React.js: submit form programmatically does not trigger onSubmit event

Question

I want to submit a React form after a click on a link.

To do so I need to submit the form programmatically if the link is clicked.

my problem is : onSubmit handler is not being fired after the form submit .

Here is a code snipped that I made for this purpose:

var MyForm = React.createClass({
  handleSubmit: function(e){
    console.log('Form submited');
     e.preventDefault();
  },
  submitForm : function(e){
    this.refs.formToSubmit.submit();
  },
  render: function() {
    return (
    <form ref="formToSubmit" onSubmit={this.handleSubmit}>
    <input name='myInput'/>
    <a onClick={this.submitForm}>Validate</a>
    </form>);
  }
});

ReactDOM.render(
  <MyForm name="World" />,
  document.getElementById('container')
);

The handleSubmit is not invoked and the default behavior is executed (the form being submitted). Is this a ReactJs bug or a normal behavior? Is there a way to get the onSubmit handler invoked ?

Answer 1

I have success with this. This triggers the handleSubmit upon clicking. Hope this helps.

<form
  onSubmit={this.handleSubmit}
  ref={ (ref) => { this.form = ref; } }
>
    <a onClick={ () => { this.form.dispatchEvent(new Event('submit')) } }>
        Validate
    </a>
</form>

Found from here: https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/6796