05_Referencing_Specific_DOM_Elements.md

Referencing specific DOM Elements

References to elements inside the component DOM structure can be set up by using the data-ref attribute. Simply provide the name of the ref getter that will be accessible from the Component, similar to the data-target concept in Stimulus.

The syntax is as follows:

<div data-ref="<component>:<refName>"></div>

You can specify multiple refs (if several components have access to this element, for example when this element lies within a parent and its child component) by separating them with spaces or providing them in the form of an array of strings in json notation:

<div data-ref="counter:refName otherComponent:otherRef"></div>

<div data-ref='[
    "counter:refName",
    "otherComponent:otherRef"
]'></div>

Once defined, these refs can be referenced from the Component class:

export default class extends Component {
    myFunction() {
        this.refs.refName.innerHTML = this.props.count;
    }
}

You can have multiple elements with the same ref name, and they will be exposed through an Array instead of just the HTMLElement.