We Keep Coding

Passing Function Arguments with Isolated and Share scopes with Angular Directives

I have 3 directive with isolate scope and share scope and I want pass a function beteween outermost a innermost directive. The outer and middle has isolate scopes and the middle with inner share the scope. Any suggest ?
Pass the functions of my controller as shown below .
<outer on-edit="helloWorld" ng-model="model" ng-repeat="items in items.objects" ></outer>
In my controller:
$scope.helloWorld = function(){
alert('Hello world');
}
My directive:
angular.module('myApp')
.directive('outer', function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
scope: {
item: "=ngModel",
onEdit: '&'
},
template: '<div><middle on-edit='onEdit'></middle></div>',
controller : function($scope){
$scope.edit = function(){
$scope.onEdit()();
}
}
};
})
.directive('middle', function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
replace: true,
scope: {
item : '=ngModel',
onEdit : '&'
},
templateUrl: '<div><inner on-edit='onEdit'></inner></div>'
};
})
.directive('inner', function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
template: '<div><a ng-click='edit()'>Edit</a></div>'
};
})
And this not work, any ideas?
Thanks

This looks a bad design though, but in the middle directive's template you are using inner directive as follows:
<div><inner on-edit='onEdit'></inner></div>
If you look at it, inner directive has no scope, so the attribute on-edit doesn't make sense there.
If you want to use any method that is present in middle directive can be directly used in inner directive because of shared scope. Think of inner directive as a part of html written in some other html file which will be replaced at run time.
So anything you pass to middle directive is implicitly passed to inner.

Directive accessing to parent controller function without $scope

So I have this directive that has its own scope but I want to access to a function inside its parent controller. I can do this if the parent controller exposes the function with a $scope.getElementsList(), although I'm trying to avoid the use of $scope and I have the function exposed with self.getElementsList() and the directive cannot reach it.
Directive:
angular.module('myApp').directive('accountBalance', function() {
return {
scope: {
elementId: '=elementid'
},
transclude: true,
restrict: 'E',
templateUrl: '../views_directives/account-balance.html',
controller: function($scope) {
$scope.removeElement = function(){
//this where I want to access the parent function
console.log($scope.$parent.getElementsList());
console.log("ALSO I WANT TO ACCESS THIS DIRECTIVE elementId WITHOUT USING $scope", $scope.elementId);
}
}
};
});
ParentController:
angular.module('myApp').controller('AppDesignCtrl', function ($scope) {
var self = this;
self.elementsList = [];
self.getElementsList = function(){
return self.elementsList;
}
});
I also want to know what is the best way to access, inside the directive controller, the data passed to the directive's $scope.
scope: {
elementId: '=elementid'
},
UPDATE
<div>
<i class="fa fa-arrows element-drag"></i>
<i class="fa fa-trash-o element-remove" ng-click="removeElement()"></i>
</div>
And what about calling functions from the directive template inside the controller of the directive? Do I need to expose them with something like $scope.removeElement()? How do I use this.removeElement() and be able to access it from the template?
Sorry about the long question. I'm trying to set the best practices to my new project since I've been away from angular for a year+.
Thanks in advance

(Going from bottom to top...)
To call functions in the controller without using the scope in Angular >= 1.2, use the controllerAs syntax:
<div ng-controller="AppDesignCtrl as appDesignCtrl">
...
<i class="fa fa-trash-o element-remove" ng-click="appDesignCtrl.removeElement()"></i>
</div>
And removeElement() must be a method of the controller:
angular.module('myApp').controller('AppDesignCtrl', function ($scope) {
...
this.removeElement = function() {
...
};
});
To access the scope data from the controller in Angular >= 1.3, use the new bindToController: true configuration (this is especially useful when combined with the new controllerAs syntax):
angular.module('myApp').directive('accountBalance', function() {
return {
...
scope: {
elementId: '=elementid'
},
controller: function() {
// now elementId is a member of the controller:
console.log(this.elementId);
}
};
});
Having said these, the answer to how you can call getElementsList from the directive would be:
angular.module('myApp').directive('accountBalance', function() {
return {
...
scope: {
elementId: '=elementid',
getElementList: '&'
},
controller: function() {
...
// invoking the expression that was passed to us
var theElements = this.getElementList();
}
};
});
The correct expression should be passed as:
<div ng-controller="AppDesignCtrl as appDesignCtrl">
<account-balance element-id="xxx"
get-elements-list="appDesignCtrl.getElementsList()"></account-balance>
</div>

It is generally not recommended, because directives are meant to be self-contained. It isn't critical if you don't plan to reuse the directive. And wise usage of isolate scope can solve this.
angular.module('myApp').directive('accountBalance', function() {
return {
scope: {
outerScope: '#'
elementId: '='
},
transclude: true,
restrict: 'E',
templateUrl: '../views_directives/account-balance.html',
controller: function($scope) {
console.log("we can use anything from other controller", $scope.outerScope.elementsList)
$scope.elementId = "and share data with any other scope";
}
};
});
Controller is defined as ng-controller="AppDesignCtrl as appDesign", and directive usage is
<account-balance element-id="sharedParentScopeVar" outer-scope="appDesign">
So there won't be any problem if the directive should be moved to other controller.
I guess 'best practice' may be to set up a service that embraces the data and is used by both app controller and directive, so directive controller operates on data items and not DOM elements.
And what about calling functions from the directive template inside
the controller of the directive? Do I need to expose them with
something like $scope.removeElement()?
You surely don't. If there's a need to use functions from outside, you're doing something wrong. Send a message to respective element to run the function if it is DOM-related. Or put the function into the service if it is data-related.

Multiple directives with individual scopes for one element

Can the one element have multiple directives with individual scopes?
Let's say, we have custom directive's child with the controller's scope and any directive (here is "ng-class"):
<custom-directive data-model="model">
<input class="child" data-ng-class="controllerScopeValue">
</custom-directive>
Now we want to add extra directive with isolated scope to the child. Something like this:
angular.module('core').directive('customDirective', [function($compile) {
return {
scope: {
'model': '='
},
compile: function(templateElement, templateAttrs) {
templateElement.children().attr('data-ng-model', 'directiveScopeValue');
return function($scope) {
$scope.directiveScopeValue = 'directive\'s scope value';
}
}
};
}]);
So, how to keep individual scopes for each directive?

no that is not possible, if you try to do it, you will get error similar to
Multiple directives [myDirective1, myDirective2] asking for new/isolated scope
plunker
ignore below dummy code
app.directive('myDirective1', ['$document',
function ($document) {
return {
restrict: 'A',
replace: false,
scope : {},
and
app.directive('myDirective2', ['$document',
function ($document) {
return {
restrict: 'A',
replace: false,
scope : {},

How can I pass a binding expression as text into a directive isolation scope?

I'm creating a custom directive similar to a list-box. This is my directive definition:
angular.module('Utilities')
.directive('searchList', [
function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
templateUrl: '/app/scripts/Utilities/search/search.html',
controller: 'SearchCtrl',
scope: {
itemsSource: '=',
itemTemplate: '#',
filterText: '=?',
selectedItem: '=?',
}
};
}
]);
Here's how I want to use it in my view:
<search-list items-source="productsSource"
item-template="{{item.Name}} Selling for: {{item.Price}}"
selected-item="selectedProduct" />
Both productsSource and selectedProduct come from the view's scope (they work fine). I want item-template to be taken straight up as text (there is no item object in the scope used by my view).
Inside SearchCtrl I obtain the items to show in my search-list, and then I want to apply that item-template to each item (through the use of the $compile service).
The problem is that inside SearchCtrl $scope.itemTemplate is equal to Selling for: (the {{}} syntax was resolved, not passed as text)
tl;dr
My search.html template looks like this:
<li ng-repeat="item in itemsDataSource" ng-class-odd="'oddRow'" ng-class-even="'evenRow'">
<div class="searchResultsItem" ng-click="onItemSelected(item)">
<span compile="internalItemTemplate"></span>
</div>
</li>
Since itemTemplate is one-way binding, the SearchCtrl will reassign it to internalItemTemplate.
if (typeof $scope.itemTemplate === 'undefined') {
$scope.internalItemTemplate = '{{item}}';
} else {
$scope.internalItemTemplate = $scope.itemTemplate;
}
The compile directive on the span tag was borrowed from: Angular Docs for $compile
It looks like this:
angular.module('Utilities')
.directive('compile', ['$compile',
function ($compile) {
// directive factory creates a link function
return function (scope, element, attrs) {
scope.$watch(
function (scope) {
// watch the 'compile' expression for changes
return scope.$eval(attrs.compile);
},
function (value) {
// when the 'compile' expression changes
// assign it into the current DOM
element.html(value);
// compile the new DOM and link it to the current
// scope.
// NOTE: we only compile .childNodes so that
// we don't get into infinite loop compiling ourselves
$compile(element.contents())(scope);
}
);
};
}
]);
If I hard-code $scope.internalItemTemplate in SearchCtrl to be '{{item.Name}} Selling for: {{item.Price}}', than it works.
How do I get my directive to allow the passing of {{}} without trying to resolve it?

Changing the scope type from # to = and then surrounding it in quotes worked.
The directive would look like this:
angular.module('Utilities')
.directive('searchList', [
function () {
return {
restrict: 'E',
templateUrl: '/app/scripts/Utilities/search/search.html',
controller: 'SearchCtrl',
scope: {
itemsSource: '=',
itemTemplate: '=',
filterText: '=?',
selectedItem: '=?',
}
};
}
]);
and the view would look like this:
<search-list items-source="productsSource"
item-template="'{{item.Name}} Selling for: {{item.Price}}'"
selected-item="selectedProduct" />

ng-repeat inside custom directive

So I'm struggling with passing the scope to my custom directives.
Here's my html
<li ng-repeat="post in posts | filter:search | orderBy:sortField:reverse" class="archives-listing" ng-class="{'last-border':$last}">
<archive-notes></archive-notes>
</li>
Here's my directives
app.directive('archiveNotes', function(){
return {
restrict: 'E',
transclude: true,
scope: {
notes: '#',
paths: '#'
},
controller: function($scope) {
},
templateUrl: '/wp-content/themes/twentythirteen/js/angular/templates/notes.html'
}
})
app.directive('archiveFolders', function(){
return {
require: '^archiveNotes',
restrict: 'E',
transclude: true,
scope: {
path: '#'
},
link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
},
templateUrl: '/wp-content/themes/twentythirteen/js/angular/templates/folders.html'
}
});
here are my templates.
notes.html
<div ng-class="{'found' : find(post.paths[$index], search)}" class="arch-notes">
<div ng-bind-html="is_NotesEmpty(post.notes)">{{post.notes}}</div>
<archive-folders></archive-folders>
</div>
folders.html
<div ng-repeat="path in post.paths | filter:search track by $index" ng-transclude>
<span class="arch-paths">{{path}}</span>
</div>
I left several things blank i.e controller and link because at this point i was just trying to figure how to make everything show up first before i start manipulating the DOM
I followed the example in the angularjs documentation, and it got me this far. I guess cant seem to figure out how to access the scope?
Any help is appreciated.

Based on your templates, it seems that your archiveNotes directive definition should actually look like this:
app.directive('archiveNotes', function(){
return {
...
scope: {
post: '='
},
...
}
})
To get the post variable passed in from ng-repeat's scope, you also need to set the post attribute on the directive's element:
<archive-notes post="post"></archive-notes>
Similarly, you need to set it on the child directive:
app.directive('archiveFolders', function(){
return {
...
scope: {
post: '='
},
...
}
});
... and change your notes.html template:
<archive-folders post="post"></archive-folders>
Isolate scope is sort of like a firewall, where you can set exceptions, in this case on specific scope variables. All we're doing here is setting those exceptions in the directive definitions, then passing them through using the attribute on the elements.
These videos by John Lindquist really shed some light on isolate scope for me:
Understanding Isolate Scope
Isolate Scope '#'
Isolate Scope '='
Isolate Scope '&'