Does hierarchicalMenu categories.lvl0 need to be an array in react-instantsearch v7?

[adambremler]

In the docs (link) it seems like categories.lvl0 can be either a string or an array of strings.

But when attempting to set the state with categories.lvl0 as a string I get the following error: Uncaught TypeError: values.join is not a function. It comes from the getWidgetSearchParameters function in connectHierarchicalMenu.ts. It throws an error because categories.lvl0 is a string and doesn't have a .join function. This makes it seem like categories.lvl0 can't be a string and has to be an array.

Is this true? Appreciate any help! :)

[dhayab]

Hi, these are 2 different data structures.

Your dataset (your records) can indeed accept both string and array-based values, for example making one item part of many different hierarchical branches.

The InstantSearch UI state for the hierarchical menu only accepts an array of strings. Here is what a UI state composed of many widgets could look like, for example: https://www.algolia.com/doc/api-reference/widgets/ui-state/js/.

[adambremler]

Ah okay I see. Thanks a lot for taking the time to clarify this! :)