When building a UI component library using Storybook, you may find yourself duplicating similar stories with minor variations. This can lead to code duplication and a maintenance overhead. To combat this, Storybook provides a feature called Story Inheritance, which allows you to define base stories that can be inherited by other stories.

How Story Inheritance Works

Story Inheritance in Storybook allows you to create a base story that acts as a template for other stories. Inherited stories can then selectively override or add to the base story’s properties, making it easy to reuse common configurations and behavior across multiple stories.

To use Story Inheritance, follow these steps:

1. Create a base story by defining a regular story function, just like you would for any other story.

Example:

// src/stories/ButtonBase.stories.js
export default {
  title: 'Button/Base',
  component: Button,
};

export const Default = () => <Button>Click me</Button>;

1. Inherit from the base story using the extends keyword, and override or add any properties as needed.

Example:

// src/stories/ButtonPrimary.stories.js
import ButtonBaseStories from './ButtonBase.stories';

export default {
  title: 'Button/Primary',
  component: Button,
  extends: ButtonBaseStories,
};

export const Primary = () => <Button primary>Click me</Button>;

In the example above, the ButtonPrimary story inherits from ButtonBase story and extends its properties. This means ButtonPrimary will have the same title and component as ButtonBase, but with an added primary prop on the button.

Benefits of Story Inheritance

Using Story Inheritance in JavaScript Storybook offers several benefits:

1. Code Reusability: Story Inheritance allows you to reuse common configurations and behaviors, reducing code duplication.
2. Maintainability: By using a base story, you only need to make changes once, instead of across multiple duplicated stories.
3. Consistency: Story Inheritance ensures consistency across your component library, making it easier for developers to understand and use your components.

Conclusion

Story Inheritance in JavaScript Storybook is a powerful feature that helps you write cleaner, more maintainable UI component stories. By defining base stories and inheriting from them, you can reduce code duplication, improve reusability, and ensure consistency across your component library.

#javascript #storybook