Vue.js PrimeVue

Introduction

PrimeVue is a rich and comprehensive UI component library for Vue.js applications. Built on top of the popular PrimeFaces design, it offers a collection of over 90 flexible, feature-rich components that can accelerate your Vue development process significantly.

As a beginner learning Vue.js, incorporating a well-established UI library like PrimeVue will help you build professional-looking applications without having to create UI components from scratch. PrimeVue is specifically designed for Vue 3, but also supports Vue 2.

In this guide, we'll explore:

• Setting up PrimeVue in your Vue.js project
• Core PrimeVue components and their usage
• Styling and theming options
• Building a practical application with PrimeVue

Getting Started with PrimeVue

Installation

First, you need to install PrimeVue in your Vue.js project:

# Using npm
npm install primevue

# Using yarn
yarn add primevue

You'll also need the PrimeVue styles and icons:

npm install primeicons

Basic Setup

Once installed, you need to configure PrimeVue in your Vue application.

For Vue 3 applications, you can set it up in your main.js file:

import { createApp } from 'vue';
import App from './App.vue';
import PrimeVue from 'primevue/config';
import 'primevue/resources/themes/lara-light-blue/theme.css'; // theme
import 'primevue/resources/primevue.min.css'; // core css
import 'primeicons/primeicons.css'; // icons

const app = createApp(App);
app.use(PrimeVue);
app.mount('#app');

Importing Individual Components

PrimeVue allows you to use components individually. This approach helps to keep your bundle size small by including only the components you need:

<template>
  <div>
    <h2>My First PrimeVue Component</h2>
    <Button label="Click Me" @click="showMessage" />
    <Toast />
  </div>
</template>

<script>
import Button from 'primevue/button';
import Toast from 'primevue/toast';
import { useToast } from 'primevue/usetoast';

export default {
  components: {
    Button,
    Toast
  },
  setup() {
    const toast = useToast();
    
    const showMessage = () => {
      toast.add({
        severity: 'success',
        summary: 'Success',
        detail: 'You clicked the button!',
        life: 3000
      });
    };
    
    return {
      showMessage
    };
  }
}
</script>

Core PrimeVue Components

PrimeVue offers a wide range of components for various UI needs. Let's explore some of the most commonly used ones:

Form Components

InputText

The most basic form component is InputText, which enhances the standard HTML input element:

<template>
  <div class="p-field">
    <label for="username">Username</label>
    <InputText id="username" v-model="username" aria-describedby="username-help" />
    <small id="username-help">Enter your username to login.</small>
  </div>
</template>

<script>
import InputText from 'primevue/inputtext';

export default {
  components: {
    InputText
  },
  data() {
    return {
      username: ''
    };
  }
}
</script>

Dropdown

Dropdown provides a way to select an item from a collection:

<template>
  <div class="p-field">
    <label for="city">City</label>
    <Dropdown id="city" v-model="selectedCity" :options="cities" optionLabel="name" 
              placeholder="Select a City" />
  </div>
</template>

<script>
import Dropdown from 'primevue/dropdown';

export default {
  components: {
    Dropdown
  },
  data() {
    return {
      selectedCity: null,
      cities: [
        { name: 'New York', code: 'NY' },
        { name: 'London', code: 'LDN' },
        { name: 'Paris', code: 'PRS' },
        { name: 'Tokyo', code: 'TK' }
      ]
    };
  }
}
</script>

Data Display Components

DataTable

DataTable is one of the most powerful PrimeVue components. It allows you to display data in a tabular format with features like sorting, filtering, and pagination:

<template>
  <DataTable :value="products" :paginator="true" :rows="5" 
             tableStyle="min-width: 50rem">
    <Column field="code" header="Code"></Column>
    <Column field="name" header="Name"></Column>
    <Column field="category" header="Category"></Column>
    <Column field="quantity" header="Quantity"></Column>
    <Column field="price" header="Price">
      <template #body="slotProps">
        ${{ slotProps.data.price.toFixed(2) }}
      </template>
    </Column>
  </DataTable>
</template>

<script>
import DataTable from 'primevue/datatable';
import Column from 'primevue/column';

export default {
  components: {
    DataTable,
    Column
  },
  data() {
    return {
      products: [
        { code: '1001', name: 'Product A', category: 'Electronics', quantity: 10, price: 299.99 },
        { code: '1002', name: 'Product B', category: 'Clothing', quantity: 25, price: 49.99 },
        { code: '1003', name: 'Product C', category: 'Home', quantity: 8, price: 199.99 },
        { code: '1004', name: 'Product D', category: 'Electronics', quantity: 15, price: 399.99 },
        { code: '1005', name: 'Product E', category: 'Clothing', quantity: 30, price: 29.99 },
        { code: '1006', name: 'Product F', category: 'Home', quantity: 12, price: 129.99 },
      ]
    };
  }
}
</script>

Card

Card is a flexible container component:

<template>
  <Card>
    <template #header>
      <img alt="user header" src="https://primefaces.org/cdn/primevue/images/usercard.png" />
    </template>
    <template #title>
      Advanced Card
    </template>
    <template #content>
      <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. 
         Inventore sed consequuntur error repudiandae numquam.</p>
    </template>
    <template #footer>
      <Button icon="pi pi-check" label="Save" />
      <Button icon="pi pi-times" label="Cancel" class="p-button-secondary" style="margin-left: .5em" />
    </template>
  </Card>
</template>

<script>
import Card from 'primevue/card';
import Button from 'primevue/button';

export default {
  components: {
    Card,
    Button
  }
}
</script>

Overlay Components

Dialog

Dialog is a container that can be positioned anywhere on the page:

<template>
  <div>
    <Button label="Show Dialog" icon="pi pi-external-link" @click="displayDialog = true" />
    
    <Dialog v-model:visible="displayDialog" header="Dialog Header" :modal="true" :style="{ width: '50vw' }">
      <p>
        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
      </p>
      <template #footer>
        <Button label="Close" icon="pi pi-times" @click="displayDialog = false" class="p-button-text" />
        <Button label="Save" icon="pi pi-check" @click="displayDialog = false" autofocus />
      </template>
    </Dialog>
  </div>
</template>

<script>
import Dialog from 'primevue/dialog';
import Button from 'primevue/button';

export default {
  components: {
    Dialog,
    Button
  },
  data() {
    return {
      displayDialog: false
    };
  }
}
</script>

Styling and Theming

PrimeVue comes with several built-in themes that you can easily switch between. The default theme is 'lara-light-blue', but you can choose from various other options:

// In your main.js file
import 'primevue/resources/themes/saga-blue/theme.css';     // saga-blue theme
// or
import 'primevue/resources/themes/vela-green/theme.css';    // vela-green theme
// or
import 'primevue/resources/themes/arya-orange/theme.css';   // arya-orange theme

You can also create custom themes using CSS variables or by customizing the SASS variables provided by PrimeVue.

Practical Example: Building a Contact Manager

Let's create a simple contact manager using PrimeVue components to demonstrate a real-world application.

<template>
  <div class="contact-manager">
    <Toast />
    <Panel header="Contact Manager" class="mb-3">
      <div class="p-grid">
        <div class="p-col-12 p-md-6">
          <h3>Add New Contact</h3>
          <div class="p-field">
            <label for="name">Name</label>
            <InputText id="name" v-model="newContact.name" class="w-full" />
          </div>
          <div class="p-field">
            <label for="email">Email</label>
            <InputText id="email" v-model="newContact.email" class="w-full" />
          </div>
          <div class="p-field">
            <label for="phone">Phone</label>
            <InputText id="phone" v-model="newContact.phone" class="w-full" />
          </div>
          <Button label="Add Contact" icon="pi pi-plus" @click="addContact" />
        </div>
      </div>
    </Panel>
    
    <DataTable :value="contacts" :paginator="true" :rows="5" 
               tableStyle="min-width: 50rem" class="mt-4">
      <Column field="name" header="Name"></Column>
      <Column field="email" header="Email"></Column>
      <Column field="phone" header="Phone"></Column>
      <Column header="Actions">
        <template #body="slotProps">
          <Button icon="pi pi-pencil" class="p-button-rounded p-button-success mr-2"
                  @click="editContact(slotProps.data)" />
          <Button icon="pi pi-trash" class="p-button-rounded p-button-danger" 
                  @click="confirmDelete(slotProps.data)" />
        </template>
      </Column>
    </DataTable>
    
    <Dialog v-model:visible="displayEditDialog" header="Edit Contact" :modal="true" 
            :style="{ width: '30vw' }">
      <div class="p-field">
        <label for="edit-name">Name</label>
        <InputText id="edit-name" v-model="editingContact.name" class="w-full" />
      </div>
      <div class="p-field">
        <label for="edit-email">Email</label>
        <InputText id="edit-email" v-model="editingContact.email" class="w-full" />
      </div>
      <div class="p-field">
        <label for="edit-phone">Phone</label>
        <InputText id="edit-phone" v-model="editingContact.phone" class="w-full" />
      </div>
      <template #footer>
        <Button label="Cancel" icon="pi pi-times" @click="displayEditDialog = false" class="p-button-text" />
        <Button label="Save" icon="pi pi-check" @click="saveEditedContact" />
      </template>
    </Dialog>
    
    <ConfirmDialog></ConfirmDialog>
  </div>
</template>

<script>
import { ref } from 'vue';
import Panel from 'primevue/panel';
import InputText from 'primevue/inputtext';
import Button from 'primevue/button';
import DataTable from 'primevue/datatable';
import Column from 'primevue/column';
import Dialog from 'primevue/dialog';
import Toast from 'primevue/toast';
import ConfirmDialog from 'primevue/confirmdialog';
import { useToast } from 'primevue/usetoast';
import { useConfirm } from 'primevue/useconfirm';

export default {
  components: {
    Panel,
    InputText,
    Button,
    DataTable,
    Column,
    Dialog,
    Toast,
    ConfirmDialog
  },
  setup() {
    const toast = useToast();
    const confirm = useConfirm();
    
    const contacts = ref([
      { id: 1, name: 'John Doe', email: '[email protected]', phone: '555-1234' },
      { id: 2, name: 'Jane Smith', email: '[email protected]', phone: '555-5678' },
      { id: 3, name: 'Bob Johnson', email: '[email protected]', phone: '555-9012' }
    ]);
    
    const newContact = ref({ name: '', email: '', phone: '' });
    const editingContact = ref({});
    const displayEditDialog = ref(false);
    
    const addContact = () => {
      if (!newContact.value.name || !newContact.value.email || !newContact.value.phone) {
        toast.add({ severity: 'error', summary: 'Error', detail: 'Please fill in all fields', life: 3000 });
        return;
      }
      
      const id = contacts.value.length ? Math.max(...contacts.value.map(c => c.id)) + 1 : 1;
      contacts.value.push({
        id,
        name: newContact.value.name,
        email: newContact.value.email,
        phone: newContact.value.phone
      });
      
      newContact.value = { name: '', email: '', phone: '' };
      toast.add({ severity: 'success', summary: 'Success', detail: 'Contact added', life: 3000 });
    };
    
    const editContact = (contact) => {
      editingContact.value = { ...contact };
      displayEditDialog.value = true;
    };
    
    const saveEditedContact = () => {
      const index = contacts.value.findIndex(c => c.id === editingContact.value.id);
      if (index !== -1) {
        contacts.value[index] = editingContact.value;
        toast.add({ severity: 'success', summary: 'Success', detail: 'Contact updated', life: 3000 });
        displayEditDialog.value = false;
      }
    };
    
    const confirmDelete = (contact) => {
      confirm.require({
        message: `Are you sure you want to delete ${contact.name}?`,
        header: 'Confirmation',
        icon: 'pi pi-exclamation-triangle',
        acceptClass: 'p-button-danger',
        accept: () => {
          contacts.value = contacts.value.filter(c => c.id !== contact.id);
          toast.add({ severity: 'success', summary: 'Success', detail: 'Contact deleted', life: 3000 });
        }
      });
    };
    
    return {
      contacts,
      newContact,
      editingContact,
      displayEditDialog,
      addContact,
      editContact,
      saveEditedContact,
      confirmDelete
    };
  }
}
</script>

<style scoped>
.contact-manager {
  padding: 20px;
}
.p-field {
  margin-bottom: 1.5rem;
}
</style>

This example demonstrates a complete mini-application that uses multiple PrimeVue components, including:

• DataTable for displaying contacts
• Dialog for editing contacts
• ConfirmDialog for confirming deletions
• Toast for notifications
• InputText for form fields
• Button for actions
• Panel for layout organization

Advanced Features

Form Validation with PrimeVue

PrimeVue works well with form validation libraries. Here's a simple example using Vue's built-in validation:

<template>
  <div class="form-demo">
    <div class="p-field">
      <label for="email">Email</label>
      <InputText id="email" type="text" v-model="email" :class="{'p-invalid': emailError}" />
      <small class="p-error" v-if="emailError">{{ emailError }}</small>
    </div>
    <Button label="Submit" @click="validateForm" />
  </div>
</template>

<script>
import InputText from 'primevue/inputtext';
import Button from 'primevue/button';

export default {
  components: {
    InputText,
    Button
  },
  data() {
    return {
      email: '',
      emailError: ''
    };
  },
  methods: {
    validateForm() {
      this.emailError = '';
      
      if (!this.email) {
        this.emailError = 'Email is required';
        return;
      }
      
      const emailRegex = /^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]+$/;
      if (!emailRegex.test(this.email)) {
        this.emailError = 'Please enter a valid email address';
        return;
      }
      
      alert('Form is valid!');
    }
  }
}
</script>

Dynamic Component Loading

For large applications, you might want to load PrimeVue components dynamically to improve performance:

<template>
  <div>
    <Button label="Show Complex Component" @click="loadComplexComponent" />
    <div v-if="showComponent">
      <component :is="dynamicComponent"></component>
    </div>
  </div>
</template>

<script>
import { defineAsyncComponent } from 'vue';
import Button from 'primevue/button';

export default {
  components: {
    Button
  },
  data() {
    return {
      showComponent: false,
      dynamicComponent: null
    };
  },
  methods: {
    loadComplexComponent() {
      this.dynamicComponent = defineAsyncComponent(() => 
        import('./ComplexDataTable.vue')
      );
      this.showComponent = true;
    }
  }
}
</script>

Summary

PrimeVue is a powerful UI component library for Vue.js that offers a comprehensive set of components for building modern web applications. In this guide, we've covered:

1. Basic setup and installation of PrimeVue
2. Core components and their usage patterns
3. Styling and theming options
4. A practical contact manager application
5. Advanced features like form validation and dynamic component loading

With PrimeVue, you can rapidly build professional-looking applications while focusing on the business logic rather than reinventing UI components. The library is actively maintained, well-documented, and has a strong community, making it an excellent choice for Vue developers at all levels.

Additional Resources

• PrimeVue Official Documentation
• PrimeVue GitHub Repository
• PrimeFlex - Flexbox CSS Utility Library (works well with PrimeVue)

Practice Exercises

1. Create a simple to-do list application using PrimeVue components (InputText, Button, DataTable, Checkbox).
2. Build a dynamic form with validation that uses multiple input types (text, dropdown, calendar, etc.).
3. Create a dashboard layout using PrimeVue's layout components (Card, Panel, TabView).
4. Build a shopping cart that includes a DataTable for products, InputNumber for quantities, and a summary panel.
5. Create a user registration form with multi-step wizard navigation using PrimeVue's Steps component.

By practicing with these exercises, you'll gain valuable experience with PrimeVue and improve your Vue.js skills.