Exploring a new responsive template for my Angularjs app has been quite the journey, especially since this is my first Angular project. I am aware that there will be mistakes and refactoring in my future as I delve deeper into Angular.
One key learning about Angular is that DOM manipulations should ideally reside within a directive.
I have a javascript object responsible for handling template resizing, specifically for the side menu and overall layout of the template. To streamline this functionality, I consolidated all the code into a directive named 'responsive-theme'.
In this directive, I initially added all the necessary methods and then defined the App object at the end. I omitted the function bodies to keep the code concise.
The bottommost object serves as a helper object utilized by all the methods within this directive.
var directive = angular.module('bac.directive-manager');
directive.directive('responsiveTheme', function() {
return {
restrict: "A",
link: function($scope, element, attrs) {
// Implementing changes based on IE mode
var isRTL = false;
var isIE8 = false;
var isIE9 = false;
var isIE10 = false;
var sidebarWidth = 225;
var sidebarCollapsedWidth = 35;
var responsiveHandlers = [];
// Color set for theme layout
var layoutColorCodes = {
};
// Initializing popover
var lastPopedPopover;
// Various handle functions for different aspects of responsiveness
// Functions like handleInit(), handleDesktopTabletContents(), handleSidebarState(), etc.
$scope.App = {
// Main function to initialize template pages
init: function () {
// Core handlers initiation
// Layout handlers setup
// UI component initialization
// Additional functions specific to the page's content and behavior can also be implemented here.
},
// Other utility functions within the App object include fixing content height, scrolling to elements, block/unblock UI, uniform elements instantiation, etc.
};
}
};
});
Prior to using this directive, calling the App.init() method would conclude the configuration on a standard HTML page. For various sections or functionalities within the application, such as login-related tasks, separate initializations like Login.init() were leveraged.
While aware of the advice from Stack Overflow regarding transitioning from jQuery mindset to AngularJS, I aim to retrofit this solution to integrate with the existing template. The "Thinking in AngularJS" post sheds light on this perspective shift.
My endeavor involves utilizing the 'responsive-theme' directive on the body tag.
<body ui-view="dashboard-shell" responsive-theme>
<div class="page-container">
<div class="page-sidebar nav-collapse collapse" ng-controller="SidemenuController">
<sidemenu></sidemenu>
</div>
<div class="page-content" ui-view="dashboard">
</div>
</div>
</body>
However, a challenge arises where the side menu, controlled by the JavaScript within the directive, fails to function until manually triggering App.init() within the console. Seeking guidance on incorporating responsive theme logic within directives led me to experiment with placement in both compile and link sections, as well as invoking $scope.App.init() from a controller or after defining everything towards the end. Although attempting to replicate this scenario in jsfiddle, demonstrating the issue without console intervention proved challenging.
Ultimately, the goal is to seamlessly switch between pages via ui-router while ensuring relevant methods are triggered upon route transitions. With most functions being page-specific, the central App.init() method only needs to execute once in the application lifecycle. This initialization is tied to a parent template within ui-router, serving as the common shell for all switching pages. Inter-object method calls further enhance the application's seamless operation.
This may seem convoluted, but I hope to refine these practices and align with Angular's methodology as I navigate through the learning curve. Your insights and responses will greatly aid in shaping this transitional phase.