Angular directive receiving object as attribute using Typescript

Question

I am developing using Angular 1.5.8 and Typescript I have a directive which is used under the scope of another directive (and another controller of course). Let's say Directive1, Controller1 and Directive2, Controller2. Given the Controller1 already has the user information, I would like to pass this user information to the Controller2 through the Directive2, to prevent from fetching the information again from the backend. I am not sure if this can be done, but it would be nice if that's the case :)

Below is the code to help my explanation:

Directive1 HTML:

<div>
    ...
    <directive2 user="{{ctrl.loggedUser}}"></directive2>
    ...
</div>

loggedUser is loaded in Controller1 constructor through a call to the backend.

Directive2 and Directive2Ctrl Typescript code:

class Directive2 implements ng.IDirective {
    controller = "Directive2Ctrl";
    controllerAs = "d2Ctrl";
    bindToController = {
        user: "@"
    };
    restrict = "E";
    templateUrl = "directive2.html";

    static factory(): ng.IDirectiveFactory {
        const directive = () => new Directive2();
        return directive;
    }
}
angular
    .module("app")
    .controller("Directive2Ctrl", Directive2Ctrl)
    .directive("directive2", Directive2.factory());


class Directive2Ctrl implements IDirective2Ctrl {
    public user: User;

    constructor(user: User) {
         // user is undefined
    }

    $onInit(user: User): void {
        // user is undefined
    }
}

I couldn't find a way of passing the user object to the Directive2Ctrl (not even sure if it is possible).

Answer 1

Use "scope" property instead of "bindToController" property, and replace your "@" with "=". Then I use an interface for my specific scope to get autocompletion.

export interface IMyDirectiveScope extends ng.IScope {
    user: any;
}

export class Myirective {
    public restrict: string = 'E';
    public templateUrl = "/mytemplate.html";
    public link: (scope: IMyDirectiveScope, element: ng.IAugmentedJQuery, attrs: ng.IAttributes, ngModel: ng.INgModelController) => void;
    public scope = {
        user: "="
    };

    constructor() {
        var context = this;
        context.link = (scope: IMyDirectiveScope, element: ng.IAugmentedJQuery, attrs: ng.IAttributes, ngModel: ng.INgModelController) => {
           //INSERT YOUR CODE
           //console.log(scope.user);
        };
    }

    public static Factory() {
        var directive = () => {
            return new MyDirective();
        };

        return directive;
    }
}

In your html, remove your curly braces.

<div>
    ...
    <directive2 user="ctrl.loggedUser"></directive2>
    ...
</div>

Answer 2

If you want to share data between different locations in your application, just put it in a service and use DI wherever you need the data.

That is, fetch the data, store it in a service and use DI to make the data available in different locations. There is no need to pass data through bindings over several layers, much easier to use a service.

var mod = angular.module('testApp', ['ngRoute']);

mod.config(['$routeProvider',
  function($routeProvider) {
    $routeProvider.
      when('/intern', {
        template: '<div class="outer" ng-controller="InternController">{{User.firstName}} <div class="nested" ng-controller="NestedController">{{NestedUser.lastName}}<test-dir></test-dir></div></div>',
        resolve: {
          userResolve: function($q, $timeout, User) {
            var deferred = $q.defer();
          
            // mock server call, which returns server data
            $timeout(function() {
              var mockUserResp = {
                firstName: 'John',
                lastName: 'Rambo'
              };
              User.setUser(mockUserResp);
            
              deferred.resolve();
            }, 1000);
          
            return deferred.promise;
          }
        }
      }).
      otherwise({
        redirectTo: '/intern'
      });
  }]);

mod.factory('User', function() {
  var _user = null;
  return {
    setUser: function(user) {
      _user = user;
    },
    getUser: function() {
      return _user;
    }
  }  
});

mod.controller('InternController', function($scope, User) {
  $scope.User = User.getUser();
});

mod.controller('NestedController', function($scope, User) {
  $scope.NestedUser = User.getUser();
});

mod.directive('testDir', function(User) {
  return {
    restrict: 'EA',
    scope: {},
    template: '<div class="dir">{{firstName}} is a cool guy.</div>',
    link: function(scope) {
      scope.firstName = User.getUser().firstName;
    }
  };
});

.outer {
  border: 1px solid green;
}

.nested {
  border: 1px solid blue;
}

.dir {
  border: 1px solid orange;
}

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.4.12/angular.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.4.12/angular-route.min.js"></script>


<div ng-app="testApp">
  <div ng-view></div>
</div>