AngularJS does not properly handle the cleanup of child scopes generated by the ng-include directive

Question

AngularJS does not properly handle the cleanup of child scopes generated by the ng-include directive

My current use case involves providing a dialog service where the content displayed differs based on the context. To achieve this, I manually compile a DOM element within the service method and utilize jQuery UI to display the dialog. Here is an example of the code:

var _view = jQuery('<div id="config-dialog"><span ng-include="\'' +  $scope.configView + '\'" ng-controller="' + $scope.configController + '"></span></div>');
var _compiled = $compile(_view.contents())($scope);

Subsequently, I trigger a scope event that should be handled by a function defined in the controller

$scope.$broadcast('config-open', $scope.config);

Upon closing the dialog, I remove the "config-dialog" element from the DOM as shown below:

$(this).dialog("destroy");
jQuery('#config-dialog').remove();

However, upon reopening the dialog with a new controller instance, I observed that 'config-open' event gets triggered multiple times. It appears that the scope associated with the dynamically created ng-include is not properly destroyed. Despite my understanding that AngularJS scopes are linked to DOM elements and should be garbage collected when the element is removed, this does not seem to be happening in my scenario.

Hence, my question is whether AngularJS is expected to handle scope cleanup in my situation or if there is a more appropriate approach to implement my use case. Any insights on what I may be doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.

javascript angularjs angularjs-scope

Answer 1

Answer №1

The controller specifically handles the dialog content, while the OK and cancel buttons for the dialog are managed externally.

It seems like your HTML structure resembles this:

<div class="dialog">
    <div class="dialog-content" ng-controller="yourcontroller">
       ...insert your content here 
    </div>

    <button id="btnClose">Close</button>  
</div>

Consider using:

angular.element(domElement).scope()

For example (utilizing jquery with delegated event due to dynamic DOM creation):

$(document).on("click","#btnClose",function(){
    var dialog = $(this).closest(".dialog");
    //Invoke this method to destroy the scope.
    angular.element(dialog.find(".dialog-content")[0]).scope().$destroy();
    //Alternatively, you can use angular.element(dialog[0]).scope().$destroy(); depending on where the scope is attached.
    //Dispose of the dialog
    dialog.dialog("destroy");
    dialog.remove();
});

Answer 2

The controller specifically handles the dialog content, while the OK and cancel buttons for the dialog are managed externally.

It seems like your HTML structure resembles this:

<div class="dialog">
    <div class="dialog-content" ng-controller="yourcontroller">
       ...insert your content here 
    </div>

    <button id="btnClose">Close</button>  
</div>

Consider using:

angular.element(domElement).scope()

For example (utilizing jquery with delegated event due to dynamic DOM creation):

$(document).on("click","#btnClose",function(){
    var dialog = $(this).closest(".dialog");
    //Invoke this method to destroy the scope.
    angular.element(dialog.find(".dialog-content")[0]).scope().$destroy();
    //Alternatively, you can use angular.element(dialog[0]).scope().$destroy(); depending on where the scope is attached.
    //Dispose of the dialog
    dialog.dialog("destroy");
    dialog.remove();
});

Answer 3

Answer №2

When closing your dialog, it's important to remember to manually destroy the scope.

For instance, imagine you have a DOM element within your dialog that has an ng-click directive:

<div class="dialog">
    ....
    <a data-ng-click="closeDialog()">Close Me!</a>
    ....
</div>

In your controller, you would handle this ng-click event as follows:

function myController($scope, ....){
    ....
    $scope.closeDialog = function(){
        $scope.$destroy();
        //The use of "this" here may be unclear, but you should be able to identify the relevant element somehow
        $(this).dialog("destroy");
        jQuery('#config-dialog').remove();
    }
    ....
}

The issue you might be facing is assuming that destroying the element automatically destroys the scope, which is not the case. The scope must be destroyed manually.

Answer 4

When closing your dialog, it's important to remember to manually destroy the scope.

For instance, imagine you have a DOM element within your dialog that has an ng-click directive:

<div class="dialog">
    ....
    <a data-ng-click="closeDialog()">Close Me!</a>
    ....
</div>

In your controller, you would handle this ng-click event as follows:

function myController($scope, ....){
    ....
    $scope.closeDialog = function(){
        $scope.$destroy();
        //The use of "this" here may be unclear, but you should be able to identify the relevant element somehow
        $(this).dialog("destroy");
        jQuery('#config-dialog').remove();
    }
    ....
}

The issue you might be facing is assuming that destroying the element automatically destroys the scope, which is not the case. The scope must be destroyed manually.

Answer 5

Answer №3

Today, I want to share a different approach with you that I don't usually take. The issue you're facing is likely the result of using both JQuery and Angular together (although I haven't tested your code, this seems like the most probable cause). Mixing Angular with JQuery can cause Angular to lose track of changes made outside the framework, which is why it's generally advised not to mix them if possible.

In this particular situation, it appears that there isn't anything you couldn't achieve using Angular alone.

If it were me, I would consider placing my dialog within an ng-switch directive (which manages adding and removing elements from the DOM similar to JQuery), then have the opening broadcast and close button trigger the ng-switch criteria instead. This way, you can add and remove the dialog from the DOM without worrying about synchronization between Angular and JQuery.

Also, check out the second part of this article! I used to heavily rely on Jquery in Angular development until I read this post and changed my approach. Since then, everything has been much smoother :-)

Edit: Here's a simple example using HTML. In this case, "dialog.template" is a variable defined in the scope of DialogController by the caller.

<div ng-switch on="dialog_status">
    <div ng-switch-when="open">
        <div class="dialog" ng-controller="DialogController" ng-include="dialog.template">
           Dialog content goes here 
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

Answer 6

Today, I want to share a different approach with you that I don't usually take. The issue you're facing is likely the result of using both JQuery and Angular together (although I haven't tested your code, this seems like the most probable cause). Mixing Angular with JQuery can cause Angular to lose track of changes made outside the framework, which is why it's generally advised not to mix them if possible.

In this particular situation, it appears that there isn't anything you couldn't achieve using Angular alone.

If it were me, I would consider placing my dialog within an ng-switch directive (which manages adding and removing elements from the DOM similar to JQuery), then have the opening broadcast and close button trigger the ng-switch criteria instead. This way, you can add and remove the dialog from the DOM without worrying about synchronization between Angular and JQuery.

Also, check out the second part of this article! I used to heavily rely on Jquery in Angular development until I read this post and changed my approach. Since then, everything has been much smoother :-)

Edit: Here's a simple example using HTML. In this case, "dialog.template" is a variable defined in the scope of DialogController by the caller.

<div ng-switch on="dialog_status">
    <div ng-switch-when="open">
        <div class="dialog" ng-controller="DialogController" ng-include="dialog.template">
           Dialog content goes here 
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

AngularJS does not properly handle the cleanup of child scopes generated by the ng-include directive

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

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