While developing a web application using Angular, I encountered an issue with routing. I wanted to ensure that all routes were covered, so I decided to add a `redirectTo` property to the `$routeProvider`. The goal was to redirect users to the root of the web application if they entered invalid routes, which do not belong to the Angular-controlled portion of the URL.
Initially, I tried the following:
$routeProvider.otherwise({
redirectTo: '/'
});
However, this method only redirected users within the Angular section of the URL. This resulted in users being sent to URLs like `http://app.com/angular-part-of-web-app#` instead of `http://app.com`, where I intended them to go.
To work around this issue, I created a blank partial to serve as a '404' page. Then, I implemented a controller that utilizes the `$window` object to redirect users to the desired page:
routes.js
// Redirect to site list.
$routeProvider.when('/404', {
templateUrl: '/partials/404.html',
controller: 'RedirectCtrl'
});
// Redirect to the 404 page.
$routeProvider.otherwise({
redirectTo: '/404'
});
controllers.js
// Controller to redirect users to the root page of the site.
.controller('RedirectCtrl', ['$scope', '$window', function ($scope, $window) {
$window.location.href = '/';
}]);
While this workaround solved the issue, it felt a bit hacky. I began wondering if there was a better way to handle this scenario in Angular.
EDIT: My search for similar solutions on Stack Overflow did not provide a definitive answer. Given the rapid pace of changes in the Angular ecosystem, I'm keeping my question open instead of marking it as a duplicate, as the previous solution may no longer be valid.