{/* Copyright 2020 Adobe. All rights reserved. This file is licensed to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License. */}

import {Layout} from '@react-spectrum/docs'; export default Layout;

import docs from 'docs:@react-aria/button'; import typesDocs from 'docs:@react-types/shared/src/events.d.ts'; import {HeaderInfo, FunctionAPI, TypeLink, PageDescription} from '@react-spectrum/docs'; import {Keyboard} from '@react-spectrum/text'; import packageData from '@react-aria/button/package.json';

category: Buttons keywords: [button, aria, form]

useButton

<PageDescription>{docs.exports.useButton.description}</PageDescription>

API

Features

On the surface, building a custom styled button seems simple. However, there are many cross browser inconsistencies in interactions and accessibility features to consider. useButton handles all of these interactions for you, so you can focus on the styling.

Native HTML <button> support
<a> and custom element type support via ARIA
Mouse and touch event handling, and press state management
Keyboard focus management and cross browser normalization
Keyboard event support for <Keyboard>Space</Keyboard> and <Keyboard>Enter</Keyboard> keys

Read our blog post about the complexities of building buttons that work well across devices and interaction methods.

Anatomy

Buttons consist of a clickable area usually containing a textual label or an icon that users can click to perform an action. In addition, keyboard users may activate buttons using the <Keyboard>Space</Keyboard> or <Keyboard>Enter</Keyboard> keys.

If a visual label is not provided (e.g. an icon only button), then an aria-label or aria-labelledby prop must be passed to identify the button to assistive technology.

Example

By default, useButton assumes that you are using it with a native <button> element.

tsx

import {useButton} from '@react-aria/button';
import {useRef} from 'react';

function Button(props) {
  let ref = useRef<HTMLButtonElement | null>(null);
  let {buttonProps} = useButton(props, ref);
  let {children} = props;

  return (
    <button {...buttonProps} ref={ref}>
      {children}
    </button>
  );
}

<Button onPress={() => alert('Button pressed!')}>Test</Button>

Custom element type

Sometimes you might need to use an element other than a native <button>. useButton supports this via the elementType prop. When used with an element other than a native button, useButton automatically applies the necessary ARIA roles and attributes to ensure that the element is exposed to assistive technology as a button.

In addition, this example shows usage of the isPressed value returned by useButton to properly style the button's active state. You could use the CSS :active pseudo class for this, but isPressed properly handles when the user drags their pointer off of the button, along with keyboard support and better touch screen support.

tsx

function Button(props) {
  let {children} = props;
  let ref = useRef<HTMLButtonElement | null>(null);
  let {buttonProps, isPressed} = useButton({
    ...props,
    elementType: 'span'
  }, ref);

  return (
    <span
      {...buttonProps}
      style={{
        background: isPressed ? 'darkgreen' : 'green',
        color: 'white',
        padding: 10,
        cursor: 'pointer',
        userSelect: 'none',
        WebkitUserSelect: 'none'
      }}
      ref={ref}>
      {children}
    </span>
  );
}

<Button onPress={() => alert('Button pressed!')}>Test</Button>

Usage

The following examples show how to use the Button component created in the above example.

Events

useButton supports user interactions via mouse, keyboard, and touch. You can handle all of these via the onPress prop. This is similar to the standard onClick event, but normalized to support all interaction methods equally. In addition, the onPressStart, onPressEnd, and onPressChange events are fired as the user interacts with the button.

Each of these handlers receives a <TypeLink links={typesDocs.links} type={typesDocs.exports.PressEvent} />, which exposes information about the target and the type of event that triggered the interaction. See usePress for more details.

tsx

function Example() {
  let [pointerType, setPointerType] = React.useState(null);

  return (
    <>
      <Button
        onPressStart={e => setPointerType(e.pointerType)}
        onPressEnd={e => setPointerType(null)}>
        Press me
      </Button>
      <p>{pointerType ? `You are pressing the button with a ${pointerType}!` : 'Ready to be pressed.'}</p>
    </>
  )
}

Disabled

A Button can be disabled using the isDisabled prop.

tsx

<Button isDisabled>Pin</Button>