In this article, we will compare the Copy button code between Shadcn-ui/ui and Codehike.

copyToClipboard in Shadcn-ui/ui

The code snippet below is picked from shadcn-ui source code.

export async function copyToClipboardWithMeta(value: string, event?: Event) {
  navigator.clipboard.writeText(value)
  if (event) {
    trackEvent(event)
  }
}

I think ‘withMeta’ in the function name copyToClipboardWithMeta refers to the analytics recorded in the trackEvent function.

import va from "@vercel/analytics"
 
export function trackEvent(input: Event): void {
  const event = eventSchema.parse(input)
  if (event) {
    va.track(event.name, event.properties)
  }
}

copyToClipboard in Codehike

The code snippet below is picked from codehike source code.

function copyToClipboard(text: string) {
  if (!navigator.clipboard) {
    fallbackCopyTextToClipboard(text)
    return
  }
  navigator.clipboard.writeText(text)
}

Codehike implements the copyToClipboard differently.

1. There is no analytics recorded when the copyToClipboard function is called like we saw this happening in Shadcn-ui/ui.

2. There is a fallback method in case the navigation.clipboard API is not available.

fallbackCopyTextToClipboard:

This below code snippet is picked from Codehike source code. This function is just under the copyToClipboard.

function fallbackCopyTextToClipboard(text: string) {
  var textArea = document.createElement("textarea")
  textArea.value = text
 
  // Avoid scrolling to bottom
  textArea.style.top = "0"
  textArea.style.left = "0"
  textArea.style.position = "fixed"
 
  document.body.appendChild(textArea)
  textArea.focus()
  textArea.select()
 
  try {
    var successful = document.execCommand("copy")
    // var msg = successful ? "successful" : "unsuccessful"
    // console.log("Fallback: Copying text command was " + msg)
  } catch (err) {
    // console.error("Fallback: Oops, unable to copy", err)
  }
 
  document.body.removeChild(textArea)
}

Conclusion:

If I were to implement a copyToClipboard functionality, I would also add a fallback in case the navigator.clipboard is not available in a given browser like in Codehike and if you also use Vercel analytics in your application, you might as well record your analytics like in shadcn-ui/ui.

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Hey, my name is Ramu Narasinga. I study large open-source projects and create content about their codebase architecture and best practices, sharing it through articles, videos.

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References:

1. https://github.com/code-hike/codehike/blob/next/packages/mdx/src/mini-editor/editor-tween.tsx

2. https://github.com/code-hike/codehike/blob/next/packages/mdx/src/smooth-code/copy-button.tsx#L3

3. https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/blob/main/apps/www/components/copy-button.tsx#L31

4. https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/blob/main/apps/www/components/copy-button.tsx#L24

5. https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/blob/main/apps/www/lib/events.ts#L27