Watch a custom directives inner html in angular

Question

I have a global search variable that is used by the whole app

newspaper.controller("MainController", function($scope) {
    $scope.search = {query:''};
});

Then I have a contenteditable div that I want to bind to $scope.search

app.directive('search', function() {
    return {
        restrict: 'AE',
        replace: true,
        template: '<div ng-model="query" id="search"></div>',
        scope: { 
            query: '='
        },
        controller: function($scope) {
            // I want to watch the value of the element
            $scope.$watch('query', function(newValue, oldValue){
                console.log(newValue);
            },true);
        },
        link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
            // Medium JS content editable framework
            new Medium({
                element: element[0],
                mode: Medium.inlineMode
            });
        }
    }
});

The watch is not firing when I type new values into the div, I guess Im still confused on how to link a directive with a model. Here's the HTML

  <nav ng-controller="MainControllerr">
    <search context="search.query"></np-search>
  </nav>

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:43

Don't think you need the watch. It's bad practise to use watch functions in your controllers anyway as it makes them really hard to test.

Here's a simplified version of what (I think) your trying to do.

DEMO

index.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html ng-app="plunker">

  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <title>AngularJS Plunker</title>
    <script>document.write('<base href="' + document.location + '" />');</script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" />
    <script data-require="angular.js@1.4.x" src="https://code.angularjs.org/1.4.2/angular.js" data-semver="1.4.2"></script>
    <script src="app.js"></script>
  </head>

  <body>

    <nav ng-controller="MainController">

      <pre>{{query}}</pre>

      <search query="query"></search>
    </nav>
  </body>

</html>

app.js

var app = angular.module('plunker', []);

app.controller("MainController", function($scope) {
   $scope.query = {value:''};
});


app.directive('search', function() {
    return {
        restrict: 'AE',

        template: '<input ng-model="query.value" id="search"/>',
        scope: { 
            query: '='
        }
    }
});

EDIT

If you really want to use a content editable div you'd have to try something like this:

Also, see this SO question from which I've taken and adapted code to create the demo below. Hope it helps.

DEMO2

index.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html ng-app="plunker">

  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <title>AngularJS Plunker</title>
    <script>document.write('<base href="' + document.location + '" />');</script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" />
    <script data-require="angular.js@1.4.x" src="https://code.angularjs.org/1.4.2/angular.js" data-semver="1.4.2"></script>
    <script src="app.js"></script>
  </head>

  <body>

    <nav ng-controller="MainController">

      <pre>{{query}}</pre>

      <div search contenteditable="true" ng-model="query.value">{{ query.value }}</div>
    </nav>
  </body>

</html>

app.js

var app = angular.module('plunker', []);

app.controller("MainController", function($scope) { $scope.query = {value:'rrr'}; });

app.directive('search', function() {
    return {
        restrict: 'AE',
        require: 'ngModel',

        link: function(scope, element, attrs, ctrl) {

          element.bind('blur', function() {
            scope.$apply(function() {
              ctrl.$setViewValue(element.html());
            });
          });

          element.html(ctrl.$viewValue);
        }
    }
});

It only updates when I unfocus then refocus the browser window since its binded to blur, is there a way to get it attached to the digest cycle so it updates as I type? — BathgateIO, Jul 14 '15 at 02:23

Watch a custom directives inner html in angular

1 Answers1