Creating and consuming custom directives
Directives are one of most powerful features of angularjs. Custom angularjs directives are used to extend functionality of html by either creating new html elements or by creating new custom attribute, class to provide certain behavior to an html tag
directive.js
// Create the App module if you haven't created it yet
var demoApp= angular.module("demoApp", []);
// If you already have the app module created, comment the above line and create a reference of the app module
var demoApp = angular.module("demoApp");
// Create a directive using the below syntax
// Directives are used to extend the capabilities of html element
// You can either create it as an Element/Attribute/class
// We are creating a directive named demoDirective. Notice it is in CamelCase when we are defining the directive just like ngModel
// This directive will be activated as soon as any this element is encountered in html
demoApp.directive('demoDirective', function () {
// This returns a directive definition object
// A directive definition object is a simple JavaScript object used for configuring the directive’s behaviour,template..etc
return {
// restrict: 'AE', signifies that directive is Element/Attribute directive,
// "E" is for element, "A" is for attribute, "C" is for class, and "M" is for comment.
// Attributes are going to be the main ones as far as adding behaviors that get used the most.
// If you don't specify the restrict property it will default to "A"
restrict :'AE',
// The values of scope property decides how the actual scope is created and used inside a directive. These values can be either “false”, “true” or “{}”. This creates an isolate scope for the directive.
// '@' binding is for passing strings. These strings support {{}} expressions for interpolated values.
// '=' binding is for two-way model binding. The model in parent scope is linked to the model in the directive's isolated scope.
// '&' binding is for passing a method into your directive's scope so that it can be called within your directive.
// The method is pre-bound to the directive's parent scope, and supports arguments.
scope: {
name: "=", // Always use small casing here even if it's a mix of 2-3 words
},
// template replaces the complete element with its text.
template: "<div>Hello {{name}}!</div>",
// compile is called during application initialization. AngularJS calls it once when html page is loaded.
compile: function(element, attributes) {
element.css("border", "1px solid #cccccc");
// linkFunction is linked with each element with scope to get the element specific data.
var linkFunction = function($scope, element, attributes) {
element.html("Name: <b>"+$scope.name +"</b>");
element.css("background-color", "#ff00ff");
};
return linkFunction;
}
};
});
This directive can then be used in App as :
<html>
<head>
<title>Angular JS Directives</title>
</head>
<body>
<script src = "http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.3.14/angular.min.js"></script>
<script src="directive.js"></script>
<div ng-app = "demoApp">
<!-- Notice we are using Spinal Casing here -->
<demo-directive name="World"></demo-directive>
</div>
</body>
</html>
Directive Definition Object Template
demoApp.directive('demoDirective', function () {
var directiveDefinitionObject = {
multiElement:
priority:
terminal:
scope: {},
bindToController: {},
controller:
controllerAs:
require:
restrict:
templateNamespace:
template:
templateUrl:
transclude:
compile:
link: function(){}
};
return directiveDefinitionObject;
});
multiElement
- set to true and any DOM nodes between the start and end of the directive name will be collected and grouped together as directive elementspriority
- allows specification of the order to apply directives when multiple directives are defined on a single DOM element. Directives with higher numbers are compiled first.terminal
- set to true and the current priority will be the last set of directives to executescope
- sets scope of the directivebind to controller
- binds scope properties directly to directive controllercontroller
- controller constructor functionrequire
- require another directive and inject its controller as the fourth argument to the linking functioncontrollerAs
- name reference to the controller in the directive scope to allow the controller to be referenced from the directive template.restrict
- restrict directive to Element, Attribute, Class, or CommenttemplateNameSpace
- sets document type used by directive template: html, svg, or math. html is the defaulttemplate
- html markup that defaults to replacing the content of the directive's element, or wraps the contents of the directive element if transclude is truetemplateUrl
- url provided asynchronously for the templatetransclude
- Extract the contents of the element where the directive appears and make it available to the directive. The contents are compiled and provided to the directive as a transclusion function.compile
- function to transform the template DOMlink
- only used if the compile property is not defined. The link function is responsible for registering DOM listeners as well as updating the DOM. It is executed after the template has been cloned.
How to create resuable component using directive
AngularJS directives are what controls the rendering of the HTML inside an AngularJS application. They can be an Html element, attribute, class or a comment. Directives are used to manipulate the DOM, attaching new behavior to HTML elements, data binding and many more. Some of examples of directives which angular provides are ng-model, ng-hide, ng-if.
Similarly one can create his own custom directive and make them resuable. For creating Custom directives Reference. The sense behind creating reusable directives is to make a set of directives/components written by you just like angularjs provides us using angular.js . These reusable directives can be particularly very helpful when you have suite of applications/application which requires a consistent behavior, look and feel. An example of such reusable component can be a simple toolbar which you may want to use across your application or different applications but you want them to behave the same or look the same.
Firstly , Make a folder named resuableComponents in your app Folder and make reusableModuleApp.js
reusableModuleApp.js:
(function(){
var reusableModuleApp = angular.module('resuableModuleApp', ['ngSanitize']);
//Remember whatever dependencies you have in here should be injected in the app module where it is intended to be used or it's scripts should be included in your main app
//We will be injecting ng-sanitize
resubaleModuleApp.directive('toolbar', toobar)
toolbar.$inject=['$sce'];
function toolbar($sce){
return{
restrict :'AE',
//Defining below isolate scope actually provides window for the directive to take data from app that will be using this.
scope : {
value1: '=',
value2: '=',
},
}
template : '<ul> <li><a ng-click="Add()" href="">{{value1}}</a></li> <li><a ng-click="Edit()" href="#">{{value2}}</a></li> </ul> ',
link : function(scope, element, attrs){
//Handle's Add function
scope.Add = function(){
};
//Handle's Edit function
scope.Edit = function(){
};
}
}
});
mainApp.js:
(function(){
var mainApp = angular.module('mainApp', ['reusableModuleApp']); //Inject resuableModuleApp in your application where you want to use toolbar component
mainApp.controller('mainAppController', function($scope){
$scope.value1 = "Add";
$scope.value2 = "Edit";
});
});
index.html:
<!doctype html>
<html ng-app="mainApp">
<head>
<title> Demo Making a reusable component
<head>
<body ng-controller="mainAppController">
<!-- We are providing data to toolbar directive using mainApp'controller -->
<toolbar value1="value1" value2="value2"></toolbar>
<!-- We need to add the dependent js files on both apps here -->
<script src="js/angular.js"></script>
<script src="js/angular-sanitize.js"></script>
<!-- your mainApp.js should be added afterwards --->
<script src="mainApp.js"></script>
<!-- Add your reusable component js files here -->
<script src="resuableComponents/reusableModuleApp.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Directive are reusable components by default. When you make directives in separate angular module, It actually makes it exportable and reusable across different angularJs applications. New directives can simply be added inside reusableModuleApp.js and reusableModuleApp can have it's own controller, services, DDO object inside directive to define the behavior.
Basic Directive example
superman-directive.js
angular.module('myApp', [])
.directive('superman', function() {
return {
// restricts how the directive can be used
restrict: 'E',
templateUrl: 'superman-template.html',
controller: function() {
this.message = "I'm superman!"
},
controllerAs: 'supermanCtrl',
// Executed after Angular's initialization. Use commonly
// for adding event handlers and DOM manipulation
link: function(scope, element, attributes) {
element.on('click', function() {
alert('I am superman!')
});
}
}
});
superman-template.html
<h2>{{supermanCtrl.message}}</h2>
index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Document</title>
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.5.0/angular.js"></script>
<script src="superman-directive.js"><script/>
</head>
<body>
<div ng-app="myApp">
<superman></superman>
</div>
</body>
</html>
You can check out more about directive's restrict
and link
functions on AngularJS's official documentation on Directives
Basic directive with template and an isolated scope
Creating a custom directive with isolated scope will separate the scope inside the directive from the outside scope, in order to prevent our directive from accidentally change the data in the parent scope and restricting it from reading private data from the parent scope.
To create an isolated scope and still allow our custom directive to communicate with the outside scope, we can use the scope
option that describe how to map the bindings of the directive's inner scope with the outside scope.
The actual bindings are made with extra attributes attached to the directive. The binding settings are defined with the scope
option and an object with key-value pairs:
- A key, which is corresponded to our directive's isolated scope property
- A value, which tells Angular how do bind the directive inner scope to a matching attribute
Simple example of a directive with an isolated scope:
var ProgressBar = function() {
return {
scope: { // This is how we define an isolated scope
current: '=', // Create a REQUIRED bidirectional binding by using the 'current' attribute
full: '=?maxValue' // Create an OPTIONAL (Note the '?'): bidirectional binding using 'max-value' attribute to the `full` property in our directive isolated scope
}
template: '<div class="progress-back">' +
' <div class="progress-bar"' +
' ng-style="{width: getProgress()}">' +
' </div>' +
'</div>',
link: function(scope, el, attrs) {
if (scope.full === undefined) {
scope.full = 100;
}
scope.getProgress = function() {
return (scope.current / scope.size * 100) + '%';
}
}
}
}
ProgressBar.$inject = [];
angular.module('app').directive('progressBar', ProgressBar);
Example how to use this directive and bind data from the controller's scope to the directive's inner scope:
Controller:
angular.module('app').controller('myCtrl', function($scope) {
$scope.currentProgressValue = 39;
$scope.maxProgressBarValue = 50;
});
View:
<div ng-controller="myCtrl">
<progress-bar current="currentProgressValue"></progress-bar>
<progress-bar current="currentProgressValue" max-value="maxProgressBarValue"></progress-bar>
</div>
Building a reusable component
Directives can be used to build reusable components. Here is an example of a "user box" component:
userBox.js
angular.module('simpleDirective', []).directive('userBox', function() {
return {
scope: {
username: '=username',
reputation: '=reputation'
},
templateUrl: '/path/to/app/directives/user-box.html'
};
});
Controller.js
var myApp = angular.module('myApp', ['simpleDirective']);
myApp.controller('Controller', function($scope) {
$scope.user = "John Doe";
$scope.rep = 1250;
$scope.user2 = "Andrew";
$scope.rep2 = 2850;
});
myPage.js
<html lang="en" ng-app="myApp">
<head>
<script src="/path/to/app/angular.min.js"></script>
<script src="/path/to/app/js/controllers/Controller.js"></script>
<script src="/path/to/app/js/directives/userBox.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div ng-controller="Controller">
<user-box username="user" reputation="rep"></user-box>
<user-box username="user2" reputation="rep2"></user-box>
</div>
</body>
</html>
user-box.html
<div>{{username}}</div>
<div>{{reputation}} reputation</div>
The result will be:
John Doe
1250 reputation
Andrew
2850 reputation
Directive decorator
Sometimes you may need additional features from a directive. Instead of rewriting (copy) the directive, you can modify how the directive behaves.
The decorator will be executed during $inject phase.
To do so, provde a .config to your module. The directive is called myDirective, so you have to config myDirectiveDirective. (this in an angular convention [read about providers] ).
This example will change the templateUrl of the directive:
angular.module('myApp').config(function($provide){
$provide.decorator('myDirectiveDirective', function($delegate){
var directive = $delegate[0]; // this is the actual delegated, your directive
directive.templateUrl = 'newTemplate.html'; // you change the directive template
return $delegate;
})
});
This example add an onClick event to the directive element when clicked, this happens during compile phase.
angular.module('myApp').config(function ($provide) {
$provide.decorator('myDirectiveTwoDirective', function ($delegate) {
var directive = $delegate[0];
var link = directive.link; // this is directive link phase
directive.compile = function () { // change the compile of that directive
return function (scope, element, attrs) {
link.apply(this, arguments); // apply this at the link phase
element.on('click', function(){ // when add an onclick that log hello when the directive is clicked.
console.log('hello!');
});
};
};
return $delegate;
});
});
Similar approach can be used for both Providers and Services.
Directive definition
A directive is simply a function that we run on a particular
DOM element. The function is expected to provide extra functionality on the element.
A directive is defined using the .directive()
method, one of the many methods available on application’s Angular module.
The directive()
method takes two arguments:
name (string)
The name of the directive as a string that we’ll refer to inside of our views.
factory_function (function)
The factory function returns an object that defines how the directive behaves. It is expected to return
an object providing options that tell the $compile
service how the directive should behave when it
is invoked in the DOM.
angular.module('myApp', [])
.directive('myDirective', function() {
return {
restrict: String,
priority: Number,
terminal: Boolean,
template: String or Template Function:
function(tElement, tAttrs) (...},
templateUrl: String,
replace: Boolean or String,
scope: Boolean or Object,
transclude: Boolean,
controller: String or
function(scope, element, attrs, transclude, otherInjectables) { ... },
controllerAs: String,
require: String,
link: function(scope, iElement, iAttrs) { ... },
compile: return an Object OR
function(tElement, tAttrs, transclude) {
return {
pre: function(scope, iElement, iAttrs, controller) { ... },
post: function(scope, iElement, iAttrs, controller) { ... }
}
// or
return function postLink(...) { ... }
}
};
});
Directive inheritance and interoperability
Angular js directives can be nested or be made interoperable.
In this example, directive Adir exposes to directive Bdir it's controller $scope, since Bdir requires Adir.
angular.module('myApp',[]).directive('Adir', function () {
return {
restrict: 'AE',
controller: ['$scope', function ($scope) {
$scope.logFn = function (val) {
console.log(val);
}
}]
}
})
Make sure to set require: '^Adir' (look at the angular documentation, some versions doesn't require ^ character).
.directive('Bdir', function () {
return {
restrict: 'AE',
require: '^Adir', // Bdir require Adir
link: function (scope, elem, attr, Parent) {
// Parent is Adir but can be an array of required directives.
elem.on('click', function ($event) {
Parent.logFn("Hello!"); // will log "Hello! at parent dir scope
scope.$apply(); // apply to parent scope.
});
}
}
}]);
You can nest your directive in this way:
<div a-dir><span b-dir></span></div>
<a-dir><b-dir></b-dir> </a-dir>
Is not required that directives are nested in your HTML.