I am currently writing an angular directive that uses a template in a different HTML file and an isolated template. The directive gets some string via # to its scope and that value is available in teh controller function.
Somehow its not available via {{}} in the HTML template. Why is that so? How can I change that? I read something about the template using the parent scope but I don't fully understand that.
Here is a code example:
angular.module('moduleName')
.directive('aGreatDirective', function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: {
mapid: '#'
},
templateUrl: "path/to/template.html",
controller: ['$scope', function (scope) {
console.log($scope.mapid); // is defined
}
}
});
And the html code for the template:
<div id="{{mapid}}"></div>
The result in the browser is exactly the same where it should be:
<div id="theValueOfmapid"></div>
Thanks for your help!
PS Here is a jsfiddle: fiddle
Your fiddle was incorrect since you didn't have your controller defined or $scope injected properly. The following will work just fine:
template:
<div ng-controller="MyCtrl">
<a-great-directive mapid="thisisthemapid"></a-great-directive>
Some other code
</div>
js:
var myApp = angular.module('myApp', []);
myApp.controller('MyCtrl', function () {
});
myApp.directive('aGreatDirective', function() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: {
mapid: '#'
},
template: "<div id='{{mapid}}'> {{mapid}} </div>",
controller: ['$scope', function($scope) {
console.log($scope.mapid); // is defined
}
]}
});
Fiddle
Note that in my example, the injected variable in your directive's controller should be $scope, not scope, for consistency reasons.
I am trying to expand on the bootstrap ui library with my own custom control. This control will be used in an AngularJS app. Currently, I'm getting stuck on the scoping.
My plunker is here
This plunker is a simplified version of a more complex control. The concept that I'm trying to highlight is the scoping. You will notice that the custom control, my-query, is pre-populated with the value of myController.$scope.query. You will also see that the query is put in the page underneath the custom control. As I type, the value does NOT get updated. Why? My code looks like the following:
myApp.directive('myQuery', [function() {
return {
restrict:'E',
transclude: true,
scope: {
query: '='
},
template: '<div ng-controller="myQueryController"><input type="text" ng-model="query" /><button ng-click="go_Click()">go</button></div>'
};
}]);
myApp.controller('myQueryController', ['$scope', function($scope) {
$scope.go_Click = function() {
$scope.$emit("goClicked");
};
}]);
What am I doing wrong?
In your directive template, you are adding an additional controller which is adding in another scope. That is what is causing the problem. Instead of doing it that way, move the controller logic into either a controller function or a link function defined on your directive, either will work.
Try this. Here's an example using a controller function. Note that I moved your original myQueryController inside the directive and removed the ng-controller directive from the myQuery directive's template.
'use strict';
var myApp = angular.module('myApp', []);
myApp.controller('myController', ['$scope', function($scope) {
$scope.queryValue = 'test';
$scope.$on('goClicked', function() {
$scope.performAction();
});
$scope.performAction = function() {
alert('Using ' + $scope.queryValue);
};
}]);
myApp.directive('myQuery', [function() {
return {
restrict:'E',
transclude: true,
scope: {
query: '='
},
template: '<div><input type="text" ng-model="query" /><button ng-click="go_Click()">go</button></div>',
controller : function ($scope) {
$scope.go_Click = function() {
$scope.$emit("goClicked");
};
}
};
}]);
<div ng-controller="myQueryController">
A controller creates a new scope. So <input type="text" ng-model="query" /> doesn't use query from the directive's scope but from the controller's scope. Instead of using a controller you can define the go_Clickfunction in the directive's link method.
Do you need this?:
http://plnkr.co/edit/6IrlnXvsi2Rneee0hGC8?p=preview
scope: {
model: '='
}
The problem was that you used a primitive type which was passed by value into your directive. Always use complex types which are passed by reference.
In angular.js, can a directive controller access data in a page controller that loaded it?
/**
* Profile directive
*/
.directive('profile', function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
templateUrl: '/partials/users/_profile.html',
scope: {
user: '=',
show: '=?'
},
controller: function($scope, $rootScope){
$scope.show = angular.isDefined($scope.show) ? $scope.show : { follow: true, link: true };
$scope.currentUser = $rootScope.currentUser;
//do stuff here and then set data in UserShowCtrl
}
};
});
The <profile user="user"></profile> method is called from ./users/show.html which uses the UserShowCtrl controller.
Is there anyway I can use scope on the profile directive with its own controller and still be able to pass data to the UserShowCtrl?
Even though the profile can be isolated to its own functionality, it still needs to set some data on the page level in the UserShowCtrl controller.
Here is where _user.html is loading the <profile> directive. The data for the page is served by the UserShowCtrl and has some collections that get updated when things happen, like following a user.
<ol class="following" ng-show="showConnections == 'following'">
<li ng-repeat="following in user.following">
<profile user="connections[following]"></profile>
</li>
</ol>
Right now there is an ng-click="follow(user)"> that is happening in the _profile.html. I would like to be able to have the directive handle this but also update the collections in the UserShowCtrl.
Edit: here is a plunker demonstrating what I'm trying to do:
http://plnkr.co/edit/9a5dxMVg9cKLptxnNfX3
You need to use a service in order to share any information between controllers, directives, services
something like
angular.module('myapp',[]).
service('myservice',function(){
return {a:'A',b:'B'}
}).
controller('mycontroller',['myservice',function(myservice){
//do someting with myservice
}]).
directive('mydirective',['myservice',function(myservice){
//do someting with myservice
}]);
there controller and directive access the same data through the service
You can access the parent scope from your directive with $scope.$parent.myvar.
myvar will be resolved in parent scope, which means prototypical scope inheritance is used to resolve the variable.
However, this does not guarantee that myvar is coming from the same scope as UserShowCtrl since its possible that any scope in between the 'profile' directive and UserShowCtrl's scope may override 'myvar'.
A better solution would be to use directive-to-directive communication. There are generally two ways for directives to communicate:
Through attributes passed into your directive. You've already used this method to import 'user' and 'show' from parent scope into your directive's isolated scope.
Requiring another directive. When you use 'require: ^UserShow', you are specifying that your 'profile' directive requires another directive as a dependency. The '^' means that it will search for the directive on the current element, or any parent element further up the DOM tree. UserShow's controller is then passed to your link function:
.directive('UserShow', function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
controller: function($scope){
$scope.myvar = 'test';
this.setMyVar = function(var) {
$scope.myvar = var;
}
}
};
});
.directive('profile', function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
templateUrl: '/partials/users/_profile.html',
require: '^UserShow',
scope: {
user: '=',
show: '=?'
},
controller: function($scope, $rootScope){
},
link: function(scope, element, attr, UserShowCtrl) {
UserShowCtrl.setMyVar('hello world!);
}
};
});
HTML:
<user-show>
<profile>...</profile>
</user-show>
I am not quite sure what your after.
You are already having 2 two-way data bindings, which means that if you change user in your directive, that will also flow to the outside scope.
So you already have a solution in front of you...
So if that is not "good enough", there is something missing in your question.
Here is an illustration: http://plnkr.co/edit/qEH2Pr1Pv7MTdXjHd4bD?p=preview
However, if you use something in your outside template that creates a child scope, binding it as "value" there is NOT enough, you need to have a . in there.
But that is where there is missing something to the question, if you share your show.html I may be able to find where the scope breaks apart and explain why...
Relevant Source from demo.js:
app.directive('profile', function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
template: '<div><input type="text" ng-model="user"></input></div>',
scope: { //defines an isolate scope.
user: '=',
show: '=?'
},
controller: function($scope, $rootScope){
$scope.show = angular.isDefined($scope.show) ? $scope.show : { follow: true, link: true };
$scope.currentUser = $rootScope.currentUser;
$scope.user = "Changed by scope!";
//do stuff here and then set data in UserShowCtrl
}
};
});
app.controller('UserShowCtrl', function($scope) {
$scope.value = "Value set outside!";
$scope.alertValue = function() {
alert($scope.value);
}
});
Relevant Source from home.html:
<div ng-controller="UserShowCtrl">
{{ value }}
<profile user="value"></profile>
<button ng-click="alertValue()">ALERT!</button>
</div>
Given this fairly simple angular wrapper for a JQuery UI button:
angular.module('Sample.controllers', [])
.controller('mainController', ['$scope',
function($scope) {
$scope.jump = function () {alert("jump");};
}])
.directive('jquiwButton', function() {
return {
scope: {},
restrict: 'A',
replace:true,
link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
var options = {};
if (angular.isDefined(attrs["jquiDisabled"])) {
options.disabled = attrs["jquiDisabled"];
}
if (angular.isDefined(attrs["jquiIconPrimary"])) {
if (!angular.isDefined(options.icons.primary)) {
options.icons ={};
}
options.icons.primary = attrs["jquiIconPrimary"];
}
if (angular.isDefined(attrs["jquiIconSecondary"])) {
if (!angular.isDefined(options.icons.secondary)) {
options.icons ={};
}
options.icons.secondary = attrs["jquiIconSecondary"];
}
if (angular.isDefined(attrs["jquiLabel"])) {
options.label = attrs["jquiLabel"];
}
if (angular.isDefined(attrs["jquiText"])) {
options.text = attrs["jquiText"];
}
element.button(options);
}
};
});
angular.module('Sample', ['Sample.controllers']);
And the markup.
<body ng-controller="mainController">
<button jquiw-button jqui-label="Hello" ng-click="jump()">Hello</button>
</body>
and it works fine until I add a scope at which point I lose the ability to use the standard angular bindings to the outer scope. In my case the markup `ng-click='jump()' now won't work because it can't find the method jump which is defined in the outer context and not in the isolate scope. Now I know that I can specifically bind ng-click back to the outer scope but I want to avoid doing that since it requires knowledge of all the possible directives I might need to bind.
So my question is: How do I let other directives work in the outer scope while still having an isolate scope?
plunker: http://plnkr.co/edit/eRoOeq?p=preview
Remove line 8: scope: {}, and it ng-click calls the correct function.
Use ng-click="$parent.jump()".
You can reference a function in the parent scope from inside the isolate scope by using the & binding. This is the proper way to call a function from an isolate scope inside a directive according to the directive documentation.
I created a working CodePen example to demonstrate it working flawlessly.
Here's the relevant parts:
var app = angular.module('app', []);
app.controller('MainCtrl', function($scope) {
$scope.jump = function() {
alert('jump called');
};
});
app.directive('myDirective', function() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: {
call: '&'
},
link: function postLink(scope, element, attrs) {
scope.call();
}
};
});
and in the template:
<section ng-app="app" ng-controller="MainCtrl">
<my-directive call="jump()"></my-directive>
</section>
I hope this helps.
I have a directive, here is the code :
.directive('map', function() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
template: '<div></div>',
link: function($scope, element, attrs) {
var center = new google.maps.LatLng(50.1, 14.4);
$scope.map_options = {
zoom: 14,
center: center,
mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
};
// create map
var map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById(attrs.id), $scope.map_options);
var dirService= new google.maps.DirectionsService();
var dirRenderer= new google.maps.DirectionsRenderer()
var showDirections = function(dirResult, dirStatus) {
if (dirStatus != google.maps.DirectionsStatus.OK) {
alert('Directions failed: ' + dirStatus);
return;
}
// Show directions
dirRenderer.setMap(map);
//$scope.dirRenderer.setPanel(Demo.dirContainer);
dirRenderer.setDirections(dirResult);
};
// Watch
var updateMap = function(){
dirService.route($scope.dirRequest, showDirections);
};
$scope.$watch('dirRequest.origin', updateMap);
google.maps.event.addListener(map, 'zoom_changed', function() {
$scope.map_options.zoom = map.getZoom();
});
dirService.route($scope.dirRequest, showDirections);
}
}
})
I would like to call updateMap() on a user action. The action button is not on the directive.
What is the best way to call updateMap() from a controller?
If you want to use isolated scopes you can pass a control object using bi-directional binding = of a variable from the controller scope. You can also control also several instances of the same directive on a page with the same control object.
angular.module('directiveControlDemo', [])
.controller('MainCtrl', function($scope) {
$scope.focusinControl = {};
})
.directive('focusin', function factory() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
template: '<div>A:{{internalControl}}</div>',
scope: {
control: '='
},
link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
scope.internalControl = scope.control || {};
scope.internalControl.takenTablets = 0;
scope.internalControl.takeTablet = function() {
scope.internalControl.takenTablets += 1;
}
}
};
});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.2.23/angular.min.js"></script>
<div ng-app="directiveControlDemo">
<div ng-controller="MainCtrl">
<button ng-click="focusinControl.takeTablet()">Call directive function</button>
<p>
<b>In controller scope:</b>
{{focusinControl}}
</p>
<p>
<b>In directive scope:</b>
<focusin control="focusinControl"></focusin>
</p>
<p>
<b>Without control object:</b>
<focusin></focusin>
</p>
</div>
</div>
Assuming that the action button uses the same controller $scope as the directive, just define function updateMap on $scope inside the link function. Your controller can then call that function when the action button is clicked.
<div ng-controller="MyCtrl">
<map></map>
<button ng-click="updateMap()">call updateMap()</button>
</div>
app.directive('map', function() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
template: '<div></div>',
link: function($scope, element, attrs) {
$scope.updateMap = function() {
alert('inside updateMap()');
}
}
}
});
fiddle
As per #FlorianF's comment, if the directive uses an isolated scope, things are more complicated. Here's one way to make it work: add a set-fn attribute to the map directive which will register the directive function with the controller:
<map set-fn="setDirectiveFn(theDirFn)"></map>
<button ng-click="directiveFn()">call directive function</button>
scope: { setFn: '&' },
link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
scope.updateMap = function() {
alert('inside updateMap()');
}
scope.setFn({theDirFn: scope.updateMap});
}
function MyCtrl($scope) {
$scope.setDirectiveFn = function(directiveFn) {
$scope.directiveFn = directiveFn;
};
}
fiddle
Although it might be tempting to expose an object on the isolated scope of a directive to facilitate communicating with it, doing can lead to confusing "spaghetti" code, especially if you need to chain this communication through a couple levels (controller, to directive, to nested directive, etc.)
We originally went down this path but after some more research found that it made more sense and resulted in both more maintainable and readable code to expose events and properties that a directive will use for communication via a service then using $watch on that service's properties in the directive or any other controls that would need to react to those changes for communication.
This abstraction works very nicely with AngularJS's dependency injection framework as you can inject the service into any items that need to react to those events. If you look at the Angular.js file, you'll see that the directives in there also use services and $watch in this manner, they don't expose events over the isolated scope.
Lastly, in the case that you need to communicate between directives that are dependent on one another, I would recommend sharing a controller between those directives as the means of communication.
AngularJS's Wiki for Best Practices also mentions this:
Only use .$broadcast(), .$emit() and .$on() for atomic events
Events that are relevant globally across the entire app (such as a user authenticating or the app closing). If you want events specific to modules, services or widgets you should consider Services, Directive Controllers, or 3rd Party Libs
$scope.$watch() should replace the need for events
Injecting services and calling methods directly is also useful for direct communication
Directives are able to directly communicate with each other through directive-controllers
Building on Oliver's answer - you might not always need to access a directive's inner methods, and in those cases you probably don't want to have to create a blank object and add a control attr to the directive just to prevent it from throwing an error (cannot set property 'takeTablet' of undefined).
You also might want to use the method in other places within the directive.
I would add a check to make sure scope.control exists, and set methods to it in a similar fashion to the revealing module pattern
app.directive('focusin', function factory() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
template: '<div>A:{{control}}</div>',
scope: {
control: '='
},
link : function (scope, element, attrs) {
var takenTablets = 0;
var takeTablet = function() {
takenTablets += 1;
}
if (scope.control) {
scope.control = {
takeTablet: takeTablet
};
}
}
};
});
To be honest, I was not really convinced with any of the answers in this thread. So, here's are my solutions:
Directive Handler(Manager) Approach
This method is agnostic to whether the directive's $scope is a shared one or isolated one
A factory to register the directive instances
angular.module('myModule').factory('MyDirectiveHandler', function() {
var instance_map = {};
var service = {
registerDirective: registerDirective,
getDirective: getDirective,
deregisterDirective: deregisterDirective
};
return service;
function registerDirective(name, ctrl) {
instance_map[name] = ctrl;
}
function getDirective(name) {
return instance_map[name];
}
function deregisterDirective(name) {
instance_map[name] = null;
}
});
The directive code, I usually put all the logic that doesn't deal with DOM inside directive controller. And registering the controller instance inside our handler
angular.module('myModule').directive('myDirective', function(MyDirectiveHandler) {
var directive = {
link: link,
controller: controller
};
return directive;
function link() {
//link fn code
}
function controller($scope, $attrs) {
var name = $attrs.name;
this.updateMap = function() {
//some code
};
MyDirectiveHandler.registerDirective(name, this);
$scope.$on('destroy', function() {
MyDirectiveHandler.deregisterDirective(name);
});
}
})
template code
<div my-directive name="foo"></div>
Access the controller instance using the factory & run the publicly exposed methods
angular.module('myModule').controller('MyController', function(MyDirectiveHandler, $scope) {
$scope.someFn = function() {
MyDirectiveHandler.get('foo').updateMap();
};
});
Angular's approach
Taking a leaf out of angular's book on how they deal with
<form name="my_form"></form>
using $parse and registering controller on $parent scope. This technique doesn't work on isolated $scope directives.
angular.module('myModule').directive('myDirective', function($parse) {
var directive = {
link: link,
controller: controller,
scope: true
};
return directive;
function link() {
//link fn code
}
function controller($scope, $attrs) {
$parse($attrs.name).assign($scope.$parent, this);
this.updateMap = function() {
//some code
};
}
})
Access it inside controller using $scope.foo
angular.module('myModule').controller('MyController', function($scope) {
$scope.someFn = function() {
$scope.foo.updateMap();
};
});
A bit late, but this is a solution with the isolated scope and "events" to call a function in the directive. This solution is inspired by this SO post by satchmorun and adds a module and an API.
//Create module
var MapModule = angular.module('MapModule', []);
//Load dependency dynamically
angular.module('app').requires.push('MapModule');
Create an API to communicate with the directive. The addUpdateEvent adds an event to the event array and updateMap calls every event function.
MapModule.factory('MapApi', function () {
return {
events: [],
addUpdateEvent: function (func) {
this.events.push(func);
},
updateMap: function () {
this.events.forEach(function (func) {
func.call();
});
}
}
});
(Maybe you have to add functionality to remove event.)
In the directive set a reference to the MapAPI and add $scope.updateMap as an event when MapApi.updateMap is called.
app.directive('map', function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: {},
templateUrl: '....',
controller: function ($scope, $http, $attrs, MapApi) {
$scope.api = MapApi;
$scope.updateMap = function () {
//Update the map
};
//Add event
$scope.api.addUpdateEvent($scope.updateMap);
}
}
});
In the "main" controller add a reference to the MapApi and just call MapApi.updateMap() to update the map.
app.controller('mainController', function ($scope, MapApi) {
$scope.updateMapButtonClick = function() {
MapApi.updateMap();
};
}
You can specify a DOM attribute that can be used to allow the directive to define a function on the parent scope. The parent scope can then call this method like any other. Here's a plunker. And below is the relevant code.
clearfn is an attribute on the directive element into which the parent scope can pass a scope property which the directive can then set to a function that accomplish's the desired behavior.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html ng-app="myapp">
<head>
<script data-require="angular.js#*" data-semver="1.3.0-beta.5" src="https://code.angularjs.org/1.3.0-beta.5/angular.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" />
<style>
my-box{
display:block;
border:solid 1px #aaa;
min-width:50px;
min-height:50px;
padding:.5em;
margin:1em;
outline:0px;
box-shadow:inset 0px 0px .4em #aaa;
}
</style>
</head>
<body ng-controller="mycontroller">
<h1>Call method on directive</h1>
<button ng-click="clear()">Clear</button>
<my-box clearfn="clear" contentEditable=true></my-box>
<script>
var app = angular.module('myapp', []);
app.controller('mycontroller', function($scope){
});
app.directive('myBox', function(){
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: {
clearFn: '=clearfn'
},
template: '',
link: function(scope, element, attrs){
element.html('Hello World!');
scope.clearFn = function(){
element.html('');
};
}
}
});
</script>
</body>
</html>
Just use scope.$parent to associate function called to directive function
angular.module('myApp', [])
.controller('MyCtrl',['$scope',function($scope) {
}])
.directive('mydirective',function(){
function link(scope, el, attr){
//use scope.$parent to associate the function called to directive function
scope.$parent.myfunction = function directivefunction(parameter){
//do something
}
}
return {
link: link,
restrict: 'E'
};
});
in HTML
<div ng-controller="MyCtrl">
<mydirective></mydirective>
<button ng-click="myfunction(parameter)">call()</button>
</div>
You can tell the method name to directive to define which you want to call from controller but without isolate scope,
angular.module("app", [])
.directive("palyer", [
function() {
return {
restrict: "A",
template:'<div class="player"><span ng-bind="text"></span></div>',
link: function($scope, element, attr) {
if (attr.toPlay) {
$scope[attr.toPlay] = function(name) {
$scope.text = name + " playing...";
}
}
}
};
}
])
.controller("playerController", ["$scope",
function($scope) {
$scope.clickPlay = function() {
$scope.play('AR Song');
};
}
]);
.player{
border:1px solid;
padding: 10px;
}
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.2.23/angular.min.js"></script>
<div ng-app="app">
<div ng-controller="playerController">
<p>Click play button to play
<p>
<p palyer="" to-play="play"></p>
<button ng-click="clickPlay()">Play</button>
</div>
</div>
TESTED
Hope this helps someone.
My simple approach (Think tags as your original code)
<html>
<div ng-click="myfuncion">
<my-dir callfunction="myfunction">
</html>
<directive "my-dir">
callfunction:"=callfunction"
link : function(scope,element,attr) {
scope.callfunction = function() {
/// your code
}
}
</directive>
Maybe this is not the best choice, but you can do angular.element("#element").isolateScope() or $("#element").isolateScope() to access the scope and/or the controller of your directive.
How to get a directive's controller in a page controller:
write a custom directive to get the reference to the directive controller from the DOM element:
angular.module('myApp')
.directive('controller', controller);
controller.$inject = ['$parse'];
function controller($parse) {
var directive = {
restrict: 'A',
link: linkFunction
};
return directive;
function linkFunction(scope, el, attrs) {
var directiveName = attrs.$normalize(el.prop("tagName").toLowerCase());
var directiveController = el.controller(directiveName);
var model = $parse(attrs.controller);
model.assign(scope, directiveController);
}
}
use it in the page controller's html:
<my-directive controller="vm.myDirectiveController"></my-directive>
Use the directive controller in the page controller:
vm.myDirectiveController.callSomeMethod();
Note: the given solution works only for element directives' controllers (tag name is used to get the name of the wanted directive).
Below solution will be useful when, you are having controllers (both parent and directive (isolated)) in 'controller As' format
someone might find this useful,
directive :
var directive = {
link: link,
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
scope: {
clearFilters: '='
},
templateUrl: "/temp.html",
bindToController: true,
controller: ProjectCustomAttributesController,
controllerAs: 'vmd'
};
return directive;
function link(scope, element, attrs) {
scope.vmd.clearFilters = scope.vmd.SetFitlersToDefaultValue;
}
}
directive Controller :
function DirectiveController($location, dbConnection, uiUtility) {
vmd.SetFitlersToDefaultValue = SetFitlersToDefaultValue;
function SetFitlersToDefaultValue() {
//your logic
}
}
html code :
<Test-directive clear-filters="vm.ClearFilters"></Test-directive>
<a class="pull-right" style="cursor: pointer" ng-click="vm.ClearFilters()"><u>Clear</u></a>
//this button is from parent controller which will call directive controller function