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manual bootstrap angular with http calls

I have a WebAPI service that returns dynamic configuration data. Before my angular app loads I would like to call that service and load the config data into angular. JSFiddle of my attempt at doing that. My question is, after seeing the string test in the console I am seeing nothing else written into the console. How do I get test 2 and wierd wierd to appear into the console
var app = angular.module('app', [])
app.provider("ConfigService", function () {
var self = this;
self.Settings = {};
self.config = function (data) {
console.log(data);
};
this.$get =
function($http) {
return self;
};
});
angular.element(document).ready(function($http) {
console.log('test')
angular.module('app').config([
'ConfigServiceProvider',
function(configService) {
console.log('test 2')
$http.get('http://www.google.com').then(function(result) {
console.log('wierd wierd')
configService.config(result);
angular.bootstrap(document, ['app']);
})
}
]);
});
EDIT
In response to the question, why I do not run this in app.run phase instead.
In the app.run phase the app is still initializing and sometimes it loads up prior to my configuration section being completed. I wanted 100% guarantee that my config section is loaded first before any of the app is.

You can use $http outside of your angular module with angular.injector. With $http you can request the config from your server and bootstrap your app when $http's promise resolves.
JS Fiddle
Create module
var app = angular.module("app", []);
app.provider("configService", function () {
var configService = {
config: {}
};
this.setConfig = function (config) { configService.config = config; };
this.$get = function() { return configService; };
});
Function that fetches config from server
function fetchConfig() {
var $http = angular.injector(["ng"]).get("$http");
return $http.get("http://www.google.com");
}
Function that bootstraps app
function bootstrap(config) {
app.config(["configServiceProvider", function (configServiceProvider) {
configServiceProvider.setConfig(config);
}]).run(["configService", function (configService) {
//Not necessary, just to confirm everything worked
console.log("YAY! You have a config:", configService.config);
}]);
angular.bootstrap(document, ["app"])
}
Put it all together!
fetchConfig().then(
/*sucess*/function (config) { angular.element(document).ready(function () { bootstrap(config); }); },
/*fail*/ function (err) { console.log("UH OH could not retrieve config!", err); });

EDIT: Please use #StevenWexler 's answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/37599857/5670592. It is much more correct, uses a nifty angular feature ($inject), and will provide configuration before the beginning of the bootstrap cycle.
I have updated the application with your constraints regarding blocking execution until API call is complete.
Try this: https://jsfiddle.net/6svnemu8/3/
I moved the code to the module.run(...) block. This is where all providers are available and you can use $http and your ConfigService. I kept the bootstrap call in the document ready function, and I also added the $q service so you can block execution of the application until the API call is complete. You can verify this by looking at the order of the test outputs in the console:
angular.module('app').run([
'ConfigService', '$http', '$q',
function(configService, $http, $q) {
console.log('test 2');
var deferred = $q.defer();
$http.get('/6svnemu8/2/').then(function(result) {
deferred.resolve(result);
}, function(result){
deferred.reject(result);
});
console.log("test 3");
deferred.promise.then(function(result){
console.log('wierd wierd');
configService.config(result);
}, function(result){
console.log("call failed.");
});
}
]);

Option 1 -- if you have an MVC app
In your main razor view, use JSON.Net to serialize your Model (or a property on it) to JavaScript.
<script>
window.configuration = #(Html.Raw(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(Model)))
</script>
Then put it into an angular constant so you can inject it anywhere you need it, and it's guaranteed to be there. This is the most convenient way to do it.
angular.module('YourModule').constant('configuration', window.configuration);
Option 2 -- loading it asynchronously
This service will load the configuration and cache the promise.
angular.module('YourModule').factory('configuration', ['$http', function($http) {
var configurationLoaded;
var service = {
get: get
};
function get() {
if(configurationLoaded) return configurationLoaded;
configurationLoaded = $http.get( ... );
return configurationLoaded;
}
return service;
}]);
Then anywhere you need it, you'll have to pull out properties from it like this:
angular.module('YourModule').controller('SomeController', ['configuration', function(configuration) {
var vm = this;
configuration.get().then(function(config) {
vm.someSetting = config.someSetting;
});
}]);

Angular - Best practice for retrieving data from a Factory method

I'm looking for some information on the best way to retrieve data from a local JSON file and handle the response. After browsing through Stack Overflow, I have some mixed thoughts as I've seen multiple ways of doing the same thing (although no explanation on why one may or may not be preferred).
Essentially, I have an Angular app that is utilising a factory to retrieve data from a JSON file; I'm then waiting for the response to resolve in my controller before using it in my html file, similar to the below:
Option 1
Factory:
comparison.factory('Info', ['$http', function($http) {
var retrievalFile = 'retrievalFile.json';
return {
retrieveInfo: function() {
return $http.get(retrievalFile);
}
}
}]);
Controller:
comparison.controller('comparisonController', ['$scope', 'Info', function($scope, Info) {
Info.retrieveInfo().then(function(response) {
$scope.info = response.data;
});
}]);
My main point of contention is figuring out when it's best to wait for the response to resolve, or if it even matters. I'm toying with the idea of having the factory return the fulfilled promise, and wait for the controller to retrieve the data also. In my view, it's best to abstract all data retrieval out of the controller and into the factory, but I'm not sure if this extends to waiting for the actual data to be returned within the factory itself. With this in mind, I'm confused about whether to opt for option 1 or option 2 and would really appreciate some feedback from more experienced/qualified developers!
Option 2
Factory:
comparison.factory('Info', ['$http', function($http) {
var retrievalFile = 'retrievalFile.json';
return {
retrieveInfo: function() {
return $http.get(retrievalFile).then(function(response) {
return response.data;
});
}
}
}]);
Controller:
comparison.controller('comparisonController', ['$scope', 'Info', function($scope, Info) {
Info.retrieveInfo().then(function(response) {
$scope.info = response;
});
}]);
Thank you for any input/suggestions in advance!

It depends on what your controller is expecting and how you set up your application. Generally, I always go with the second option. Its because I usually have global error or success handlers in all api requests and I have a shared api service. Something like below.
var app = angular.module('app', []);
app.service('ApiService', ['$http', function($http) {
var get = function(url, params) {
$http.get(url, { params: params })
.then(handleSuccess, handleError);
};
// handle your global errors here
// implementation will vary based upon how you handle error
var handleError = function(response) {
return $q.reject(response);
};
// handle your success here
// you can return response.data or response based upon what you want
var handleSuccess = function(response) {
return response.data;
};
}]);
app.service('InfoService', ['ApiService', function(ApiService) {
var retrieveInfo = function() {
return ApiService.get(retrievalFile);
/**
// or return custom object that your controller is expecting
return ApiService.get.then(function(data) {
return new Person(data);
});
**//
};
// I prefer returning public functions this way
// as I can just scroll down to the bottom of service
// to see all public functions at one place rather than
// to scroll through the large file
return { retrieveInfo: retrieveInfo };
}]);
app.controller('InfoController', ['InfoService', function(InfoService) {
InfoService.retrieveInfo().then(function(info) {
$scope.info = info;
});
}])
Or if you are using router you can resolve the data into the controller. Both ngRouter and uiRouter support resolves:
$stateProvider.state({
name: 'info',
url: '/info',
controller: 'InfoController',
template: 'some template',
resolve: {
// this injects a variable called info in your controller
// with a resolved promise that you return here
info: ['InfoService', function(InfoService) {
return InfoService.retrieveInfo();
}]
}
});
// and your controller will be like
// much cleaner right
app.controller('InfoController', ['info', function(info) {
$scope.info = info;
}]);

It's really just preference. I like to think of it in terms of API. What is the API you want to expose? Do you want your controller to receive the entire response or do you want your controller to just have the data the response wraps? If you're only ever going to use response.data then option 2 works great as you never have to deal with anything but the data you're interested in.
A good example is the app we just wrote where I work. We have two apps: a back-end API and our front-end Angular application. We created an API wrapper service in the front-end application. In the service itself we place a .catch for any of the API endpoints that have documented error codes (we used Swagger to document and define our API). In that .catch we handle those error codes and return a proper error. When our controllers/directives consume the service they get back a much stricter set of data. If an error occurs then the UI is usually safe to just display the error message sent from the wrapper service and won't have to worry about looking at error codes.
Likewise for successful responses we do much of what you're doing in option 2. In many cases we refine the data down to what is minimally useful in the actual app. In this way we keep a lot of the data churning and formatting in the service and the rest of the app has a lot less to do. For instance, if we need to create an object based on that data we'll just do that in return the object to the promise chain so that controllers aren't doing that all over the place.

I would choose option two, as it your options are really mostly the same. But let see when we add a model structure like a Person suppose.
comparison.factory('Info', ['$http', function($http) {
var retrievalFile = 'retrievalFile.json';
return {
retrieveInfo: function() {
return $http.get(retrievalFile).then(function(response) {
//we will return a Person...
var data = response.data;
return new Person(data.name, data.age, data.gender);
});
}
}
}]);
This is really simple, but if you have to map more complex data into object models (you retrieve a list of people with their own items... etc), that's when things get more complicated, you will probably want to add a service to handle the mapping between data and models. Well you have another service DataMapper(example), if you choose your first option you will have to inject DataMapper into your controller and you will have to make your request through your factory, and map the response with the injected service. And then you probably say, Should I have all this code here? ... Well probably no.
That is an hypothetical case, something that count a lot is how you feel structuring your code, won't architecture it in a way you won't understand. And at the end take a look at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOLID_(object-oriented_design) and research more information about this principles but focused to javascript.

Good question. A couple of points:
Controllers should be view centric versus data centric therefore you
want remove data logic from the controller and rather have it focus
on business logic.
Models (M in MVC) are a data representation of your application and
will house the data logic. In Angular case this would be a service
or factory class as you rightfully pointed out. Why is that well for
example:
2.1 AccountsController (might have multiple data models injected)
2.1.1 UserModel
2.1.2 AuthModel
2.1.3 SubscriptionModel
2.1.4 SettingsModel
There are numerous ways to approach the data model approach, but I would say your service class should be the data REST model i.e. getting, storing, caching, validating, etc. I've included a basic example, but suggest you investigate JavaScript OOP as that will help point you in the right direction as to how to build data models, collections, etc.
Below is an example of service class to manage your data.Note I have not tested this code but it should give you a start.
EXAMPLE:
(function () {
'use strict';
ArticleController.$inject = ['$scope', 'Article'];
function ArticleController($scope, Article) {
var vm = this,
getArticles = function () {
return Article.getArticles()
.then(function (result) {
if (result) {
return vm.articles = result;
}
});
};
vm.getArticles = getArticles;
vm.articles = {};
// OR replace vm.articles with $scope if you prefer e.g.
$scope.articles = {};
$scope.userNgClickToInit = function () {
vm.getArticles();
};
// OR an init on document ready
// BUT to honest I would put all init logic in service class so all in calling is init in ctrl and model does the rest
function initArticles() {
vm.getArticles();
// OR chain
vm.getArticles()
.then(getCategories); // doesn't here, just an example
}
initArticles();
}
ArticleModel.$inject = ['$scope', '$http', '$q'];
function ArticleModel($scope, $http, $q) {
var model = this,
URLS = {
FETCH: 'data/articles.json'
},
articles;
function extract(result) {
return result.data;
}
function cacheArticles(result) {
articles = extract(result);
return articles;
}
function findArticle(id) {
return _.find(articles, function (article) {
return article.id === parseInt(id, 10);
})
}
model.getArticles = function () {
return (articles) ? $q.when(articles) : $http.get(URLS.FETCH).then(cacheArticles);
};
model.getArticleById = function (id) {
var deferred = $q.defer();
if (articles) {
deferred.resolve(findArticle(id))
} else {
model.getBookmarks().then(function () {
deferred.resolve(findArticle(id))
})
}
return deferred.promise;
};
model.createArticle = function (article) {
article.id = articles.length;
articles.push(article);
};
model.updateArticle = function (bookmark) {
var index = _.findIndex(articles, function (a) {
return a.id == article.id
});
articles[index] = article;
};
model.deleteArticle = function (article) {
_.remove(articles, function (a) {
return a.id == article.id;
});
};
}
angular.module('app.article.model', [])
.controller('ArticleController', ArticleController)
.service('Article', ArticleModel);
})()

Unit test AngularJs $resource query with params

I would like to know how to unit test AngularJs $resource query with params.
I have this:
services.js
angular.module('conciergeApp.services', ['ngResource'])
.factory('Reply', function($resource) {
return $resource('/api/reply/:id/');
});
controllers.js
conciergeControllers.controller('ReplyCtrl', ['$scope', 'Reply',
function($scope, Reply) {
$scope.hotel_replies = Reply.query({
hotel: $scope.hotel_id
});
}
]);
So, the API Endpoint that gets queried here is:
'/api/reply/?hotel=<hotel_id>'
// aka
'/api/reply/?hotel=1'
This works when manually tested, but how do you unit test this?
With Jasmine spyOn, or $httpBackend. Whichever would be fine?
Can this be used? I tried this pattern, but couldn't do it successfully:
spyOn(object, 'method').andCallFake(function({foo:bar}) {
return myMockObject
});

Example here using Jasmine 2.0 and htmlRunner. Explanation to follow:
So inside your ReplyCtrl unit test:
describe('ReplyCtrl Controller', function () {
var Reply;
var ReplyCtrl;
var $scope;
var ReplyQueryMock;
var HOTEL_ID = 1234;
beforeEach(module('conciergeApp'));
beforeEach(inject(function (_Reply_, $controller, $rootScope) {
// This object can be used throughout your controller unit test for the
// response of calling the Reply.query method
ReplyQueryMock = {};
Reply = _Reply_;
spyOn(Reply, 'query').and.returnValue(ReplyQueryMock);
$scope = $rootScope.$new();
$scope.hotel_id = HOTEL_ID;
ReplyCtrl = $controller('ReplyCtrl', {$scope: $scope});
}));
it('should populate hotel_replies', function () {
expect(Reply.query).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
hotel: HOTEL_ID
});
expect($scope.hotel_replies).toBe(ReplyQueryMock);
});
});
This will mock out your Reply service and return a mocked object for the query. You will verify that your $scope's hotel_replies is the result of calling Reply.query with the hotel_id that is present on $scope.
Edit: Presumably $resource has been unit tested for you (by Angular team!). You might just want to verify that you setup the resource with the correct URL rather than digging down into the internals of what $resource really does (like calling $http for example). Fiddle link above updated, and would look something like the following:
describe('Reply Resource', function () {
var Reply;
var $resource;
var ReplyResourceMock;
beforeEach(module('conciergeApp.services', function ($provide) {
// Mock out $resource here
$provide.factory('$resource', function () {
ReplyResourceMock = {};
var $resource = jasmine.createSpy('$resource');
$resource.and.returnValue(ReplyResourceMock);
return $resource;
});
}));
beforeEach(inject(function (_Reply_, _$resource_) {
Reply = _Reply_;
$resource = _$resource_;
}));
it('should initialize resource', function () {
expect($resource).toHaveBeenCalledWith('/api/reply/:id/');
expect(Reply).toBe(ReplyResourceMock);
});
});
From original answer, probably overkill since you use $resource to abstract $http (still shown in fiddle)
Then to verify $resource works correctly from your Reply factory/service, you will want to inject $httpBackend. You can verify that the proper REST endpoint is called with the correct data.

Return response in service

I'm trying to move my logic from controllers to Services, as I am still am new to AngularJS.
I'm trying to get some data from an internal API and return it to my Controller's scope, though the way I am doing it is returning an empty Object.
Here is my controller.
cbApp.controller('serversCtrl', function($scope, serversService){
$scope.servers = serversService.getServers();
console.log($scope.servers); // returns Object {}
});
And here is my service, which I am probably doing wrong.
cbApp.service('serversService', function($http){
var servers = {}
this.getServers = function(){
$http.get(BASE_URL + '/api/s').success(function(response){
servers = response.servers;
});
return servers;
}
});
Seems like servers = response.servers isn't getting attached after the get function.
What am I doing wrong?

Your promise has not completed when console.log($scope.servers); runs.
You should still handle the promise in your controller (until you move to using your router's resolve but one step at a time).
Here's how you'd change your code:
cbApp.controller('serversCtrl', function($scope, serversService){
serversService.getServers().success(function(servers) {
$scope.servers = servers;
});
});
cbApp.service('serversService', function($http){
this.getServers = function(){
return $http.get(BASE_URL + '/api/s');
}
});

UI-router interfers with $httpbackend unit test, angular js

This is a controller with a submit function:
$scope.submit = function(){
$http.post('/api/project', $scope.project)
.success(function(data, status){
$modalInstance.dismiss(true);
})
.error(function(data){
console.log(data);
})
}
}
This is my test
it('should make a post to /api/project on submit and close the modal on success', function() {
scope.submit();
$httpBackend.expectPOST('/api/project').respond(200, 'test');
$httpBackend.flush();
expect(modalInstance.dismiss).toHaveBeenCalledWith(true);
});
The error I get is:
Error: Unexpected request: GET views/appBar.html
views/appBar.html is my templateUrl:
.state('project', {
url: '/',
templateUrl:'views/appBar.html',
controller: 'ProjectsCtrl'
})
So somehow ui-router is making my $httpBackend point to this instead of my submit function. I have the same issue in all my tests using $httpBackend.
Is there any solution to this?

Take this gist
https://gist.github.com/wilsonwc/8358542
angular.module('stateMock',[]);
angular.module('stateMock').service("$state", function($q){
this.expectedTransitions = [];
this.transitionTo = function(stateName){
if(this.expectedTransitions.length > 0){
var expectedState = this.expectedTransitions.shift();
if(expectedState !== stateName){
throw Error("Expected transition to state: " + expectedState + " but transitioned to " + stateName );
}
}else{
throw Error("No more transitions were expected! Tried to transition to "+ stateName );
}
console.log("Mock transition to: " + stateName);
var deferred = $q.defer();
var promise = deferred.promise;
deferred.resolve();
return promise;
}
this.go = this.transitionTo;
this.expectTransitionTo = function(stateName){
this.expectedTransitions.push(stateName);
}
this.ensureAllTransitionsHappened = function(){
if(this.expectedTransitions.length > 0){
throw Error("Not all transitions happened!");
}
}
});
Add it to a file called stateMock in your test/mock folder, include that file in your karma config if it isn't already picked up.
The setup before your test should then look something like this:
beforeEach(module('stateMock'));
// Initialize the controller and a mock scope
beforeEach(inject(function ($state //other vars as needed) {
state = $state;
//initialize other stuff
}
Then in your test you should add
state.expectTransitionTo('project');

This Github issue about Unit Testing UI Router explains more fully what's happening.
The problem is that $httpBackend.flush() triggers a broadcast which then triggers the otherwise case of the stateProvider.
A simple solution can be to do the following setup, as mentionned by #darinclark in Github thread mentionned above. This is valid if you do not need to test state transitions. Otherwise have a look to #rosswil's answer that is inspired by #Vratislav answer on Github.
beforeEach(module(function ($urlRouterProvider) {
$urlRouterProvider.otherwise(function(){return false;});
}));
EDITED
Thanks to Chris T to report this in the comments, seems after v0.2.14? the best way to do this is to use
beforeEach(module(function($urlRouterProvider) {
$urlRouterProvider.deferIntercept();
}));

If you don't want to add gist files like it says in the correct solution you can add a "when" condition to your $httpBackend to ignore GET petitions of views like this:
$httpBackend.when("GET", function (url) {
// This condition works for my needs, but maybe you need to improve it
return url.indexOf(".tpl.html") !== -1;
}).passThrough();

I have the same error your commented, after a call service they ask me about the url of otherwise ui-route.
To solve the problem of call the otherwise ui-route in testing is not inject $state in beforeach statment. In my testing $state not have sense to use it.

Move your services to their own module that have no dependency on ui.router. have your main app depend on this module. When you test don’t test the main app, test the module that has your services in it. The stateprovider won’t try to change state/route because this module knows nothing about the ui.router. This worked for me.