Recursion in Angular directives
There are a couple of popular recursive angular directive Q&A's out there, which all come down to one of the following solutions:
- manually incrementally 'compile' HTML based on runtime scope state
- example 1 [stackoverflow]
- example 2 [angular jsfiddles page]
- don't use a directive at all, but a <script> template which refers to itself
- example 1 [google groups]
The first one has the problem that you can't remove previously compiled code unless you comprehensibly manage the manual compile process. The second approach has the problem of... not being a directive and missing out on its powerful capabilities, but more urgently, it can't be parameterised the same way a directive can be; it's simply bound to a new controller instance.
I've been playing with manually doing an angular.bootstrap or @compile() in the link function, but that leaves me with the problem of manually keeping track of elements to remove and add.
Is there a good way to have a parameterized recursive pattern that manages adding/removing elements to reflect runtime state? That is to say, a tree with a add/delete node button and some input field whose value is passed down a node's child nodes. Perhaps a combination of the second approach with chained scopes (but I have no idea how to do this)?
Inspired by the solutions described in the thread mentioned by @dnc253, I abstracted the recursion functionality into a service.
module.factory('RecursionHelper', ['$compile', function($compile){
return {
/**
* Manually compiles the element, fixing the recursion loop.
* @param element
* @param [link] A post-link function, or an object with function(s) registered via pre and post properties.
* @returns An object containing the linking functions.
*/
compile: function(element, link){
// Normalize the link parameter
if(angular.isFunction(link)){
link = { post: link };
}
// Break the recursion loop by removing the contents
var contents = element.contents().remove();
var compiledContents;
return {
pre: (link && link.pre) ? link.pre : null,
/**
* Compiles and re-adds the contents
*/
post: function(scope, element){
// Compile the contents
if(!compiledContents){
compiledContents = $compile(contents);
}
// Re-add the compiled contents to the element
compiledContents(scope, function(clone){
element.append(clone);
});
// Call the post-linking function, if any
if(link && link.post){
link.post.apply(null, arguments);
}
}
};
}
};
}]);
Which is used as follows:
module.directive("tree", ["RecursionHelper", function(RecursionHelper) {
return {
restrict: "E",
scope: {family: '='},
template:
'<p>{{ family.name }}</p>'+
'<ul>' +
'<li ng-repeat="child in family.children">' +
'<tree family="child"></tree>' +
'</li>' +
'</ul>',
compile: function(element) {
// Use the compile function from the RecursionHelper,
// And return the linking function(s) which it returns
return RecursionHelper.compile(element);
}
};
}]);
See this Plunker for a demo. I like this solution best because:
- You don't need an special directive which makes your html less clean.
- The recursion logic is abstracted away into the RecursionHelper service, so you keep your directives clean.
Update: As of Angular 1.5.x, no more tricks are required, but works only with template, not with templateUrl
Manually adding elements and compiling them is definitely a perfect approach. If you use ng-repeat then you will not have to manually remove elements.
Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/KNM4q/113/
.directive('tree', function ($compile) {
return {
restrict: 'E',
terminal: true,
scope: { val: '=', parentData:'=' },
link: function (scope, element, attrs) {
var template = '<span>{{val.text}}</span>';
template += '<button ng-click="deleteMe()" ng-show="val.text">delete</button>';
if (angular.isArray(scope.val.items)) {
template += '<ul class="indent"><li ng-repeat="item in val.items"><tree val="item" parent-data="val.items"></tree></li></ul>';
}
scope.deleteMe = function(index) {
if(scope.parentData) {
var itemIndex = scope.parentData.indexOf(scope.val);
scope.parentData.splice(itemIndex,1);
}
scope.val = {};
};
var newElement = angular.element(template);
$compile(newElement)(scope);
element.replaceWith(newElement);
}
}
});
I don't know for sure if this solution is found in one of the examples you linked or the same basic concept, but I had a need of a recursive directive, and I found a great, easy solution.
module.directive("recursive", function($compile) {
return {
restrict: "EACM",
priority: 100000,
compile: function(tElement, tAttr) {
var contents = tElement.contents().remove();
var compiledContents;
return function(scope, iElement, iAttr) {
if(!compiledContents) {
compiledContents = $compile(contents);
}
iElement.append(
compiledContents(scope,
function(clone) {
return clone; }));
};
}
};
});
module.directive("tree", function() {
return {
scope: {tree: '='},
template: '<p>{{ tree.text }}</p><ul><li ng-repeat="child in tree.children"><recursive><span tree="child"></span></recursive></li></ul>',
compile: function() {
return function() {
}
}
};
});
You should create the recursive directive and then wrap it around the element that makes the recursive call.
As of Angular 1.5.x, no more tricks are required, the following has been made possible. No more need for dirty work arounds!
This discovery was a by product of my hunt for a better/cleaner solution for a recursive directive. You can find it here https://jsfiddle.net/cattails27/5j5au76c/. It supports as far is 1.3.x.
angular.element(document).ready(function() {
angular.module('mainApp', [])
.controller('mainCtrl', mainCtrl)
.directive('recurv', recurveDirective);
angular.bootstrap(document, ['mainApp']);
function recurveDirective() {
return {
template: '<ul><li ng-repeat="t in tree">{{t.sub}}<recurv tree="t.children"></recurv></li></ul>',
scope: {
tree: '='
},
}
}
});
function mainCtrl() {
this.tree = [{
title: '1',
sub: 'coffee',
children: [{
title: '2.1',
sub: 'mocha'
}, {
title: '2.2',
sub: 'latte',
children: [{
title: '2.2.1',
sub: 'iced latte'
}]
}, {
title: '2.3',
sub: 'expresso'
}, ]
}, {
title: '2',
sub: 'milk'
}, {
title: '3',
sub: 'tea',
children: [{
title: '3.1',
sub: 'green tea',
children: [{
title: '3.1.1',
sub: 'green coffee',
children: [{
title: '3.1.1.1',
sub: 'green milk',
children: [{
title: '3.1.1.1.1',
sub: 'black tea'
}]
}]
}]
}]
}];
}<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/angular.js/1.5.8/angular.min.js"></script>
<div>
<div ng-controller="mainCtrl as vm">
<recurv tree="vm.tree"></recurv>
</div>
</div>