How can I attach to a stateless component's ref in React?

Question

I am looking to create a stateless component who's input element can be validated by the parent component.

In my example below, I am running into a problem where the input ref is never being assigned to the parent's private _emailAddress property.

When handleSubmit is called, this._emailAddress is undefined. Is there something I'm missing, or is there a better way to do this?

interface FormTestState {
    errors: string;
}

class FormTest extends React.Component<void, FormTestState> {
    componentWillMount() {
        this.setState({ errors: '' });
    }

    render(): JSX.Element {
        return (
            <main role='main' className='about_us'>             
                <form onSubmit={this._handleSubmit.bind(this)}>
                    <TextInput 
                        label='email'
                        inputName='txtInput'
                        ariaLabel='email'
                        validation={this.state.errors}
                        ref={r => this._emailAddress = r}
                    />

                    <button type='submit'>submit</button>
                </form>
            </main>
        );
    }

    private _emailAddress: HTMLInputElement;

    private _handleSubmit(event: Event): void {
        event.preventDefault();
        // this._emailAddress is undefined
        if (!Validators.isEmail(this._emailAddress.value)) {
            this.setState({ errors: 'Please enter an email address.' });
        } else {
            this.setState({ errors: 'All Good.' });
        }
    }
}

const TextInput = ({ label, inputName, ariaLabel, validation, ref }: { label: string; inputName: string; ariaLabel: string; validation?: string; ref: (ref: HTMLInputElement) => void }) => (
    <div>
        <label htmlFor='txt_register_first_name'>
            { label }
        </label>

        <input type='text' id={inputName} name={inputName} className='input ' aria-label={ariaLabel} ref={ref} />

        <div className='input_validation'>
            <span>{validation}</span>
        </div>
    </div>
);

Answer 1

You can useuseRef hook which is available since v16.7.0-alpha.

EDIT: You're encouraged to use Hooks in production as of 16.8.0 release!

Hooks enable you to maintain state and handle side effects in functional components.

function TextInputWithFocusButton() {
  const inputEl = useRef(null);
  const onButtonClick = () => {
    // `current` points to the mounted text input element
    inputEl.current.focus();
  };
  return (
    <>
      <input ref={inputEl} type="text" />
      <button onClick={onButtonClick}>Focus the input</button>
    </>
  );
}

Read more in Hooks API documentation