# Communicate Between Micro Frontends

Recommended Learning

Tutorial: Create a React Micro Frontend
Tutorial: Create an Angular Micro Frontend

Entando supports communication between micro frontends using Custom Events (opens new window), an established web standard. In this tutorial, we'll build:

A React micro frontend that publishes an event
A React micro frontend that listens to an event
An Angular micro frontend that publishes an event to a React micro frontend

# Publisher

Create a simple app to publish an event.

npx create-react-app publisher-widget --use-npm

Start the app.

cd publisher-widget

npm start

# Create Custom Event

Next, add event firing logic.

Add a new file publisher-widget/src/PublisherWidgetElement.js.

import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import App from './App';

const EVENTS = {
  greeting: 'greeting',
};

class PublisherWidgetElement extends HTMLElement {

  constructor() {
    super();
    this.onGreet = name => this.publishWidgetEvent(EVENTS.greeting, { name });
  }

  connectedCallback() {
    this.mountPoint = document.createElement('div');
    this.appendChild(this.mountPoint);
    this.render();
  }

  publishWidgetEvent(eventId, detail) {
    const widgetEvent = new CustomEvent(eventId, { detail });
    window.dispatchEvent(widgetEvent);
  }

  render() {
    ReactDOM.render(<App onGreet={this.onGreet} />, this.mountPoint);
  }
}

customElements.define('publisher-widget', PublisherWidgetElement);

export default PublisherWidgetElement;

In the CustomEvent constructor, detail is the specific name to use in the event payload, as per the DOM specification (opens new window).

# Import Custom Element

Update publisher-widget/src/index.js.

import './index.css';
import './PublisherWidgetElement';

# Test Custom Element

Update publisher-widget/public/index.html, and view it in the browser.

  <body>
    <noscript>You need to enable JavaScript to run this app.</noscript>
    <publisher-widget />
    ...
  </body>

# Update React App to Dispatch Event

Update publisher-widget/src/App.js.

import React from 'react';
import './App.css';

class App extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = { name: ''};
  }

  handleNameChange(value) {
    this.setState(prevState => ({
      ...prevState,
      name: value,
    }));
  }

  render() {
    const { name } = this.state;
    const { onGreet } = this.props;
    return (
      <div>
        <h1>Send a greeting</h1>
        <label htmlFor="name">Name</label>
        <input id="name" onChange={e => this.handleNameChange(e.target.value)} value={name} />
        <button onClick={() => onGreet(name)}>Say hello!</button>
      </div>
    );
  }
}

export default App;

# Test Event Dispatcher

In the JavaScript console of your browser, enter:

window.addEventListener('greeting', (evt) => console.log('Hello', evt.detail.name))

Write something in the text field. Click the "Say hello!" button and take a look at the JS console. It will show the event message.

Congratulations!

You’ve now published a custom event.

# Subscriber

Next, let’s create the subscriber.

npx create-react-app subscriber-widget --use-npm

Start the app.

cd subscriber-widget

npm start

# Add Event Listener

Add a new file subscriber-widget/src/SubscriberWidgetElement.js.

import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import App from './App';

const EVENTS = {
  greeting: 'greeting',
};

class SubscriberWidgetElement extends HTMLElement {

  constructor() {
    super();
    this.name = null;
    this.subscribeToWidgetEvent(EVENTS.greeting, (evt) => this.onGreeting(evt.detail.name));
  }

  connectedCallback() {
    this.mountPoint = document.createElement('div');
    this.appendChild(this.mountPoint);
    this.render();
  }

  subscribeToWidgetEvent(eventType, eventHandler) {
    window.addEventListener(eventType, eventHandler);
  }

  onGreeting(name) {
    this.name = name;
    this.render();
  }

  render() {
    ReactDOM.render(<App name={this.name} />, this.mountPoint);
  }
}

customElements.define('subscriber-widget', SubscriberWidgetElement);

export default SubscriberWidgetElement;

# Import Custom Element

Update subscriber-widget/src/index.js.

import './index.css';
import './SubscriberWidgetElement';

# Test Micro Frontend

Update subscriber-widget/public/index.html, and view it in the browser.

  <body>
    <noscript>You need to enable JavaScript to run this app.</noscript>
    <subscriber-widget>
    ...
  </body>

# Display Custom Event

Update subscriber-widget/src/App.js.

import React from 'react';
import './App.css';

function App({ name }) {
  return name ? (<h2>Just got a greeting from {name}</h2>)
    : (<h2>Waiting for a greeting...</h2>);
}

export default App;

# Test Event Listener

In the JavaScript console of your browser, enter:

const widgetEvent = new CustomEvent('greeting', {
  detail: {
    name: 'Pippo'
  },
});
window.dispatchEvent(widgetEvent);

The custom event should now display in the subscriber-widget.

Congratulations!

You’ve now created a micro frontend that listens to custom events.

# Add Widgets to App Builder

Now let's add the publisher and subscriber micro frontends in Entando.

Note: These are the same steps as the Create a React Micro Frontend tutorial.

# Create Environment File

Create an .env file in the project root for the publisher-widget.
Open the .env file, and enter the PUBLIC_URL where the micro frontend will be hosted.

Example:

PUBLIC_URL=http://quickstart-entando.192.168.64.34.nip.io/entando-de-app/cmsresources/publisher-widget

Notes

Replace quickstart-entando.192.168.64.34.nip.io with the ingress you use to access Entando from your local browser.
/entando-de-app/cmsresources/ is your Resource URL.
publisher-widget is the public folder we'll create to host the publisher micro frontend.

Create an .env file in the project root for the subscriber-widget.
Open the .env file, and enter the PUBLIC_URL where the micro frontend will be hosted.

Use subscriber-widget for the name of the public folder we'll create to host the subscriber micro frontend.

Example:

PUBLIC_URL=http://quickstart-entando.192.168.64.34.nip.io/entando-de-app/cmsresources/subscriber-widget

# Run npm build

Open a command line, and navigate to the project root of the publisher-widget.
Run build.

npm run build

Rename the following generated files in the build directory.

Example of Generated Build File	Rename to	Function
build/static/js/2.f14073bd.chunk.js	`static/js/vendor.js`	Third-party libraries
build/static/js/runtime-main.8a835b7b.js	`static/js/runtime.js`	Bootstrapping logic
build/static/js/main.4a514a6d.chunk.js	`static/js/main.js`	App
build/static/css/main.5f361e03.chunk.css	`static/css/main.css`	Stylesheet

Repeat steps 1-3 for the subscriber-widget.

# Create Public Folder

Navigate to Entando App Builder in your browser.
Go to Configuration → File Browser → public
Click Create Folder.
Enter publisher-widget.
Click Save.
Click public → publisher-widget.
Create the same folder structure as your generated build directory

publisher-widget/static/css
publisher-widget/static/js

Upload the files we renamed in the corresponding js and css folders.

publisher-widget/static/css/main.css
publisher-widget/static/js/main.js
publisher-widget/static/js/runtime.js
publisher-widget/static/js/vendor.js

Repeat steps 1-8 for the subscriber-widget.

# Add Widgets

Go to Entando App Builder in your browser.
Go to Components → Micro Frontends & Widgets at the top nav.
Click Add.
Enter the following:

Code: publisher_widget → note: dashes are not allowed
Title: Publisher Widget → for both English and Italian languages
Group: Free Access
Custom UI:

<#assign wp=JspTaglibs[ "/aps-core"]>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="<@wp.resourceURL />publisher-widget/static/css/main.css">
<script async src="<@wp.resourceURL />publisher-widget/static/js/runtime.js"></script>
<script async src="<@wp.resourceURL />publisher-widget/static/js/vendor.js"></script>
<script async src="<@wp.resourceURL />publisher-widget/static/js/main.js"></script>
<publisher-widget />

Click Save.

Repeat steps 1-5 for the subscriber widget.

Code: subscriber_widget → note: dashes are not allowed
Title: Subscriber Widget → for both English and Italian languages
Group: Free Access
Custom UI:

<#assign wp=JspTaglibs[ "/aps-core"]>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="<@wp.resourceURL />subscriber-widget/static/css/main.css">
<script async src="<@wp.resourceURL />subscriber-widget/static/js/runtime.js"></script>
<script async src="<@wp.resourceURL />subscriber-widget/static/js/vendor.js"></script>
<script async src="<@wp.resourceURL />subscriber-widget/static/js/main.js"></script>
<subscriber-widget />

# View on a Page

You can setup the widgets on an existing page (such as the Home page) or create your own page using the tutorial here. The following steps assume you'll use the Home page.

Go to Pages → Management
For the Home page (folder icon), in the Actions column, click the ⋮ icon
Click Edit.
In the Settings section, select a Page Template with more than one frame, e.g. 1-column:

Page Template: 1 Column

Click Save and Configure.
In the WIDGETS sidebar on the right:

Drag Publisher Widget and Subscriber Widget into Frame 1 and Frame 2.

Click Publish.
To view the home page, scroll to the top of the page, and click Go to Homepage.
Enter a greeting in the input field. Press the submit button. The subscriber widget will update with the greeting. Done!

Congratulations!

You can now communicate between micro frontends with Custom Events.

# Angular to React

We can also communicate between micro frontends using different JavaScript frameworks.

In this next example, we’ll create an Angular micro frontend to publish an event, and we'll use the React micro frontend we created in the previous section to receive the event.

# Create Angular Publisher

ng new angular-publisher-widget

Choose the following options:

? Would you like to add Angular routing? No
? Which stylesheet format would you like to use? CSS

Serve the application.

cd angular-publisher-widget

ng serve

# Convert to Custom Element

Next, let's convert our Angular app into a custom element. We'll use Angular elements (opens new window) to transform components into custom elements.

ng add @angular/elements

Replace the contents of angular-publisher-widget/src/app/app.module.ts.

In this file, we bootstrap the custom element using the ngDoBootstrap method.

import { BrowserModule } from '@angular/platform-browser';
import { NgModule, Injector } from '@angular/core';
import { createCustomElement } from '@angular/elements';
import { AppComponent } from './app.component';
import { ReactiveFormsModule } from '@angular/forms';

@NgModule({
  declarations: [
    AppComponent
  ],
  imports: [
    BrowserModule,
    ReactiveFormsModule
  ],
  providers: [],
  entryComponents: [AppComponent]
})
export class AppModule {
  constructor(private injector: Injector) {}

  ngDoBootstrap() {
    const el = createCustomElement(AppComponent, { injector: this.injector });
    customElements.define('angular-publisher-widget', el);
  }
}

# Create Custom Event

Replace the contents of angular-publisher-widget/src/app/app.component.ts.

Here, we're adding code to dispatch the custom event.

import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import { FormControl, FormGroup } from '@angular/forms';

const EVENTS = {
  greeting: 'greeting',
};

@Component({
  selector: 'app-root',
  templateUrl: './app.component.html',
  styleUrls: ['./app.component.css']
})
export class AppComponent {
  greetingForm = new FormGroup({
    name: new FormControl(''),
  });

  publishWidgetEvent(eventId, detail) {
    const widgetEvent = new CustomEvent(eventId, { detail });
    window.dispatchEvent(widgetEvent);
  }

  onSubmit() {
    const name = this.greetingForm.get('name').value;
    this.publishWidgetEvent(EVENTS.greeting, { name });
  }
}

# Add HTML Form

Replace the contents of angular-publisher-widget/src/app/app.component.html.

In the app component html, we're adding a simple form to call our component class app.component.ts.

<h1>Send a greeting</h1>
<form [formGroup]="greetingForm" (ngSubmit)="onSubmit()">
  <label>
    Name
    <input type="text" formControlName="name">
  </label>
  <button type="submit">Say hello!</button>
</form>

# View Micro Frontend

Open angular-publisher-widget/src/index.html.

In the <body>, replace <app-root></app-root> with your custom element <angular-publisher-widget />.

<body>
  <angular-publisher-widget />
</body>

You can check to see if your micro frontend is working in your browser (e.g., localhost:4200)

# Add to App Builder

Now we're ready to host our micro frontend in Entando.

# Build It

From the project root, type:

ng build --prod --outputHashing=none

This will generate a dist directory.

# Create Public Folder

Navigate to Entando App Builder in your browser.
Click Configuration → File Browser → public.
Create a folder named angular-publisher-widget.
Click Upload Files.
From your generated dist folder, upload:

main-es2015.js
polyfills-es2015.js
runtime-es2015.js

Go to Components > Micro frontends & Widgets in the Entando App Builder.
Click Add at the lower right.
Enter the following:

Code: angular_publisher_widget → note: dashes are not allowed
Title: Angular Publisher Widget → for both English and Italian languages
Group: Free Access
Custom UI:

<#assign wp=JspTaglibs[ "/aps-core"]>
<script async src="<@wp.resourceURL />angular-publisher-widget/main-es2015.js"></script>
<script async src="<@wp.resourceURL />angular-publisher-widget/polyfills-es2015.js"></script>
<script async src="<@wp.resourceURL />angular-publisher-widget/runtime-es2015.js"></script>

<angular-publisher-widget />

Click Save.

# View on Homepage

Go to Pages → Management
Next to the Home page (folder icon), in the Actions column, click the ⋮ icon
In the Search field in right-hand sidebar, enter Angular Publisher Widget.
Drag and drop Angular Publisher Widget into the Sample Frame in the main body of the page.

Replace Publisher Widget.

Click Publish.
In the top navigation, on the right, click Go to Homepage.
Enter a greeting in the input field. Press the submit button. The subscriber widget will update with the greeting. Done!

Note: If you don't see an input field, refresh the page.

Congratulations!

You've now created an Angular micro frontend that can communicate with a React micro frontend.

← Angular Config →

# Communicate Between Micro Frontends

# Publisher

# Create Custom Event

# Import Custom Element

# Test Custom Element

# Update React App to Dispatch Event

# Test Event Dispatcher

# Subscriber

# Add Event Listener

# Import Custom Element

# Test Micro Frontend

# Display Custom Event

# Test Event Listener

# Add Widgets to App Builder

# Create Environment File

# Publisher Widget

# Subscriber Widget

# Run npm build

# Publisher Widget

# Subscriber Widget

# Create Public Folder

# Publisher Widget

# Subscriber Widget

# Add Widgets

# Publisher Widget

# Subscriber Widget

# View on a Page

# Angular to React

# Create Angular Publisher

# Convert to Custom Element

# Create Custom Event

# Add HTML Form

# View Micro Frontend

# Add to App Builder

# Build It

# Create Public Folder

# Add Widget

# View on Homepage