Comparing the copyToClipboard implementations in Shadcn-ui/ui and Codehike.

Comparing the copyToClipboard implementations in Shadcn-ui/ui and Codehike.

In this article, we will compare the Copy button code between Shadcn-ui/ui and Codehike.

copyToClipboard in Shadcn-ui/ui

The code snippet below is picked from shadcn-ui source code.

export async function copyToClipboardWithMeta(value: string, event?: Event) {
navigator.clipboard.writeText(value)
if (event) {
trackEvent(event)
}
}

I think ‘withMeta’ in the function name copyToClipboardWithMeta refers to the analytics recorded in the trackEvent function.

import va from @vercel/analytics

export function trackEvent(input: Event): void {
const event = eventSchema.parse(input)
if (event) {
va.track(event.name, event.properties)
}
}

copyToClipboard in Codehike

The code snippet below is picked from codehike source code.

function copyToClipboard(text: string) {
if (!navigator.clipboard) {
fallbackCopyTextToClipboard(text)
return
}
navigator.clipboard.writeText(text)
}

Codehike implements the copyToClipboard differently.

There is no analytics recorded when the copyToClipboard function is called like we saw this happening in Shadcn-ui/ui.
There is a fallback method in case the navigation.clipboard API is not available.

fallbackCopyTextToClipboard:

This below code snippet is picked from Codehike source code. This function is just under the copyToClipboard.

function fallbackCopyTextToClipboard(text: string) {
var textArea = document.createElement(textarea)
textArea.value = text

// Avoid scrolling to bottom
textArea.style.top = 0
textArea.style.left = 0
textArea.style.position = fixed

document.body.appendChild(textArea)
textArea.focus()
textArea.select()

try {
var successful = document.execCommand(copy)
// var msg = successful ? “successful” : “unsuccessful”
// console.log(“Fallback: Copying text command was ” + msg)
} catch (err) {
// console.error(“Fallback: Oops, unable to copy”, err)
}

document.body.removeChild(textArea)
}

Conclusion:

If I were to implement a copyToClipboard functionality, I would also add a fallback in case the navigator.clipboard is not available in a given browser like in Codehike and if you also use Vercel analytics in your application, you might as well record your analytics like in shadcn-ui/ui.

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References:

https://github.com/code-hike/codehike/blob/next/packages/mdx/src/mini-editor/editor-tween.tsx

https://github.com/code-hike/codehike/blob/next/packages/mdx/src/smooth-code/copy-button.tsx#L3

https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/blob/main/apps/www/components/copy-button.tsx#L31

https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/blob/main/apps/www/components/copy-button.tsx#L24

https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/blob/main/apps/www/lib/events.ts#L27

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