps } from 'highcharts-react-official';

Highcharts with NextJS

Next.js executes code twice - on server-side and then client-side. First run is done in an environment that lacks window and causes Highcharts to be loaded, but not initialized. Easy fix is to place all modules inits in a if checking if Highcharts is an object or a function. It should be an object for modules initialization to work without any errors, so code like below is an easy fix:

1import React from 'react'
2import Highcharts from 'highcharts'
3import HighchartsExporting from 'highcharts/modules/exporting'
4import HighchartsReact from 'highcharts-react-official'
5
6if (typeof Highcharts === 'object') {
7    HighchartsExporting(Highcharts)
8}
9
10...

This is a know issue with NextJS and is covered here: https://github.com/vercel/next.js/issues/5354

Optimal way to update

A good practice is to keep all chart options in the state. When setState is called, the options are overwritten and only the new ones are passed to the chart.update method.

Live example: https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-hketvd?file=index.js

Optimal way to update with React Hooks: https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-nwseym?file=index.js

1import React, { Component } from 'react';
2import { render } from 'react-dom';
3import HighchartsReact from 'highcharts-react-official';
4import Highcharts from 'highcharts';
5
6class LineChart extends Component {
7  constructor(props) {
8    super(props);
9
10    this.state = {
11      // To avoid unnecessary update keep all options in the state.
12      chartOptions: {
13        xAxis: {
14          categories: ['A', 'B', 'C'],
15        },
16        series: [
17          { data: [1, 2, 3] }
18        ],
19        plotOptions: {
20          series: {
21            point: {
22              events: {
23                mouseOver: this.setHoverData.bind(this)
24              }
25            }
26          }
27        }
28      },
29      hoverData: null
30    };
31  }
32
33  setHoverData = (e) => {
34    // The chart is not updated because `chartOptions` has not changed.
35    this.setState({ hoverData: e.target.category })
36  }
37
38  updateSeries = () => {
39    // The chart is updated only with new options.
40    this.setState({
41      chartOptions: {
42        series: [
43          { data: [Math.random() * 5, 2, 1]}
44        ]
45      }
46    });
47  }
48
49  render() {
50    const { chartOptions, hoverData } = this.state;
51
52    return (
53      <div>
54        <HighchartsReact
55          highcharts={Highcharts}
56          options={chartOptions}
57        />
58      <h3>Hovering over {hoverData}</h3>
59      <button onClick={this.updateSeries.bind(this)}>Update Series</button>
60      </div>
61    )
62  }
63}
64
65render(<LineChart />, document.getElementById('root'));

Options details

Available options with example values:

1  <HighchartsReact
2    options = { this.state.chartOptions }
3    highcharts = { Highcharts }
4    constructorType = { 'mapChart' }
5    allowChartUpdate = { true }
6    immutable = { false }
7    updateArgs = { [true, true, true] }
8    containerProps = {{ className: 'chartContainer' }}
9    callback = { this.chartCallback }
10  />

Parameter	Type	Required	Defaults	Description
options	Object	yes	-	Highcharts chart configuration object. Please refer to the Highcharts API documentation.
highcharts	Object	yes	-	Used to pass the Highcharts instance after modules are initialized. If not set the component will try to get the Highcharts from window.
constructorType	String	no	'chart'	String for constructor method. Official constructors: - 'chart' for Highcharts charts - 'stockChart' for Highstock charts - 'mapChart' for Highmaps charts - 'ganttChart' for Gantt charts
allowChartUpdate	Boolean	no	true	This integration uses chart.update() method to apply new options to the chart when changing the parent component. This option allow to turn off the updating.
immutable	Boolean	no	false	Reinitialises the chart on prop update (as oppose to chart.update()) - useful in some cases but slower than a regular update.
updateArgs	Array	no	[true, true, true]	Array of update()'s function optional arguments. Parameters should be defined in the same order like in native Highcharts function: [redraw, oneToOne, animation]. Here is a more specific description of the parameters.
containerProps	Object	no	-	The props object passed to the chart container in React.createElement method. Useful for adding styles or class.
callback	Function	no	-	A callback function for the created chart. First argument for the function will hold the created chart. Default this in the function points to the chart. This option is optional.

Example with custom chart component

Create custom component ./components/MyStockChart.jsx:

1import React from 'react'
2import Highcharts from 'highcharts/highstock'
3import HighchartsReact from 'highcharts-react-official'
4
5const options = {
6  title: {
7    text: 'My stock chart'
8  },
9  series: [{
10    data: [1, 2, 3]
11  }]
12}
13
14const MyStockChart = () => <HighchartsReact
15  highcharts={Highcharts}
16  constructorType={'stockChart'}
17  options={options}
18/>
19
20export default MyStockChart

Render your custom chart component like below:

1import React from 'react'
2import { render } from 'react-dom'
3import MyStockChart from './components/MyStockChart.jsx'
4
5const App = () => <div>
6  <MyStockChart />
7</div>
8
9render(<App />, document.getElementById('root'))

Get repository

Clone github repository and install dependencies:

1git clone https://github.com/highcharts/highcharts-react
2cd highcharts-react
3npm install

Examples and tests require Highcharts library, don't forget to:

1npm install highcharts

Examples

There are several interesting examples in the demo folder that use all available constructors and several modules.

Bundle these with:

1npm run build-demo

Demo is located under demo/index.html

Live example: https://stackblitz.com/edit/react-4ded5d?file=index.js

Tests

This integration contains tests for: testing environment, chart rendering and passing down container props. To run tests, type:

1npm run test

Changelog

The changelog is available here.

FAQ

Where to look for help?

Technical support will help you with Highcharts and with the integration.

If you have a bug to report or an enhancement suggestion please submit Issues in this repository.

Why highcharts-react-official and not highcharts-react is used?

The NPM package is registered as highcharts-react-official because highcharts-react was already taken.

How to get a chart instance?

For class components and version prior to 3.0.0 use React.createRef:

1constructor(props) {
2  super(props)
3  this.chartRef = React.createRef();
4}
5
6render() {
7  return (
8    <HighchartsReact
9      highcharts={ Highcharts }
10      options={ options }
11      ref={ this.chartRef }
12    />
13  );
14}

For functional components and version 3.0.0 and later use useRef hook:

1  const chartComponent = useRef(null);
2  const [options] = useState({...});
3
4  useEffect(() => {
5    const chart = chartComponent.current.chart;
6    ...
7  }, []);
8
9  return <HighchartsReact ref={chartComponent} highcharts={Highcharts} options={options} />;

Alternatively store a chart reference in a callback function:

1afterChartCreated = (chart) => {
2  // Highcharts creates a separate chart instance during export
3  if (!chart.options.chart.forExport) {
4    this.internalChart = chart;
5  }
6}
7
8componentDidMount() {
9  // example of use
10  this.internalChart.addSeries({ data: [1, 2, 3] })
11}
12
13render() {
14  return (
15    <div>
16      <h2>Highcharts</h2>
17      <HighchartsReact
18        highcharts={ Highcharts }
19        options={ options }
20        callback={ this.afterChartCreated }
21      />
22    </div>
23  );
24}

How to add a module?

To add a module, import and initialize it:

1import Highcharts from 'highcharts'
2import highchartsGantt from "highcharts/modules/gantt";
3import HighchartsReact from 'highcharts-react-official'
4
5// init the module
6highchartsGantt(Highcharts);

alternative with require:

1import Highcharts from 'highcharts'
2import HighchartsReact from 'highcharts-react-official'
3
4require("highcharts/modules/variwide")(Highcharts);

How to add React component to a chart's element?

By using Portals it is possible to add a component to every HTML chart element.

Live example: https://codesandbox.io/s/1o5y7r31k3

Why Highcharts mutates my data?

It can be confusing, since React props are read-only, but Highcharts for performance reasons mutates the original data array. This behaviour is NOT changed by our integration. You need to pass a copy of your data to the integration if you want to prevent mutations.

Issue: https://github.com/highcharts/highcharts-react/issues/326
More discussion here: https://github.com/highcharts/highcharts/issues/4259