The ReactOwner problem for sub-module development

The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the ReactOwner problem for sub-module development in isolation, and to attempt to find a workable solution to said problem.

What's the problem?

You have an app and a number of sub-modules, which you want to work on in parallel, each of which depend on React and ReactDOM. All sub-modules are dependencies of App, and in the case of Module B, is also a dependency of Module C.

Dependency Tree:

app/
├── module-a
├── module-b
├── module-c
│   ├── module-b

When using refs in React, all refs must be for the same instance of React. Otherwise you'll end up with the following exception being thrown causing your app to crash and burn 🔥:

Uncaught Error: addComponentAsRefTo(...): Only a ReactOwner can have refs.
You might be adding a ref to a component that was not created inside a component's `render` method,
or you have multiple copies of React loaded (details: https://fb.me/react-refs-must-have-owner).

This is being demonstrated by Module B having a ref.

Getting Started

The master branch represents the problem, and the solution/ branches represent proposed solutions to the problem.

Installation

A handy installation script has been provided to get you up and running. The setup.sh script will do the following:

Install npm dependencies in app and all sub-modules.
Create global npm links for all sub-modules.
npm link all sub-modules into app, and link module-b into module-c.
Run a production build for all sub-modules.

Once You have cloned the project simply run:

cd /path/to/react-owner-refs-issue-demo
./setup.sh

If the script does not have the correct permissions to be executed, run the following and then try again:

chmod +x setup.sh

Running the app (dev)

cd /path/to/react-owner-refs-issue-demo/app
npm start

Navigate to http://localhost:8080/ in your browser.

Running the sub-modules (dev)

Module A

cd /path/to/react-owner-refs-issue-demo/module-a
npm start

Navigate to http://localhost:8081/ in your browser.

Module B

cd /path/to/react-owner-refs-issue-demo/module-b
npm start

Navigate to http://localhost:8082/ in your browser.

Module C

cd /path/to/react-owner-refs-issue-demo/module-c
npm start

Navigate to http://localhost:8083/ in your browser.

Building

In any of the sub-directories run npm run build to build a production bundle of that thing. For example:

cd /path/to/react-owner-refs-issue-demo/module-a
npm run build

Solutions

The solutions to this problem can be found on isolated solution branches (prefixed with solution/). See the Solutions document for branch details and a detailed explanation to each solution.

matt-d-rat/react-owner-refs-issue-demo