How can I use the $index inside a ng-repeat to enable a class and show a DIV?

Question

The issue here is that ng-repeat creates its own scope, so when you do selected=$index it creates a new a selected property in that scope rather than altering the existing one. To fix this you have two options:

Change the selected property to a non-primitive (ie object or array, which makes javascript look up the prototype chain) then set a value on that:

$scope.selected = {value: 0};

<a ng-click="selected.value = $index">A{{$index}}</a>

See plunker

or

Use the $parent variable to access the correct property. Though less recommended as it increases coupling between scopes

<a ng-click="$parent.selected = $index">A{{$index}}</a>

See plunker

As johnnyynnoj mentioned ng-repeat creates a new scope. I would in fact use a function to set the value. See plunker

JS:

$scope.setSelected = function(selected) {
  $scope.selected = selected;
}

HTML:

{{ selected }}

<ul>
  <li ng-class="{current: selected == 100}">
     <a href ng:click="setSelected(100)">ABC</a>
  </li>
  <li ng-class="{current: selected == 101}">
     <a href ng:click="setSelected(101)">DEF</a>
  </li>
  <li ng-class="{current: selected == $index }" 
      ng-repeat="x in [4,5,6,7]">
     <a href ng:click="setSelected($index)">A{{$index}}</a>
  </li>
</ul>

<div  
  ng:show="selected == 100">
  100        
</div>
<div  
  ng:show="selected == 101">
  101        
</div>
<div ng-repeat="x in [4,5,6,7]" 
  ng:show="selected == $index">
  {{ $index }}        
</div>