Flow gives an error "Cannot assign [value] to this.[property] because property [property] is missing in [class]"

[fterh]

This works:

// @flow
import React, {Component} from 'react';


type Props = {};

class Delete extends Component<Props> {
  targetElement: null | winndow.HTMLInputElement;

  constructor(props: Props) {
    super(props);

    this.targetElement = null; // initialize to null
  }

  handleClick = (e: SyntheticEvent<> & {target: window.HTMLInputElement}) => {
    this.targetElement = (e.target: window.HTMLInputElement).value;
  };

  render() {
    return (
      <input onClick={this.handleClick} value="hello" />
    );
  }
}

export default Delete;

but this doesn't:

...
handleClick = (e: SyntheticEvent<> & {target: window.HTMLInputElement}) => {
    this.targetElement = e.target.value;
  };
...

The error message is: Cannot get e.target.value because property value is missing in EventTarget.

1. I've already typed the "target" property to be window.HTMLInputElement, which has a value property, so why does Flow insist that property value is missing in EventTarget (why EventTarget?)

In the first place, before I added Flow annotations, the code works great, and there were no console errors about missing properties.

I'm really confused as to how this works - I've read this and this, and it seems there are a huge range of workarounds/solutions, but I'm not sure why they work. Also, those are 2-3 years old, and I'm not sure if they're still relevant now. I'm new to Flow, but really interested to master it!

[Ricardo-Marques]

I've already typed the "target" property to be window.HTMLInputElement, which has a value property

Not sure what you mean here, but for what it's worth, this is a working version of your example

// @flow
import React, { Component } from 'react'

type Props = {}

class Delete extends Component<Props> {
  targetElement: ?HTMLInputElement

  constructor(props: Props) {
    super(props)

    this.targetElement = null // initialize to null
  }

  handleClick = (e: SyntheticEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
    this.targetElement = e.currentTarget
  }

  render() {
    return <input onClick={this.handleClick} value="hello" />
  }
}

export default Delete

[fterh]

Not sure what you mean here, but for what it's worth, this is a working version of your example

I meant I've already specified the "target" property to be of type window.HTMLInputElement:

...
class Delete extends Component<Props> {
> targetElement: null | winndow.HTMLInputElement;

  constructor(props: Props) {
...

Also, is there a difference between HTMLInputElement and Window.HTMLInputElement? I found when experimenting that sometimes interchanging the two breaks the test, but I haven't been able to find a consistent theory/answer for it.

Update: I notice that if I change e.currentTarget to e.target I get an error Cannot assign e.target to this.targetElement because EventTarget [1] is incompatible with HTMLInputElement [2].. Is this supposed to happen? What if I require the "target" property instead of "currentTarget"?

[Ricardo-Marques]

Window.HTMLInputElement is not a valid type. If flow doesn't error for you when you use it, you might have an issue in your IDE

HTMLInputElement is a built in type

FYI - I like consulting this cheat-sheet whenever I forget what an internal type is called or for quickly finding their source

[Ricardo-Marques]

Update: I notice that if I change e.currentTarget to e.target I get an error Cannot assign e.target to this.targetElement because EventTarget [1] is incompatible with HTMLInputElement [2].. Is this supposed to happen? What if I require the "target" property instead of "currentTarget"?

There's actually an explanation for that in the source code, which links you here

[fterh]

Window.HTMLInputElement is not a valid type. If flow doesn't error for you when you use it, you might have an issue in your IDE

Flow doesn't error when I use it - I got the idea to try that from an answer to a previous issue. Is it supposed to produce an error? Because it was reported as a solution in that thread.

There's actually an explanation for that in the source code, which links you here

Thank you, I'll have a look!

[Ricardo-Marques]

It is def supposed to raise an error.
const element: ?window.HTMLInputElement = null
Put that on try flow and you'll see

3: const element: ?window.HTMLInputElement = null
^ Cannot resolve name window.

[fterh]

In that case, I believe this is caused by the create-react-app package. I created a new test project, and installed nothing but flow, and pasted the exact line const element: ?window.HTMLInputElement = null, and flow runs without any errors.

I'm happy to create a demonstration repo!