AngularJS form validation: indicate required fields to user - angularjs

Question

I would like my form labels to display a red asterisk next to the label when the corresponding form control has a required attribute.
Instead of hard coding the asterisk, I desire a way to append the asterisk to the label dynamically during page load if the label's corresponding input, select or textarea is required (the element the label corresponds to).
I created the directive below, and the directive works. But is there a better, more native way to accomplish my goal? This directive finds all the div.form-group containers and adds a red * character after the label if the corresponding form control inside the div.form-group has a required attribute.
myApp.directive('labelsRequired',function(){
return {
restrict: 'A',
require: 'ngModel',
link: function(scope, elem, attrs){
elem.find('div.form-group').each(function(i, formGroup){
var formControls = $(formGroup).find('input, select, textarea');
console.log(formControls)
if (0 !== formControls.length && undefined !== $(formControls[0]).attr('required')){
jLabel = $(formGroup).find('label');
jLabel.html(jLabel.html()+ "<span class='red-color'>*</span>");
}
})
}
}
});
The directive assumes all inputs, selects, and textareas are inside a div.form-group container.
<div class='form-group'>
<label>First Name</label><!-- this label gets an asterisk -->
<input name='fname' required />
</div>
<div class='form-group'>
<label>Favorite Food</label><!-- this label does not get an asterisk -->
<input name='favFood' />
</div>

Answer 1

You don't need a directive, there are built-in form properties you can use with filters like ng-show, look:
<div ng-app="myApp" ng-controller="myCtrl">
<form name="userForm" novalidate>
<div class='form-group'>
<label>First Name</label>
<input name='fname' ng-model="fname" required />
<label ng-show="userForm.fname.$dirty && userForm.fname.$error.required">* Required field</label>
</div>
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>
</div>
If you define an ng-model for the input you can deal with it looking if it is filled or not. You can also check it only after the user "dirty" it with userForm.fname.$dirty, so the label will be shown only after a user try to input something but then clear it. Try playing with it here JSFiddle

Answer 2

Building off of Corey's answer:
I just used compile rather than link, as I saw that my required attribute was not being applied to my input elements. I also included a select tag for any dropdowns that I had.
app.directive('inputRequired', function () {
return {
restrict: 'A',
compile: function (elem) {
elem.find('label').append("<sup><i class='fa fa-asterisk'></i></sup>");
elem.find('input').attr('required', 'required');
elem.find('select').attr('required', 'required');
}
};
});

Answer 3

If you're not using the built-in Angular validation, you could restructure your directive and attach it to your .form-group element. Like this:
app.directive('inputRequired', function() {
return {
restrict: 'A',
link: function(scope, elem, attr) {
elem.find('label').append('<span>*</span>');
elem.find('input').attr('required', 'required');
}
};
});
Your HTML would then look like:
<div class="form-group" input-required>
<label>Name</label>
<input name="name" />
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<label>Food</label>
<input name="food" />
</div>
However, if you haven't looked into the built-in validation with Angular, I would recommend using it.

Answer 4

This might come too late and it might not be too elegant but it works, if anyone needs it:
<label ng-show="userForm.fname.$validators.hasOwnProperty('required')">* Required field</label>