Vuex - Baffling mutation payload in new window/tab - vue.js

Question

I have a simple VueJS SPA served by Express. Express also handles API endpoints called by Vue front-end.
Express is connected to Postgres, and API endpoints interact with the database (perform basic CRUD operations).
In my database, I have a single "patient" table, with columns "first_name", "last_name", "date_of_birth", and "id".
In the created() hook of PatientList.vue component, database is queried for all patients, and this information is saved to component data, displayed using v-for loop.
My PatientList.vue code is:
<script>
import auth from '#/auth/authenticator';
import { mapMutations } from 'vuex';
export default {
components: {
name: 'PatientsList',
},
data() {
return {
patients: [],
}
},
computed: {
accessTokenGetter: {
get: function () {
return this.$store.getters.accessToken;
},
},
patientEditStatusGetter: {
get: function () {
return this.$store.getters.g_patientEditStatusCheck;
},
},
},
methods: {
...mapMutations([
'm_startPatientEditProcess',
'm_endPatientEditProcess',
'm_clearPatientEditState',
'm_cachePatient'
]),
cachePatientHandler(ptnt) {
console.log('PatientList.vue method cachePatientHandler', ptnt);
var patientObject = {
'date_of_birth': ptnt.date_of_birth.split('T')[0],
'first_name': ptnt.first_name,
'last_name': ptnt.last_name,
'patient': ptnt.patient,
'uid': ptnt.uid
}
this.m_endPatientEditProcess(false);
this.m_clearPatientEditState('');
this.m_startPatientEditProcess(true);
this.m_cachePatient(patientObject);
},
getPatients() {
const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open('GET', 'https://voyager.wrk.health/patients/index');
xhr.setRequestHeader('Authorization', `Bearer ${this.accessTokenGetter}`);
xhr.setRequestHeader('Cache-control', 'no-cache');
xhr.onload = () => {
var data = JSON.parse(xhr.response);
for( var i=0, r = data.results; i<r.length; i++ ){
this.patients.push(r[i]);
}
};
xhr.onerror = () => {
console.log(xhr.statusText);
};
xhr.send();
},
},
beforeCreate() {
},
created() {
console.log('PatientList.vue created()');
if(auth.isUserLogged()){
this.getPatients();
} else {
router.go('/');
}
},
};
</script>
In order to edit a patient, I have router-link to edit page. Router-link has click-handler, argument passed in is iterable from v-for loop (i.e. single patient object). I have 4 mutations related to this
const mutations = {
m_startPatientEditProcess(state, trueStatus) {
console.log('Vuex patient m_startPatientEditProcess');
state.patientEditStatus = trueStatus;
},
m_endPatientEditProcess(state, falseStatus) {
console.log('Vuex patient m_endPatientEditProcess');
state.patientEditStatus = falseStatus;
},
m_clearPatientEditState(state, emptyString) {
console.log('Vuex patient m_clearPatientEditState');
state.patientDetails.date_of_birth = emptyString;
state.patientDetails.first_name = emptyString;
state.patientDetails.last_name = emptyString;
state.patientDetails.patient = emptyString;
state.patientDetails.uid = emptyString;
},
m_cachePatient(state, patientObj) {
console.log('Vuex patient m_cachePatient, received: ', patientObj);
state.patientDetails.date_of_birth = patientObj.date_of_birth;
state.patientDetails.first_name = patientObj.first_name;
state.patientDetails.last_name = patientObj.last_name;
state.patientDetails.patient = patientObj.patient;
state.patientDetails.uid = patientObj.uid;
},
Also, my PatientEdit.vue code is:
<script>
import { mapMutations } from 'vuex';
export default {
components: {
name: 'PatientEdit',
},
data() {
return {
patientToEdit: {
first_name: '',
last_name: '',
date_of_birth: '',
patient: '',
uid: '',
},
patientDetailsLoaded: false,
}
},
computed: {
patientToEditDetailsGetter: {
get: function() {
return this.$store.getters.g_patientToEditDetails;
}
},
accessTokenGetter: {
get: function() {
return this.$store.getters.accessToken;
}
}
},
methods: {
...mapMutations([
'm_endPatientEditProcess',
'm_clearPatientEditState',
]),
populatePatientEditState() {
const pDeets = this.patientToEditDetailsGetter;
this.patientToEdit.first_name = pDeets.first_name;
this.patientToEdit.last_name = pDeets.last_name;
this.patientToEdit.date_of_birth = pDeets.date_of_birth;
this.patientToEdit.patient = pDeets.patient;
this.patientToEdit.uid = pDeets.uid;
this.patientDetailsLoaded = true;
},
submitUpdatedPatientDetails() {
const payload = Object.assign({}, this.patientToEdit);
const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open('PUT', `https://voyager.wrk.health/patients/update/${payload.uid}`)
xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-type', 'application/json');
xhr.setRequestHeader('Authorization', `Bearer ${this.accessTokenGetter}`);
xhr.onload = async () => {
try {
await console.log(xhr.response);
await console.log('Sent patient data to update endpoint \n Ready to be redirected.');
await Promise.all([this.m_endPatientEditProcess(false), this.m_clearPatientEditState('')]);
await this.$router.push('/patients/index');
} catch (e) {
throw new Error(e);
}
}
xhr.send(JSON.stringify(payload));
}
},
created() {
this.populatePatientEditState();
},
};
</script>
My reasoning was to avoid unnecessary request to database.
Everything works as intended. I have a store.subscription set up to save Vuex state to localStorage (for session persistence when this application is refreshed).
Store subscription logs state and mutation, everything is normal like so:
First store output
If I open a new tab or window (cookies left untouched), and try to perform the same update operations, my store subscription freaks out, and I cannot auto-populate my PatientEdit page with patient information from Vuex.
According to the output, suddenly mutation is committing things that I never specified like so:
Store output 2
Why does this happen?
Thanks for reading.
NB: If I have missed information necessary to figure this behaviour out, please let me know.
Edit 1:
Vuex store:
import Vue from 'vue';
import Vuex from 'vuex';
import session from './modules/session';
import patient from './modules/patient';
Vue.use(Vuex);
const store = new Vuex.Store({
modules: {
session,
patient,
},
mutations: {
initStore(state) {
console.log('Vuex root state checking for local snapshot');
if (localStorage.getItem('store')) {
console.log('Snapshot found, hydrating...');
this.replaceState(Object.assign(store, JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('store'))));
}
},
},
});
store.commit('initStore');
store.subscribe((mutation, state) => {
console.warn('Subscription detected');
console.log('mutation: ', mutation);
console.log('state: ', state);
localStorage.setItem('store', JSON.stringify(state));
});
export default store;

Answer 1

You end up with a "cannot stringify circular JSON" error, because you are turning the state, but also the getters, mutations and actions into a string. These contain references to the object you are trying to stringify, which results in an infinite loop.
This is not a problem in your first run, because your localStorage is still empty then. You correctly stringify your state, but when you reload the following line runs:
this.replaceState(Object.assign(store, JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('store'))));
This line replaces your state with your store, extended with what you have in localStorage. If you replace store with state things should work much better.