AngularJS: lazy loading controllers and content

Rodolfo Jorge Nemer Nogueira picture Rodolfo Jorge Nemer Nogueira · Aug 6, 2014 · Viewed 68.9k times · Source

In this simplified scenario, I have two files: index.htm, lazy.htm.

index.htm:

var myApp = angular.module('myApp', []);
myApp.controller('embed',function($scope){
    $scope.embed = 'Embedded Controller';
});                  
<div ng-controller="embed">{{embed}}</div>    
<div ng-include="'lazy.htm'"></div>

lazy.htm

myApp.controller('lazy',function($scope){
    $scope.lazy = 'Lazy Controller';
});
<div ng-controller="lazy">
    {{lazy}}
</div>

The result is an error: "Argument 'lazy' is not a function, got undefined"

Using a function instead

lazy.htm

function lazy($scope) {
    $scope.lazy = 'Lazy Controller';
}
<div ng-controller="lazy">
    {{lazy}}
</div>

This works until version 1.3 beta 14. In beta 15 was removed the global controller functions: https://github.com/angular/angular.js/issues/8296

So now, what is the better way to get angularized contents of lazy.htm dynamically?

UPDATE:

In this article (http://ify.io/lazy-loading-in-angularjs) I found another possible solution. The $controllerProvider allow us to register new controllers after angular bootstrap. Works like a charm. Tested in v1.3.0-beta.18

index.htm:

var myApp = angular.module('myApp', [])
.controller('embed',function($scope){
    $scope.embed = 'Embedded Controller';
})
.config(function($controllerProvider) {
    myApp.cp = $controllerProvider;
});

<div ng-controller="embed">{{embed}}</div>    
<div ng-include="'lazy.htm'"></div>

lazy.htm

myApp.cp.register('lazy',function($scope){
    $scope.lazy = 'Lazy Controller';
});
<div ng-controller="lazy">
    {{lazy}}
</div>

UPDATE 2:

Two other alternatives that works are:

lazy.htm

_app = $('[ng-app]').scope();    
_app.lazy = function($scope) {
    $scope.lazy = 'Lazy Controller';
};

OR

var $rootScope = $('[ng-app]').injector().get('$rootScope');        
$rootScope.lazy = function($scope) {
    $scope.lazy = 'Lazy Controller';
}; 

But I believe these last two examples should not be used in production.

Answer

Andr&#233; Betiolo picture André Betiolo · Jan 28, 2015

You can also use the jquery with the resolve the $routeProvider

app.js

/* Module Creation */
var app = angular.module ('app', ['ngRoute']);

app.config(['$routeProvider', '$controllerProvider', function($routeProvider, $controllerProvider){

/*Creating a more synthesized form of service of $ controllerProvider.register*/
app.registerCtrl = $controllerProvider.register;

function loadScript(path) {
  var result = $.Deferred(),
  script = document.createElement("script");
  script.async = "async";
  script.type = "text/javascript";
  script.src = path;
  script.onload = script.onreadystatechange = function (_, isAbort) {
      if (!script.readyState || /loaded|complete/.test(script.readyState)) {
         if (isAbort)
             result.reject();
         else
            result.resolve();
    }
  };
  script.onerror = function () { result.reject(); };
  document.querySelector("head").appendChild(script);
  return result.promise();
}

function loader(arrayName){

    return {
      load: function($q){
                var deferred = $q.defer(),
                map = arrayName.map(function(name) {
                    return loadScript('js/controllers/'+name+".js");
                });

                $q.all(map).then(function(r){
                    deferred.resolve();
                });

                return deferred.promise;
        }
    };
}

$routeProvider  
    .when('/', {
        templateUrl: 'views/foo.html',
        resolve: loader(['foo'])
    })
    .when('/bar',{
        templateUrl: 'views/bar.html',
        controller: 'BarCtrl',
        resolve: loader(['bar'])
    })
    .otherwise({
        redirectTo: document.location.pathname
    });
}]);

/views/foo.html

<section ng-controller='FooCtrl'>
    {{text}}
</section>

js/controllers/foo.js

/*Here we use the synthesized version of $controllerProvider.register 
to register the controller in view*/
app.registerCtrl('FooCtrl',function($scope){
    $scope.text = 'Test';
});

/views/bar.html

<section>
    {{text2}}
</section>

js/controllers/bar.js

app.registerCtrl('BarCtrl',function($scope){
    $scope.text2 = 'Test';
});