How to properly use Router inside Router in React

Question

I'm struggling with creating routes using "react-router-dom". The default "Page1" is being displayed: as you can see here , but I'm getting a blank page when switching to "Page2" or "Page3".

I'll be glad if someone will be able to take a look at my code. Thanks!

App.js:

import Layout from "./Layout";
import Login from "./Login";
import { BrowserRouter as Router, Switch, Route } from "react-router-dom";

function App() {
  return (
    <Router>
      <Switch>
        <Route exact path={"/"} component={Layout} />
        <Route path={"/login"} component={Login} />
      </Switch>
    </Router>
  );
}

export default App;   

Login.js:

import React from "react";
import { makeStyles } from "@material-ui/core/styles";

const useStyles = makeStyles(() => ({
  root: {
    flexGrow: "1",
    height: "100%",
  },
}));

const Login = () => {
  const classes = useStyles();
  return <div className={classes.root}>Login</div>;
};

export default Login;

Layout.js:

import React from "react";
import { makeStyles } from "@material-ui/core/styles";
import Grid from "@material-ui/core/Grid";
import Header from "./Header";
import Menu from "./Menu";
import Page1 from "./Page1";
import Page2 from "./Page2";
import Page3 from "./Page3";
import { Switch, Route } from "react-router-dom";

const useStyles = makeStyles(() => ({
  root: {
    display: "flex",
    overflow: "hidden",
    backgroundColor: "red",
  },
}));

export default function Layout() {
  const classes = useStyles();

  return (
    <div className={classes.root}>
      <Menu />
      <Grid container direction="column">
        <Grid item xs>
          <Header />
        </Grid>
        <Grid item xs>
          <Switch>
            <Route exact path="/" component={Page1} />
            <Route path="/page2" component={Page2} />
            <Route path="/page3" component={Page3} />
          </Switch>
        </Grid>
      </Grid>
    </div>
  );
}

Menu.js

import { useHistory } from "react-router-dom";
import React, { useState } from "react";
import { makeStyles, withStyles } from "@material-ui/core/styles";
import List from "@material-ui/core/List";
import ListItem from "@material-ui/core/ListItem";
import ListItemText from "@material-ui/core/ListItemText";

const useStyles = makeStyles((theme) => ({
  root: {
    height: "100vh",
    width: "90px",
    backgroundColor: theme.palette.background.menu,
    textAlign: "center",
    justifyContent: "center",
    backgroundColor: "lightblue",
  },
}));

const StyledListItem = withStyles((theme) => ({
  root: {
    flexDirection: "column",
    textAlign: "center",
    opacity: 0.8,
  },
}))(ListItem);

const MainNavMenu = (props) => {
  const [selectedIndex, setSelectedIndex] = useState(0);
  const classes = useStyles(props);
  let history = useHistory();

  // Navigate between pages
  const navigate = (text, index) => {
    setSelectedIndex(index);
    if ("page1" === text) {
      history.push("/");
    } else if ("page2" === text) {
      history.push("/page2");
    } else {
      history.push("/page3");
    }
  };

  return (
    <div className={classes.root}>
      <List>
        {["page1", "page2", "page3"].map((text, index) => (
          <StyledListItem
            button
            key={index}
            selected={selectedIndex === index}
            onClick={() => {
              navigate(text, index);
            }}
          >
            <ListItemText primary={text} />
          </StyledListItem>
        ))}
      </List>
    </div>
  );
};

export default MainNavMenu;

Page1.js (All pages look the same):

function Page1() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Page 1</h1>
    </div>
  );
}

export default Page1;

Answer 1

There is no page1 or page2 route in your code. That's why you get a blank page.

Answer 2

Your app needs to know that it should handle /page2 and /page1 through the Layout component. Right now it does not because your Route only matches exact path={"/"} .

You can remove the exact to send all traffic through Layout . Since the first match is used, you always want to have your Route components listed from most specific to least specific. Without exact , the Route for Layout now belongs at the bottom of the list.

function App() {
  return (
    <Router>
      <Switch>
        <Route path={"/login"} component={Login} />
        <Route path={"/"} component={Layout} />
      </Switch>
    </Router>
  );
}

---

The paths in your Layout don't match up with the ones in Menu . You have no /page3 in Layout .

Layout:

<Route exact path="/" component={Page1} />
<Route path="/page1" component={Page2} />
<Route path="/page2" component={Page3} />

Menu:

{["page1", "page2", "page3"].map((text, index) => (

Likely you want to change Layout like this:

<Route exact path="/" component={Page1} />
<Route path="/page2" component={Page2} />
<Route path="/page3" component={Page3} />

---

I personally would do the navigation with the react-router-dom Link component but you would need to handle your styling differently.

Answer 3

Remove exact in app component.Since you put exact, its not switching to nested components.

<Switch>
      <Route path={"/"} component={Layout} />
      <Route path={"/login"} component={Login} />
</Switch>

Edit to the comment

Just name the route instead of blank eg "/home" and redirect blank route to home. Like this

<Switch>
      <Route exact path="/" > <Redirect to="/home" /> </Route>
      <Route path={"/home"} component={Layout} />
      <Route path={"/login"} component={Login} />
</Switch>

Mostly page1,page2,page3 will work. If not, implement "useRoutematch" and put paths in <Route> in Layout.js

Answer 4

 import { BrowserRouter as Router, Route, Switch } from 'react-router-dom';
 import React, { Fragment, useEffect } from 'react';
  <Router>
    <Fragment>
      <Navbar />
      <Switch>
        <Route exact path="/" component={Landing} />
        <Route component={Routes} />
      </Switch>
    </Fragment>
  </Router>