Question
What is the 'Angular way' to set focus on input field in AngularJS?
More specific requirements:
- When a Modal is opened, set focus on a predefined
<input>
inside this Modal. - Every time
<input>
becomes visible (e.g. by clicking some button), set focus on it.
I tried to achieve the first
requirement with autofocus
, but this
works only when the Modal is opened for the first time, and only in certain
browsers (e.g. in Firefox it doesn't work).
Answer
- When a Modal is opened, set focus on a predefined inside this Modal.
Define a directive and have it $watch a property/trigger so it knows when to focus the element:
Name: <input type="text" focus-me="shouldBeOpen">
app.directive('focusMe', ['$timeout', '$parse', function ($timeout, $parse) {
return {
//scope: true, // optionally create a child scope
link: function (scope, element, attrs) {
var model = $parse(attrs.focusMe);
scope.$watch(model, function (value) {
console.log('value=', value);
if (value === true) {
$timeout(function () {
element[0].focus();
});
}
});
// to address @blesh's comment, set attribute value to 'false'
// on blur event:
element.bind('blur', function () {
console.log('blur');
scope.$apply(model.assign(scope, false));
});
}
};
}]);
The $timeout seems to be needed to give the modal time to render.
'2.' Everytime becomes visible (e.g. by clicking some button), set focus on it.
Create a directive essentially like the one above. Watch some scope property,
and when it becomes true (set it in your ng-click handler), execute
element[0].focus()
. Depending on your use case, you may or may not need a
$timeout for this one:
<button class="btn" ng-click="showForm=true; focusInput=true">show form and
focus input</button>
<div ng-show="showForm">
<input type="text" ng-model="myInput" focus-me="focusInput"> {{ myInput }}
<button class="btn" ng-click="showForm=false">hide form</button>
</div>
app.directive('focusMe', function($timeout) {
return {
link: function(scope, element, attrs) {
scope.$watch(attrs.focusMe, function(value) {
if(value === true) {
console.log('value=',value);
//$timeout(function() {
element[0].focus();
scope[attrs.focusMe] = false;
//});
}
});
}
};
});
Update 7/2013 : I've seen a few people use my original isolate scope directives and then have problems with embedded input fields (i.e., an input field in the modal). A directive with no new scope (or possibly a new child scope) should alleviate some of the pain. So above I updated the answer to not use isolate scopes. Below is the original answer:
Original answer for 1., using an isolate scope:
Name: <input type="text" focus-me="{{shouldBeOpen}}">
app.directive('focusMe', function($timeout) {
return {
scope: { trigger: '@focusMe' },
link: function(scope, element) {
scope.$watch('trigger', function(value) {
if(value === "true") {
$timeout(function() {
element[0].focus();
});
}
});
}
};
});
Original answer for 2., using an isolate scope:
<button class="btn" ng-click="showForm=true; focusInput=true">show form and
focus input</button>
<div ng-show="showForm">
<input type="text" focus-me="focusInput">
<button class="btn" ng-click="showForm=false">hide form</button>
</div>
app.directive('focusMe', function($timeout) {
return {
scope: { trigger: '=focusMe' },
link: function(scope, element) {
scope.$watch('trigger', function(value) {
if(value === true) {
//console.log('trigger',value);
//$timeout(function() {
element[0].focus();
scope.trigger = false;
//});
}
});
}
};
});
Since we need to reset the trigger/focusInput property in the directive, '=' is used for two-way databinding. In the first directive, '@' was sufficient. Also note that when using '@' we compare the trigger value to "true" since @ always results in a string.