How do I share $scope data between states in angularjs ui-router?
Without using a service or constructing watchers in the parent controller, how would one give children states access to the main controller's $scope
.
.state("main", {
controller:'mainController',
url:"/main",
templateUrl: "main_init.html"
})
.state("main.1", {
controller:'mainController',
parent: 'main',
url:"/1",
templateUrl: 'form_1.html'
})
.state("main.2", {
controller:'mainController',
parent: 'main',
url: "/2",
templateUrl: 'form_2.html'
})
I'm not able to access the mainController scope in child state--or rather I'm getting another instance of that scope--not what I want. I feel I'm missing something simple. There is a shared data config option in the state object but I'm not sure if this should be used for something like this.
I created working plunker, showing how to use $scope
and UI-Router.
The state definition is unchanged:
$stateProvider
// States
.state("main", {
controller:'mainController',
url:"/main",
templateUrl: "main_init.html"
})
.state("main.1", {
controller:'mainController',
parent: 'main',
url:"/1",
templateUrl: 'form_1.html'
})
.state("main.2", {
controller:'mainController',
parent: 'main',
url: "/2",
templateUrl: 'form_2.html'
})
But each state can have different controller. Why? because each view
of each state gets new
instance of defined controller
. So while we have mainController
like the one below, we can be sure, that if we navigate to state 'main.2'
it will be instantiated twice.
controller('mainController', function ($scope) {
$scope.Model = $scope.Model || {Name : "xxx"};
})
But what we can see here, is that we check if $scope.Model
already exsits... and if not (Parent state) we instantiate it with new intance {Name : "xxx"}
.
Well, what I am saying is: only parent state will init the $scope.Model
. All others will get that already filled. How? Well here is the answer:
Scope Inheritance by View Hierarchy Only
Keep in mind that scope properties only inherit down the state chain if the views of your states are nested. Inheritance of scope properties has nothing to do with the nesting of your states and everything to do with the nesting of your views (templates).
It is entirely possible that you have nested states whose templates populate ui-views at various non-nested locations within your site. In this scenario you cannot expect to access the scope variables of parent state views within the views of children states.
So, as stated in the documentation. Because our child views are nested in the parent view, the scope is inherited.
Understanding Scopes
In AngularJS, a child scope normally prototypically inherits from its parent scope.
...Having a '.' in your models will ensure that prototypal inheritance is in play.
// So, use
<input type="text" ng-model="someObj.prop1">
// rather than
<input type="text" ng-model="prop1">.
And that's it. We get inheritance from UI-Router
views and angular scopes, and because we smartly used a reference type (Model
), i.e. do have '.'
dot in ng-model
definition - we can share data now
NOTE: having dot '.' in the ng-model="Model.PropertyName
simply means, that there is a reference
object Model {}
with some property: PropertyName
Check the working example here
You can get the whole scope through $rootScope. If you need just part of the scope, ui-router has a custom data feature.
Here's how to do a multi-step form. I needed the routes to contain info for about their steps in the flow.
First, I have some routes with UI-router:
// Sign UP routes
.state('sign-up', {
abstract: true,
url: '/sign-up',
controller: 'SignupController',
templateUrl: 'sign-up/index.html',
})
.state('sign-up.start', {
url: '-start',
templateUrl: 'sign-up/sign-up.start.html',
data: { step: 0, title: 'Welcome to Mars!', },
})
.state('sign-up.expertise', {
url: '-expertise',
templateUrl: 'sign-up/sign-up.expertise.html',
data: { step: 1, title: 'Your Expertise'},
})
Notice:
- the
data
element in each route. - The
abstract
state hasSignupController
. That's the only controller for this multi-step form. Theabstract
isn't required, but makes sense for this use case.
SignupController.js
angular.module('app').controller('SignupController', function($scope, $state) {
$scope.state = $state;
});
Here we get ui-router's $state
and put it on $scope
Here is the main template 'sign-up/index.html',:
<h2>{{state.current.data.title}}</h2>
<div>This is a multi-step-progress control {{state.current.data.step}}</div>
<form id="signUpForm" name="signUpForm" novalidate>
<div ui-view></div>
</form>
The child templates can be whatever they like.
The idea is that you use scope in parent->child inheritance:
.state("main", {
controller:'mainController',
abstract: true,
url:"/main",
templateUrl: "main_init.html"
})
.state("main.1", {
controller:'mainController1',
parent: 'main',
url:"/1",
templateUrl: 'form_1.html'
})
.state("main.2", {
controller:'mainController2',
parent: 'main',
url: "/2",
templateUrl: 'form_2.html'
})
Than the usage is simple, you have 3 controllers, one is shared (mainController) and each view has it's own.
If you are using nested views just dont write any other Controller. By this way they will share same Controller Data.
.state("main", {
url: "/main",
templateUrl: "templates/Ders",
controller: "DersController as DersC"
}).state("main.child1", {
url: "/child1",
templateUrl: "templates/Ders/child1"
}).state("main.child2", {
url: "/child2",
templateUrl: "templates/Ders/child2"
})