ReactJS call parent method

Solution 1:

To do this you pass a callback as a property down to the child from the parent.

For example:

var Parent = React.createClass({

    getInitialState: function() {
        return {
            value: 'foo'
        }
    },

    changeHandler: function(value) {
        this.setState({
            value: value
        });
    },

    render: function() {
        return (
            <div>
                <Child value={this.state.value} onChange={this.changeHandler} />
                <span>{this.state.value}</span>
            </div>
        );
    }
});

var Child = React.createClass({
    propTypes: {
        value:      React.PropTypes.string,
        onChange:   React.PropTypes.func
    },
    getDefaultProps: function() {
        return {
            value: ''
        };
    },
    changeHandler: function(e) {
        if (typeof this.props.onChange === 'function') {
            this.props.onChange(e.target.value);
        }
    },
    render: function() {
        return (
            <input type="text" value={this.props.value} onChange={this.changeHandler} />
        );
    }
});

In the above example, Parent calls Child with a property of value and onChange. The Child in return binds an onChange handler to a standard <input /> element and passes the value up to the Parent's callback if it's defined.

As a result the Parent's changeHandler method is called with the first argument being the string value from the <input /> field in the Child. The result is that the Parent's state can be updated with that value, causing the parent's <span /> element to update with the new value as you type it in the Child's input field.

Solution 2:

2019 Update with react 16+ and ES6

Posting this since React.createClass is deprecated from react version 16 and the new Javascript ES6 will give you more benefits.

Parent

import React, {Component} from 'react';
import Child from './Child';
  
export default class Parent extends Component {

  es6Function = (value) => {
    console.log(value)
  }

  simplifiedFunction (value) {
    console.log(value)
  }

  render () {
  return (
    <div>
    <Child
          es6Function = {this.es6Function}
          simplifiedFunction = {this.simplifiedFunction} 
        />
    </div>
    )
  }

}

Child

import React, {Component} from 'react';

export default class Child extends Component {

  render () {
  return (
    <div>
    <h1 onClick= { () =>
            this.props.simplifiedFunction(<SomethingThatYouWantToPassIn>)
          }
        > Something</h1>
    </div>
    )
  }
}

Simplified stateless child as ES6 constant

import React from 'react';

const Child = (props) => {
  return (
    <div>
    <h1 onClick= { () =>
        props.es6Function(<SomethingThatYouWantToPassIn>)
      }
      > Something</h1>
    </div>
  )

}
export default Child;