How to access parent scope from within a custom directive with own scope in AngularJS

Question

I m looking for any manner of accessing the  parent  scope within a directive   Any combination of scope  transclude  require  passing in variables  or the scope itself  from above  etc   I m totally willing to bend over backwards  but I want to avoid something totally hacky or unmaintainable   For example  I know I could do it right now by taking the  scope from the preLink parameters and iterating over it s  sibling scopes to find the conceptual  parent    What I really want is to be able to  watch an expression in the parent scope   If I can do that  then I can accomplish what I m trying to do over here   AngularJS - How to render a partial with variables   An important note is that the directive must be re-usable within the same parent scope   Therefore the default behavior  scope  false  doesn t work for me   I need an individual scope per instance of the directive  and then I need to  watch a variable that lives in the parent scope   A code sample is worth 1000 words  so   app directive  watchingMyParentScope   function         return           require                   scope                   transclude                   controller                   compile  function el attr trans                   Can I get the  parent from the transclusion function somehow              return                   pre  function  s   e   a  parentControl                           Can I get the  parent from the parent controller                         By setting this  scope    scope from within that controller                          Can I get the  parent from the current  scope                          Can I pass the  parent scope in as an attribute and define                        it as part of this directive s scope definition                          What don t I understand about how directives work and                        how their scope is related to their parent                                     post  function  s   e   a  parentControl                           Has my situation improved by the time the postLink is called

User · Answer

Having tried everything  I finally came up with a solution   Just place the following in your template     currentDirective attr   parentDirective attr        It just writes the parent scope attribute variable you want to access to the current scope    Also notice the      at the end of the statement  it s to make sure there s no output in your template   Angular evaluates every statement  but only outputs the last one    It s a bit hacky  but after a few hours of trial and error  it does the job

User · Answer

Accessing controller method means accessing a method on parent scope from directive controller link scope   If the directive is sharing inheriting the parent scope then it is quite straight forward to just invoke a parent scope method   Little more work is required when you want to access parent scope method from Isolated directive scope   There are few options  may be more than listed below  to invoke a parent scope method from isolated directives scope or watch parent scope variables  option 6 specially    Note that I used link function in these examples but you can use a directive controller as well based on requirement   Option 1  Through Object literal and from directive html template  index html   lt  DOCTYPE html gt   lt html ng-app  plunker  gt      lt head gt       lt meta charset  utf-8    gt       lt title gt AngularJS Plunker lt  title gt       lt script gt document write   lt base href      document location        gt     lt  script gt       lt link rel  stylesheet  href  style css    gt       lt script data-require  angular js 1 3 x  src  https   code angularjs org 1 3 9 angular js  data-semver  1 3 9  gt  lt  script gt       lt script src  app js  gt  lt  script gt     lt  head gt      lt body ng-controller  MainCtrl  gt       lt p gt Hello   name    lt  p gt        lt p gt  Directive Content lt  p gt       lt sd-items-filter selected-items  selectedItems  selected-items-changed  selectedItemsChanged selectedItems   items  items  gt   lt  sd-items-filter gt         lt P style  color red  gt Selected Items  in parent controller  set to    selectedItemsReturnedFromDirective    lt  p gt      lt  body gt    lt  html gt    itemfilterTemplate html   lt select ng-model  selectedItems  multiple  multiple  style  height  200px  width  250px   ng-change  selectedItemsChanged  selectedItems selectedItems    ng-options  item id as item name group by item model for item in items   orderBy  name   gt     lt option gt -- lt  option gt   lt  select gt    app js  var app   angular module  plunker         app directive  sdItemsFilter   function       return       restrict   E       scope          items             selectedItems             selectedItemsChanged    amp              templateUrl   itemfilterTemplate html          app controller  MainCtrl   function  scope       scope name    TARS       scope selectedItems     allItems        scope selectedItemsChanged   function selectedItems1         scope selectedItemsReturnedFromDirective   selectedItems1          scope items           id    allItems        name    All Items        order   0             id    CaseItem        name    Case Item        model    PredefinedModel              id    Application        name    Application        model    Bank                working plnkr  http   plnkr co edit rgKUsYGDo9O3tewL6xgr p preview  Option 2  Through Object literal and from directive link scope  index html   lt  DOCTYPE html gt   lt html ng-app  plunker  gt      lt head gt       lt meta charset  utf-8    gt       lt title gt AngularJS Plunker lt  title gt       lt script gt document write   lt base href      document location        gt     lt  script gt       lt link rel  stylesheet  href  style css    gt       lt script data-require  angular js 1 3 x  src  https   code angularjs org 1 3 9 angular js  data-semver  1 3 9  gt  lt  script gt       lt script src  app js  gt  lt  script gt     lt  head gt      lt body ng-controller  MainCtrl  gt       lt p gt Hello   name    lt  p gt        lt p gt  Directive Content lt  p gt       lt sd-items-filter selected-items  selectedItems  selected-items-changed  selectedItemsChanged selectedItems   items  items  gt   lt  sd-items-filter gt         lt P style  color red  gt Selected Items  in parent controller  set to    selectedItemsReturnedFromDirective    lt  p gt      lt  body gt    lt  html gt    itemfilterTemplate html   lt select ng-model  selectedItems  multiple  multiple  style  height  200px  width  250px     ng-change  selectedItemsChangedDir    ng-options  item id as item name group by item model for item in items   orderBy  name   gt     lt option gt -- lt  option gt   lt  select gt    app js  var app   angular module  plunker         app directive  sdItemsFilter   function       return       restrict   E       scope          items             selectedItems             selectedItemsChanged    amp              templateUrl   itemfilterTemplate html       link  function  scope  element  attrs         scope selectedItemsChangedDir   function            scope selectedItemsChanged  selectedItems scope selectedItems                            app controller  MainCtrl   function  scope       scope name    TARS       scope selectedItems     allItems        scope selectedItemsChanged   function selectedItems1         scope selectedItemsReturnedFromDirective   selectedItems1          scope items           id    allItems        name    All Items        order   0             id    CaseItem        name    Case Item        model    PredefinedModel              id    Application        name    Application        model    Bank               working plnkr  http   plnkr co edit BRvYm2SpSpBK9uxNIcTa p preview  Option 3  Through Function reference and from directive html template  index html   lt  DOCTYPE html gt   lt html ng-app  plunker  gt      lt head gt       lt meta charset  utf-8    gt       lt title gt AngularJS Plunker lt  title gt       lt script gt document write   lt base href      document location        gt     lt  script gt       lt link rel  stylesheet  href  style css    gt       lt script data-require  angular js 1 3 x  src  https   code angularjs org 1 3 9 angular js  data-semver  1 3 9  gt  lt  script gt       lt script src  app js  gt  lt  script gt     lt  head gt      lt body ng-controller  MainCtrl  gt       lt p gt Hello   name    lt  p gt        lt p gt  Directive Content lt  p gt       lt sd-items-filter selected-items  selectedItems  selected-items-changed  selectedItemsChanged  items  items  gt   lt  sd-items-filter gt         lt P style  color red  gt Selected Items  in parent controller  set to    selectedItemsReturnFromDirective    lt  p gt      lt  body gt    lt  html gt    itemfilterTemplate html   lt select ng-model  selectedItems  multiple  multiple  style  height  200px  width  250px     ng-change  selectedItemsChanged   selectedItems   ng-options  item id as item name group by item model for item in items   orderBy  name   gt     lt option gt -- lt  option gt   lt  select gt    app js  var app   angular module  plunker         app directive  sdItemsFilter   function       return       restrict   E       scope          items             selectedItems            selectedItemsChanged    amp              templateUrl   itemfilterTemplate html          app controller  MainCtrl   function  scope       scope name    TARS       scope selectedItems     allItems        scope selectedItemsChanged   function selectedItems1         scope selectedItemsReturnFromDirective   selectedItems1          scope items           id    allItems        name    All Items        order   0             id    CaseItem        name    Case Item        model    PredefinedModel              id    Application        name    Application        model    Bank               working plnkr  http   plnkr co edit Jo6FcYfVXCCg3vH42BIz p preview  Option 4  Through Function reference and from directive link scope  index html   lt  DOCTYPE html gt   lt html ng-app  plunker  gt      lt head gt       lt meta charset  utf-8    gt       lt title gt AngularJS Plunker lt  title gt       lt script gt document write   lt base href      document location        gt     lt  script gt       lt link rel  stylesheet  href  style css    gt       lt script data-require  angular js 1 3 x  src  https   code angularjs org 1 3 9 angular js  data-semver  1 3 9  gt  lt  script gt       lt script src  app js  gt  lt  script gt     lt  head gt      lt body ng-controller  MainCtrl  gt       lt p gt Hello   name    lt  p gt        lt p gt  Directive Content lt  p gt       lt sd-items-filter selected-items  selectedItems  selected-items-changed  selectedItemsChanged  items  items  gt   lt  sd-items-filter gt         lt P style  color red  gt Selected Items  in parent controller  set to    selectedItemsReturnedFromDirective    lt  p gt      lt  body gt    lt  html gt    itemfilterTemplate html   lt select ng-model  selectedItems  multiple  multiple  style  height  200px  width  250px   ng-change  selectedItemsChangedDir    ng-options  item id as item name group by item model for item in items   orderBy  name   gt     lt option gt -- lt  option gt   lt  select gt    app js  var app   angular module  plunker         app directive  sdItemsFilter   function       return       restrict   E       scope          items             selectedItems             selectedItemsChanged    amp              templateUrl   itemfilterTemplate html       link  function  scope  element  attrs         scope selectedItemsChangedDir   function            scope selectedItemsChanged   scope selectedItems                           app controller  MainCtrl   function  scope       scope name    TARS       scope selectedItems     allItems        scope selectedItemsChanged   function selectedItems1         scope selectedItemsReturnedFromDirective   selectedItems1          scope items           id    allItems        name    All Items        order   0             id    CaseItem        name    Case Item        model    PredefinedModel              id    Application        name    Application        model    Bank                working plnkr  http   plnkr co edit BSqx2J1yCY86IJwAnQF1 p preview  Option 5  Through ng-model and two way binding  you can update parent scope variables   So  you may not require to invoke parent scope functions in some cases   index html   lt  DOCTYPE html gt   lt html ng-app  plunker  gt      lt head gt       lt meta charset  utf-8    gt       lt title gt AngularJS Plunker lt  title gt       lt script gt document write   lt base href      document location        gt     lt  script gt       lt link rel  stylesheet  href  style css    gt       lt script data-require  angular js 1 3 x  src  https   code angularjs org 1 3 9 angular js  data-semver  1 3 9  gt  lt  script gt       lt script src  app js  gt  lt  script gt     lt  head gt      lt body ng-controller  MainCtrl  gt       lt p gt Hello   name    lt  p gt        lt p gt  Directive Content lt  p gt       lt sd-items-filter ng-model  selectedItems  selected-items-changed  selectedItemsChanged  items  items  gt   lt  sd-items-filter gt         lt P style  color red  gt Selected Items  in parent controller  set to    selectedItems    lt  p gt      lt  body gt    lt  html gt    itemfilterTemplate html   lt select ng-model  selectedItems  multiple  multiple  style  height  200px  width  250px     ng-options  item id as item name group by item model for item in items   orderBy  name   gt     lt option gt -- lt  option gt   lt  select gt    app js  var app   angular module  plunker         app directive  sdItemsFilter   function       return       restrict   E       scope          items             selectedItems    ngModel             templateUrl   itemfilterTemplate html          app controller  MainCtrl   function  scope       scope name    TARS       scope selectedItems     allItems        scope items           id    allItems        name    All Items        order   0             id    CaseItem        name    Case Item        model    PredefinedModel              id    Application        name    Application        model    Bank               working plnkr  http   plnkr co edit hNui3xgzdTnfcdzljihY p preview  Option 6  Through  watch and  watchCollection  It is two way binding for items in all above examples  if items are modified in parent scope  items in directive would also reflect the changes   If you want to watch other attributes or objects from parent scope  you can do that using  watch and  watchCollection as given below  html   lt  DOCTYPE html gt   lt html ng-app  plunker  gt    lt head gt     lt meta charset  utf-8    gt     lt title gt AngularJS Plunker lt  title gt     lt script gt      document write   lt base href      document location        gt        lt  script gt     lt link rel  stylesheet  href  style css    gt     lt script data-require  angular js 1 3 x  src  https   code angularjs org 1 3 9 angular js  data-semver  1 3 9  gt  lt  script gt     lt script src  app js  gt  lt  script gt   lt  head gt    lt body ng-controller  MainCtrl  gt     lt p gt Hello   user    lt  p gt     lt p gt directive is watching name and current item lt  p gt     lt table gt       lt tr gt         lt td gt Id  lt  td gt         lt td gt           lt input type  text  ng-model  id    gt         lt  td gt       lt  tr gt       lt tr gt         lt td gt Name  lt  td gt         lt td gt           lt input type  text  ng-model  name    gt         lt  td gt       lt  tr gt       lt tr gt         lt td gt Model  lt  td gt         lt td gt           lt input type  text  ng-model  model    gt         lt  td gt       lt  tr gt     lt  table gt      lt button style  margin-left 50px  type  buttun  ng-click  addItem    gt Add Item lt  button gt      lt p gt Directive Contents lt  p gt     lt sd-items-filter ng-model  selectedItems  current-item  currentItem  name    name    selected-items-changed  selectedItemsChanged  items  items  gt  lt  sd-items-filter gt      lt P style  color red  gt Selected Items  in parent controller  set to    selectedItems   lt  p gt   lt  body gt    lt  html gt    script app js  var app   angular module  plunker         app directive  sdItemsFilter   function       return       restrict   E       scope          name             currentItem             items             selectedItems    ngModel             template    lt select ng-model  selectedItems  multiple  multiple  style  height  140px  width  250px             ng-options  item id as item name group by item model for item in items   orderBy   name    gt             lt option gt -- lt  option gt   lt  select gt        link  function scope  element  attrs          scope  watchCollection  currentItem   function             console log JSON stringify scope currentItem                    scope  watch  name   function             console log JSON stringify scope name                             app controller  MainCtrl   function  scope       scope user    World       scope addItem   function          scope items push         id   scope id        name   scope name        model   scope model              scope currentItem            scope currentItem id    scope id       scope currentItem name    scope name       scope currentItem model    scope model          scope selectedItems     allItems        scope items           id    allItems        name    All Items        order   0             id    CaseItem        name    Case Item        model    PredefinedModel              id    Application        name    Application        model    Bank             You can always refer AngularJs documentation for detailed explanations about directives

User · Answer

scope  false  transclude  false   and you will have the same scope with parent element    scope  watch       There are a lot of ways how to access parent scope depending on this two options scope amp  transclude

User · Answer

See What are the nuances of scope prototypal   prototypical inheritance in AngularJS  To summarize  the way a directive accesses its parent   parent  scope depends on the type of scope the directive creates   default  scope  false  - the directive does not create a new scope  so there is no inheritance here   The directive s scope is the same scope as the parent container   In the link function  use the first parameter  typically scope    scope  true - the directive creates a new child scope that prototypically inherits from the parent scope   Properties that are defined on the parent scope are available to the directive scope  because of prototypal inheritance    Just beware of writing to a primitive scope property -- that will create a new property on the directive scope  that hides shadows the parent scope property of the same name    scope          - the directive creates a new isolate isolated scope   It does not prototypically inherit the parent scope   You can still access the parent scope using  parent  but this is not normally recommended   Instead  you should specify which parent scope properties  and or function  the directive needs via additional attributes on the same element where the directive is used  using the       and  amp  notation   transclude  true - the directive creates a new  quot transcluded quot  child scope  which prototypically inherits from the parent scope   If the directive also creates an isolate scope  the transcluded and the isolate scopes are siblings   The  parent property of each scope references the same parent scope Angular v1 3 update  If the directive also creates an isolate scope  the transcluded scope is now a child of the isolate scope   The transcluded and isolate scopes are no longer siblings   The  parent property of the transcluded scope now references the isolate scope    The above link has examples and pictures of all 4 types  You cannot access the scope in the directive s compile function  as mentioned here  https   github com angular angular js wiki Dev-Guide -Understanding-Directives    You can access the directive s scope in the link function  Watching  For 1  and 2  above  normally you specify which parent property the directive needs via an attribute  then  watch it    lt div my-dir attr1  quot prop1 quot  gt  lt  div gt    scope  watch attrs attr1  function              If you are watching an object property  you ll need to use  parse   lt div my-dir attr2  quot obj prop2 quot  gt  lt  div gt    var model    parse attrs attr2   scope  watch model  function              For 3  above  isolate scope   watch the name you give the directive property using the   or   notation   lt div my-dir attr3  quot   prop3   quot  attr4  quot obj prop4 quot  gt  lt  div gt    scope      localName3    attr3     attr4               here  using the same name as the attribute    link  function scope  element  attrs       scope  watch  localName3   function                scope  watch  attr4        function

User · Answer

If you are using ES6 Classes and ControllerAs syntax  you need to do something slightly different   See the snippet below and note that vm is the ControllerAs value of the parent Controller as used in the parent HTML  myApp directive  name   function       return          no scope definition     link   function scope  element  attrs  ngModel             scope vm func

User · Answer

Here s a trick I used once  create a  dummy  directive to hold the parent scope and place it somewhere outside the desired directive  Something like   module directive  myDirectiveContainer   function          return           controller  function   scope                this scope    scope                        module directive  myDirective   function          return           require    myDirectiveContainer           link  function  scope  element  attrs  containerController                   use containerController scope here                           and then   lt div my-directive-container    gt       lt div my-directive    gt       lt  div gt   lt  div gt    Maybe not the most graceful solution  but it got the job done

[angularjs] How to access parent scope from within a custom directive with own scope in AngularJS?

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[angularjs] How to access parent scope from within a custom directive with own scope in AngularJS?