Develop Reference

Bindings on directive with Isolate scope not in scope sometimes

So I have a directive with isolate scope and a controllerAs pattern.
var directive = {
restrict: 'E',
scope: {
something: '='
},
templateUrl: './App/directiveTemplate.html',
controller: directiveController,
controllerAs: 'vm',
bindToController: true
}
and in the controller I init with a call to a REST service using $http that returns a promise.
function directiveController(someService) {
var vm = this;
// Here vm.something is defined and bound to the appropriate model set where the directive is used
init()
function init() {
return someService.getProducts()
.then(productsReady);
function productsReady(response) {
vm.products = response;
//find product using vm.something
// here vm.something is undefined
return vm.products;
}
}
The problem is that if I breakpoint before the init() method vm.something is defined like it should be but in the productsReady function it is undefined.
Is that a normal behaviour? Is the promise resolving code in a different scope?

Use the $onInit Life-Cycle Hook to guarantee the timing of bindings:
function directiveController(someService) {
var vm = this;
̶i̶n̶i̶t̶(̶)̶
this.$onInit = init;
function init() {
return someService.getProducts()
.then(productsReady);
function productsReady(data) {
vm.products = data;
return vm.products;
}
}
From the Docs:
Initialization logic that relies on bindings being present should be put in the controller's $onInit() method, which is guaranteed to always be called after the bindings have been assigned.
.component('myComponent', {
bindings: {value: '<'},
controller: function() {
this.$onInit = function() {
// `this.value` will always be initialized,
// regardless of the value of `preAssignBindingsEnabled`.
this.doubleValue = this.value * 2;
};
}
})
— AngularJS Developer Guide - Migrating to V1.6 - $compile

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().

How to access a require'd controller from another controller?

I have an Angular 1.3 module that looks something like this (directive that requires the presence of a parent directive, using controllerAs):
angular.module('fooModule', [])
.controller('FooController', function ($scope) {
this.doSomething = function () {
// Accessing parentDirectiveCtrl via $scope
$scope.parentDirectiveCtrl();
};
})
.directive('fooDirective', function () {
return {
// Passing in parentDirectiveCtrl into $scope here
link: function link(scope, element, attrs, parentDirectiveCtrl) {
scope.parentDirectiveCtrl = parentDirectiveCtrl;
},
controller: 'FooController',
controllerAs: 'controller',
bindToController: true,
require: '^parentDirective'
};
});
Here I'm just using $scope to pass through parentDirectiveCtrl, which seems a little clunky.
Is there another way to access the require-ed controller from the directive's controller without the linking function?

You must use the link function to acquire the require-ed controllers, but you don't need to use the scope to pass the reference of the controller to your own. Instead, pass it directly to your own controller:
.directive('fooDirective', function () {
return {
require: ["fooDirective", "^parentDirective"],
link: function link(scope, element, attrs, ctrls) {
var me = ctrls[0],
parent = ctrls[1];
me.parent = parent;
},
controller: function(){...},
};
});
Be careful, though, since the controller runs prior to link, so within the controller this.parent is undefined, until after the link function runs. If you need to know exactly when that happens, you can always use a controller function to pass the parentDirective controller to:
link: function link(scope, element, attrs, ctrls) {
//...
me.registerParent(parent);
},
controller: function(){
this.registerParent = function(parent){
//...
}
}

There is a way to avoid using $scope to access parent controller, but you have to use link function.
Angular's documentation says:
Require
Require another directive and inject its controller as the fourth
argument to the linking function...
Option 1
Since controllerAs creates namespace in scope of your controller, you can access this namespace inside your link function and put required controller directly on controller of childDirective instead of using $scope. Then the code will look like this.
angular.module('app', []).
controller('parentController', function() {
this.doSomething = function() {
alert('parent');
};
}).
controller('childController', function() {
this.click = function() {
this.parentDirectiveCtrl.doSomething();
}
}).
directive('parentDirective', function() {
return {
controller: 'parentController'
}
}).
directive('childDirective', function() {
return {
template: '<button ng-click="controller.click()">Click me</button>',
link: function link(scope, element, attrs, parentDirectiveCtrl) {
scope.controller.parentDirectiveCtrl = parentDirectiveCtrl;
},
controller: 'childController',
controllerAs: 'controller',
bindToController: true,
require: '^parentDirective'
}
});
Plunker:
http://plnkr.co/edit/YwakJATaeuvUV2RBDTGr?p=preview
Option 2
I usually don't use controllers in my directives at all and share functionality via services. If you don't need to mess with isolated scopes of parent and child directives, simply inject the same service to both of them and put all functionality to service.
angular.module('app', []).
service('srv', function() {
this.value = '';
this.doSomething = function(source) {
this.value = source;
}
}).
directive('parentDirective', ['srv', function(srv) {
return {
template: '<div>' +
'<span ng-click="srv.doSomething(\'parent\')">Parent {{srv.value}}</span>' +
'<span ng-transclude></span>' +
'</div>',
transclude: true,
link: function(scope) { scope.srv = srv; }
};
}]).
directive('childDirective', ['srv', function(srv) {
return {
template: '<button ng-click="srv.doSomething(\'child\')">Click me</button>',
link: function link(scope) { scope.srv = srv; }
}
}]);
Plunker
http://plnkr.co/edit/R4zrXz2DBzyOuhugRU5U?p=preview

Good question! Angular lets you pass "parent" controller. You already have it as a parameter on your link function. It is the fourth parameter. I named it ctrl for simplicity. You do not need the scope.parentDirectiveCtrl=parentDirectiveCtrl line that you have.
.directive('fooDirective', function () {
return {
// Passing in parentDirectiveCtrl into $scope here
link: function link(scope, element, attrs, ctrl) {
// What you had here is not required.
},
controller: 'FooController',
controllerAs: 'controller',
bindToController: true,
require: '^parentDirective'};});
Now on your parent controller you have
this.doSomething=function().
You can access this doSomething as
ctrl.doSomething().

Accessing directive function from controller using $scope.$parent.$$childHead.functionName in AngularJS

I have created a directive.
angular.module('app')
.directive('navtree', function (service) {
return {
restrict: 'A',
scope: {},
link: function (scope, el) {
scope.loadNavtree = function(){
service.data()
.then(function (data) {
///Do something
});
}
scope.loadNavtree();
}
};
});
from my controller I can access the method using
$scope.$parent.$$childHead.loadNavtree();
Though this is working, I feel that this is not the right approach. I want to understand what are the disadvantages of accessing function defined in directive from your controller like this.
I looked this link but I was not able to follow
var app = angular.module('plunker', []);
app.controller('MainCtrl', function($scope) {
/// How to call takeTablet() available in directive from here?
});
app.directive('focusin', function factory() {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
template: '<div>A:{{internalControl}}</div>',
scope: {
control: '='
},
link : function (scope, element, attrs) {
scope.takeTablet = function() {
alert('from directive');//
}
}
};
});

this is not the correct approach because angular do not recommend to use its private variable to access to directive function so you need to get a good approach to do that here is an example to access the directive function from 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. In this way you can control also several instances of the same directive on a page.
plunkr
Controller/Directive:
var app = angular.module('plunker', []);
app.controller('MainCtrl', function($scope) {
$scope.focusinControl = {
};
});
app.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;
}
}
};
});
HTML:
<button ng-click="focusinControl.takeTablet()">Call directive function</button>
<h4>In controller scope:</h4>
{{focusinControl}}
<h4>In directive scope:</h4>
<focusin control="focusinControl"></focusin>
<h4>Without control object:</h4>
<focusin></focusin>

AngularJS: How do I call a function defined in a directive's scope from a controller?

I need to call a function which belongs to the $scope of a ng-directive used in my Angular application.
Let's say the directive is defined like this:
.directive('my-directive', ['$document', '$timeout', function ($document, $timeout) {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
scope: {
// ....
},
controller: ['$scope', function ($scope) {
$scope.myFunction= function (mouseEnter) {
// ...
};
}
};
}]);
I need to call myFunction from my controller (let's call it my-controller) which is the controller of the view where my directive is placed.
Is it possible to do it? (eventually modifying the directive)
EDIT : The already answered question provided (proposed for edit) is similar to mine by it's not clear to me or it doesn't apparently solve the specific problem I proposed.
EDIT 2: starting from Dan M. answer (without taking mouseenter/mouseleave in consideration. just trying to make the two controllers communicate with each other), I broadcasted my event to my directive's controller through $rootScope (as there is there is no parent-child relation between the two controllers) by:
console.log("let's broadcast the event.."); // this is printed
$rootScope.$broadcast('callDirectiveControllersFunction'); // I even tried with $scope in place of $rootScope and $emit in place of $broadcast
and by receving it (within the directive's controller) by:
var myFunction = function(){
// ...
}
$scope.$on('callDirectiveControllersFunction', function (){
console.log("event received"); // this is not printed
callMyFunction();
});
// I even tried using $rootScope in place of $scope
However in no case (see comments in code) the event is received

You can call a controller function inside the link block. You can also $emit an event in the directive and listen to the it in the controller (maybe there is a use case for that).
It seems that you want to call it on mouseenter. You can do that by binding to the mouseenter event in the directive link. The catch is you need to $apply the changes.
Take a look at the following piece of code, which contains all 3 examples: http://jsbin.com/cuvugu/8/. (also pasted below)
Tip: You might want to pay attention to how you name your directives. To use a directive as my-directive you need to name it as myDirective.
var app = angular.module('App', []);
app.directive('myDirective', function () {
function directiveLink(scope){
scope.$emit('customEvent');
}
return {
restrict: 'EA',
scope: {},
link: directiveLink,
controller: function ($scope) {
$scope.bar = 'bar';
$scope.myFunction = function () {
$scope.bar = 'foobar1';
};
$scope.$on('customEvent', function (){
$scope.myFunction();
});
},
template: "Foo {{bar}}"
};
});
app.directive('anotherDirective', function () {
function directiveLink(scope){
scope.myFunction();
}
return {
restrict: 'EA',
scope: {},
link: directiveLink,
controller: function ($scope) {
$scope.bar = 'bar';
$scope.myFunction = function () {
$scope.bar = 'foobar2';
};
},
template: "Foo {{bar}}"
};
});
app.directive('mouseDirective', function () {
function directiveLink(scope, element){
element.bind('mouseenter', function(){
scope.$apply(function(){
scope.myFunction();
});
});
element.bind('mouseleave', function(){
scope.$apply(function(){
scope.myOtherFunction();
});
});
}
return {
restrict: 'EA',
link: directiveLink,
controller: function ($scope) {
$scope.bar = 'no';
$scope.myFunction = function () {
$scope.bar = 'yes';
};
$scope.myOtherFunction = function () {
$scope.bar = 'no';
};
},
template: "Mouse Enter: {{bar}}"
};
});
I also included an example with a distinct controller in the JS Bin link. That doesn't really change anything, but it seems to be an important part of your question. Here's the code block:
var app = angular.module('App', []);
app.controller('myController', function($scope){
$scope.bar = 'foo';
$scope.myFunction = function(){
$scope.bar = 'foobar3';
};
});
app.directive('lastDirective', function () {
function directiveLink(scope){
scope.myFunction();
}
return {
restrict: 'EA',
scope: {},
link: directiveLink,
controller: 'myController',
template: "Foo {{bar}}"
};
});