Value of input field is being removed by directive - angularjs

I have a simple Angular Problem - I think it's probably a case of can't see the wood for the trees here.
I have an input field with a directive attached. The purpose is eventually to compare new with old data and show a popup. However, as soon as I add the directive attribute to the input field, the value disappears:
Plunk here: http://plnkr.co/edit/BQvKGe6kjuD0ThPBYJ4d?p=preview
HTML:
First Name:
<input type='text' ng-model='currentEditItem.strFirstName' name='strFirstName' id='strFirstName'
cm-popover="currentEditItem.personOldData.strFirstName"/>
<br><br>
ngModel: {{currentEditItem.strFirstName}} <br>
cmPopover: {{currentEditItem.personOldData.strFirstName}}
JS
var app = angular.module('app', []);
app.controller('Ctrl', function ($scope) {
$scope.currentEditItem = {};
$scope.currentEditItem.strFirstName = "Bob";
$scope.currentEditItem.personOldData = {};
$scope.currentEditItem.personOldData.strFirstName = "Roger";
});
app.directive("cmPopover", function () {
return {
scope: {
ngModel: "=",
cmPopover: "="
},
link: function (scope, elem, attrs) {
console.log("ngModel", scope.ngModel);
console.log("cmPopover", scope.cmPopover);
}
}
});
If you go to the Plunk and remove the cm-popover attribute, the input field is filled with the value from the model. When the attribute is added the value disappears although the model is still in the scope with the correct value.

In your directive you declare an isolate scope. This input's scope is now this isolate scope since it's the directive element. It's looking for the currentEditItem object which doesn't exist in the isolate scope

ngModel does not create a new isolated scope for itself so it can $watch without having to hardcode a $parent in it's internal code.
But then you add another directive on the same DOM node that creates an isolated scope for itself. Couple this with the fact that you can only have a single isolated scope on a DOM node and you basically force ngModel to use/work with the same scope cmPopover created.
So when writing ng-model="currentEditItem.strFirstName" you are actually addressing the $scope inside the cmPopover directive, no the one in the (parent) controller. You can check this is the case by using ng-model="$parent.currentEditItem.strFirstName" - and it will work.
There's quite a lengthy conversation here with a lot of possible workarounds and solutions that leads to an actual fix in release 1.2.0.
So long story short: update to at least AngularJS 1.2.0 and this will work.

Related

Angularjs - Directive Two-way binding Isolated Scope Issue

I'm building a SPA based on AngularJS. In one component of the SPA I have a document upload system, which is built via a custom directive below called docmgmt. Within the component docmgmt I have an another custom directive component called modalCompanyQuery. It is a modal window that searches the company database and returns matching company results. Upon the finding the right company the user clicks on the company name which is then passed back to the parent directive docmgmt called modalOutput.
The issue I have is that despite using two way binding '=' a new scope for modalOutput (output) is created in modalCompanyQuery. How can I pass the modalCompanyQuery search result (modalOutput) back to the parent directive docmgmt? Any help on the simplest way to return the results would be great. Thank you in advance!
Here is my code simplified
modalCompanyQuery Template
<div modal-company-query dialog-show="modalCompanyQuery.isShow" dialog-name ="Select Company" dialog-class="modalSelectCompany" dialog-icon ="fa fa-building" dialog-header="modalSelectCompany-header" company-type = "srchCompanyTypeList" output-select="modalOutput">
</div>
Directive docmgmt
angular.module("docmgmt", [])
.directive("docmgmt",['$http','sessionService','Upload','docService', function($http,sessionService,Upload,docService){
return{
link: function(scope,element,attrs){
scope.docRecord = {};
scope.rightPane = {showAction:true, showInsert:false,showUpdate:false, showRead:false};
scope.progressBar = 0;
scope.submit =[{}];
//modal company search and linking search output results to docmgmt scope
scope.modalCompanyQuery = {isShow:false};
scope.modalOutput={};
scope.test=function(){
console.log(scope.modalOutput);
}
},//return
restrict:"A",
replace:true,
templateUrl:"partials/docmgmt/docmgmt.html",//template
transclude:true,
scope:{
}
}//return
}]);
Directive modalCompanyQuery
angular.module("company", [])
.directive("modalCompanyQuery",['$http','companyService', function($http,companyService){
return{
link: function(scope,element,attrs){ // normal variables rather than actual $scope, that is the scope data is passed into scope
//Read Company
scope.getRecord = function(result){
scope.output={id:result.cs_id, type:result.type,name:result.name, active: result.active};
console.log(scope.output);
scope.isShow = false;
}//getRecord
/*AJAX search functions go here*/
},//return
restrict:"A", //assign as attribute only ie <div my-modal> Content </div>
replace:true,//replaces div with element, note if this is the case must all template must be wrapped within one root element. eg button is within ul otherwise get an error.
templateUrl:"partials/company/tpl/desktop/modal-company-query-desktop.html",//template
transclude:true, //incorporate additional data within
scope:{
isShow:"=dialogShow",//two way binding
name:"#dialogName",//name to be in header
dialogClass:"#dialogClass",// style of the dialog
dialogHeader:"#dialogHeader",//color of the dialogHeader
dialogIcon:"#dialogIcon",//font awesome icon
output:"=outputSelect"
//selectCompany:"=selectCompany",//company to be selected from search and passed back to main window
} //If on this should mean the html input is not binded to custom directive
}//return
}]);
alright, in your docmgmt directive, I see you have made the scope of the directive empty doing:
scope: {}.
I think you should do it like:
scope: {
modalOutput: "="
}
btw doing above expects an attribute in your directive template with name modal-output which must be an object type.
Try it...
After some research I found the solution. The following two links really helped me understand the problem and solution.
Understanding $emit, $broadcast and $on in AngularJS
Communication between nested directives
So I end up using $emit and $on. Outcome as follows:
Directive modalCompanyQuery
scope.getRecord = function(result){
scope.output={id:result.cs_id, type:result.type,name:result.name, active: result.active};
scope.$emit('companyRecord', {record:scope.output});
scope.isShow = false;
}//getRecord
Directive docmgmt
scope.$on('companyRecord', function (event, args) {
scope.modalOutput = args.record;
console.log('Success');
console.log(scope.modalOutput);
});
Hope this helps other people that have come across the same brickwall!

How to refactor directive and change functionality by checking parent scopes?

I have a form with a ton of duplicate functionality in 2 different Controllers, there are slight differences and some major ones in both.
The form sits at the top of a products view controller, but also inside of the products modal controller.
Test plunker: http://plnkr.co/edit/EIW6xoBzQpD26Wwqwwap?p=preview
^ how would you change the string in the console.log and the color of the button based on parent scope?
At first I was going to create a new Controller just for the form, but also the HTML was being duplicated, so decided to put that into a Directive, and just add the Controller code there.
My question now is this: How would I determine which parent scope the form-directive is currently being viewed in? Because depending on the parent scope the functions/methods behave differently.
So far I've come up with this:
.directive('productForm', function() {
return {
templateUrl: "views/products/productForm.html",
restrict: "E",
controller: function($scope) {
console.log('controller for productForm');
console.log($scope);
console.log($scope.$parent);
/*
If parent scope is the page, then this...
If parent scope is the modal then this instead...
*/
}
}
});
However it's giving me back $parent id's that look like 002 or 00p. Not very easy to put in if / else statements based on that information.
Have you guys run into this issue before?
You can define 'saveThis' in your controller and pass it to directive using '&'
scope: {
user: '=',
saveThis : '&'
},
please see demo here http://plnkr.co/edit/sOY8XZtEXLORLmelWssS?p=preview
That gives you more flexibility, in future if you want to use saveThis in another controller you can define it inside controller instead adding additional if statement to directive.
You could add two way binding variables in the directive scope, this allows you to specify which Ctrl variable gets bound to which directive variable
<my-directive shared="scopeVariable">
this way you achieve two way binding of the scopeVariable with the shared directive variable
you can learn more here
I advice against this practice and suggest you to isolate common logics and behaviours in services or factories rather than in directives
This is an example of a directive that has isolated scope and shares the 'title' variable with the outer scope.
You could declare this directive this way:
now inside the directive you can discriminate the location where the directive is defined; just replace the title variable with a location variable and chose better names.
.directive('myPane', function() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: {
title: '#'
},
link: function(scope, element, attrs, tabsCtrl) {
},
templateUrl: 'my-pane.html'
};
});

Angular Directive Two-Way Binding Issue

I am creating a custom input directive for some added features.
app.directive('myTextInput', [
function () {
var directive = {};
directive.restrict = 'A';
directive.scope = {
textModel: '='
};
directive.link = function ($scope, element, attrs) {
// FUnctionality
};
directive.template = '<input ng-model="textModel" type="text">';
return directive;
}]);
and used the isolated scope property textModel for two way binding.
And the parent scope HTML is:
<div my-text-input text-model="myScopeVariable"></div>
<span>TYPED : {{myScopeVariable}}</span>
The controller scope has variable $scope.myScopeVariable=""; defined.
When i do this.
what ever typed in the directive input is able to print in the <span> tag.
Which tells it is updating.
The issue is.
in the parent scope. i have a method that will execute on a button click.
$scope.doSomething = function(){
console.log($scope.myScopeVariable);
};
On click on the button. the log is empty. which is supposed to be what is typed in the directive input.
THIS IS STRANGE
Now if define the scope variable as
$scope.myScopeVariable = {key:''};
and use in HTML as
<div my-text-input text-model="myScopeVariable.key"></div>
<span>TYPED : {{myScopeVariable.key}}</span>
then it is working every where. Even in the previously said function doSomething().
Any idea what happening here ?
This is happen because myScopeVariable contain value as String.
So if you change the value of from textbox of directive. It wont be reflected.
And in second method, you are referring Object. so whenever you change value of object , its relevant watch method is called. And value will be updated.
my-text-input is a directive, so he has his own scope, so the model myScopeVariable is not watch by the parent.
try with this :
<div my-text-input text-model="$parent.myScopeVariable"></div>
<span>TYPED : {{myScopeVariable}}</span>
It's not the best practice but it might works.

AngularJS Directive - Template Select Not Updating Ng-Model

I have two directives in my module. The first is from https://github.com/banafederico/angularjs-country-select. I used it as a model for the second. The two directives represent input fields, but the second one is not storing a value. The link function is not updating the ng-model value.
link: function(scope, elem, attrs) {
if (!!attrs.ngModel) {
var assignDivision = $parse(attrs.ngModel).assign;
elem.bind('change', function(e) {
assignDivision(elem.val());
});
scope.$watch(attrs.ngModel, function(division) {
elem.val(division);
});
}
}
In my ide (netbeans) the 2nd (dependent) drop-down does not display the selected value in the drop-down or update the model. In this fiddle (http://jsfiddle.net/676mp/), the display updates, but the model does not. I am unsure how to update the value of the model to the selected value.
Its because in the second directive you defined scope: {...} when passing in the country value. This creates an isolate scope in the directive and thus ng-model on the element doesn't really work, you need to create a two way binding to the parent variable in the directive's new isolate scope
http://jsfiddle.net/676mp/2/
scope: {
country: '#',
myDivision: '=division'
}
And then in the HTML
<division-select division="myDivision" country="{{myCountry}}"></division-select>
EDIT: Also note that in the fiddle I changed your template for the directive to include its own ng-model for its own scope

Angular communication between controllers and directives

I have this piece of code which allows a user to leave comments on a list of items.
I created a directive and listen to keydown in order to let the user submit a comment if keyCode == 13.
Not sure if I should include the code to post a comment within the directive. What is the best way to communicate between controllers and directives?
I also check whether or not the input is empty before submitting the comment. It works but not sure this is Angular best practice?
Here is my plunker.
you don't need to write a directive, if you want to use ng-keydown..
example:
template:
<input type="text" ng-model="myText" ng-keydown="checkKeyCode($event)">
controller: -- written in coffeescript
$scope.checkKeyCode = ($event)->
if $event.keyCode == 13 and $scope.myText?
$scope.doSomething()
You generally don't want your directives knowing anything about your controller, so the best(Angular) way of communicating between controllers and directives is through bi-directional bindings.
In your situation, I think best practice, again IMO, would be to create a directive for the button -- not the input. You'd tell the button which "input" (by id) to monitor. Something like:
<input id="input-{{item.id}}" type="text" ng-model="currMessage" />
<button class="btnMessage" ng-click="addMessage(currMessage, item)" default-input="input-{{item.id}}">Add</button>
ETA: Here's what the directive would end up looking like
http://plnkr.co/edit/HhEAUUq0IZvzblbRksBH?p=preview
myApp.directive('defaultInput', function () {
return {
restrict:'A',
link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
attrs.$observe('defaultInput', function(value) {
var inputElement = angular.element(document).find('#' + value);
inputElement.bind('keydown', function(e) {
if (e.keyCode == 13) {
element.click();
}
});
});
}
};
});
It could get tricky because the $observe callback will fire every time your controller's scope.items changes, so you'd need to somehow unbind and rebind (I know you're using jQuery, but I'm not seeing angular.unbind in the docs).
Another option, if you wanted to stick closer to your original approach:
http://plnkr.co/edit/3X3usJJpaCccRTtJeYPF?p=preview
HTML
<input id="input-{{item.id}}" type="text" ng-model="currMessage" enter-fires-next-button />
JavaScript
myApp.directive('enterFiresNextButton', function() {
return function(scope, element, attrs){
element.on('keydown', function(e){
if(e.keyCode == 13) {
element.next('button').click();
}
});
}
});
What is the best way to communicate between controllers and directives?
It depends... I like to first determine which type of scope is appropriate for a directive: no new scope, new scope, or new isolate scope. See When writing a directive in AngularJS, how do I decide if I need no new scope, a new child scope, or a new isolated scope?
Once that has been decided, the next decision is to determine if the communication should really be going to a service. If so, the controller and directive would both inject the service and interact with it, rather than each other.
If a service is not required, attributes are used to facilitate the communication between the controller and the directive. How that is done is determined by the type of scope the directive creates. Tip: if an isolate scope is not used, use $parse to get and set properties inside the directive, or to call methods on the controller from inside the directive -- see
How to set angular controller object property value from directive in child scope
https://stackoverflow.com/a/12932075/215945 - an example of calling a controller function with arguments

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