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The react_on_rails:install generator combined with the example pull requests of generator runs will get you up and running efficiently. There's a fair bit of setup with integrating Webpack with Rails. Defaults for options are such that the default is for the flag to be off. For example, the default for -R is that redux is off, and the default of -b is that skip-bootstrap is off.

Run rails generate react_on_rails:install --help for descriptions of all available options:

Usage:
  rails generate react_on_rails:install [options]

Options:
  -R, [--redux], [--no-redux]                          # Install Redux gems and Redux version of Hello World Example

Runtime options:
  -f, [--force]                    # Overwrite files that already exist
  -p, [--pretend], [--no-pretend]  # Run but do not make any changes
  -q, [--quiet], [--no-quiet]      # Suppress status output
  -s, [--skip], [--no-skip]        # Skip files that already exist

Description:
    Create react on rails files for install generator.

For a clear example of what each generator option will do, see our generator results repo: Generator Results. Each pull request shows a git "diff" that highlights the changes that the generator has made. Another good option is to create a simple test app per the Tutorial.

Understanding the Organization of the Generated Client Code

The generated client code follows our organization scheme. Each unique set of functionality, is given its own folder inside of client/app/bundles. This encourages for modularity of domains.

Inside of the generated "HelloWorld" domain you will find the following folders:

  • startup: This contains the entry point files for webpack. It defaults to a single file that is used for server and client compilation, but if these need to be different, then you can create two webpack configurations with separate endpoints.
  • containers: "smart components" (components that have functionality and logic that is passed to child "dumb components").
  • components: includes "dumb components", or components that simply render their properties and call functions given to them as properties by a parent component. Ultimately, at least one of these dumb components will have a parent container component.

You may also notice the app/lib folder. This is for any code that is common between bundles and therefore needs to be shared (for example, middleware).

Redux

If you have used the --redux generator option, you will notice the familiar additional redux folders in addition to the aforementioned folders. The Hello World example has also been modified to use Redux.

Note the organizational paradigm of "bundles". These are like application domains and are used for grouping your code into webpack bundles, in case you decide to create different bundles for deployment. This is also useful for separating out logical parts of your application. The concept is that each bundle will have it's own Redux store. If you have code that you want to reuse across bundles, including components and reducers, place them under /client/app/lib.

Using Images and Fonts

The generator has amended the folders created in client/assets/ to Rails's asset path. We recommend that if you have any existing assets that you want to use with your client code, you should move them to these folders and use webpack as normal. This allows webpack's development server to have access to your assets, as it will not be able to see any assets in the default Rails directories which are above the /client directory.

Alternatively, if you have many existing assets and don't wish to move them, you could consider creating symlinks from client/assets that point to your Rails assets folders inside of app/assets/. The assets there will then be visible to both Rails and webpack.