useMeasure

About

Measures both the inner and outer dimensions of any DOM element in a performant way and updates when dimensions change. Uses ResizeObserver for efficient size change detection, providing comprehensive measurement data including inner dimensions (clientWidth/clientHeight), outer dimensions (offsetWidth/offsetHeight), and scroll dimensions for both inner and outer measurements.

Examples

Basic usage

import React from "react";
import { useMeasure } from "rooks";
 
export default function App() {
  const [ref, measurements] = useMeasure();
  
  return (
    <div
      ref={ref}
      style={{
        width: 200,
        height: 150,
        border: "5px solid #ccc",
        overflow: "auto",
        padding: "10px",
        margin: "20px"
      }}
    >
      <div style={{ width: 300, height: 200 }}>
        <h4>Inner Measurements:</h4>
        <p>Width: {measurements.innerWidth}, Height: {measurements.innerHeight}</p>
        <p>Scroll: {measurements.innerScrollWidth} x {measurements.innerScrollHeight}</p>
        
        <h4>Outer Measurements:</h4>
        <p>Width: {measurements.outerWidth}, Height: {measurements.outerHeight}</p>
        <p>Scroll: {measurements.outerScrollWidth} x {measurements.outerScrollHeight}</p>
        
        <p>This content is larger than the container to demonstrate scroll measurements.</p>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

With callback and debouncing

import React, { useState } from "react";
import { useMeasure } from "rooks";
 
export default function App() {
  const [measurementHistory, setMeasurementHistory] = useState([]);
  
  const [ref, measurements] = useMeasure({
    debounce: 100,
    onMeasure: (newMeasurements) => {
      setMeasurementHistory(prev => [
        ...prev.slice(-4), // Keep last 5 measurements
        newMeasurements
      ]);
    }
  });
  
  return (
    <div>
      <textarea
        ref={ref}
        placeholder="Resize this textarea to see measurements change..."
        style={{ 
          width: "100%", 
          minHeight: 100, 
          resize: "both",
          border: "3px solid #007acc",
          padding: "8px"
        }}
      />
      
      <div>
        <h3>Current Measurements:</h3>
        <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: "20px" }}>
          <div>
            <h4>Inner:</h4>
            <p>{measurements.innerWidth} x {measurements.innerHeight}</p>
            <p>Scroll: {measurements.innerScrollWidth} x {measurements.innerScrollHeight}</p>
          </div>
          <div>
            <h4>Outer:</h4>
            <p>{measurements.outerWidth} x {measurements.outerHeight}</p>
            <p>Scroll: {measurements.outerScrollWidth} x {measurements.outerScrollHeight}</p>
          </div>
        </div>
        
        <h3>Measurement History:</h3>
        {measurementHistory.map((measurement, index) => (
          <div key={index}>
            <small>
              {index + 1}: Inner {measurement.innerWidth}x{measurement.innerHeight}, 
              Outer {measurement.outerWidth}x{measurement.outerHeight}
            </small>
          </div>
        ))}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

Responsive component layout with inner/outer awareness

import React from "react";
import { useMeasure } from "rooks";
 
export default function ResponsiveCard() {
  const [ref, measurements] = useMeasure();
  
  // Adjust layout based on container size
  const isCompact = measurements.innerWidth < 300;
  const showDetails = measurements.innerHeight > 150;
  const hasThickBorder = (measurements.outerWidth - measurements.innerWidth) > 10;
  
  return (
    <div
      ref={ref}
      style={{
        width: "100%",
        maxWidth: 400,
        height: "100%",
        maxHeight: 300,
        border: hasThickBorder ? "8px solid #ddd" : "1px solid #ddd",
        borderRadius: "8px",
        padding: "16px",
        display: "flex",
        flexDirection: isCompact ? "column" : "row",
        gap: "12px"
      }}
    >
      <div style={{ flex: 1 }}>
        <h3>Responsive Card</h3>
        <p>Inner: {measurements.innerWidth}x{measurements.innerHeight}</p>
        <p>Outer: {measurements.outerWidth}x{measurements.outerHeight}</p>
        <p>Layout: {isCompact ? "Compact" : "Wide"}</p>
        <p>Border: {hasThickBorder ? "Thick" : "Thin"}</p>
      </div>
      
      {showDetails && (
        <div style={{ 
          flex: isCompact ? "none" : 1,
          backgroundColor: "#f5f5f5",
          padding: "8px",
          borderRadius: "4px"
        }}>
          <p>Additional details shown when height > 150px</p>
          <small>
            Border + padding: {measurements.outerWidth - measurements.innerWidth}px wide, 
            {measurements.outerHeight - measurements.innerHeight}px tall
          </small>
        </div>
      )}
    </div>
  );
}

Comparing inner vs outer measurements

import React from "react";
import { useMeasure } from "rooks";
 
export default function MeasurementComparison() {
  const [ref, measurements] = useMeasure();
  
  const borderWidth = (measurements.outerWidth - measurements.innerWidth) / 2;
  const borderHeight = (measurements.outerHeight - measurements.innerHeight) / 2;
  
  return (
    <div style={{ padding: "20px" }}>
      <div
        ref={ref}
        style={{
          width: 300,
          height: 200,
          border: "15px solid #ff6b6b",
          padding: "25px",
          backgroundColor: "#4ecdc4",
          overflow: "auto"
        }}
      >
        <div style={{ width: 400, height: 250, backgroundColor: "#45b7d1" }}>
          <h3>Measurement Breakdown</h3>
          
          <div style={{ display: "grid", gridTemplateColumns: "1fr 1fr", gap: "10px" }}>
            <div>
              <h4>Inner (Content Area):</h4>
              <p>Width: {measurements.innerWidth}px</p>
              <p>Height: {measurements.innerHeight}px</p>
              <p>Scroll Width: {measurements.innerScrollWidth}px</p>
              <p>Scroll Height: {measurements.innerScrollHeight}px</p>
            </div>
            
            <div>
              <h4>Outer (Including Border/Padding):</h4>
              <p>Width: {measurements.outerWidth}px</p>
              <p>Height: {measurements.outerHeight}px</p>
              <p>Scroll Width: {measurements.outerScrollWidth}px</p>
              <p>Scroll Height: {measurements.outerScrollHeight}px</p>
            </div>
          </div>
          
          <div style={{ marginTop: "10px" }}>
            <h4>Calculated Border + Padding:</h4>
            <p>Horizontal: {borderWidth.toFixed(1)}px each side</p>
            <p>Vertical: {borderHeight.toFixed(1)}px each side</p>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

Disabled measurements

import React, { useState } from "react";
import { useMeasure } from "rooks";
 
export default function ConditionalMeasurement() {
  const [measurementEnabled, setMeasurementEnabled] = useState(true);
  
  const [ref, measurements] = useMeasure({
    disabled: !measurementEnabled
  });
  
  return (
    <div>
      <button onClick={() => setMeasurementEnabled(!measurementEnabled)}>
        {measurementEnabled ? "Disable" : "Enable"} Measurements
      </button>
      
      <div
        ref={ref}
        style={{
          width: 250,
          height: 150,
          border: "2px solid #007acc",
          margin: "20px 0",
          padding: "10px"
        }}
      >
        <p>Measurements {measurementEnabled ? "enabled" : "disabled"}</p>
        <div>
          <h4>Inner:</h4>
          <p>{measurements.innerWidth} x {measurements.innerHeight}</p>
          <h4>Outer:</h4>
          <p>{measurements.outerWidth} x {measurements.outerHeight}</p>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

Arguments

Argument	Type	Description	Default value
options	`UseMeasureOptions`	Configuration options object	`{}`

UseMeasureOptions

Property	Type	Description	Default value
debounce	`number`	Number of milliseconds to debounce measurements	`0`
disabled	`boolean`	Whether measurements are disabled	`false`
onMeasure	`(measurements: UseMeasureMeasurements) => void`	Callback function called when dimensions change	`undefined`

Return

Returns a tuple [ref, measurements] with the following structure:

Index	Property	Type	Description
0	ref	`CallbackRef`	Callback ref to attach to the DOM element you want to measure
1	measurements	`UseMeasureMeasurements`	Object containing all measurement data

UseMeasureMeasurements

Property	Type	Description
innerWidth	`number`	Inner width (clientWidth) - content area width excluding scrollbars
innerHeight	`number`	Inner height (clientHeight) - content area height excluding scrollbars
innerScrollWidth	`number`	Total scrollable width (scrollWidth) - width of the entire content area
innerScrollHeight	`number`	Total scrollable height (scrollHeight) - height of the entire content area
outerWidth	`number`	Outer width (offsetWidth) - total element width including borders, padding, and scrollbars
outerHeight	`number`	Outer height (offsetHeight) - total element height including borders, padding, and scrollbars
outerScrollWidth	`number`	Total scrollable outer width - outer width of the entire scrollable content
outerScrollHeight	`number`	Total scrollable outer height - outer height of the entire scrollable content

Notes

Browser Compatibility

Requires ResizeObserver support (available in all modern browsers)
Falls back gracefully in SSR environments
Warns when ResizeObserver is not available

Performance Considerations

Uses ResizeObserver for efficient resize detection instead of polling
Supports debouncing to limit measurement frequency during rapid changes
Automatically cleans up observers when components unmount
Observes with multiple box types to track both inner and outer changes

Usage Tips

The hook returns 0 for all dimensions until a DOM element is attached via the ref
Use the disabled option to temporarily stop measurements without losing the ref
The onMeasure callback is called after state updates, useful for logging or external state management
Debouncing is especially useful for expensive operations triggered by dimension changes
Inner measurements exclude borders and padding, while outer measurements include them
Use outer measurements when you need to know the total space an element occupies
Use inner measurements when you need to know the available content area

Inner vs Outer Measurements

Inner measurements (innerWidth, innerHeight): Content area only, excludes borders, padding, and scrollbars
Outer measurements (outerWidth, outerHeight): Complete element size including borders, padding, and scrollbars
Scroll measurements: Available for both inner and outer, showing total scrollable content dimensions
Practical use: Outer measurements are useful for layout calculations, inner measurements for content positioning

SSR Compatibility

Safe to use in server-side rendering environments
Provides appropriate warnings when ResizeObserver or window is unavailable
Returns default values (0) for all measurements during SSR

useMeasure

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