AngularJS ng-click Directive Not Calling Function

Question

I'm trying to use ng-click to call a function in my controller, but I haven't been able to get that to work. I've stripped everything down to its simplest form, so that I now have this:

<button id="submitBtn" type="submit" class="btn btn-default"
  ng-click="count = count + 1; count = count + 2; alert('hello');" >Submit</button>    

The first two statements (count = count + 1; count = count + 2;) execute just fine, but it won't call the alert function. When I take out the two count incrementing statements, the alert still won't work. Anytime I try to call a function, it fails, but plain old Javascript works.

(Just an FYI, I have Javascript down the page that prevents the form from submitting and triggering a postback).

Edit:

I'll include my controller's code for this:

myApp.controller('LawSearchController', ['$scope', function ($scope) {

    $scope.alert = function (text) {
        alert(text);
    };
}]);

Answer 1

All functions you call in an ng-expression are in the context of $scope.

So when you say alert() it compiles to scope.alert() which is undefined, and fails silently.

In your controller, include the code

$scope.alert = alert

Answer 2

As one of the answeres pointed out, you need to have a function in your controller as such:

$scope.alert = function(arg) {
  // Do something
};

Answer 3

For future reference, here was my issue:

I had tried placing my ng-controller directive with the <form> tag on my page. This is an asp.net application with a MasterPage, and (why, I don't know) the form gets replaced when creating the page with a new form that wraps all of the content. The result is that my ng-controller directive is gone.

I had also tried placing the ng-controller directive within the <asp:Content> tag, but that also gets removed.

The solution:

Wrap my page's <form> in a <div> and put the ng-controller directive there.

Answer 4

I don't believe it's the intended use of the ngClick to contain a lot of javascript. You should only call 1 function in the NG click and that function should call the others

I belive it should be implemented more like the following as well I think you need to get the alert function from the root scope. or

HTML Snippit

<button id="submitBtn" type="submit" class="btn btn-default" ng-click="submitAndAlert()" >Submit</button>

Controller

myApp.controller('controllerName', ['$scope', '$rootScope', function ($scope, $rootScope) {
    $scope.count = 0;

    $scope.submitAndAlert = function(){
        count += 1;
        count += 2;
        alert('hello');
    }

    $scope.alert = function (text) {
        // $rootScope.window.alert(text);
        $rootScope.alert(text);
    };
}]);