I'm consuming dynamically generated HTML from an API which may contain hyperlinks, and I'm wanting to replace the hrefs within them with ngClicks. The following directive appears to modify the HTML as intended when I check it in a DOM inspector, but clicking it does nothing. What am I doing wrong?
app.directive('replaceLinks', ['$compile', function ($compile) {
return {
restrict: 'A',
link: function (scope, element, attrs) {
scope.$watch(function(scope) {
return scope.$eval(attrs.replaceLinks);
}, function(value) {
element.html(value);
angular.forEach(element.contents().find("a"), function(link) {
link.removeAttribute("href");
link.removeAttribute("target");
link.setAttribute("ng-click", "alert('test')");
});
$compile(element.contents())(scope);
});
}
};
}]);
Instead of removing the href please set it to blank (this will preserve the link css), also the ng-click calling the alert can be done by calling the alert('test') inside of a scope method, why the alert didn't fire, is explained in this SO Answer, please refer the below sample code!
// <body ng-app='myApp' binds to the app being created below.
var app = angular.module('myApp', []);
app.directive('replaceLinks', ['$compile', function($compile) {
return {
restrict: 'A',
link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
angular.forEach(element.find("a"), function(link) {
link.setAttribute("href", "");
link.removeAttribute("target");
link.setAttribute("ng-click", "scopeAlert('test')");
});
$compile(element.contents())(scope);
}
};
}]);
// Register MyController object to this app
app.controller('MyController', ['$scope', MyController]);
// We define a simple controller constructor.
function MyController($scope) {
// On controller load, assign 'World' to the "name" model
// in <input type="text" ng-model="name"></input>
$scope.name = 'World';
$scope.scopeAlert = function(name) {
window.alert(name);
}
}
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.2.23/angular.min.js"></script>
<div ng-controller='MyController' ng-app="myApp">
<div replace-links>
test 1
test 2
test 3
</div>
</div>
TL;DR I solved my problem. Here is plunker with 3 different solutions:
http://plnkr.co/edit/E0ErKs?p=preview
I don`t like slider1 because it stores value in $scope ( {{sliderValue}} ) and according to recommendation from Angular Style Guide we should avoid that.
I don`t like slider2 because it assumes that controler have alias vm in a view (so we create some kind of coupling between view and directive).
Solution 3 looks OK for me. Am I missing something?
How would you write differently this directive to be in complience with Angular philosophy?
INITIAL QUESTION:
I am learning angular and not everything is clear to me yet.
I found this question:
How to use jQuery in AngularJS
So I created working example:
Directive:
(function() {
'use strict';
angular.module('demoApp').directive('slider', function () {
return {
restrict: 'A',
controller: function ($scope, $element, $attrs) {
$scope.onSlide = function (e, ui) {
$scope.sliderValue = ui.value;
$scope.$digest();
};
},
link: function (scope, el, attrs) {
var options = {
value: scope.sliderValue,
slide: scope.onSlide
};
// set up slider on load
angular.element(document).ready(function () {
scope.$slider = $(el).slider(options);
});
}
}
});
})();
Controller:
(function() {
'use strict';
angular.module('demoApp').controller('DemoAppTestCtrl', DemoAppTestCtrl);
DemoAppTestCtrl.$inject = [ '$scope' ];
function DemoAppTestCtrl($scope) {
$scope.sliderValue = 10;
}
})();
And Html page:
<div ng-controller="DemoAppTestCtrl as vm">
Value: {{sliderValue}}
<div slider></div>
</div>
Everything works fine. Angular put slider in place of <div slider> and I can move it and I see changing values in {{sliderValue}}.
Then I found this Angular Style Guide
https://github.com/johnpapa/angular-styleguide
In chapter about controllers they recommend to use controllerAs with vm syntax (because $scope is bad or something).
Ex:
function CustomerController() {
var vm = this;
vm.name = {};
vm.sendMessage = function() { };
}
So I changed my controller to this:
(function() {
'use strict';
angular.module('demoApp').controller('DemoAppTestCtrl', DemoAppTestCtrl);
DemoAppTestCtrl.$inject = [ ];
function DemoAppTestCtrl($scope) {
var vm = this;
vm.sliderValue = 10;
}
})();
And Html page to:
<div ng-controller="DemoAppTestCtrl as vm">
Value: {{vm.sliderValue}}
<div slider></div>
</div>
But i don`t know how to fix my directive.
I want the same functionality, when i move the slider i want to set vm.sliderValue inside controler instead $scope.sliderValue inside scope.
EDIT1:
I was able to make it work by adding $scope.vm inside controller and link functions (because my controller sits in scope as vm). But I am not sure if this is right way to do it, because now my directive assume that there is controller in scope under $scope.vm alias.
Is this bad design or normal way of doing things in Angular ?
(function () {
'use strict';
angular
.module('demoApp')
.directive('slider', slider);
slider.$inject = [ ];
function slider() {
return {
restrict: 'A',
controller: function ($scope, $element, $attrs) {
$scope.vm.onSlide = function (e, ui) {
$scope.vm.sliderValue = ui.value;
$scope.$digest();
};
},
link: function (scope, el, attrs) {
var options = {
value: scope.vm.sliderValue,
slide: scope.vm.onSlide
};
// set up slider on load
angular.element(document).ready(function () {
scope.$slider = $(el).slider(options);
});
}
}
}
})();
EDIT2:
I was able to create working Plunker with 3 different versions:
http://plnkr.co/edit/E0ErKs?p=preview
Use scope: false as a option in the directive.
http://www.undefinednull.com/2014/02/11/mastering-the-scope-of-a-directive-in-angularjs/
try something like this:
angular.module('myApp', []);
angular.module('myApp').controller('DemoAppTestCtrl', DemoAppTestCtrl);
function DemoAppTestCtrl() {
var vm = this;
vm.sliderValue = 10;
}
angular.module('myApp').directive('slider', sliderDirective );
function sliderDirective() {
return {
restrict: 'A',
controller: sliderController,
controllerAs: 'sliderCtrl',
template: "<p>{{sliderCtrl.test}}</p>"
}
}
function sliderController() {
var vm = this;
vm.test = "hello";
}
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.2.23/angular.min.js"></script>
<div ng-app="myApp">
<div ng-controller="DemoAppTestCtrl as vm">
Value: {{vm.sliderValue}}
<div slider></div>
</div>
</div>
I try to connect the controller with the directive in Angular.
Here html
<div ng-controller="MyCtrl">
<div id='bbb' my-num>Click Me!</div>
</div>
I use the MyCtrl controller where I define tegid and mytitle.
MainControl.controller('MyCtrl', ['$scope',
function($scope) {
$scope.tegid = '';
$scope.mytitle = 'aaa' + tegid;
}]);
Also I have the directive myNum in which when hover at I receive 'id' and I change its contents
MainDirectives.directive('myNum', function () {
return {
link: function ($scope, element, attrs) {
element.bind('mouseenter', function () {
tegid = element.attr('id');
element.html(mytitle);
});
}
};
});
Problem in that I can't connect the directive and the controller.
Prompt, please, how to transfer tegid to the MyCtrl controller?
Why it is impossible to transfer mytitle to the directive myNum?
You need to pass tegid and mytitle from the controller socpe to the directive scope, by doing as following:
Using isolated scope
Directive:
directive('myNum', function () {
return {
scope: {
id: '=',
title: '='
},
link: function ($scope, element, attrs) {
element.bind('mouseenter', function () {
// scope.id and scope.title are shared with parent scope via HTML bindings
tegid = scope.id;
element.html(scope.title);
});
}
};
Html:
<div id='tegid' title="nytitle" my-num>Click Me!</div>
This will create an isolate scope for your directive and is cleaner. However if you don't intend to reuse the directive elsewhere, you can just rely on scope inheritance, which means you'll have access to the parent scope properties:
Using scope inheritance
Directive:
directive('myNum', function () {
return {
link: function ($scope, element, attrs) {
element.bind('mouseenter', function () {
// scope.teif and scope.mytitle come from the parent scope
tegid = scope.teid;
element.html(scope.mytitle);
});
}
};
Html:
<div my-num>Click Me!</div>
Reference the $scope that is passed thru the link function:
link: function ($scope, element, attrs) {
element.bind('mouseenter', function () {
$scope.tegid = element.attr('id');
element.html($scope.mytitle);
});
}
I want to compile a third-party api (uploadcare) to a directive.
The api will return the data info after uploaded in async then I want to do something with the return data in my controller but I have to idea how to pass the return data from directive to controller. Below is my code.
in js
link: function (scope, element, attrs) {
//var fileEl = document.getElementById('testing');
var a = function() {
var file = uploadcare.fileFrom('event', {target: fileEl});
file.done(function(fileInfo) {
//scope.$apply(attrs.directUpload)
//HERE IS MY PROBLEM.
//How can I get the fileInfo then pass and run it at attrs.directUpload
}).fail(function(error, fileInfo) {
}).progress(function(uploadInfo) {
//Show progress bar then update to node
console.log(uploadInfo);
});
};
element.bind('change', function() {a()});
}
in html
<input type="file" direct-upload="doSomething()">
in controller
$scope.doSomething = function() {alert(fileInfo)};
AngularJS allows to execute expression in $parent context with specified values, in your case doSomething().
Here's what you need to do that:
In directive definition, mark directUpload as expression:
scope: {
directUpload: "&"
}
In done callback, call:
scope.directUpload({fileInfo: fileInfo})
Update markup:
<input type="file" direct-upload="doSomething(fileInfo)">
To summorize: scope.directUpload is now a callback, which executes expression inside attribute with specifeid values. This way you can pass anything into controller's doSomething.
Read $compile docs for detailed explanation and examples.
Example you might find useful:
angular
.module("app", [])
.directive("onDone", function ($timeout) {
function link (scope, el, attr) {
$timeout(function () {
scope.onDone({
value: "something"
});
}, 3000)
}
return {
link: link,
scope: {
onDone: "&"
}
}
})
.controller("ctrl", function ($scope) {
$scope.doneValue = "nothing";
$scope.done = function (value) {
$scope.doneValue = value;
};
})
<body ng-controller="ctrl">
Waiting 3000ms
<br>
<div on-done="done(value)">
Done: {{doneValue}}
</div>
</body>
You can pass through an object to the scope of the directive using = within the directive to do two way data binding. This way you can make updates to the data within the directive on the object and it will be reflected in it's original location in the controller. In the controller you can then use $scope.watch to see when the data is changed by the directive.
Something like
http://plnkr.co/edit/gQeGzkedu5kObsmFISoH
// Code goes here
angular.module("myApp",[]).controller("MyCtrl", function($scope){
$scope.something = {value:"some string"}
}).directive("simpleDirective", function(){
return {
restrict:"E",
scope:{someData:"="},
template:"<button ng-click='changeData()'>this is something different</button>",
link: function(scope, iElem, iAttrs){
scope.changeData=function(){
scope.someData.value = "something else";
}
}
}
});
I have a directive, here is the code :
.directive('map', function() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
template: '<div></div>',
link: function($scope, element, attrs) {
var center = new google.maps.LatLng(50.1, 14.4);
$scope.map_options = {
zoom: 14,
center: center,
mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
};
// create map
var map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById(attrs.id), $scope.map_options);
var dirService= new google.maps.DirectionsService();
var dirRenderer= new google.maps.DirectionsRenderer()
var showDirections = function(dirResult, dirStatus) {
if (dirStatus != google.maps.DirectionsStatus.OK) {
alert('Directions failed: ' + dirStatus);
return;
}
// Show directions
dirRenderer.setMap(map);
//$scope.dirRenderer.setPanel(Demo.dirContainer);
dirRenderer.setDirections(dirResult);
};
// Watch
var updateMap = function(){
dirService.route($scope.dirRequest, showDirections);
};
$scope.$watch('dirRequest.origin', updateMap);
google.maps.event.addListener(map, 'zoom_changed', function() {
$scope.map_options.zoom = map.getZoom();
});
dirService.route($scope.dirRequest, showDirections);
}
}
})
I would like to call updateMap() on a user action. The action button is not on the directive.
What is the best way to call updateMap() from a controller?
If you want to use isolated scopes you can pass a control object using bi-directional binding = of a variable from the controller scope. You can also control also several instances of the same directive on a page with the same control object.
angular.module('directiveControlDemo', [])
.controller('MainCtrl', function($scope) {
$scope.focusinControl = {};
})
.directive('focusin', function factory() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
template: '<div>A:{{internalControl}}</div>',
scope: {
control: '='
},
link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
scope.internalControl = scope.control || {};
scope.internalControl.takenTablets = 0;
scope.internalControl.takeTablet = function() {
scope.internalControl.takenTablets += 1;
}
}
};
});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.2.23/angular.min.js"></script>
<div ng-app="directiveControlDemo">
<div ng-controller="MainCtrl">
<button ng-click="focusinControl.takeTablet()">Call directive function</button>
<p>
<b>In controller scope:</b>
{{focusinControl}}
</p>
<p>
<b>In directive scope:</b>
<focusin control="focusinControl"></focusin>
</p>
<p>
<b>Without control object:</b>
<focusin></focusin>
</p>
</div>
</div>
Assuming that the action button uses the same controller $scope as the directive, just define function updateMap on $scope inside the link function. Your controller can then call that function when the action button is clicked.
<div ng-controller="MyCtrl">
<map></map>
<button ng-click="updateMap()">call updateMap()</button>
</div>
app.directive('map', function() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
template: '<div></div>',
link: function($scope, element, attrs) {
$scope.updateMap = function() {
alert('inside updateMap()');
}
}
}
});
fiddle
As per #FlorianF's comment, if the directive uses an isolated scope, things are more complicated. Here's one way to make it work: add a set-fn attribute to the map directive which will register the directive function with the controller:
<map set-fn="setDirectiveFn(theDirFn)"></map>
<button ng-click="directiveFn()">call directive function</button>
scope: { setFn: '&' },
link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
scope.updateMap = function() {
alert('inside updateMap()');
}
scope.setFn({theDirFn: scope.updateMap});
}
function MyCtrl($scope) {
$scope.setDirectiveFn = function(directiveFn) {
$scope.directiveFn = directiveFn;
};
}
fiddle
Although it might be tempting to expose an object on the isolated scope of a directive to facilitate communicating with it, doing can lead to confusing "spaghetti" code, especially if you need to chain this communication through a couple levels (controller, to directive, to nested directive, etc.)
We originally went down this path but after some more research found that it made more sense and resulted in both more maintainable and readable code to expose events and properties that a directive will use for communication via a service then using $watch on that service's properties in the directive or any other controls that would need to react to those changes for communication.
This abstraction works very nicely with AngularJS's dependency injection framework as you can inject the service into any items that need to react to those events. If you look at the Angular.js file, you'll see that the directives in there also use services and $watch in this manner, they don't expose events over the isolated scope.
Lastly, in the case that you need to communicate between directives that are dependent on one another, I would recommend sharing a controller between those directives as the means of communication.
AngularJS's Wiki for Best Practices also mentions this:
Only use .$broadcast(), .$emit() and .$on() for atomic events
Events that are relevant globally across the entire app (such as a user authenticating or the app closing). If you want events specific to modules, services or widgets you should consider Services, Directive Controllers, or 3rd Party Libs
$scope.$watch() should replace the need for events
Injecting services and calling methods directly is also useful for direct communication
Directives are able to directly communicate with each other through directive-controllers
Building on Oliver's answer - you might not always need to access a directive's inner methods, and in those cases you probably don't want to have to create a blank object and add a control attr to the directive just to prevent it from throwing an error (cannot set property 'takeTablet' of undefined).
You also might want to use the method in other places within the directive.
I would add a check to make sure scope.control exists, and set methods to it in a similar fashion to the revealing module pattern
app.directive('focusin', function factory() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
template: '<div>A:{{control}}</div>',
scope: {
control: '='
},
link : function (scope, element, attrs) {
var takenTablets = 0;
var takeTablet = function() {
takenTablets += 1;
}
if (scope.control) {
scope.control = {
takeTablet: takeTablet
};
}
}
};
});
To be honest, I was not really convinced with any of the answers in this thread. So, here's are my solutions:
Directive Handler(Manager) Approach
This method is agnostic to whether the directive's $scope is a shared one or isolated one
A factory to register the directive instances
angular.module('myModule').factory('MyDirectiveHandler', function() {
var instance_map = {};
var service = {
registerDirective: registerDirective,
getDirective: getDirective,
deregisterDirective: deregisterDirective
};
return service;
function registerDirective(name, ctrl) {
instance_map[name] = ctrl;
}
function getDirective(name) {
return instance_map[name];
}
function deregisterDirective(name) {
instance_map[name] = null;
}
});
The directive code, I usually put all the logic that doesn't deal with DOM inside directive controller. And registering the controller instance inside our handler
angular.module('myModule').directive('myDirective', function(MyDirectiveHandler) {
var directive = {
link: link,
controller: controller
};
return directive;
function link() {
//link fn code
}
function controller($scope, $attrs) {
var name = $attrs.name;
this.updateMap = function() {
//some code
};
MyDirectiveHandler.registerDirective(name, this);
$scope.$on('destroy', function() {
MyDirectiveHandler.deregisterDirective(name);
});
}
})
template code
<div my-directive name="foo"></div>
Access the controller instance using the factory & run the publicly exposed methods
angular.module('myModule').controller('MyController', function(MyDirectiveHandler, $scope) {
$scope.someFn = function() {
MyDirectiveHandler.get('foo').updateMap();
};
});
Angular's approach
Taking a leaf out of angular's book on how they deal with
<form name="my_form"></form>
using $parse and registering controller on $parent scope. This technique doesn't work on isolated $scope directives.
angular.module('myModule').directive('myDirective', function($parse) {
var directive = {
link: link,
controller: controller,
scope: true
};
return directive;
function link() {
//link fn code
}
function controller($scope, $attrs) {
$parse($attrs.name).assign($scope.$parent, this);
this.updateMap = function() {
//some code
};
}
})
Access it inside controller using $scope.foo
angular.module('myModule').controller('MyController', function($scope) {
$scope.someFn = function() {
$scope.foo.updateMap();
};
});
A bit late, but this is a solution with the isolated scope and "events" to call a function in the directive. This solution is inspired by this SO post by satchmorun and adds a module and an API.
//Create module
var MapModule = angular.module('MapModule', []);
//Load dependency dynamically
angular.module('app').requires.push('MapModule');
Create an API to communicate with the directive. The addUpdateEvent adds an event to the event array and updateMap calls every event function.
MapModule.factory('MapApi', function () {
return {
events: [],
addUpdateEvent: function (func) {
this.events.push(func);
},
updateMap: function () {
this.events.forEach(function (func) {
func.call();
});
}
}
});
(Maybe you have to add functionality to remove event.)
In the directive set a reference to the MapAPI and add $scope.updateMap as an event when MapApi.updateMap is called.
app.directive('map', function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: {},
templateUrl: '....',
controller: function ($scope, $http, $attrs, MapApi) {
$scope.api = MapApi;
$scope.updateMap = function () {
//Update the map
};
//Add event
$scope.api.addUpdateEvent($scope.updateMap);
}
}
});
In the "main" controller add a reference to the MapApi and just call MapApi.updateMap() to update the map.
app.controller('mainController', function ($scope, MapApi) {
$scope.updateMapButtonClick = function() {
MapApi.updateMap();
};
}
You can specify a DOM attribute that can be used to allow the directive to define a function on the parent scope. The parent scope can then call this method like any other. Here's a plunker. And below is the relevant code.
clearfn is an attribute on the directive element into which the parent scope can pass a scope property which the directive can then set to a function that accomplish's the desired behavior.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html ng-app="myapp">
<head>
<script data-require="angular.js#*" data-semver="1.3.0-beta.5" src="https://code.angularjs.org/1.3.0-beta.5/angular.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" />
<style>
my-box{
display:block;
border:solid 1px #aaa;
min-width:50px;
min-height:50px;
padding:.5em;
margin:1em;
outline:0px;
box-shadow:inset 0px 0px .4em #aaa;
}
</style>
</head>
<body ng-controller="mycontroller">
<h1>Call method on directive</h1>
<button ng-click="clear()">Clear</button>
<my-box clearfn="clear" contentEditable=true></my-box>
<script>
var app = angular.module('myapp', []);
app.controller('mycontroller', function($scope){
});
app.directive('myBox', function(){
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: {
clearFn: '=clearfn'
},
template: '',
link: function(scope, element, attrs){
element.html('Hello World!');
scope.clearFn = function(){
element.html('');
};
}
}
});
</script>
</body>
</html>
Just use scope.$parent to associate function called to directive function
angular.module('myApp', [])
.controller('MyCtrl',['$scope',function($scope) {
}])
.directive('mydirective',function(){
function link(scope, el, attr){
//use scope.$parent to associate the function called to directive function
scope.$parent.myfunction = function directivefunction(parameter){
//do something
}
}
return {
link: link,
restrict: 'E'
};
});
in HTML
<div ng-controller="MyCtrl">
<mydirective></mydirective>
<button ng-click="myfunction(parameter)">call()</button>
</div>
You can tell the method name to directive to define which you want to call from controller but without isolate scope,
angular.module("app", [])
.directive("palyer", [
function() {
return {
restrict: "A",
template:'<div class="player"><span ng-bind="text"></span></div>',
link: function($scope, element, attr) {
if (attr.toPlay) {
$scope[attr.toPlay] = function(name) {
$scope.text = name + " playing...";
}
}
}
};
}
])
.controller("playerController", ["$scope",
function($scope) {
$scope.clickPlay = function() {
$scope.play('AR Song');
};
}
]);
.player{
border:1px solid;
padding: 10px;
}
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.2.23/angular.min.js"></script>
<div ng-app="app">
<div ng-controller="playerController">
<p>Click play button to play
<p>
<p palyer="" to-play="play"></p>
<button ng-click="clickPlay()">Play</button>
</div>
</div>
TESTED
Hope this helps someone.
My simple approach (Think tags as your original code)
<html>
<div ng-click="myfuncion">
<my-dir callfunction="myfunction">
</html>
<directive "my-dir">
callfunction:"=callfunction"
link : function(scope,element,attr) {
scope.callfunction = function() {
/// your code
}
}
</directive>
Maybe this is not the best choice, but you can do angular.element("#element").isolateScope() or $("#element").isolateScope() to access the scope and/or the controller of your directive.
How to get a directive's controller in a page controller:
write a custom directive to get the reference to the directive controller from the DOM element:
angular.module('myApp')
.directive('controller', controller);
controller.$inject = ['$parse'];
function controller($parse) {
var directive = {
restrict: 'A',
link: linkFunction
};
return directive;
function linkFunction(scope, el, attrs) {
var directiveName = attrs.$normalize(el.prop("tagName").toLowerCase());
var directiveController = el.controller(directiveName);
var model = $parse(attrs.controller);
model.assign(scope, directiveController);
}
}
use it in the page controller's html:
<my-directive controller="vm.myDirectiveController"></my-directive>
Use the directive controller in the page controller:
vm.myDirectiveController.callSomeMethod();
Note: the given solution works only for element directives' controllers (tag name is used to get the name of the wanted directive).
Below solution will be useful when, you are having controllers (both parent and directive (isolated)) in 'controller As' format
someone might find this useful,
directive :
var directive = {
link: link,
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
scope: {
clearFilters: '='
},
templateUrl: "/temp.html",
bindToController: true,
controller: ProjectCustomAttributesController,
controllerAs: 'vmd'
};
return directive;
function link(scope, element, attrs) {
scope.vmd.clearFilters = scope.vmd.SetFitlersToDefaultValue;
}
}
directive Controller :
function DirectiveController($location, dbConnection, uiUtility) {
vmd.SetFitlersToDefaultValue = SetFitlersToDefaultValue;
function SetFitlersToDefaultValue() {
//your logic
}
}
html code :
<Test-directive clear-filters="vm.ClearFilters"></Test-directive>
<a class="pull-right" style="cursor: pointer" ng-click="vm.ClearFilters()"><u>Clear</u></a>
//this button is from parent controller which will call directive controller function