How to Use idle-vue in Your Vue.js Application

Are you looking to enhance user experience by tracking inactivity in your Vue.js application? Look no further than idle-vue, a powerful plug-in that detects when a user has been inactive for a specified time. In this guide, we will walk you through the installation, setup, and practical usage of idle-vue, while also providing troubleshooting tips to make your integration as smooth as possible.

Installation

To get started, you will need to install idle-vue using npm. Run the following command in your terminal:

npm install --save idle-vue

Usage

Once you have idle-vue installed, the next step is to include it in your application. You will need to import the idle-vue plug-in and register it with Vue before you create your app. Below is a simple analogy to help understand this process:

Think of your Vue application as a theater. The audience (your users) can sometimes become inattentive (idle), and as a director (developer), you want to make sure that you know when they drift off. Idle-vue acts as an alert system that notifies you when the audience hasn’t interacted with the performance (your app) for a while.

Here’s how to set it up:

import Vue from 'vue'
import IdleVue from 'idle-vue'

const options = { 
  eventEmitter: new Vue(),
  idleTime: 10000 // 10 seconds before idle
}

Vue.use(IdleVue, options)

Hooks

idle-vue provides two essential hooks: onIdle and onActive. You can define these hooks in any Vue component. They are called when the application starts and stops idling. To utilize these hooks, simply add them directly to the root of your component as shown below:

const vm = new Vue({
  el: '#app',
  data() {
    return {
      messageStr: 'Hello'
    }
  },
  onIdle() {
    this.messageStr = 'ZZZ'
  },
  onActive() {
    this.messageStr = 'Hello'
  }
})

Computed Value – isAppIdle

Additionally, idle-vue introduces a computed value isAppIdle in every Vue component. This serves as a shortcut to determine if the app is in an idle state. You can use either this computed property or the hooks for tracking user activity.

const vm = new Vue({
  el: '#app',
  computed: {
    messageStr() {
      return this.isAppIdle ? 'ZZZ' : 'Hello'
    }
  }
})

IdleView Component

idle-vue comes with an example component called idle-view. This component serves as a base for creating your own idle overlays. Here’s how to use it:

import IdleVueComponent from 'idle-vue/src/components/Idle.vue'

Vue.component('idle-view', IdleVueComponent)

Options

You may customize idle-vue by providing an options object, which includes:

• eventEmitter: Vue instance for sending events.
• store: Vuex instance to manage inactivity state.
• idleTime: Amount of time (in ms) for considering the app idle.
• events: Events that break idleness.
• keepTracking: Whether to track multiple idle periods.
• startAtIdle: Start in idle state?
• moduleName: Prefix for emitted events.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues with idle-vue, consider the following troubleshooting steps:

• Ensure that you have properly imported and registered the plug-in.
• Check if the eventEmitter and store are correctly instantiated.
• Verify that your hooks are implemented correctly in your Vue components.
• Double-check the idleTime setting to see if it matches your desired inactivity period.

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Conclusion

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