Need help getting my angular directives to work

Question

I am converting some code to use angular directives. I am new at this..

The old code is:

    $('.header .mobile-nav ').append($('.navigation').html());
$('.header .mobile-nav li').bind('click', function(e) {

    var $this = $(this);
    var $ulKid = $this.find('>ul');
    var $ulKidA = $this.find('>a');

    if ($ulKid.length === 0 && $ulKidA[0].nodeName.toLowerCase() === 'a') {
        window.location.href = $ulKidA.attr('href');
    }
    else {
        $ulKid.toggle(0, function() {
            if ($(this).css('display') === 'block') {
                $ulKidA.find('.icon-chevron-down').removeClass('icon-chevron-down').addClass('icon-chevron-up');
            }
            else {
                $ulKidA.find('.icon-chevron-up').removeClass('icon-chevron-up').addClass('icon-chevron-down');
            }
        });
    }

    e.stopPropagation();

    return false;
});

My attempt at creative the correct directives is as follows:

    app.directive('mobilenav', function () {
    return { template: $('.navigation').html() };
});

app.directive('mobileNavMenu', function () {
    var directive = {
        link: link,
        restrict: 'A'
    };
    return directive;

    function link(scope, element, attrs) {

        var iElement = element.find('.header .mobile-nav li');

        iElement.bind('click', function (e) {

            var $this = $(this);
            var $ulKid = $this.find('* > ul');
            var $ulKidA = $this.find('* > a');

            if ($ulKid.length === 0 && $ulKidA[0].nodeName.toLowerCase() === 'a') {
                window.location.href = $ulKidA.attr('href');
            } else {
                $ulKid.toggle(0, function () {
                    if ($(this).css('display') === 'block') {
                        $ulKidA.find('.icon-chevron-down').removeClass('icon-chevron-down').addClass('icon-chevron-up');
                    } else {
                        $ulKidA.find('.icon-chevron-up').removeClass('icon-chevron-up').addClass('icon-chevron-down');
                    }
                });
            }

            e.stopPropagation();

            return false;
        });
    }
});

The "click" event is not being bound. I think it could be because it is not finding the element. Am I using the right approach? Can you help me fix my directives?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I think there are a few things you could be doing better with this approach. First, I don't think your directives should searching for or modifying other elements by CSS.

So first I would modify this directive to bind directly on the passed in element:

function link(scope, element, attrs) {

    //var iElement = element.find('.header .mobile-nav li');

    iElement.bind('click', function (e) {
        ...

This might mean you need to apply your directive to a different element than you were originally intending.

Next, for the section where you toggle the chevrons, I think you might want to do this differently. You could for example, set a variable in the scope, or in a service, and then create another directive that watches that variable and responds to the changes in it. Alternatively, you might be able to use ng-show/ng-hide to elements based on the change.

These questions might be helpful to you as well:

Sharing data between directives

Changing CSS from AngularJS