If you need to handle DOM events not already provided by React you have to add DOM listeners after the component is mounted:
Update: Between React 13, 14, and 15 changes were made to the API that affect my answer. Below is the latest way using React 15 and ES7. See answer history for older versions.
class MovieItem extends React.Component {
componentDidMount() {
// When the component is mounted, add your DOM listener to the "nv" elem.
// (The "nv" elem is assigned in the render function.)
this.nv.addEventListener("nv-enter", this.handleNvEnter);
}
componentWillUnmount() {
// Make sure to remove the DOM listener when the component is unmounted.
this.nv.removeEventListener("nv-enter", this.handleNvEnter);
}
// Use a class arrow function (ES7) for the handler. In ES6 you could bind()
// a handler in the constructor.
handleNvEnter = (event) => {
console.log("Nv Enter:", event);
}
render() {
// Here we render a single <div> and toggle the "aria-nv-el-current" attribute
// using the attribute spread operator. This way only a single <div>
// is ever mounted and we don't have to worry about adding/removing
// a DOM listener every time the current index changes. The attrs
// are "spread" onto the <div> in the render function: {...attrs}
const attrs = this.props.index === 0 ? {"aria-nv-el-current": true} : {};
// Finally, render the div using a "ref" callback which assigns the mounted
// elem to a class property "nv" used to add the DOM listener to.
return (
<div ref={elem => this.nv = elem} aria-nv-el {...attrs} className="menu_item nv-default">
...
</div>
);
}
}