First, `$childRef.setData()` appears to be the conceptual equivalent in React of `childClassComponentInstance.setState({someField})`. While that's technically possible, it's _extremely_ non-idiomatic in React and completely discouraged.
Second, "forwarding refs" is a feature specifically designed to allow a component to apply a ref to something _inside_ of itself. For example, the React-Redux `connect` API uses ref forwarding to allow `<ConnectedComponent ref={instanceRef}>` to hand back the inner wrapped component, not the outer wrapper component from the library. It doesn't have anything to do with calling a state setting function on a component in and of itself.
First, `$childRef.setData()` appears to be the conceptual equivalent in React of `childClassComponentInstance.setState({someField})`. While that's technically possible, it's _extremely_ non-idiomatic in React and completely discouraged.
Second, "forwarding refs" is a feature specifically designed to allow a component to apply a ref to something _inside_ of itself. For example, the React-Redux `connect` API uses ref forwarding to allow `<ConnectedComponent ref={instanceRef}>` to hand back the inner wrapped component, not the outer wrapper component from the library. It doesn't have anything to do with calling a state setting function on a component in and of itself.