How to apply default facet attribute value (useMenu is used)?

[BohdanYavorskyi]

Hi everyone!
How can I apply the default facet value on initial requests? I am using the useMenu hook to display facet options in dropdown and I want to preselect one item on the initial request. So if the refinement option has and result it should have isRefined: true and just skip the filtering if no count for results.

Currently, I need to make 2 calls to Algolia to achieve it. First all data and apply refine based on current refinements and options I got from 1st request.

Also I tried the initialUiState but I am using custom router so it skips all the params I add. I see in docs older instantsearch versions had defaultRefinements option (or similar naming), but nothing is available now.

Is it actually possible to achieve that in 1 request?

[Haroenv]

If you have routing, you'll want to put the ui state you want by default in the routeToState function, initialUiState gets overridden by state from routing.

[Haroenv]

Sorry, I'm not sure if I fully understand the intent. If you have a sandbox that can show the goal, that would be ideal

[BohdanYavorskyi]

@Haroenv I can't create sandbox as it's not my pet project. Let me try to explain again :)

so I have the page, where I show table of results. I also have search input for query and 3 different dropdowns (filters). Two of them are multi-selection (useRefinementList) and 1 Single selection dropdown (useMenu). Custom routing is used as well.

In the single dropdown I always want to apply the default option selected/refined, so I get the pre-defined results in 1 initial request. I can have the case, where query from URL is not empty, so the default option value in single dropdown can not exist for results with the provided predefined query. In this case when I just put initial facet to routeState I simply get no results with all refinements.

I want to see all items, and only apply the single selection filter when it can have some records. I don't see any other approach here as get data, check current single dropdown options and apply default selection after that. It'll always lead to 2 requests, and that's the problem

[Haroenv]

This is not behaviour I have seen requested before, but I think the way to go could be:

1. fork connectMenu
2. change instances of hierarchicalFacets and hierarchicalFacetsRefinements with optionalFilters
3. use that connectMenu with useConnector in your custom widget

That way you can reliably use useMenu, but knowing that it won't cause there to be no results.

I can't really think of approaches that don't require two results, as you'd be reacting to the "are there results" information, which obviously is only available after the network request is done.

[BohdanYavorskyi]

@Haroenv thanks! That what I had in mind. Wouldn't it be possible to inject this defaultValue to an instant search in general? I guess I saw in v3 the component had the defaultRefinements as parameter. Why was it removed?

[Haroenv]

We removed default refinement on the widget level as the semantics weren't totally clear, should it apply if you have no refinements currently checked, or only if you've never interacted with the widget? routing and initialUiState have a much clearer logic for that case.

Also the complete internals of InstantSearch was changed between v6 and v7, and therefore would require a recode of the defaultRefinement prop that we chose not to do.