Can AngularJS directive pre-link and post-link functions be customized?

Question

I have seen many references to AngularJS pre- and post-link functions in literature about AngularJS.

I am not sure however whether these can be customized or are internal to the framework.

In other words, as an AngularJS developper, can I provide my own pre and post link functions to my custom directives?

Answer 1

Yes you can, as per @Mikke's answer. To sum up, there are four ways to declare linking functions:

1. From within compile specifying both preLink and postLink functions explicitly:

   compile: function compile(tElement, tAttrs, transclude) {
     return {
       pre: function preLink(scope, iElement, iAttrs, controller) { ... },
       post: function postLink(scope, iElement, iAttrs, controller) { ... }
     }
   }
   

2. From within compile returning only postLink implicitly:

   compile: function compile(tElement, tAttrs, transclude) {
     return function postLink( ... ) { ... }
   }
   

3. From within link specifying both preLink and postLink explicitly:

   link: {
     pre: function preLink(scope, iElement, iAttrs, controller) { ... },
     post: function postLink(scope, iElement, iAttrs, controller) { ... }
   }
   

4. From withing link using postLink implicitly:

   link: function postLink( ... ) { ... }