Develop Reference

Binding a Directive Controller's method to its parent $scope

I will explain what exactly I'm trying to do before explaining the issue. I have a Directive which holds a form, and I need to access that form from the parent element (where the Directive is used) when clicking on a submit button to check fi the form is valid.
To do this, I am trying to use $scope.$parent[$attrs.directiveName] = this; and then binding some methods to the the Directive such as this.isValid which will be exposed and executable in the parent.
This works fine when running locally, but when minifying and building my code (Yeoman angular-fullstack) I will get an error for aProvider being unknown which I traced back to a $scopeProvider error in the Controller.
I've had similar issues in the past, and my first thought was that I need to specifically say $inject for $scope so that the name isn't lost. But alas.....no luck.
Is something glaringly obvious that I am doing wrong?
Any help appreciated.
(function() {
'use strict';
angular
.module('myApp')
.directive('formDirective', formDirective);
function formDirective() {
var directive = {
templateUrl: 'path/to/template.html',
restrict: 'EA',
scope: {
user: '='
},
controller: controller
};
return directive;
controller.$inject = ['$scope', '$attrs', 'myService'];
function controller($scope, $attrs, myService) {
$scope.myService = myService;
// Exposes the Directive Controller on the parent Scope with name Directive's name
$scope.$parent[$attrs.directiveName] = this;
this.isValid = function() {
return $scope.myForm.$valid;
};
this.setDirty = function() {
Object.keys($scope.myForm).forEach(function(key) {
if (!key.match(/\$/)) {
$scope.myForm[key].$setDirty();
$scope.myForm[key].$setTouched();
}
});
$scope.myForm.$setDirty();
};
}
}
})();

Change the directive to a component and implement a clear interface.
Parent Container (parent.html):
<form-component some-input="importantInfo" on-update="someFunction(data)">
</form-component>
Parent controller (parent.js):
//...
$scope.importantInfo = {data: 'data...'};
$scope.someFunction = function (data) {
//do stuff with the data
}
//..
form-component.js:
angular.module('app')
.component('formComponent', {
template:'<template-etc>',
controller: Controller,
controllerAs: 'ctrl',
bindings: {
onUpdate: '&',
someInput: '<'
}
});
function Controller() {
var ctrl = this;
ctrl.someFormThing = function (value) {
ctrl.onUpdate({data: value})
}
}
So if an event in your form triggers the function ctrl.someFormThing(data). This can be passed up to the parent by calling ctrl.onUpdate().

Dynamic controller for directives with ECMA6

I'm trying to set a controller dynamically to my directive using the name property. So far this is my code.
html
<view-edit controller-name="vm.controller" view="home/views/med.search.results.detail.resources.audios.html" edit="home/views/med.media.resources.edit.html"></view-edit>
js
export default class SearchResultsCtrl extends Pageable {
/*#ngInject*/
constructor($injector, $state, api) {
super(
{
injector: $injector,
endpoint: 'mediaMaterialsList',
selectable:{
itemKey: 'cid',
enabled:true,
params: $state.params
},
executeGet: false
}
);
this.controller = SearchResultsResourcesAudiosCtrl;
}
}
Directive
export default class ViewEditDirective {
constructor() {
this.restrict = 'E';
this.replace = true;
this.templateUrl = 'home/views/med.view.edit.html';
this.scope = {};
this.controller = "#";
this.name = "controllerName";
this.bindToController = {
'view': '#?',
'edit': '#?'
};
this.open = false;
this.controllerAs = 'ctrl';
}
}
I get undefined for vm.controller. I guess that it's rendering before the controller can assign the controller to the variable (I debbuged it, and it's setting the controller in the variable).
I'm following this answer to achieve this, but no luck so far.
How to set the dynamic controller for directives?
Thanks.

The problem is not related to ES6 (which is a sugar syntax coating over ES5), this is how Angular scope life cycle works.
This directive may show what's the deal with attribute interpolation
// <div ng-init="a = 1"><div sum="{{ a + 1 }}"></div></div>
app.directive('sum', function () {
return {
scope: {},
controller: function ($attrs) {
console.log($attrs.sum) // {{ a + 1 }}
// ...
},
link: function (scope, element, attrs) {
console.log(attrs.sum) // 2
}
};
});
And $attrs.sum may still not be 2 in link if a value was set after that (i.e. in parent directive link).
It is unsafe (and wrong per se) to assume that the value on one scope can be calculated based on the value from another scopes at some point of time. Because it may be not. That is why watchers and data binding are there.
All that controller: '#' magic value does is getting uninterpolated attribute value and using it as controller name. So no, it won't interpolate controller name from vm.controller and will use 'vm.controller' string as controller name.
An example of a directive that allows to set its controller dynamically may look like
// dynamic-controller="{{ ctrlNameVariable }}"
app.directive('dynamicController', function () {
return {
restrict: 'A',
priority: 2500,
controller: function ($scope, $element, $attrs, $interpolate, $compile) {
var ctrlName = $interpolate($attrs.dynamicController)($scope);
setController(ctrlName);
$attrs.$observe('dynamicController', setController);
function setController (ctrlName) {
if (!ctrlName || $attrs.ngController === ctrlName) {
return;
}
$attrs.$set('ngController', ctrlName);
$compile($element)($scope);
}
}
};
});
with all the side-effects that re-compilation may bring.

angular.js directive two-way-binding scope updating

I wanted to use a directive to have some click-to-edit functionality in my front end.
This is the directive I am using for that: http://icelab.com.au/articles/levelling-up-with-angularjs-building-a-reusable-click-to-edit-directive/
'use strict';
angular.module('jayMapApp')
.directive('clickToEdit', function () {
return {
templateUrl: 'directives/clickToEdit/clickToEdit.html',
restrict: 'A',
replace: true,
scope: {
value: '=clickToEdit',
method: '&onSave'
},
controller: function($scope, $attrs) {
$scope.view = {
editableValue: $scope.value,
editorEnabled: false
};
$scope.enableEditor = function() {
$scope.view.editorEnabled = true;
$scope.view.editableValue = $scope.value;
};
$scope.disableEditor = function() {
$scope.view.editorEnabled = false;
};
$scope.save = function() {
$scope.value = $scope.view.editableValue;
$scope.disableEditor();
$scope.method();
};
}
};
});
I added a second attribute to the directive to call a method after when the user changed the value and then update the database etc. The method (´$onSave´ here) is called fine, but it seems the parent scope is not yet updated when I call the method at the end of the directive.
Is there a way to call the method but have the parent scope updated for sure?
Thanks in advance,
Michael

I believe you are supposed to create the functions to attach inside the linking function:
Take a look at this code:
http://plnkr.co/edit/ZTx0xrOoQF3i93buJ279?p=preview
app.directive('clickToEdit', function () {
return {
templateUrl: 'clickToEdit.html',
restrict: 'A',
replace: true,
scope: {
value: '=clickToEdit',
method: '&onSave'
},
link: function(scope, element, attrs){
scope.save = function(){
console.log('save in link fired');
}
},
controller: function($scope, $attrs) {
$scope.view = {
editableValue: $scope.value,
editorEnabled: false
};
$scope.enableEditor = function() {
$scope.view.editorEnabled = true;
$scope.view.editableValue = $scope.value;
};
$scope.disableEditor = function() {
$scope.view.editorEnabled = false;
};
$scope.save = function() {
console.log('save in controller fired');
$scope.value = $scope.view.editableValue;
$scope.disableEditor();
$scope.method();
};
}
};
});
I haven't declared the functions inside the controller before, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Though this question/answer explain it Link vs compile vs controller
From my understanding:
The controller is used to share data between directive instances, not to "link" functions which would be run as callbacks.

The method is being called but angular doesn't realise it needs to run the digest cycle to update the controller scope. Luckily you can still trigger the digest from inside your isolate scope just wrap the call to the method:
$scope.$apply($scope.method());

Testing AngularUI Bootstrap modal instance controller

This is a somewhat of a follow-on question to this one: Mocking $modal in AngularJS unit tests
The referenced SO is an excellent question with very useful answer. The question I am left with after this however is this: how do I unit test the modal instance controller? In the referenced SO, the invoking controller is tested, but the modal instance controller is mocked. Arguably the latter should also be tested, but this has proven to be very tricky. Here's why:
I'll copy the same example from the referenced SO here:
.controller('ModalInstanceCtrl', function($scope, $modalInstance, items){
$scope.items = items;
$scope.selected = {
item: $scope.items[0]
};
$scope.ok = function () {
$modalInstance.close($scope.selected.item);
};
$scope.cancel = function () {
$modalInstance.dismiss('cancel');
};
});
So my first thought was that I would just instantiate the controller directly in a test, just like any other controller under test:
beforeEach(inject(function($rootScope) {
scope = $rootScope.$new();
ctrl = $controller('ModalInstanceCtrl', {$scope: scope});
});
This does not work because in this context, angular does not have a provider to inject $modalInstance, since that is supplied by the UI modal.
Next, I turn to plan B: use $modal.open to instantiate the controller. This will run as expected:
beforeEach(inject(function($rootScope, $modal) {
scope = $rootScope.$new();
modalInstance = $modal.open({
template: '<html></html>',
controller: 'ModalInstanceCtrl',
scope: scope
});
});
(Note, template can't be an empty string or it will fail cryptically.)
The problem now is that I have no visibility into the scope, which is the customary way to unit test resource gathering, etc. In my real code, the controller calls a resource service to populate a list of choices; my attempt to test this sets an expectGet to satisfy the service my controller is using, and I want to validate that the controller is putting the result in its scope. But the modal is creating a new scope for the modal instance controller (using the scope I pass in as a prototype), and I can't figure out how I can get a hole of that scope. The modalInstance object does not have a window into the controller.
Any suggestions on the "right" way to test this?
(N.B.: the behavior of creating a derivative scope for the modal instance controller is not unexpected – it is documented behavior. My question of how to test it is still valid regardless.)

I test the controllers used in modal dialogs by instantiating the controller directly (the same way you initially thought to do it above).
Since there there's no mocked version of $modalInstance, I simply create a mock object and pass that into the controller.
var modalInstance = { close: function() {}, dismiss: function() {} };
var items = []; // whatever...
beforeEach(inject(function($rootScope) {
scope = $rootScope.$new();
ctrl = $controller('ModalInstanceCtrl', {
$scope: scope,
$modalInstance: modalInstance,
items: items
});
}));
Now the dependencies for the controller are satisfied and you can test this controller like any other controller.
For example, I can do spyOn(modalInstance, 'close') and then assert that my controller is closing the dialog at the appropriate time.

Alternatively, if you're using jasmine, you can mock the $uibModalInstance using the createSpy method:
beforeEach(inject(function ($controller, $rootScope) {
$scope = $rootScope.$new();
$uibModalInstance = jasmine.createSpyObj('$uibModalInstance', ['close', 'dismiss']);
ModalCtrl = $controller('ModalCtrl', {
$scope: $scope,
$uibModalInstance: $uibModalInstance,
});
}));
And test it without having to call spyOn on each method, let's say you have 2 scope methods, cancel() and confirm():
it('should let the user dismiss the modal', function () {
expect($scope.cancel).toBeDefined();
$scope.cancel();
expect($uibModalInstance.dismiss).toHaveBeenCalled();
});
it('should let the user confirm the modal', function () {
expect($scope.confirm).toBeDefined();
$scope.confirm();
expect($uibModalInstance.close).toHaveBeenCalled();
});

The same problem is with $uidModalInstance and you can solve it in similar way:
var uidModalInstance = { close: function() {}, dismiss: function() {} };
$ctrl = $controller('ModalInstanceCtrl', {
$scope: $scope,
$uibModalInstance: uidModalInstance
});
or as said #yvesmancera you can use jasmine.createSpy method instead, like:
var uidModalInstance = jasmine.createSpyObj('$uibModalInstance', ['close', 'dismiss']);
$ctrl = $controller('ModalInstanceCtrl', {
$scope: $scope,
$uibModalInstance: uidModalInstance
});

Follow below given steps:
Define stub for ModalInstance like give below
uibModalInstanceStub = {
close: sinon.stub(),
dismiss: sinon.stub()
};
Pass the modal instance stub while creating controller
function createController() {
return $controller(
ppcConfirmGapModalComponentFullName,
{
$scope: scopeStub,
$uibModalInstance: uibModalInstanceStub
});
}
});
Stub methods close(), dismiss() will get called as part of the tests
it('confirm modal - verify confirm action, on ok() call calls modalInstance close() function', function() {
action = 'Ok';
scopeStub.item = testItem;
createController();
scopeStub.ok();
});

Angularjs How to communicate between two modals

What I am trying to do here is:
Type in the new language name and click "Add" button, the new language will be added into the existing object.
For example: the existing object: {"default": "English"}, When I type in "German", a new object is added like this: {"default": "English", "German": "German"}
Here is my PLUNKER.
Could someone help me on that? Thanks so much, I will appreciate!

I would prefer to use events. Just subscribe one piece on some event like:
$rootScope.$on('myEvent', function(event, info){
// do something
});
And another one will fire it:
scope.$broadcast('myEvent', info);
The system glitched when I was trying to save your plunkr or I don't have a permission so here the code:
var app = angular.module('plunker', ['ui.bootstrap']);
app.factory('Data', function(){
var data =
{
Language: ''
};
return {
setLanguage: function(language) {
data.Language = language;
}
}
})
var ModalDemoCtrl = function ($scope, $modal, $log) {
$scope.languages = {"sch": "Simple Chinese"};
$scope.$on('newLanguageAdded', function(e, lang){
$scope.languages[lang] = lang;
});
$scope.open = function () {
var modalInstance = $modal.open({
templateUrl: 'myModalContent.html',
controller: ModalInstanceCtrl,
resolve: {
languages: function () {
return $scope.languages;
},
newLanguage: function () {
return $scope.newLanguage;
}
}
});
};
};
// Please note that $modalInstance represents a modal window (instance) dependency.
// It is not the same as the $modal service used above.
var ModalInstanceCtrl = function ($scope, $modal, $modalInstance, languages, newLanguage) {
$scope.languages = languages;
$scope.ok = function () {
$modalInstance.close($scope.languages);
};
$scope.cancel = function () {
$modalInstance.dismiss('cancel');
};
$scope.openDialog = function () {
var modalInstance = $modal.open({
templateUrl: 'addNewLanguageDialog.html',
controller: AddNewLanguageCtrl,
});
}
var AddNewLanguageCtrl = function ($scope, $rootScope, $modalInstance, Data){
$scope.newValue = {text: ''};
$scope.$watch('newLanguage', function(newValue) {
if(newValue) Data.setLanguage(newValue);
});
$scope.add = function () {
alert($scope.newValue.text);
$rootScope.$broadcast('newLanguageAdded', $scope.newValue.text);
$modalInstance.close($scope.languages);
}
$scope.cancel = function () {
$modalInstance.dismiss('cancel');
}
}
};
You can just copy this piece into plunkr instead yours.
Also change the layout:
<div class="modal-body">
<input ng-model="newValue.text">
</div>
Let me know if something doesn't work

You need to use a service, by definition singletons, and inject it in both models, adding a watch to the array in the service and updating accordingly in the scope of every model, from the values in the service.

An angular-ui way to achieve what you need would be to use these two basic methodologies found in the angular-ui documentation. See associated plunker for the answer below.
First is to use the close(result) inside the Instance Controller of the modal which updates the result promise property of the Instance Controller
Second is to use the result promise property to get the result(s) passed on to the close() method
Inside The AddNewLanguageCtrl is something like this
$scope.data = {newLanguage: ""};
$scope.add = function() {
$scope.close(data.newLanguage);
};
Inside the your addNewLanguageDialog.html script template
instead of using
<input ng-model="newLanguage">
use this
<input ng-model="data.newLanguage">
This is because whenever a modal is created, a new scope is created under the $rootScope(default) if a scope is not passed on to the options when the $modal.open() is invoked as stated in the angular-ui documentation. If you use newLanguage as the model then it won't receive any updates inside the AddNewLanguageCtrl. You can read this to get a better understanding of what I'm talking about regarding scopes
Inside the first modal ModalInstanceCtrl is something like this
$scope.newLanguages = [];
$scope.openDialog = function () {
var modalInstance = $modal.open({
templateUrl: 'addNewLanguageDialog.html',
controller: AddNewLanguageCtrl,
});
modalInstance.result.then(function(newLanguage) {
if(newLanguage)
$scope.newLanguages.push(newLanguage);
});
};
And then in your ModalDemoCtrl
$scope.languages = [];
$scope.open = function () {
var modalInstance = $modal.open({
templateUrl: 'myModalContent.html',
controller: ModalInstanceCtrl
});
modalInstance.result.then(function(languages) {
$scope.languages = $scope.languages.concat(languages);
});
};