Using the 'ref' option in ExtJS 3.x

As with so many things in ExtJS, the ‘ref’ option introduced in 3.0 is not very well documented, at least as far as I can tell. Which is unfortunate, because it’s extremely useful, and drastically reduces the need for ids. Here’s an example of how to use it:

Ext.onReady(function() {
            Ext.BLANK_IMAGE_URL = 'ext/resources/images/default/s.gif';
            Ext.QuickTips.init();


            // Define a simple component

            MyComponent = Ext.extend(Ext.form.FormPanel, {
                        frame: true,

                        initComponent: function() {
                            var config = {
                                items: [{
                                            xtype: 'textfield',
                                            fieldLabel: 'Name'
                                        }, {
                                            xtype: 'textfield',
                                            fieldLabel: 'Address'
                                        }],
                                bbar: ['->', {
                                            text: 'Cancel',
                                            minWidth: 100,
                                            ref: '../cancelButton' 
                                        }, {
                                            text: 'Save',
                                            minWidth: 100,
                                            ref: '../saveButton' 
                                        }]
                            };

                            Ext.apply(this, Ext.apply(this.initialConfig, config));
                            MyComponent.superclass.initComponent.apply(this, arguments);

                        }
                    });
            Ext.reg('my_component_xtype', MyComponent);


            // Create a display a window with the panel in it...

            var w = new Ext.Window({
                        modal: true,
                        items: {
                            xtype: 'my_component_xtype',
                            title: 'Panel 1',
                            ref: 'theFormPanel'
                        }
                    });
            w.show();


            // See how we can use the references...

            w.theFormPanel.saveButton.on('click', function() {
                        console.log('Save was clicked');
                    }, this);

            console.log(w.theFormPanel.title);
        });