ui-router - How to load url without $stateParams on refresh? - angularjs

Question

My oversimplified app.config() has:
$stateProvider.
state("/", {
url: "/",
templateUrl: "main.html"
}).
state("/newCategories", {
url: "/categories/new",
templateUrl: "/views/new_categories.html",
controller: "newCategoriesCtrl"
}).
state("/categoryPages", {
url: "/categories/:address",
templateUrl: "/views/categories.html",
controller: "categoriesCtrl",
resolve: {
categoriesDataResolve: function resolveTemplate($stateParams, DataResolver) {
return DataResolver.resolveTemplates($stateParams.address);
}
}
});
With this I can use ui-serf link with "/newCategories" to load its url: "/categories/new"
<a ui-sref="/newCategories">New Category</a>
However, when I refresh, it thinks that "/new" is part of $stateParams. Therefore it uses a different controller and tries to resolve its template (which is missing, so it gives an error).
For now I fixed it by changing the url from "/categories/new" to "/categories-new" so it won't get confused on refresh. But how do I solve this issue differently? (Maybe ui-router has a some way of dealing with it)

Answer 1

If I understand you right, you want to call different controller a.e. newCategoriesCtrl when user calls /categories/:address where address param is new
Changing /categories/new to "/categories-new is a right way to solve it.
Small tip: its not good practice to use / as prefix for state name. It confuses the developer and can be mixed with original URL.
$stateProvider.
//...
state("newCategories", {
url: "/categories-new",
templateUrl: "/views/new_categories.html",
controller: "newCategoriesCtrl"
}).
state("categoryPages", {
url: "/categories/:address",
templateUrl: "/views/categories.html",
controller: "categoriesCtrl",
resolve: {
//...
}
});