Different ways to initialize AngularJS Controllers? [duplicate] - angularjs

I see the following angularjs controller syntax structure all the time.
angular.module('7minWorkout').controller('WorkoutController',
['$scope', '$interval', '$location',
function ($scope, $interval, $location)
{
}]);
Why the repetition in the parameter names? Why not just like this
angular.module('7minWorkout').controller('WorkoutController',
['$scope', '$interval', '$location',
function ()
{
}]);
or
angular.module('7minWorkout').controller('WorkoutController',
[
function ($scope, $interval, $location)
{
}]);

The array syntax will help you with minification/uglify of your js code.
angular.module('7minWorkout').controller('WorkoutController',
function ($scope, $interval, $location) {
// code here
});
Will be minified and mangled as:
angular.module('7minWorkout').controller('WorkoutController',
function (a, b, c) {
// code here
});
So Angular won't be able to figure out which dependencies to inject
On the other hand, using the array declaration:
angular.module('7minWorkout').controller('WorkoutController',
['$scope', '$interval', '$location', function ($scope, $interval, $location) {
// code here
}]);
Will be minified as :
angular.module('7minWorkout').controller('WorkoutController',
['$scope', '$interval', '$location', function (a, b, c) {
// code here
}]);
So Angular will know what a, b and c represent.
There's also another way to inject variables if you use your first example code like below:
WorkoutController.$inject = ['$scope', '$interval', '$location'];
or
angular.module('7minWorkout').controller('WorkoutController', /* #ngInject */
function ($scope, $interval, $location) {
// code here
});
which will create the $inject method mentioned above when the code is annotated.
So, there are mainly four kinds of annotation:
Implicit Annotation - the first example code
Inline Array Annotation - the second example code
$inject Property Annotation - the $inject method
$ngInject Comment Annotation - the #ngInject method
ng-annotate
Tools like ng-annotate let you use implicit dependency annotations in your app and automatically add inline array annotations prior to minifying. If you decide to take this approach, you probably want to use ng-strict-di.
For more information, see AngularJS Developer Guide - Using Strict Dependency Injection.

This "repetion" is to make it safe for minification:
AngularJS - Controllers, Dependencies, and Minification

or you can use following syntax, according to popular angular-styleguide https://github.com/johnpapa/angular-styleguide
angular.module('7minWorkout')
.controller('WorkoutController', WorkoutController);
WorkoutController.$inject = ['$scope', '$interval', '$location'];
function WorkoutController($scope, $interval, $location) {
}

You could write the first version since it just omits the parameters of the function which are also accesible via arguments inside the function. So you would avoid the repition but slicing the arguments property is also not really efficient (compared to just type out the parameters).
As the others answers stated the repition is to make it safe for minification.

The first controller syntax makes it possible to minify/uglify the javascript code with the use of tools like ngmin. I'm not quite sure if the 2nd and 3rd options you have provided are viable options to create a controller, but in any case they will not be minified correctly since the tools will not now what the providers are. I would either suggest to use option 1 or option 3 (without the brackets) to create a controller. Note that option 3 will not be minified correctly by automated tools.
Some Useful information about creating controllers:
AngularJS Developer Guide - Controllers
option3 without brackets
angular.module('7minWorkout').controller('WorkoutController', function ($scope, $interval, $location)
{
//Your Code
});

Related

Using textangular functions in angular controller?

I am new to angular and am trying to alter the default behavior of a textangular text input field on my site's backend (I am a guitarist, not a web developer, but can usually figure out what I need to do...). The field has an option to specify a youtube url and then textangular converts that to an image for purposes of editing in the backend. Then in front end textangular has means to have a youtube url displayed correctly as an iframe.
However, on the front end I am not using angular and I read that in my case, to get a youtube embed to show up in front end as iframe you have to use the taApplyCustomRenderers function.
For example, see here:
how to strip placeholder img in textAngular editor in scope var?
In my angular app, here are some of the relevant lines:
angular.module('dashboard')
.controller('EditController', ['$scope', '$http', '$location', '$routeParams', function ($scope, $http, $location, $routeParams) {
$scope.save = function () {
$scope.busy = true;
// I thoguht I could do this:
$scope.somefield = taApplyCustomRenderers($scope.somefield);
// then I would save to model
});
I am getting error that taApplyCustomRenderers is undefined. I thought based on what I read that taApplyCustomRenderers is an available function when using textangular but being new to this I suppose I am missing some key step about injecting the function into the controller or something.
Hoping someone can shed some light.
Thanks in advance!
Brian
TLDR; When you try to access taApplyCustomRenderers you are recieving an error since it is not given to this current function, Inject the function and it will work.
The Problem
While I have never actually tried using textAngular, let me explain what the problem is, and from there it should be easy to find the solution.
Your EditController is just a regular javascript function that gets run and attached to the relevant DOM element, so it only has access to functions that are declared in its own scope (or globally).
Here is your exact code just indented differently so you can understand better:
angular.module('dashboard').controller(
'EditController',
[
'$scope',
'$http',
'$location',
'$routeParams',
function ($scope, $http, $location, $routeParams) {
...
$scope.somefield = taApplyCustomRenderers($scope.somefield);
}
]
);
As you can see, the controller function has two parameters, the first being a string and the second an array, and the last element in the array is just a regular function.
The solution
Checking the textAngular documentation I saw that the taApplyCustomRenderers is a factory, which means you can inject it into your controller function as so:
angular.module('dashboard').controller('EditController',
['$scope', '$http', '$location', '$routeParams', 'taApplyCustomRenderers',
function ($scope, $http, $location, $routeParams, taApplyCustomRenderers) {
taApplyCustomRenderers(); // is now Available.
}
]);

What is the difference between these two ways of injecting into a controller in Angular? [duplicate]

I would like to understand the difference between the declaration of MyOtherService and MyOtherComplexService. Especially what is the purpose of square bracket part? When to use them and when not?
var myapp = angular.module('myapp', []);
myapp.factory('MyService', function($rootScope, $timeout) {
return {
foo: function() {
return "MyService";
}
}
});
myapp.factory('MyOtherService', function($rootScope, $timeout, MyService) {
return {
foo: function() {
return "MyOtherService";
}
}
});
myapp.factory('MyOtherComplexService', ['$rootScope', '$timeout', 'MyService', function($rootScope, $timeout, MyService) {
return {
foo: function() {
return "MyOtherComplexService";
}
}
}]);
myapp.controller('MyController', function($scope, MyOtherService, MyOtherComplexService) {
$scope.x = MyOtherService.foo();
$scope.y = MyOtherComplexService.foo();
});
It enables AngularJS code to be minified. AngularJS uses parameter names to inject the values to your controller function. In JavaScript minification process, these parameters are renamed to shorter strings. By telling which parameters are injected to the function with a string array, AngularJS can still inject the right values when the parameters are renamed.
To add to Ufuk's answer:
ngmin - compiles your standard modules to min-safe modules
Angular's min-safe square bracket notation is cleary less convenient, because you have to type every dependency twice and argument order matters. There is a tool called ngmin which compiles your standard modules to min-safe modules, so you don't have to manage all those things by hand.
Angular + CoffeeScript
If you're using CoffeeScript the situation is even worse. You may choose between ngmin, which will destroy your source map, or if you want to write it out all by yourself you'll have to wrap your entire code with square brackets, which is super ugly.
angular.module('whatever').controller 'MyCtrl', ['$scope', '$http' , ($scope, $http) ->
# wrapped code
]
In my opinion this is not a CoffeeScript flaw, but a poor design decision of the Angular team, because it's against all JS/CoffeeScript conventions not to have the function as the last argument. Enough ranting, here is a little helper function to work around it:
deps = (deps, fn) ->
deps.push fn
deps
This is a very simple function that accepts two arguments. The first one is an array of strings containing your dependencies, the second one is your module's function. You may use it like this:
angular.module('whatever').controller 'MyCtrl', deps ['$scope', '$http'] , ($scope, $http) ->
# unwrapped code \o/
Just to exemplify what was already said, if you use the following syntax:
myapp.factory('MyService', function($scope, $http, MyService) { ... });
most of the JS minifiers will change it to:
myapp.factory('MyService', function(a, b, c) { ... });
since functions argument names usually can be renamed for shorter names. This will break the Angular code.
In Angular, to get your code minifiable in all minifiers, you use the bracket syntax:
myapp.factory('MyService', ['$scope', '$http', 'MyService', function($scope, $http, MyService) { ... }]);
that will be minified to:
myapp.factory('MyService', ['$scope', '$http', 'MyService', function(a, b, c) { ... }]);
Note that minifiers do not touch on strings so Angular will see the minified code and match arguments in order:
$scope = a
$http = b
MyService = c
To avoid this ugly square bracket syntax, you should use smart minifiers like ng-annotate.
As of now, ng-min is deprecated.
Use ng-annotate instead.
It is good practice to use ng-annotate in your build job so you don't have to deal with the min-safe / bracket notation when developing, as it makes the code harder to read and maintain.
There is a grunt-plugin and a gulp plugin available on npm.

Angular injector error with minified JavaScript

I have been struggling to find a solution for this problem:
I am using Angular.js on my site.
I use CoffeeScript to write my JavaScript in Visual Studios 2012. When I save my CoffeeScript - both a minified and un-minified version of the JavaScript file is saved.
While using any minified version of JavaScript files on my webpage I keep getting this error:
Error: $injector:unpr
Unknown Provider
Unknown provider: nProvider <- n
This error results from the $injector being unable to resolve a required dependency. To fix this, make sure the dependency is defined and spelled correctly. For example:
If I don’t use the minified version everything works fine.
Here is how I use angular to declare my App in each JavaScript file
(function() {
var myApp;
myApp = angular.module("myApp", ['uploaddirective']);
myApp.controller("videoController", function($scope, $http, $compile) {
Can anyone help me to resolve this issue?
Use array notation for minification-safe dependency injection:
myApp.controller("videoController", ['$scope', '$http', '$compile', function($scope, $http, $compile) {
Another option is to use build task to automatically annotate injections for you:
// #ngInject
myApp.controller("videoController", function($scope, $http, $compile) {
You will need grunt or gulp plugin for this, like ngAnnotate.
https://docs.angularjs.org/guide/di
When you minifying the above code you will get something like
a.controller("videoController", function(x, y, z) {...
note that $scope, $http, $compile are replaced with x, y, z.
So when angular starts to execute Controller can't find the injectors because $scope, $http, $compile are replaced with x, y, z and there are no inject-able providers as x, y or z, so angular will trigger a error saying Unknown Provider.
solution 1
you can follow Inline Array Annotation as,
myApp.controller("videoController", ['$scope', '$http', '$compile', function($scope, $http, $compile) {...
after minifying this you will get something like
a.controller("videoController", ['$scope', '$http', '$compile', function(x, y, z) {...
minifying process doesn't effect on strings, here angular will use a array with strings that will match the providers. Here angular will match the x with $scope and so on.
solution 2
$inject Property Annotation
var MyController = function($scope, $http, $compile) {
// controller function ...
}
MyController.$inject = ['$scope', '$http', '$compile'];
myApp.controller("videoController", MyController);
additionally check ng-annotate

Difference between dependency injection syntaxes in AngularJS

AngularJS supports two slightly different syntaxes for dependency injection
Syntax 1
myModule.controller('myCtrl', function($scope, $http, myService) {
...
...
});
Syntax 2
myModule.controller('myCtrl', ['$scope', '$http', 'myService', function($scope, $http, myService) {
...
...
}]);
Is there a fundamental difference between the two syntaxes?
When to use either of the two syntaxes?
Syntax 2 is called type hinting, if you plan to uglify and mangle your code, angular would still know what services to inject.
After mangling and ugilying:
myModule.controller('myCtrl', ['$scope', '$http', 'myService', function(a, b, c) {
Angular would read the string values of the array provided in order to determine the name of the services a, b, c in order to inject them properly.

angular-ui-router: what is the dependency for using $state in a controller?

This may be a really simple question but I can't find anything in the ui-router docs. I want to call the $state.go() method to change a state in a controller, but I get a "$state not defined" error.
What is the dependency I need to put on my controller in order to be able to use $state and its methods?
It is the same as with any other service - include it's name in annotated dependency list or function arguments:
//without annotation (inferred, not safe when minifying code)
function Controller($scope, $state) {...}
//inline annotation
module.controller('Controller', ['$scope','$state', function($scope, $state) {...}]);
//$inject property annotation
function Controller($scope, $state) {...}
Controller.$inject = ['$scope', '$state'];

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