Debugging Sticky CSS with React: Identifying Overflow Issues in Parent Elements

findOverflow.tsx

// This React component utilizes a useEffect hook to traverse up the DOM tree from a referenced element,
// identifying any parent elements with an overflow property that could interfere with the intended 'sticky'
// positioning of the element. It logs each parent's overflow status and highlights those that may cause issues.
// Useful in debugging layout issues related to 'sticky' positioned elements.
//
// Usage:
// Simply include this component within your React application. The referenced element is automatically checked
// on component mount. For non-React code, the logic within useEffect could be extracted and run after the DOM
// has fully loaded, using a direct DOM element reference instead of a ref.
//
// Example for non-React:
// document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => {
//   let element = document.querySelector('.your-sticky-element-class');
//   // Implement the logic from the useEffect here, replacing `stickyRef.current` with `element`.
// });

import { useEffect, useRef } from "react";

const StickyComponent: React.FC = () => {
  const stickyRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
  useEffect(() => {
    if (!stickyRef.current) return; 
    let parent = stickyRef.current.parentElement;
    let checkedCount = 0; 
    let offendingCount = 0; 

    while (parent) {
      const hasOverflow = getComputedStyle(parent).overflow;
      if (hasOverflow !== 'visible') {
        console.warn(`Parent blocks "position: sticky":`, hasOverflow, parent);
        offendingCount++;
      }
      parent = parent.parentElement;
      checkedCount++;
    }


    console.info(`Checked ${checkedCount} components, ${offendingCount} affecting sticky.`);
  }, [stickyRef]); 

  return (
    <div ref={stickyRef} style={{ position: 'sticky', top: 0 }}>
      I should stick
    </div>
  );
};

export default StickyComponent;