How to build an IP address finder app in ReactJS ?

In this article, we will be building an IP address finder app that lets you find your client’s approximate location on a map. An IP address is a unique address that identifies a device on the internet or a local network. IP stands for “Internet Protocol,” which is the set of rules governing the format of data sent via the internet or local network. Through this article, we will learn how to get the user’s IP address as well as display his/her approximate location on a map.

Prerequisites: The pre-requisites for this project are:

• React
• Functional Components
• React Hooks
• Axios & APIS
• Javascript ES6

Creating a React application and Module installation:

Step 1: Create a react application by typing the following command in the terminal:

npx create-react-app ip-finder

Step 2: Now, go to the project folder i.e ip-finder by running the following command:

cd ip-finder

Step 3: Install some npm packages required for this project using the following command:

npm install axios 
npm install react-map-gl
npm install react-icons

Project Structure: It will look like this:

Example: Let us grab the Mapbox API key required for this project. Follow the simple steps below:

• Go to the website: https://www.mapbox.com/ and create a free account.
• Go to your account dashboard and at the bottom of the page you will find a section named “Access tokens”.

• Copy the default public access token and save it somewhere to use it later.

Filename: App.js In this file, we will fetch the user’s IP address using a free open-source API named https://ipapi.co/ (free plan: 1000 requests/day). App.js is divided into two sections, one section for displaying the user’s IP address, location & ISP(Internet Service Provider) and the other is for displaying the user’s approximate location on a dynamic map. Now, write down the following code in the App.js component.

Javascript

import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import Axios from 'axios';
import Map from './Map';
import './App.css';

function App() {

  // Setting up the initial state variables
  const [ipDetails, setIpDetails] = useState([]);
  const [lat, setLat] = useState(22.5726);
  const [lon, setLon] = useState(88.3832);

  // Fetching the API once when the
  // component is mounted
  useEffect(() => {
    Axios.get('https://ipapi.co/json/').then((res) => {
      setIpDetails(res.data);
      setLat(res.data.latitude);
      setLon(res.data.longitude);
    });
  }, [])

  return (
    <>
      <h1 className="heading">IP Address Finder</h1>
      <div className="App">
        <div className="left">
          <h4>What is my IPv4 address?</h4>
          <h1 id="ip">{ipDetails.ip}</h1>
          <h4>Approximate location: </h4>

<p>{ipDetails.city}, {ipDetails.region},
          {ipDetails.country_name}.</p>


          <h4>Internet Service Provider(ISP):</h4>

<p>{ipDetails.org}</p>

        </div>
        <Map lat={lat} lon={lon} />
      </div>
    </>
  );
}

export default App;

In the App.js component, we have imported our custom Map.js component that renders the map. Now create that component. Create a file named Map.js under the src folder.

In the Map.js component, we will import the map using the react-map-gl package. Also, we will use markers to point to the approximate location of the user. For more information related to react-map-gl visit their official documentation (https://visgl.github.io/react-map-gl/). 

Filename: Map.js Now write down the following code in the Map.js component.

Javascript

import React, { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import ReactMapGL, { Marker } from 'react-map-gl';
import { RiUserLocationFill } from 'react-icons/ri';

const API_KEY = '<YOUR_API_KEY>';

const Map = ({ lat, lon }) => {

  // Setting up the initial viewport of the map
  const [viewport, setViewport] = useState({
    latitude: lat,
    longitude: lon,
    zoom: 14,
    bearing: 0,
    pitch: 0,
    width: '100%',
    height: '100%',
  });

  // Viewport re-renders whenever latitude
  // and longitude changes
  useEffect(() => {
    const a = { ...viewport };
    a.latitude = lat;
    a.longitude = lon;
    setViewport(a);
  }, [lat, lon]);

  return (
    <div className="map">
      <ReactMapGL
        mapboxApiAccessToken={API_KEY}
        {...viewport}
        onViewportChange={(viewport) => setViewport(viewport)}
        mapStyle="mapbox://styles/mapbox/streets-v11">
        <Marker latitude={lat} longitude={lon}>
          <div className="mark">
            <RiUserLocationFill size="25px" color="blue" />
          </div>
        </Marker>
      </ReactMapGL>
    </div>
  );
};

export default Map;

Note: Replace <YOUR_API_KEY> with your own Mapbox public access token.

Filename: App.css

CSS

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Pacifico&display=swap');
.App{
  height: 70vh;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
}
.left{
  box-sizing: border-box;
  padding-left: 80px;
  width: 40%;
}
.map{
  width: 550px;
  height: 350px;
  border: 4px solid #1453dc;
}
.mark{
  padding: 40px;
  border-radius: 50%;
  background-color: #d2d8fabe
}
.heading{
  font-size: 60px;
  text-align: center;
  text-decoration: underline;
  font-family: 'Pacifico', cursive;
  color: #1453dc;
}
p{
  font-size: 20px;
  color: #1453dcaf;
}
#ip{
  color: #1453dc;
}

Step to Run Application: Run the application using the following command from the root directory of the project.

npm start

Output: Now open your browser and go to http://localhost:3000/, you will see the following output:

App demo