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How to access a DOM element - Reference a DOM element

When you want to let React handle all DOM manipulation, you can add a ref attribute to an element to access it directly in the DOM.

In the JSX of your component, you can assign the reference of the DOM element to a component property using this attribute:

Reference a DOM element in function component

import { useRef } from "react";

 

function DemoComponent() {

  const inputElement = useRef();

 

  const focusInput = () => {

    inputElement.current.focus();

  };

 

  return (

    <>

      <input type="text" ref={inputElement} />

      <button onClick={focusInput}>Focus Input</button>

    </>

  );

}

export default DemoComponent;

 

 

Reference a DOM element in class component

import React from 'react';

 

class DemoComponent extends React.Component {

        constructor(props) {

                super(props);

                this.inputElement = React.createRef();

        }

        render() {

                return (

                        <div >

                                <input type="text" ref={this.inputElement} />

                        </div>

                )

        }

}

 

export default DemoComponent;

 


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