react-dropzone vs papaparse vs react-csv vs react-papaparse vs react-csv-reader
CSV Parsing and File Upload Libraries Comparison
1 Year
react-dropzonepapaparsereact-csvreact-papaparsereact-csv-readerSimilar Packages:
What's CSV Parsing and File Upload Libraries?

These libraries provide functionalities for parsing CSV files and handling file uploads in web applications. They cater to different needs, from simple CSV parsing to more complex file handling with user interfaces. Each library has its unique features and use cases, making them suitable for various scenarios in web development.

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react-dropzone4,040,97710,713567 kB597 days agoMIT
papaparse3,560,44512,799263 kB207a month agoMIT
react-csv605,7151,17040.9 kB134-MIT
react-papaparse129,56737977.6 kB55a year agoMIT
react-csv-reader26,11920194.8 kB102 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: react-dropzone vs papaparse vs react-csv vs react-papaparse vs react-csv-reader

Parsing Speed

  • react-dropzone:

    react-dropzone does not handle parsing directly; it focuses on file uploads. The speed of processing will depend on how you handle the uploaded files afterward, especially if you integrate it with a parsing library like PapaParse.

  • papaparse:

    PapaParse is known for its high performance and speed when parsing large CSV files. It uses a streaming approach that allows it to handle large datasets efficiently without blocking the main thread.

  • react-csv:

    react-csv is primarily focused on exporting data rather than parsing, so its speed is not a primary concern. It is designed for simplicity and ease of use when generating CSV files from React components.

  • react-papaparse:

    react-papaparse combines the speed of PapaParse with React's component model, allowing for efficient parsing of CSV files in real-time as they are uploaded or selected.

  • react-csv-reader:

    react-csv-reader leverages PapaParse internally for parsing, so it benefits from its speed. However, its performance is also dependent on the size of the uploaded file and the complexity of the data.

User Interface

  • react-dropzone:

    react-dropzone is highly customizable and allows developers to create a drag-and-drop interface for file uploads. It can be styled and configured to fit the application's design requirements.

  • papaparse:

    PapaParse does not provide a user interface; it is a pure parsing library meant for developers who want to implement their own UI for CSV handling.

  • react-csv:

    react-csv offers a simple API for exporting data, but it does not provide a built-in user interface for file uploads or parsing. You will need to create your own UI components for user interaction.

  • react-papaparse:

    react-papaparse integrates seamlessly with React components, allowing developers to create a user interface for CSV parsing while leveraging the power of PapaParse for efficient data handling.

  • react-csv-reader:

    react-csv-reader provides a user-friendly interface for uploading CSV files, making it easy for users to select and read files without needing additional UI components.

Integration

  • react-dropzone:

    react-dropzone can be integrated with any file handling library, including CSV parsers like PapaParse, making it a flexible choice for file uploads in various applications.

  • papaparse:

    PapaParse can be easily integrated into any JavaScript project, making it versatile for both browser and Node.js environments. It does not depend on any frameworks, allowing for maximum flexibility.

  • react-csv:

    react-csv is specifically designed for React applications, making it easy to integrate with existing React components for exporting data to CSV format.

  • react-papaparse:

    react-papaparse is designed for React, allowing for straightforward integration with React components while utilizing PapaParse's powerful parsing capabilities.

  • react-csv-reader:

    react-csv-reader is built for React and works well with other React libraries, allowing for easy integration into React applications that require CSV file uploads.

Error Handling

  • react-dropzone:

    react-dropzone allows for custom error handling during file uploads, enabling developers to provide feedback to users if the uploaded file does not meet specified criteria.

  • papaparse:

    PapaParse provides robust error handling features, allowing developers to catch and manage parsing errors effectively, which is crucial for handling malformed CSV files.

  • react-csv:

    react-csv does not include built-in error handling for CSV data, so developers need to implement their own error management when exporting data.

  • react-papaparse:

    react-papaparse inherits PapaParse's error handling capabilities, providing developers with tools to manage parsing errors effectively when working with CSV data.

  • react-csv-reader:

    react-csv-reader includes basic error handling for file uploads, alerting users when the uploaded file is not a valid CSV format, which enhances user experience.

Documentation and Community Support

  • react-dropzone:

    react-dropzone is widely used and has comprehensive documentation along with a strong community, providing ample resources for developers.

  • papaparse:

    PapaParse has extensive documentation and a large community, making it easy to find resources, examples, and support for various use cases.

  • react-csv:

    react-csv has decent documentation, but its community is smaller compared to more established libraries, which may limit the availability of third-party resources.

  • react-papaparse:

    react-papaparse benefits from both the documentation of PapaParse and its own, making it well-supported and easy to use within React applications.

  • react-csv-reader:

    react-csv-reader has good documentation and examples, making it relatively easy to use, though its community is not as large as others.

How to Choose: react-dropzone vs papaparse vs react-csv vs react-papaparse vs react-csv-reader
  • react-dropzone:

    Use react-dropzone when you need a flexible and customizable file upload solution. It allows users to drag and drop files, and you can easily integrate it with other libraries for processing CSV files after upload.

  • papaparse:

    Choose PapaParse if you need a fast and efficient CSV parser that works in both the browser and Node.js. It is ideal for projects where performance is critical and you want to handle large CSV files without blocking the UI.

  • react-csv:

    Select react-csv if you want a straightforward solution for exporting data to CSV files in React applications. It provides simple components for generating CSV downloads and is easy to integrate into existing React projects.

  • react-papaparse:

    Choose react-papaparse if you want to combine the power of PapaParse with React. It provides a convenient way to parse CSV files directly in React components, making it suitable for applications that require real-time data processing.

  • react-csv-reader:

    Opt for react-csv-reader if you need a user-friendly way to read CSV files in React. This package provides a simple interface for users to upload CSV files and handle the data, making it great for applications that require user interaction with CSV data.

README for react-dropzone

react-dropzone logo

react-dropzone

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Simple React hook to create a HTML5-compliant drag'n'drop zone for files.

Documentation and examples at https://react-dropzone.js.org. Source code at https://github.com/react-dropzone/react-dropzone/.

Installation

Install it from npm and include it in your React build process (using Webpack, Browserify, etc).

npm install --save react-dropzone

or:

yarn add react-dropzone

Usage

You can either use the hook:

import React, {useCallback} from 'react'
import {useDropzone} from 'react-dropzone'

function MyDropzone() {
  const onDrop = useCallback(acceptedFiles => {
    // Do something with the files
  }, [])
  const {getRootProps, getInputProps, isDragActive} = useDropzone({onDrop})

  return (
    <div {...getRootProps()}>
      <input {...getInputProps()} />
      {
        isDragActive ?
          <p>Drop the files here ...</p> :
          <p>Drag 'n' drop some files here, or click to select files</p>
      }
    </div>
  )
}

Or the wrapper component for the hook:

import React from 'react'
import Dropzone from 'react-dropzone'

<Dropzone onDrop={acceptedFiles => console.log(acceptedFiles)}>
  {({getRootProps, getInputProps}) => (
    <section>
      <div {...getRootProps()}>
        <input {...getInputProps()} />
        <p>Drag 'n' drop some files here, or click to select files</p>
      </div>
    </section>
  )}
</Dropzone>

If you want to access file contents you have to use the FileReader API:

import React, {useCallback} from 'react'
import {useDropzone} from 'react-dropzone'

function MyDropzone() {
  const onDrop = useCallback((acceptedFiles) => {
    acceptedFiles.forEach((file) => {
      const reader = new FileReader()

      reader.onabort = () => console.log('file reading was aborted')
      reader.onerror = () => console.log('file reading has failed')
      reader.onload = () => {
      // Do whatever you want with the file contents
        const binaryStr = reader.result
        console.log(binaryStr)
      }
      reader.readAsArrayBuffer(file)
    })
    
  }, [])
  const {getRootProps, getInputProps} = useDropzone({onDrop})

  return (
    <div {...getRootProps()}>
      <input {...getInputProps()} />
      <p>Drag 'n' drop some files here, or click to select files</p>
    </div>
  )
}

Dropzone Props Getters

The dropzone property getters are just two functions that return objects with properties which you need to use to create the drag 'n' drop zone. The root properties can be applied to whatever element you want, whereas the input properties must be applied to an <input>:

import React from 'react'
import {useDropzone} from 'react-dropzone'

function MyDropzone() {
  const {getRootProps, getInputProps} = useDropzone()

  return (
    <div {...getRootProps()}>
      <input {...getInputProps()} />
      <p>Drag 'n' drop some files here, or click to select files</p>
    </div>
  )
}

Note that whatever other props you want to add to the element where the props from getRootProps() are set, you should always pass them through that function rather than applying them on the element itself. This is in order to avoid your props being overridden (or overriding the props returned by getRootProps()):

<div
  {...getRootProps({
    onClick: event => console.log(event),
    role: 'button',
    'aria-label': 'drag and drop area',
    ...
  })}
/>

In the example above, the provided {onClick} handler will be invoked before the internal one, therefore, internal callbacks can be prevented by simply using stopPropagation. See Events for more examples.

Important: if you omit rendering an <input> and/or binding the props from getInputProps(), opening a file dialog will not be possible.

Refs

Both getRootProps and getInputProps accept a custom refKey (defaults to ref) as one of the attributes passed down in the parameter.

This can be useful when the element you're trying to apply the props from either one of those fns does not expose a reference to the element, e.g:

import React from 'react'
import {useDropzone} from 'react-dropzone'
// NOTE: After v4.0.0, styled components exposes a ref using forwardRef,
// therefore, no need for using innerRef as refKey
import styled from 'styled-components'

const StyledDiv = styled.div`
  // Some styling here
`
function Example() {
  const {getRootProps, getInputProps} = useDropzone()
  <StyledDiv {...getRootProps({ refKey: 'innerRef' })}>
    <input {...getInputProps()} />
    <p>Drag 'n' drop some files here, or click to select files</p>
  </StyledDiv>
}

If you're working with Material UI v4 and would like to apply the root props on some component that does not expose a ref, use RootRef:

import React from 'react'
import {useDropzone} from 'react-dropzone'
import RootRef from '@material-ui/core/RootRef'

function PaperDropzone() {
  const {getRootProps, getInputProps} = useDropzone()
  const {ref, ...rootProps} = getRootProps()

  <RootRef rootRef={ref}>
    <Paper {...rootProps}>
      <input {...getInputProps()} />
      <p>Drag 'n' drop some files here, or click to select files</p>
    </Paper>
  </RootRef>
}

IMPORTANT: do not set the ref prop on the elements where getRootProps()/getInputProps() props are set, instead, get the refs from the hook itself:

import React from 'react'
import {useDropzone} from 'react-dropzone'

function Refs() {
  const {
    getRootProps,
    getInputProps,
    rootRef, // Ref to the `<div>`
    inputRef // Ref to the `<input>`
  } = useDropzone()
  <div {...getRootProps()}>
    <input {...getInputProps()} />
    <p>Drag 'n' drop some files here, or click to select files</p>
  </div>
}

If you're using the <Dropzone> component, though, you can set the ref prop on the component itself which will expose the {open} prop that can be used to open the file dialog programmatically:

import React, {createRef} from 'react'
import Dropzone from 'react-dropzone'

const dropzoneRef = createRef()

<Dropzone ref={dropzoneRef}>
  {({getRootProps, getInputProps}) => (
    <div {...getRootProps()}>
      <input {...getInputProps()} />
      <p>Drag 'n' drop some files here, or click to select files</p>
    </div>
  )}
</Dropzone>

dropzoneRef.open()

Testing

react-dropzone makes some of its drag 'n' drop callbacks asynchronous to enable promise based getFilesFromEvent() functions. In order to test components that use this library, you need to use the react-testing-library:

import React from 'react'
import Dropzone from 'react-dropzone'
import {act, fireEvent, render} from '@testing-library/react'

test('invoke onDragEnter when dragenter event occurs', async () => {
  const file = new File([
    JSON.stringify({ping: true})
  ], 'ping.json', { type: 'application/json' })
  const data = mockData([file])
  const onDragEnter = jest.fn()

  const ui = (
    <Dropzone onDragEnter={onDragEnter}>
      {({ getRootProps, getInputProps }) => (
        <div {...getRootProps()}>
          <input {...getInputProps()} />
        </div>
      )}
    </Dropzone>
  )
  const { container } = render(ui)

  await act(
    () => fireEvent.dragEnter(
      container.querySelector('div'),
      data,
    )
  );
  expect(onDragEnter).toHaveBeenCalled()
})

function mockData(files) {
  return {
    dataTransfer: {
      files,
      items: files.map(file => ({
        kind: 'file',
        type: file.type,
        getAsFile: () => file
      })),
      types: ['Files']
    }
  }
}

NOTE: using Enzyme for testing is not supported at the moment, see #2011.

More examples for this can be found in react-dropzone's own test suites.

Caveats

Required React Version

React 16.8 or above is required because we use hooks (the lib itself is a hook).

File Paths

Files returned by the hook or passed as arg to the onDrop cb won't have the properties path or fullPath. For more inf check this SO question and this issue.

Not a File Uploader

This lib is not a file uploader; as such, it does not process files or provide any way to make HTTP requests to some server; if you're looking for that, checkout filepond or uppy.io.

Using <label> as Root

If you use <label> as the root element, the file dialog will be opened twice; see #1107 why. To avoid this, use noClick:

import React, {useCallback} from 'react'
import {useDropzone} from 'react-dropzone'

function MyDropzone() {
  const {getRootProps, getInputProps} = useDropzone({noClick: true})

  return (
    <label {...getRootProps()}>
      <input {...getInputProps()} />
    </label>
  )
}

Using open() on Click

If you bind a click event on an inner element and use open(), it will trigger a click on the root element too, resulting in the file dialog opening twice. To prevent this, use the noClick on the root:

import React, {useCallback} from 'react'
import {useDropzone} from 'react-dropzone'

function MyDropzone() {
  const {getRootProps, getInputProps, open} = useDropzone({noClick: true})

  return (
    <div {...getRootProps()}>
      <input {...getInputProps()} />
      <button type="button" onClick={open}>
        Open
      </button>
    </div>
  )
}

File Dialog Cancel Callback

The onFileDialogCancel() cb is unstable in most browsers, meaning, there's a good chance of it being triggered even though you have selected files.

We rely on using a timeout of 300ms after the window is focused (the window onfocus event is triggered when the file select dialog is closed) to check if any files were selected and trigger onFileDialogCancel if none were selected.

As one can imagine, this doesn't really work if there's a lot of files or large files as by the time we trigger the check, the browser is still processing the files and no onchange events are triggered yet on the input. Check #1031 for more info.

Fortunately, there's the File System Access API, which is currently a working draft and some browsers support it (see browser compatibility), that provides a reliable way to prompt the user for file selection and capture cancellation.

Also keep in mind that the FS access API can only be used in secure contexts.

NOTE You can enable using the FS access API with the useFsAccessApi property: useDropzone({useFsAccessApi: true}).

File System Access API

When setting useFsAccessApi to true, you're switching to the File System API (see the file system access RFC).

What this essentially does is that it will use the showOpenFilePicker method to open the file picker window so that the user can select files.

In contrast, the traditional way (when the useFsAccessApi is not set to true or not specified) uses an <input type="file"> (see docs) on which a click event is triggered.

With the use of the file system access API enabled, there's a couple of caveats to keep in mind:

  1. The users will not be able to select directories
  2. It requires the app to run in a secure context
  3. In Electron, the path may not be set (see #1249)

Supported Browsers

We use browserslist config to state the browser support for this lib, so check it out on browserslist.dev.

Need image editing?

React Dropzone integrates perfectly with Pintura Image Editor, creating a modern image editing experience. Pintura supports crop aspect ratios, resizing, rotating, cropping, annotating, filtering, and much more.

Checkout the Pintura integration example.

Support

Backers

Support us with a monthly donation and help us continue our activities. [Become a backer]

Sponsors

Become a sponsor and get your logo on our README on Github with a link to your site. [Become a sponsor]

Hosting

react-dropzone.js.org hosting provided by netlify.

Contribute

Checkout the organization CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT