How to set the dynamic controller for directives?

Solution 1:

Now it is possible with AngularJS. In directive you just add two new property called controller , name property and also isolate scope is exactly needed here.

Important to note in directive

scope:{}, //isolate scope
controller : "@", // @ symbol
name:"controllerName", // controller names property points to controller.

Working Demo for Setting Dynamic controller for Directives

HTML Markup :

<communicator controller-name="PhoneCtrl" ></communicator>
<communicator controller-name="LandlineCtrl" ></communicator>

Angular Controller and Directive :

var app = angular.module('myApp',[]).
directive('communicator', function(){
return {
    restrict : 'E',
    scope:{},
    controller : "@",
    name:"controllerName", 
    template:"<input type='text' ng-model='message'/><input type='button' value='Send Message' ng-click='sendMsg()'><br/>"          
  }   
}).
controller("PhoneCtrl",function($scope){
 $scope.sendMsg = function(){
     alert( $scope.message + " : sending message via Phone Ctrl");
    }
}).
controller("LandlineCtrl",function($scope){
    $scope.sendMsg = function(){
        alert( $scope.message + " : sending message via Land Line Ctrl ");
    }
})

Your case you can try this below code snippets.

Working Demo

HTML Markup :

<div add-icons controller-name="IconsOneCtrl">
</div>
<div add-icons controller-name="IconsTwoCtrl">
</div>

Angular Code :

angular.module('myApp',[]).

directive('addIcons', function(){
return {
    restrict : 'A',
    scope:{},
    controller : "@",
    name:"controllerName",    
    template:'<input type="button" value="(+) plus" ng-click="add()">'
  }
}).
controller("IconsOneCtrl",function($scope){
     $scope.add = function(){
        alert("IconsOne add ");
      }
}).
controller("IconsTwoCtrl",function($scope){
     $scope.add = function(){
        alert("IconsTwo add ");
      }
});

Solution 2:

This is how it is done:

Inside your directive element all you need is an attribute which gives you access to the name of the controller: in my case my card attribute holds a card object which has a name property. In the directive you set the isolate scope to:

scope: { card: '=' } 

This isolates and interpolates the card object to the directive scope. You then set the directive template to:

template: '',

this looks to the directive's controller for a function named getTemplateUrl and allows you to set the templateUrl dynamically as well. In the directive controller the getTemplateUrl function looks like this:

controller: ['$scope', '$attrs', function ($scope, $attrs) { 
    $scope.getTemplateUrl = function () { return '/View/Card?cardName=' + 
        $scope.card.name; }; }],

I have an mvc controller which links up the proper .cshtml file and handles security when this route is hit, but this would work with a regular angular route as well. In the .cshtml/html file you set up your dynamic controller by simply putting as the root element. The controller will differ for each template. This creates a hierarchy of controllers which allows you to apply additional logic to all cards in general, and then specific logic to each individual card. I still have to figure out how I'm going to handle my services but this approach allows you to create a dynamic templateUrl and dynamic controller for a directive using an ng-repeat based on the controller name alone. It is a very clean way of accomplishing this functionality and it is all self-contained.