Angular doesn't update the view - angularjs

I have worked with angular for long time without facing many problems until now. I have a controller which calls a function when a ng-change event occurs. I have a set of different reports that are generated depending on some select filters defined in the main controller called Principal (PrincipalController).
Most of the controllers work fine and generate what they suppose, however with the last one (AnalisisEvaluacionController) I am struggling.
Its view is loaded correctly in the beginning. I print the name in the view but when I called the method from a ng-change event the name does not change. I also have a ng-repeat over $scope.notas which does not work. Actually that is the real issue. I have read about it and I have tried with
$scope.$apply() and $scope.$digest() but the error
angular.js:14800 Error: [$rootScope:inprog] $apply already in progress is thrown
I have created a snippet with the code https://bitbucket.org/snippets/jorguerra/Ee6G6y
I basically have a ng-repeat over evaluacion.notas which is reloaded when the function generarInforme is call, which call a factory that brings a JSON back which is assigned to $scope.evaluacion in the controller. The problem is that I can iterate or show the data I need to display

You don't need to call $scope.$apply (or $digest) in ng-change handler, as it's handler is already wrapped in $scope.$apply block. If you, however need to call $scope.$apply (or $digest) in some situations (e.g. your ng-change handler does some asynchronous operation after which you need to sync the view model), you can prevent the error this way:
(scope.$$phase || scope.$root.$$phase) ? fn() : scope.$apply(fn);
You can also wrap your fn in $timeout block
$timeout(fn)
which safely applies $scope.$apply.

I could solve my problem by creating a function init inside of AnalisisEvaluacionController which calls the method generarInforme and changing set all the required variables.

Related

Angular $scope.$digest vs $scope.$apply

I just want to know how to use $digest. Inside a controller the following code works fine and it updates the DOM after 3 seconds:
setTimeout(function(){
$scope.$apply(function(){
$scope.name = 'Alice';
});
}, 3000);
However by using
setTimeout(function(){
$scope.$digest(function(){
$scope.name = 'Alice';
});
}, 3000);
nothing happens...
I thought that they do the same thing. Am I wrong?
$apply() and $digest() have some similarities and differences. They are similar in that they both check what's changed and update the UI and fire any watchers.
One difference between the two is how they are called. $digest() gets called without any arguments. $apply() takes a function that it will execute before doing any updates.
The other difference is what they affect. $digest() will update the current scope and any child scopes. $apply() will update every scope. So most of the time $digest() will be what you want and more efficient.
The final difference which explains why $apply() takes a function is how they handle exceptions in watchers. $apply() will pass the exceptions to $exceptionHandler (uses try-catch block internally), while $digest() will require you handle the exceptions yourself.
I think you must go through documents $apply
$apply() is used to execute an expression in angular from outside of
the angular framework
Usually, you don't call $digest() directly in controllers or in
directives. Instead, you should call $apply() (typically from within a
directive), which will force a $digest().
Also as suggest by Jorg, use $timeout
In angularjs $scope object is having different functions like $watch(), $digest() and $apply() and we will call these functions as central functions.
The angularjs central functions $watch(), $digest() and $apply are used to bind data to variables in view and observe changes happening in variables.
Generally in angularjs we use $scope object to bind data to variables and use that variables values wherever we required in application. In angularjs whatever the variables we assigned with $scope object will be added to watch list by using $scope.$watch() function.
In angularjs once variables added to watch list $scope.digest() function will iterates through the watch list variables and check if any changes made for that variables or not. In case if any changes found for that watch list variables immediately corresponding event listener function will call and update respective variable values with new value in view of application.
The $scope.$apply() function in angularjs is used whenever we want to integrate any other code with angularjs. Generally the $scope.$apply() function will execute custom code and then it will call $scope.$digest() function forcefully to check all watch list variables and update variable values in view if any changes found for watch list variables.
In most of the time angularjs will use $scope.watch() and $scope.digest() functions to check and update values based on the changes in variable values.
A better understanding of $watch, $apply, and $digest is provided in this article.
Simply,
$watch that is used to detect changes in the UI
$apply would tell the $digest loop what changes should be applied
$digest loop would run and will ask every $watch for changes, the DOMs would change accordingly for what has what has been applied
You should call $apply only.

angularjs: $apply(fn) better than $apply()

I am reading
http://angular-tips.com/blog/2013/08/watch-how-the-apply-runs-a-digest/
directive link function:
element.bind('click', function() {
scope.foo++;
scope.bar++;
scope.$apply();
});
a better way for using $apply:
element.bind('click', function() {
scope.$apply(function(){
scope.foo++;
scope.bar++;
});
});
What’s the difference? The difference is that in the first version, we are updating the values outside the angular context so if that throws an error, Angular will never know. Obviously in this tiny toy example it won’t make much difference, but imagine that we have an alert box to show errors to our users and we have a 3rd party library that does a network call and it fails. If we don’t wrap it inside an $apply, Angular will never know about the failure and the alert box won’t be there.
Confusion:
Why angular need to know error, i just need to show it for users. for example, there is an ajax request in link fn of directive, I just need to tell what happened if fails.
TAngular $scope has a function called $apply() which takes a function as an argument. AngularJS says that it will know about model mutation only if that mutation is done inside $apply(). So you simply need to put the code that changes models inside a function and call $scope.apply(), passing that function as an argument. After the $apply() function call ends, AngularJS knows that some model changes might have occurred. It then starts a digest cycle by calling another function —- $rootScope.$digest() — which propagates to all child scopes. In the digest cycle watchers are called to check if the model value has changed. if a value has changed, the corresponding listener function then gets called. Now it’s upto the listener how it handles the model changes.
The Ajax call through Angular buildin $http the model mutation code is implicitly wrapped withing $apply() call, so you don’t need any additional steps.

How does AngularJS implement its two-way data binding mechanism?

AngularJS allows you to implement two-way data binding. However, the interesting part is how it detects model changes? The model is usually a plain object like the code below. We can change the name property of $scope.user but how does AngularJS detect the model changed? Does AngularJS enum all the properties of the $scope object?
angular.module('myApp', [])
.controller('BusinessCardController', function($scope){
$scope.user = {
name: 'Tanay Pant'
}
});
<input type="text" ng-model="user.name" placeholder="Full Name" />
There is a digest cycle, where the scope examines all of the $watch expressions and compares them with the previous value. It looks at the object models for changes, if the old value isn't the same as the new value, AngularJS will update the appropriate places, a.k.a dirty checking.
In order for the digest cycle to be execute $apply(fn) has to be run, this is how you enter the Angular world from JavaScript. How does $apply(fn) get called (taken from AngularJs integration with browser):
The browser's event-loop waits for an event to arrive. An event is a user interaction, timer event, or network event (response from a server).
The event's callback gets executed. This enters the JavaScript context. The callback can modify the DOM structure.
Once the callback executes, the browser leaves the JavaScript context and re-renders the view based on DOM changes.
Data Binding
Digest Cycle Explanation
In order to achieve two-way binding, directives register watchers. For a page to be fast and efficient we need to try and reduce all these watchers that we create. So you should be careful when using two-way binding - i.e. only use it when you really needed. Otherwise use one-way:
<h1> {{ ::vm.title }} </h1>
Here it is quite obvious that the title of the page probably won't be changed while the user is on the page - or needs to see the new one if it is changed. So we can use :: to register a one-way binding during the template linking phase.
The main issues I've seen with explosions of watchers are grids with hundreds of rows. If these rows have quite a few columns and in each cell there is two-way data binding, then you're in for a treat. You can sit back and wait like in modem times for the page to load!
Two-way binding is limited almost exclusively to elements that use ng-model. The direction going from view to model uses standard event handlers to detect changes that must be updated within the model (e.g., onchange). The direction going from the model back to the view is updated during a $digest. But we do not call $digest directly.
Every element that is on your page that is going to respond to the digest cycle will, somewhere, attach a listener and an expression to its scope using $watch. When you write {{ foo() }}, or when you use ng-model='user.name', internally there is a call to $watch made on your behalf with a Javascript expression that will be run every time a digest cycle is run. This registration might happen during the compile of the template (our first example), or it might happen during the link phase of a directive (our second).
There is no magic here. The listeners that are attached are regular functions -- in our example, the listener for the expression foo() is provided for you, and it will update the html text on the page, while the listener for the expression user.name will call setText, or setOption, or whatever is required by the particular input which ng-model has been attached.
While angular can handle most of the listening, you can attach your own watch expressions with your own listeners manually inside any function that has access to a scope (scope is important because we will tear down those watchers if the corresponding parts of the page are removed). Be mindful of excess. Bindings aren't free, and the more things that are bound, the slower the page will respond. One-time bindings are one way of reducing this cost. Using $on with $emit and $broadcast are another.
So when is digest called? It is certainly not automatic. If the digest cycle is running, it means someone somewhere called $apply on their scope or on the root scope. ng-model attaches handlers which will respond to regular html events and will make calls to $apply on your behalf. But foo(), on the other hand, will never get called until some other bit of script somewhere calls $apply. Fortunately, most functions that you fill out for angular wrap those functions with a call to $apply, so you don't often have to make the call yourself (e.g., $timeout is wrapped with $apply, which is why we use it instead of setTimeout). But if you were using something outside of the scope of angular (a 3rd party library that connects to events), you would need to remember to call $apply yourself, and just like above, you can do this manually by calling $apply anywhere you have access to a scope.
In order to make Data Binding possible, AngularJS uses $watch API's to observer the changes on the scope. AngularJS registered watchers for each variable on the scope to observe the value in it. If the value of the variable on the scope gets changes, then the view gets updated automatically.
It happens because of the $digest cycle is triggered. Hence, AngularJS processes all the registered watchers on the current scope and the children and check for the updates and call the dedicated watcher listeners until the model is stabilized and no more listeners are fired. Once the $digest loop finishes the execution, the browser re-renders the DOM and reflects the changes
By default, every variable on a scope is observed by the angular. In this way, unnecessary variable are also observed by the angular that is time consuming and as a result page is becoming slow.

$on Not Communicating With $Scope When Used With ng-include

Basically, I am unable to update my controller information when I listen for the $on event if I loaded my html dynamically using ng-include. Plunker example.
If you click once, you'll see the view keeps the original $scope.name. If you click again it will update.
I put a setTimeout on the broadcast to make sure the ng-include was loaded. You can set that to as long as you want, and will never be able to update the $scope on the first try (at least in my example).
Thoughts?
EDIT:
I'm using <ng-include="template"></ng-template>
As an area I can load alternate content in. If there is a better way to do this, please let me know.
setTimeout() is a function out of the control of AngularJS, so AngularJS will not automatically run a digest after the callback runs. That means, your $rootScope.$broadcast() was run, but AngularJS didn't realize that. The next time when you use $rootScope.template = '....';, a digest runs, and the view was updated to the previous run's model.
To solve the problem, you will need to manually call $scope.$apply() at the end of your setTimeout() callback, or use the Angular-wrapped version of setTimeout(), which is $timeout(), that will automatically run a digest afterwards.
Please refer to the docs for more details about digest/apply:
It works for me if you use $timeout instead of setTimeout. Which you should be using for angular applications.
$timeout(function(){
$rootScope.$broadcast('BROADCAST', param);
}, 1000);
There is definitely something wrong with your design if you are trying to do something like this though. Perhaps someone could suggest an alternate solution if you better explained what you are trying to achieve. As you cannot possibly know how long the timeout should be.
A few things:
1) First, do not define the $scope.template in the broadcast function. The ngInclude will not have a file to display until that value is set; so from it makes sense--in my mind--that the template would not be able to make changes before it and the controller are loaded.
2) You never actually apply Controller C2 to the ngInclude. You can do that like:
<ng-include src="template" ng-controller="c2"></ng-include>
Once I do these two things, the code works and updates the first time without the use of the setTimeout() at all.
Plunker

When will AngularJS trigger dirty-checks?

I've read this Q/A about databinding and $apply -> $digest in AngularJS :
How does data binding work in AngularJS?
While I understand the principle and the consequences, I'm still unsure about when AngulaJS is going to call $digest to do the dirty-checks. (And so, when should I consider to do something about the $watcher)
Every example I found was about using 'ng-click', 'ng-show', or 'ng-class'. But I'm pretty sure that it is also triggered by any change on variables of the scope ({{myData}}), and by many others directives (All of them maybe ?).
I would like to understand in which cases a $digest is called.
Can you give me any generic rule to knwo when it is called, or an exhaustive list of actions that will trigger a dirty-check ?
Have a look at this:
angularjs docs, specifically at "Integration with the browser event loop" section.
Basically the way it works is that AngularJS binds event handlers to any element that interacts with angular (any element that has a directive attached to it) and every time that event fires, $apply is called which internally calls $digest which will trigger the reevaluation of all the $watches which will check for values changed, etc...

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