Vuejs2 - How to update the whole object from the server not losing reactivity? - vue.js

Question

I have a list of objects that can be updated from the database.
So, when I load the list, objects have only id and name.
When I click on an object I load other fields that can be of any length - that's why I don't load them with the objects in the list.
I found that when I update an object it can be difficult to keep reactivity https://v2.vuejs.org/v2/guide/reactivity.html so I need to find some workaround.
this code works almost okay:
axios.get('/api/news', item.id).then(function(response){
if (response){
Object.assign(item, response.data.item);
}
});
But the problem is the fields that have not been presented from the beginning is not 100% reactive anymore. What is going on is a new field has been updated reactively only when I change another, previous one. So, if I show 2 text field with old and new properties, if I change the second property, the field will not be updated until I change the first one.
I got item object from the component:
data () {
return {
items: [],
}
},
and
<div v-for="item in items" #click="selectItem(item)" >
<span>{{item.name}}</span>
</div>
Then item's been passed to the function selectItem.
What is the proper pattern to load new fields and keep them reactive? (NB: it's not the case when I can assign field by field - I want to reuse the same code no matter which object it is, so I need so the solution for updating an object at a time without listing all new fields.)
Note. This code works inside the component.

Answer 1

Completely revised post: Ok, the example you give uses an array, which has its own caveats, in particular that you can't directly set values like vm.items[indexOfItem] = newValue and have it react.
So you have to use Vue.set with the array as the first argument and the index as the second. Here's an example that adds a name property to object items and then uses Vue.set to set the item to a new object created by Object.assign.
new Vue({
el: '#app',
data: {
items: [{
id: 1,
other: 'data'
}, {
id: 2,
other: 'thingy'
}]
},
methods: {
selectItem(parent, key) {
const newObj = Object.assign({}, parent[key], {
name: 'some new name'
});
Vue.set(parent, key, newObj);
setTimeout(() => {parent[key].name = 'Look, reactive!';}, 1500);
}
}
});
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/vue/2.5.17/vue.js"></script>
<div id="app">
<div v-for="item, index in items" #click="selectItem(items, index)">
<span>{{item.name || 'empty'}}</span>
</div>
<pre>
{{JSON.stringify(items, null, 2)}}
</pre>
</div>

Answer 2

Have a look at Change-Detection-Caveats Vue cannot detect property addition or deletion if you use "normal assign" methods.
You must use Vue.set(object, key, value)
Try something like the following:
axios.get('/api/news', item.id).then(function(response){
if (response){
let item = {}
Vue.set(item, 'data', response.data.item)
}
});
Than item.data would than be reactiv.

Answer 3

Can simply use Vue.set to update this.item reactively
axios.get('/api/news', item.id).then(function(response){
if (response){
this.$set(this, "item", response.data.item);
}
});