How to Make Your vue-chartjs Chart Reactive with Vue 3 Composition API

Learn how to effectively update your `vue-chartjs` Bar Graph with reactive data in Vue 3 using Composition API. Find simple solutions to your data-reactivity challenges!
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How to Make Your vue-chartjs Chart Reactive with Vue 3 Composition API

Understanding the Problem

Imagine building a Bar Graph that displays worker hours per employee using vue-chartjs. You want this graph to update automatically whenever the data changes. However, you notice that the chart doesn’t update unless you refresh the entire page. This frustrating behavior can stem from the way Vue handles reactivity, especially with ref() and reactive().

What’s Going Wrong?

When you define chartData using ref(), it won’t automatically watch for changes in the incoming props. As a result, even though data changes in the parent component - memberHours - your chart won't reactively reflect those changes.

The Solution

To solve the problem of making our chart reactive, we have two main strategies we can implement:

Use a computed property for chartData to automatically update when the props change.

Use a watch method to monitor changes in the props and manually update chartData.

Option 1: Use a Computed Property

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Key Benefits:

Automatically updates without needing additional code.

Keeps your code clean and avoids side effects.

Option 2: Use a Watcher

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Key Benefits:

Allows for more complex logic if needed when data changes.

Immediate updates when the component is created.

Conclusion

In this guide, we’ve tackled the challenge of making a vue-chartjs Bar Graph reactive in Vue 3 using the Composition API. By either using computed properties or the watch API, we can ensure that our charts always reflect the latest data without the need for a manual page refresh.

Whichever method you choose, the result will be a more dynamic and user-friendly chart that keeps up with your data changes. Now you can focus on what matters most: building your awesome applications!

If you found this guide helpful, feel free to share it with your fellow developers tackling similar challenges. Happy coding!