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React Native Car Parking Finder App UI Clone #5: Header Section

by AbsekNovember 11th, 2019

Too Long; Didn't Read

This tutorial is the fifth part of our React Native Car Parking App UI clone series. In the last part, we successfully implemented the Map Markers in MapView section. The Header section will include the detected location name along with a menu icon button on the right side. This tutorial series was inspired by the React Native App Templates that provides us with a dynamic, fully-coded starter kit written in React Native that anyone can use to build their own store locator React Native application or initiate their own startup.

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featured image - React Native Car Parking Finder App UI Clone #5: Header Section

This tutorial is the fifth part of our React Native Car Parking App UI clone series. In the last part, we successfully implemented the Map Markers in MapView section. In this part of the tutorial series, we are going to continue from where we left off in the last part. So, it is recommended to go through all the previous parts of this tutorial series in order to get the full insight and development of the project.

As stated in the previous parts, this tutorial series was inspired by the React Native App Templates that provides us with a dynamic, fully-coded starter kit written in React Native that anyone can use to build their own store locator React Native application or initiate their own startup. And, this fifth part is also the continuation of coding implementations and designs from the YouTube video tutorial by for the Car parking Finder App UI clone. The video tutorial delivers the overall implementations using a fast coding style which may be difficult to grasp for any developer especially the beginners. However, this tutorial gives stepwise guidance on the implementation of each UI section. Hence, the readers can relax and take time to learn and implement the UI.

Overview

In this fifth part of the tutorial series, we are going to implement the Header section. The Header section will include the detected location name along with a menu icon button on the right side. But first, the idea is to transfer all the color and size style properties to a completely different file and import it into our Map Screen. Then, we will style the size and color of components in the map screen using the properties from our external file. Lastly, we will implement the header section with the menu button which is quite easy.

So, let us begin!!

Storing Style Properties in Different File

In this step, we are going to store our size and color properties used very commonly on the map screen to a different file called ‘theme.js’. This will make things easier for us to assign styles to different components. Now, we need to create a file called

‘theme.js’

in our main project folder as shown in the code snippet below:

As we can see, we have got the

‘theme.js’

file. Now, in the theme.js file we need to define our color and size properties as shown in the code snippet below:

const COLORS = {
  red: '#D83C54',
  gray: '#7D818A',
  black: '#3D4448',
  white: '#FFFFFF',
  overlay: '#C1BEC0',
};
const SIZES = {
  base: 12,
  icon: 16,
  font: 16,
}
export {
  COLORS,
  SIZES,
}

Here, we have defined the color and size style properties in the

COLORS

and

SIZES

constant variables that are then exported. The

COLORS

variable contains different color properties containing their respective color codes. And for the

SIZES

variable, we have defined base size as 12 and icon and font sizes to be 16 pixels.

Integrating Color style properties based on theme.js file

Since we have defined some common style properties in the

theme.js

file, here we are going to import the styles from

theme.js

file and integrate them into our component inline styles as well as the styles in the

StyleSheet

component. But first, we need to import the theme.js file into our Map.js file as shown in the code snippet below:

import * as theme from '../theme';

Now, we are going to change the color and size style properties in accordance with the pre-defined styles from theme.js file.

Changing color style properties in accordance with theme.js

Here, we are going to change the color style properties with the

COLORS

variable from the

theme.js

file. All the changes made to the style properties in the

StyleSheet

component is provided in the code snippet below:

  container: {
    flex: 1,
    backgroundColor: theme.COLORS.white
  },
  parking : {
    flexDirection : 'row',
    backgroundColor : theme.COLORS.white,
    borderRadius : 6,
    padding : 15,
    marginHorizontal: 24,
    width : width - ( 24 * 2 )
  },
  buy: {
    flex: 1.25,
    flexDirection : 'row',
    padding : 8,
    borderRadius : 6,
    backgroundColor : theme.COLORS.red
  },
  marker: {
    flexDirection: 'row',
    backgroundColor: theme.COLORS.white,
    borderRadius: 24,
    paddingVertical: 12,
    paddingHorizontal: 24,
    borderWidth: 1,
    borderColor: theme.COLORS.white,
  },
  markerPrice: { 
    color: theme.COLORS.red, 
    fontWeight: 'bold', 
  },
  markerStatus: { 
    color: theme.COLORS.gray
  },
  shadow: {
    shadowColor: theme.COLORS.black,
    shadowOffset: {
      width: 0,
      height: 6,
    },
    shadowOpacity: 0.1,
    shadowRadius: 4,
    backgroundColor : theme.COLORS.white ,
    elevation : 15
  },
  active: {
    borderColor: theme.COLORS.red,
  },

Now, we have some inline styles as well bound to the different components in renderParking() method. We need to change them in accordance with

COLORS

variable as well. All overall code with changes is provided in the code snippet below:

 <TouchableWithoutFeedback key={`parking-${item.id}`} onPress={() => this.setState({ active: item.id })} >
          <View style={[styles.parking, styles.shadow]}>
            <View style={{flex : 1, flexDirection : 'column'}}>
              <Text style={{fontSize: 16}}>x {item.spots} {item.title}</Text>
              <View style={{width : 100, borderRadius : 6, borderColor : theme.COLORS.gray, borderWidth : 0.7, padding : 4}}>
                <Text style={{fontSize : 16}}>05:00 hrs</Text>
              </View>
            </View>
            <View style={{flex : 1.5, flexDirection : 'row'}}>
              <View style={{flex : 0.5, justifyContent: 'center', marginHorizontal : 24}}>
                <View style={{flex: 1, flexDirection : 'row', justifyContent : 'space-between', alignItems : 'center'}}>
                  <Ionicons name='ios-pricetag' size={16} color={theme.COLORS.gray}/>
                  <Text>${item.price}</Text>
                </View>
                <View style={{flex: 1, flexDirection : 'row', justifyContent : 'space-between', alignItems : 'center'}}>
                  <Ionicons name='ios-star' size={16} color={theme.COLORS.gray}/>
                  <Text>{item.rating}</Text>
                </View>
              </View>
              <TouchableOpacity style={styles.buy}>
                  <View style={{flex:1, justifyContent: 'center'}}> 
                    <Text style={{fontSize : 25, color : theme.COLORS.white}}>${item.price *2}</Text>
                    <Text style={{ color : theme.COLORS.white}}>{item.price}x{hours[item.id]} hrs</Text>
                  </View>
                  <View style={{flex : 0.5, justifyContent : 'center', alignItems : 'center'}}>
                    <Text style={{fontSize: 25, color : theme.COLORS.white}}>></Text>
                  </View>
              </TouchableOpacity>
            </View>
          </View>
        </TouchableWithoutFeedback>

Hence, we have completely changed the color properties. Now, we are going to do the same with size properties in accordance with

SIZES

variable from

theme.js

file.

Changing size properties in accordance with theme.js

Here, we are going to change the size style properties with the

SIZES

variable from the theme.js file. All the changes made to the style properties in the

StyleSheet

component is provided in the code snippet below:

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  parkings:{
    position: 'absolute',
    right: 0,
    left: 0,
    bottom: theme.SIZES.base * 2,
    paddingBottom : theme.SIZES.base * 2
  },
  parking : {
    flexDirection : 'row',
    backgroundColor : theme.COLORS.white,
    borderRadius : 6,
    padding : 15,
    marginHorizontal: theme.SIZES.base * 2,
    width : width - ( theme.SIZES.base * 4)
  },
  marker: {
    flexDirection: 'row',
    backgroundColor: theme.COLORS.white,
    borderRadius: theme.SIZES.base * 2,
    paddingVertical: 12,
    paddingHorizontal: theme.SIZES.base * 2,
    borderWidth: 1,
    borderColor: theme.COLORS.white,
  },
});

Also, we have some inline size styles as well bound to the different components in renderParking() method. We need to change them in accordance with

SIZES

variable as well. All overall code with changes is provided in the code snippet below:

      <TouchableWithoutFeedback key={`parking-${item.id}`} onPress={() => this.setState({ active: item.id })} >
          <View style={[styles.parking, styles.shadow]}>
            <View style={{flex : 1, flexDirection : 'column'}}>
              <Text style={theme.SIZES.font}>x {item.spots} {item.title}</Text>
              <View style={{width : 100, borderRadius : 6, borderColor : theme.COLORS.gray, borderWidth : 0.7, padding : 4}}>
                <Text style={theme.SIZES.font}>05:00 hrs</Text>
              </View>
            </View>
            <View style={{flex : 1.5, flexDirection : 'row'}}>
              <View style={{flex : 0.5, justifyContent: 'center', marginHorizontal : theme.SIZES.base * 2}}>
                <View style={{flex: 1, flexDirection : 'row', justifyContent : 'space-between', alignItems : 'center'}}>
                  <Ionicons name='ios-pricetag' size={theme.SIZES.icon} color={theme.COLORS.gray}/>
                  <Text>${item.price}</Text>
                </View>
                <View style={{flex: 1, flexDirection : 'row', justifyContent : 'space-between', alignItems : 'center'}}>
                  <Ionicons name='ios-star' size={theme.SIZES.icon} color={theme.COLORS.gray}/>
                  <Text>{item.rating}</Text>
                </View>
              </View>
              <TouchableOpacity style={styles.buy}>
                  <View style={{flex:1, justifyContent: 'center'}}> 
                    <Text style={{fontSize : 25, color : theme.COLORS.white}}>${item.price *2}</Text>
                    <Text style={{ color : theme.COLORS.white}}>{item.price}x{hours[item.id]} hrs</Text>
                  </View>
                  <View style={{flex : 0.5, justifyContent : 'center', alignItems : 'center'}}>
                    <Text style={{fontSize: 25, color : theme.COLORS.white}}>></Text>
                  </View>
              </TouchableOpacity>
            </View>
          </View>
        </TouchableWithoutFeedback>

Hence, we have completely changed the size properties based on the

SIZES

variable.

Now, we are going to make the code in

Map.js

file more clearer and standard. For that, we are going to move some inline style properties to the

StyleSheet

component.

Organizing Inline styles to StyleSheet

Here, we are going to make our code clearer by moving our inline styles in different components to the

StyleSheet

component. For that, we need to define a style variable for each inline styles. Here, in the

Map.js

file, most of the inline styles are in the renderParking() method. So, first we are going to define the

StyleSheet

variable for each inline styles as shown in the code snippet below:

hours : {
    flex : 1, 
    flexDirection : 'column'
  },
  hoursTitle: {
    fontSize: theme.SIZES.text,
    fontWeight: '500',
  },
  parkingInfoContainer : {
    flex : 1.5, 
    flexDirection : 'row'
  },
  parkingInfo : {
    flex : 0.5, 
    justifyContent: 'center', 
    marginHorizontal : theme.SIZES.base * 2
  },
  parkingIcon : {
    flex: 1, 
    flexDirection : 'row', 
    justifyContent : 'space-between', 
    alignItems : 'center'
  },
  buyTotal : {
    flex:1, 
    justifyContent: 'center'
  },
  buyButton : {
    flex : 0.5, 
    justifyContent : 'center', 
    alignItems : 'center'
  },
  buyTotalPrice : {
    fontSize : 25, 
    color : theme.COLORS.white
  }

Now, we need to assign these

StyleSheet

properties variables to their respective component as shown in the code snippet below:

 <TouchableWithoutFeedback key={`parking-${item.id}`} onPress={() => this.setState({ active: item.id })} >
          <View style={[styles.parking, styles.shadow]}>
            <View style={styles.hours}>
              <Text style={theme.SIZES.font}>x {item.spots} {item.title}</Text>
              <View style={{width : 100, borderRadius : 6, borderColor : theme.COLORS.gray, borderWidth : 0.7, padding : 4}}>
                <Text style={styles.hoursTitle}>05:00 hrs</Text>
              </View>
            </View>
            <View style={styles.parkingInfoContainer}>
              <View style={styles.parkingInfo}>
                <View style={styles.parkingIcon}>
                  <Ionicons name='ios-pricetag' size={theme.SIZES.icon} color={theme.COLORS.gray}/>
                  <Text>${item.price}</Text>
                </View>
                <View style={styles.parkingIcon}>
                  <Ionicons name='ios-star' size={theme.SIZES.icon} color={theme.COLORS.gray}/>
                  <Text>{item.rating}</Text>
                </View>
              </View>
              <TouchableOpacity style={styles.buy}>
                  <View style={styles.buyTotal}> 
                    <Text style={styles.buyTotalPrice}>${item.price *2}</Text>
                    <Text style={{ color : theme.COLORS.white}}>{item.price}x{hours[item.id]} hrs</Text>
                  </View>
                  <View style={styles.buyButton}>
                    <Text style={{fontSize: 25, color : theme.COLORS.white}}>></Text>
                  </View>
              </TouchableOpacity>
            </View>
          </View>
        </TouchableWithoutFeedback>

Hence, after everything is organized, we will get the same result as before which is shown in the following emulator screenshot:

As we can see, the result is the same as before with all the codes organized.

Implementing Header Section

In this step, we are going to implement our

Header Section

in our Map.js file. The

Header Section

will contain a detected location name as shown in the Map as well as a menu icon button on the right side. In our previous parts of this tutorial series, we have already separated a function called renderHeader() method. This renderHeader() method returns the template for the

Header

section. We also have called this renderHeader() method in the

render()

method of our Map.js file.

Now, we are going to add some components to renderHeader() method which will implement the

Header Section

. For that, we need to use the code from the following code snippet:

renderHeader(){
      return(
        <View style={styles.header}>
          <View style={{ flex: 1, justifyContent: 'center' }}>
            <Text style={styles.headerTitle}>Detected location</Text>
            <Text style={styles.headerLocation}>San Francisco, US</Text>
          </View>
        </View>
      )
   }

Here, we have a parent

View

component that wraps a child

View

component with some inline flex styles. This child

View

component wraps two

Text

components that will display the detected location name. The

Text

components are also bound to some styles. The required styles are provided in the code snippet below:

 header: {
    flexDirection: 'row',
    justifyContent: 'center',
    paddingHorizontal: theme.SIZES.base * 2,
    paddingTop: theme.SIZES.base * 2.5,
    paddingBottom: theme.SIZES.base * 1.5,
  },
  headerTitle: {
    color: theme.COLORS.gray,
  },
  headerLocation: {
    fontSize: theme.SIZES.font,
    fontWeight: '500',
    paddingVertical: theme.SIZES.base / 3,
  },

Hence, we will get the following result in our emulator screen:

Therefore, we have got the Detected Location name with proper style in the Header section.Now, we need to add a menu icon button to the right side of the Header section.

Adding Menu Icon

Here, we are going to add a menu icon to the right side of the

Header Section

. For that, we are going to use the Ionicons component which we have already imported from the vector-icons package provided by expo client. The code to add the icon is provided in the code snippet below:

   <View style={styles.header}>
        <View style={styles.headerLocationInfo }>
          <Text style={styles.headerTitle}>Detected location</Text>
          <Text style={styles.headerLocation}>San Francisco, US</Text>
        </View>
        <View style={styles.headerIcon }>
          <TouchableWithoutFeedback>
            <Ionicons name="ios-menu" size={theme.SIZES.icon * 1.5} />
          </TouchableWithoutFeedback>
        </View>

Here, we have added another child

View

component below the

View

component wrapping text for the detected location.

The second child

View

component with some inline flex styles wraps the

TouchableWithoutFeedback

component.

Then, the

TouchableWithoutFeedback

component wraps the

Ionicons

component with the menu icon and size prop.

The required styles are provided in the code snippet below:

 headerIcon :{ 
    flex: 1, 
    justifyContent: 'center', 
    alignItems: 'flex-end', 
  },
  headerLocationInfo : {
   flex: 1, 
   justifyContent: 'center' 
  },

Hence, we will get the following result in the emulator screen:

As we can see, we have the header section with the detected location name and the menu icon to the right.Finally, we have successfully implemented the Header section in our map screen. With this, we have come to the end of this part of our tutorial. This completes our Map screen UI.

Conclusion

This tutorial is the fifth part of the React Native Car Parking Finder App UI clone tutorial series. In this part, we continued from where we left off in the fourth part of this tutorial series. In this part of the tutorial, we learned how to store the style properties in a separate file and use them to style the components of our screen. We also organized our styles in the StyleSheet component to make code standard and clear. Finally, we also got stepwise guidance on implementing the Header Section.In the next part of this tutorial series, we are going to implement a Modal representing the parking spot cards.

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