Using an array from Observable Object with ngFor and Async Pipe Angular 2

Question

I am trying to understand how to use Observables in Angular 2. I have this service:

import {Injectable, EventEmitter, ViewChild} from '@angular/core';
import {Observable} from "rxjs/Observable";
import {Subject} from "rxjs/Subject";
import {BehaviorSubject} from "rxjs/Rx";
import {Availabilities} from './availabilities-interface'

@Injectable()
export class AppointmentChoiceStore {
    public _appointmentChoices: BehaviorSubject<Availabilities> = new BehaviorSubject<Availabilities>({"availabilities": [''], "length": 0})

    constructor() {}

    getAppointments() {
        return this.asObservable(this._appointmentChoices)
    }
    asObservable(subject: Subject<any>) {
        return new Observable(fn => subject.subscribe(fn));
    }
}

This BehaviorSubject is pushed new values as so from another service:

that._appointmentChoiceStore._appointmentChoices.next(parseObject)

I subscribe to it in the form of an observable in the component I want to display it in:

import {Component, OnInit, AfterViewInit} from '@angular/core'
import {AppointmentChoiceStore} from '../shared/appointment-choice-service'
import {Observable} from 'rxjs/Observable'
import {Subject} from 'rxjs/Subject'
import {BehaviorSubject} from "rxjs/Rx";
import {Availabilities} from '../shared/availabilities-interface'


declare const moment: any

@Component({
    selector: 'my-appointment-choice',
    template: require('./appointmentchoice-template.html'),
    styles: [require('./appointmentchoice-style.css')],
    pipes: [CustomPipe]
})

export class AppointmentChoiceComponent implements OnInit, AfterViewInit {
    private _nextFourAppointments: Observable<string[]>

    constructor(private _appointmentChoiceStore: AppointmentChoiceStore) {
        this._appointmentChoiceStore.getAppointments().subscribe(function(value) {
            this._nextFourAppointments = value
        })
    }
}

And the attempt to display in the view as so:

  <li *ngFor="#appointment of _nextFourAppointments.availabilities | async">
         <div class="text-left appointment-flex">{{appointment | date: 'EEE' | uppercase}}

However, availabilities is't yet a property of the observable object so it errors out, even thought I define it in the availabilities interface as so:

export interface Availabilities {
  "availabilities": string[],
  "length": number
}

How can I display an array asynchronously from an observable object with the async pipe and *ngFor? The error message I get is:

browser_adapter.js:77 ORIGINAL EXCEPTION: TypeError: Cannot read property 'availabilties' of undefined

Answer 1

Here's an example

// in the service
getVehicles(){
    return Observable.interval(2200).map(i=> [{name: 'car 1'},{name: 'car 2'}])
}

// in the controller
vehicles: Observable<Array<any>>
ngOnInit() {
    this.vehicles = this._vehicleService.getVehicles();
}

// in template
<div *ngFor='let vehicle of vehicles | async'>
    {{vehicle.name}}
</div>