ArticleZip > How To Use React Forwardref In A Class Based Component

How To Use React Forwardref In A Class Based Component

React is a powerful JavaScript library popular among developers for creating dynamic user interfaces. One useful feature of React is `forwardRef`, which allows you to pass a ref through a component to one of its children. In this article, we will explore how to use `forwardRef` in a class-based component in React.

First things first, if you're not familiar with refs in React, they are a way to reference a DOM element or a class component instance. With the introduction of hooks in React, managing refs has become easier. However, if you're still using class-based components, `forwardRef` can come in handy.

To get started with using `forwardRef` in a class-based component, you need to import `React` at the top of your file. Then, you can create your component class as usual, with the addition of defining your ref.

Here's an example to illustrate this:

Jsx

import React from 'react';

class CustomInput extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.inputRef = React.createRef();
  }

  render() {
    return (
      
    );
  }
}

const ForwardedInput = React.forwardRef((props, ref) => {
  return ;
});

export default ForwardedInput;

In the example above, we have a class component called `CustomInput` that renders an input element and defines a ref using `React.createRef()`. We then use `React.forwardRef()` to forward the ref to this class component.

To use `ForwardedInput` component in a parent component, you can create a ref using `React.createRef()` and pass it to the `ForwardedInput` component as a prop. Here's an example:

Jsx

import React from 'react';
import ForwardedInput from './ForwardedInput';

class ParentComponent extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.inputRef = React.createRef();
  }

  componentDidMount() {
    this.inputRef.current.focus();
  }

  render() {
    return (
      <div>
        
      </div>
    );
  }
}

export default ParentComponent;

In this parent component example, we create a ref called `inputRef` and pass it to the `ForwardedInput` component. We can then access this ref in the parent component's methods, such as `componentDidMount`, to focus on the input element.

By using `forwardRef`, you can seamlessly pass refs through intermediary components like in the example above, enabling you to manage focus, text selection, animations, and more in your React application.

Remember, ref forwarding is a valuable technique that can help you in situations where you need to access the underlying DOM elements or instances of class components. Give it a try in your React projects and see how it simplifies your code!

Related posts:

×