How to access a ngform name from controller? - angularjs

Question

I need to check if the elements on the current html page (being rendered using ui-view) are dirty or pristine before I navigate to next tab.
Parent page:
<div class="inner-menu">
<nav>
<div>
<ul class="nav nav-tabs edit-menu" role="tablist">
<!-- location 1 -->
<li ng-repeat="innerTab in innerTabListArr" ng-click="switchTab($index, $event)">
<a role="tab" data-toggle="tab" href="">{{innerTab.text}}</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
<div ui-view="innerTabHolder" name="currForm"></div>
</div>
and the HTML template that will be rendered to innerTabHolder view is :
<div class="edit-general" id="General">
<div class="modal-dialog modal-lg">
<form class="form-horizontal" name="generalForm">
<label for="inputL3" class="control-label">Text</label>
<div class="col-sm-4">
<input type="text" class="form-control" ng-model="gn.myMdl">
</div>
<div class="box-footer">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-sm-10">
<!-- location 2 -->
<button class="btn" type="button" ng-click="switchTab(generalForm, $event)"> BCK </button>
<button class="btn" type="button" ng-click="saveGen()">Save Above</button>
<button class="btn" type="button" ng-click="switchTab(generalForm, $event)"> FWD </button>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</form>
</div>
</div>
There are multiple tabs that will get rendered into the view. And this is the controller I have:
myApp.controller('compTabCtrl',[ '$rootScope', '$scope', '$state', 'mainWebService',
function($rootScope, $scope, $state, mainWebService){
$scope.innerTabListArr = [{"text" : "Tab 1"},{"text" : "Tab 2"}];
$scope.switchInnerTab = function(tabId, event){
};
}]);
Ok, so this is basic outline and I believe, I have covered all parts. Now, my issue is I am not able to pass the form : "generalForm" into switchTab function at location 1 where as I can do the same at location 2.
I am using the form's $dirty and $pristine to check if the user has made any changes to the form. So, while clicking on the tab for navigation, the form becomes undefined.
How do I access the $dirty property of sub-view in controller.
Plunker for demo :
https://plnkr.co/edit/06F5JfXltinyxrZbbc14?p=preview

Answer 1

When you are trying to access the variable always use $scope
access curForm using
$scope.curForm.$dirty