[core] Remove some rootRef properties

[cherniavskii]

Currently there is no way to get Typography node ref.
Passing ref to Typography returns component instance, returned by withStyles.
There is findDOMNode, but it's not recommended.

Breaking changes

• Remove the rootRef property from the Grow and List component.
  Instead, you can use the ref property in combinaison with findDOMNode().

[oliviertassinari]

@cherniavskii What's your use case? Have you tried innerRef?

[cherniavskii]

@oliviertassinari yes, but innerRef returns a class instance without withStyles wrapper. I need a reference to Typography DOM node (for scrolling)

[oliviertassinari]

@cherniavskii I'm very tempted to refuse this pull-request and to remove the rootRef property from the Grow and List components. It seems both components have no valid reason for using them. We can save bundle size.
The React team hasn't deprecated findDOMNode() yet for a reason. I'm assuming it's because it's still a useful escape hatch. I would rather wait for facebook/react#11401. Still, you are right, it's not recommended.
cc @mui-org/core-contributors

[oliviertassinari]

Deprecate the "ref" prop entirely

This facebook/react#11401 (comment)! It would even make sense to expose such API on our side.

[oliviertassinari]

@cherniavskii Ok, react-bootstrap maintainers have the same position on the topic facebook/react#11401 (comment). Let's remove those two refs props. The less we have them, the better we anticipate the future. The ref property might just get away.

[oliviertassinari]

@cherniavskii Thank you for raising the concern!

[cherniavskii]

@oliviertassinari so solution is to use findDOMNode for now?

[oliviertassinari]

@cherniavskii Yes, and you can abstract it away with:

class RootNodeWrapper extends React.Component {
  componentDidMount() {
    this.props.rootRef(ReactDOM.findDOMNode(this))
  }
  componentWillUnmount() {
    this.props.rootRef(null)
  }
  render() {
    return <this.props.children />
  }
}

// usage
<RootNodeWrapper rootRef={...}><SomeChildComponent /></RootNodeWrapper>

If you prefer.

[cherniavskii]

@oliviertassinari Thanks!

[mbrookes]

@oliviertassinari Might be worth documenting...

[oliviertassinari]

@mbrookes This is idiomatic React. What do you want to document?

[mbrookes]

Just thinking for users who have been depending on the rootRef prop, it could be a useful reminder. Perhaps in the release notes?

[oliviertassinari]

@mbrookes Yes, the "Breaking changes" section of this pull request description will end up in the release notes 👍 .