Within a controller I have an ajax call that populates $scope.main_data. I want to within a directive get that data when it populates. However the two issues I'm having is:
I cannot seem to access $scope.main_data from the directive.
$scope.watch doesn't seem to work because of this.
How can I print the data from the directive once the data arrives?
CONTROLLER:
app.controller('myCtrl', ['$scope','$http', function($scope, $http) {
$scope.main_data = [];
$http.get("some_url").success( function(data) {
$scope.main_data = data;
});
}]);
DIRECTIVE:
app.directive('myDir', function($compile, $rootScope) {
return {
restrict: 'A',
scope: {
items: '=items'
},
link: function($scope, element, attrs, ctrl) {
$scope.$watch($scope.main_data ,function(newValue,oldValue){
if (newValue){
console.log($scope.main_data);
}
});
}
};
});
HTML:
<div ng-controller="myCtrl">
<div my-dir>
<div>
</div>
The directive in the html exists within the controller but for some reason I can't access the controller scope through $scope but $scope.$parent.
You've almost got it.
app.directive('myDir', function($compile, $rootScope) {
return {
restrict: 'A',
scope: {
items: '=items'
},
link: function($scope, element, attrs, ctrl) {
$scope.$watch("items",function(newValue,oldValue){
if (newValue){
console.log($scope.main_data);
}
});
}
};
});
And html:
<div ng-controller="myCtrl">
<div my-dir items="main_data">
</div>
</div>
Even though you can "hack" around and access main_data using series of$parent calls on your scope and using some other methods, just pass it in to your directive with = binding, so it will be updated when controller scope is updated. In fact you don't even need $watch in this case, you will always have actual data.
I am new to AngularJS. Can anyone tell me with example that how to call a custom directive in a scope function of another controller.
For example I have a controller with a function as follows:
angularApp.controller('sample_Ctrl', function ($scope, $http, $timeout, $rootScope, $location) {
$scope.showReport = function(id) {
};
});
I created a customDirective as follows:
var showModalDirective = function ($timeout) {
return {
restrict: 'E',
templateUrl: '/Partials/template1.html',
};
};
angularApp.directive('showModal', showModalDirective);
So how to call this directive in the showReport function, and how can I pass id to template URL?
You can't call directive in controller. It should be a service.
Or you can use directive in view:
Directive:
var showModalDirective = function ($timeout) {
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: {
modalId: '='
},
templateUrl: '/Partials/template1.html',
};
};
angularApp.directive('showModal', showModalDirective);
Controller:
angularApp.controller('sample_Ctrl', function ($scope, $http, $timeout, $rootScope, $location) {
$scope.showModal = false;
$scope.showReport = function(id) {
$scope.showModal = true;
$scope.modalId = id;
};
});
View:
<div ng-if="showModal">
<show-modal modal-id="modalId"></show-modal>
</div>
showModal directive is call when showModal variable is true.
To use your directive first u need to create HTML element with same name as your directive then provide data for that directive from your controller. Suppose there is a div in your html page.
<div show-modal> </div>
Then on this page your template1.html will call internally through directive and suppose there is some html element in template1.html like
code in your controller -
angularApp.controller('sample_Ctrl',function() {
$scope.firstName= "My First Name"
})
I've got an Angular view thusly:
<div ng-include="'components/navbar/navbar.html'" class="ui centered grid" id="navbar" onload="setDropdown()"></div>
<div class="sixteen wide centered column full-height ui grid" style="margin-top:160px">
<!-- other stuff -->
<import-elements></import-elements>
</div>
This is controlled by UI-Router, which is assigning the controller, just FYI.
The controller for this view looks like this:
angular.module('pcfApp')
.controller('ImportElementsCtrl', function($scope, $http, $location, $stateParams, $timeout, Framework, OfficialFramework) {
$scope.loadOfficialFrameworks();
// other stuff here
});
The <import-elements> directive, looks like this:
angular.module('pcfApp').directive('importElements', function($state, $stateParams, $timeout, $window, Framework, OfficialFramework) {
var link = function(scope, el, attrs) {
scope.loadOfficialFrameworks = function() {
OfficialFramework.query(function(data) {
scope.officialFrameworks = data;
$(".ui.dropdown").dropdown({
onChange: function(value, text, $item) {
loadSections($item.attr("data-id"));
}
});
window.setTimeout(function() {
$(".ui.dropdown").dropdown('set selected', data[0]._id);
}, 0);
});
}
return {
link: link,
replace: true,
templateUrl: "app/importElements/components/import_elements_component.html"
}
});
I was under the impression that I'd be able to call the directive's loadOfficialFrameworks() method from my controller in this way (since I'm not specifying isolate scope), but I'm getting a method undefined error on the controller. What am I missing here?
The problem is that your controller function runs before your link function runs, so loadOfficialFrameworks is not available yet when you try to call it.
Try this:
angular.module('pcfApp')
.controller('ImportElementsCtrl', function($scope, $http, $location, $stateParams, $timeout, Framework, OfficialFramework) {
//this will fail because loadOfficialFrameworks doesn't exist yet.
//$scope.loadOfficialFrameworks();
//wait until the directive's link function adds loadOfficialFrameworks to $scope
var disconnectWatch = $scope.$watch('loadOfficialFrameworks', function (loadOfficialFrameworks) {
if (loadOfficialFrameworks !== undefined) {
disconnectWatch();
//execute the function now that we know it has finally been added to scope
$scope.loadOfficialFrameworks();
}
});
});
Here's a fiddle with this example in action: http://jsfiddle.net/81bcofgy/
The directive scope and controller scope are two differents object
you should use in CTRL
$scope.$broadcast('loadOfficialFrameworks_event');
//And in the directive
scope.$on('loadOfficialFrameworks_event', function(){
scope.loadOfficialFrameworks();
})
I have a directive that has a local scope where a partial contains ng-click.
The Fiddle is there: http://jsfiddle.net/stephanedeluca/QRZFs/13/
Unfortunatelly, since I moved my code to the directive, ng-click does not fire anymore.
The controller and the directive is as follows:
var app = angular.module('myApp', ['ngSanitize']);
app.directive('plantStages', function ($compile) {
return {
restrict: 'E',
transclude: true,
template: '<figure class="cornStages">\
<p ng-transclude style="color: skyblue"></p>\
<hr/>\
<p ng-bind-html="title"></p>\
<p ng-bind-html="subtitle">{{subtitle}}</p>\
<ul>\
<li ng-repeat="stage in stages" ng-click="changePage(stage)">{{stage}}</li>\
</ul>\
</figure>',
scope: {
stages:"=",
title:'#'
},
link: function (scope, element, attrs, ctrl, transclude) {
if (!attrs.title) scope.title = "Default title";
}
};
});
app.controller('myCtrl', function ($scope, $location, $http) {
$scope.stages = ['floraison', 'montaison'];
$scope.changePage = function (page) {
var url = "corn.page.html#/"+page;
console.log("Change page "+page+" with url "+url);
alert("about to change page as follows: document.location.href = "+url);
};
});
The html that invokes it is as follows:
<div ng-controller="myCtrl">
Stages,
<p ng-repeat="stage in stages">{{stage}}</p>
<hr/>
Plant stages
<plant-stages
title="<b>Exploration<br/>du cycle</b>"
subtitle="<em>This is a<br/>sub title</em>"
stages="stages"
>
Inner<br/>directive
</plant-stages>
</div>
Any idea?
You can't access changePage() defined in controller's scope from directive directly, since your directive has isolated scope. However, there are still several ways to do it:
Option 1:
Option 1 is the most simple option. However it is much like a workaround and I don't recommend to use it widely. You can get your controller's scope from element passed to link function and invoke changePage there:
link: function (scope, element, attrs, ctrl, transclude) {
if (!attrs.title) scope.title = "Default title";
scope.changePage = element.scope().changePage; // <= Get parent scope from element, it will have changePage()
}
Option 2:
If you don't have any logic that involves scope defined in the outer controller (as in your example), you can define inner controller for your directive and perform it there:
app.directive('plantStages', function ($compile) {
return {
...
controller: ['$scope', function($scope) {
$scope.changePage = function(page) {
var url = "corn.page.html#/"+page;
console.log("Change page "+page+" with url "+url);
alert("about to change page as follows: document.location.href = "+url);
}
}]
};
});
Option 3:
If you want do reuse logic defined in changePage() in different directives and controllers, the best way to do it is to move the logic to some service that may be injected to both controller and directive:
app.service('changePageService', function() {
this.changePage = function(page) {
var url = "corn.page.html#/"+page;
console.log("Change page "+page+" with url "+url);
alert("about to change page as follows: document.location.href = "+url);
}
});
app.controller('myCtrl', function ($scope, $location, $http, changePageService) {
...
changePageService.changePage('page');
...
});
app.directive('plantStages', function ($compile) {
...
controller: ['$scope', 'changePageService', function($scope, changePageService) {
$scope.changePage = changePageService.changePage;
}]
...
});
Option 4:
You can pass piece of code like changePage(page) as value of some attribute of the directive and inside directive define scope property with '&' that will create a function that will be executed in the outer controller's scope with arguments passed to that function. Example:
JavaScript
app.directive('plantStages', function ($compile) {
return {
restrict: 'E',
transclude: true,
template: '<figure class="cornStages">\
<p ng-transclude style="color: skyblue"></p>\
<hr/>\
<p ng-bind-html="title"></p>\
<p ng-bind-html="subtitle"></p>\
<ul>\
<li ng-repeat="stage in stages" ng-click="changePage({page: stage})">{{stage}}</li>\
</ul>\
</figure>',
scope: {
stages:"=",
title:'#',
changePage:'&'
},
link: function (scope, element, attrs, ctrl, transclude) {
if (!attrs.title) scope.title = "Default title";
}
};
});
HTML
<div ng-controller="myCtrl">
Stages,
<p ng-repeat="stage in stages">{{stage}}</p>
<hr/>
Plant stages
<plant-stages
title="<b>Exploration<br/>du cycle</b>"
subtitle="<em>This is a<br/>sub title</em>"
stages="stages"
change-page="changePage(page)"
>
Inner<br/>directive
</plant-stages>
Plunker: http://plnkr.co/edit/s4CFI3wxs0SOmZVhUkC4?p=preview
The idea of directives is to treat them as reusable components and avoid external dependencies wherever possible. If you have the possibility to define the behavior of your directive in its own controller then do it.
module.directive('myDirective', function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
controller: function() { /* behaviour here */ },
template: '<div>Directive Template</div>',
scope: {
/* directive scope */
}
};
});
If this is not possible you can pass the function as explained in the linked question (see comment above). Check the updated fiddle.
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