React refs with components

Question

I have React form that has a Component used to render a drop down because the options are coming from an API. However, I can\'t access the ref for the embedded component. I\

Answer 1

Composite components can have their own refs; you can reach in to them to access the refs further down the component hierarchy.

Example:

However, ssorallen is correct—you should try to avoid this if possible. Instead, you should either pass callbacks into children:

or expose a public API in the child:

or use some other data flow management (e.g. flux, events, etc).