javascript - Multiple ng-app directives on a page

Question

I want to be able to use multiple ng-app="{angular.module}" directives on one page. I want to do this to make the bits of my app more modular. I figure, if I can create angular modules and plug several of them into one document, I could take those modules and plug them into other projects easily.

I have seen people say that you can only use one ng-app directive on your page... is this true? Is it most accurate to say, "one ng-app directive per view"?

I hope this is not the case, or if it is the case that there is still a best way to achieve a high degree of abstract modularity.

Here are my modules/apps and their controllers...

var searchModj = angular.module('searchModule', []);


var controllers = {};

controllers.SearchList = function ($scope){

    $scope.coworkers = [
            {name: 'Joe Bob', city: 'Ukrainia'},
            {name: 'Adam Blobnovski', city: 'Logan' },
            {name: 'Carlos Sanchez', city: 'Deerbushle'},   
            {name: 'Martin Kellerweller', city: 'Uptown'},
            {name: 'John Doe',  city: 'New York City'}
        ];
};

searchModj.controller(controllers);



var fruitModj = angular.module('fruiter', []);



controllers.SomeFruit = function ($scope) {

    $scope.fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'pear'];

};

fruitModj.controller(controllers);

Ok, now here is the relevant part of my markup...

<div ng-app="searchModule">

    <div ng-controller="SearchList">

        Name: 
        <br/>
        <input type="text" ng-model="name" /> 
        <br/>
        <ul>
            <li ng-repeat="coworker in coworkers | filter:name">{{ coworker.name }} - {{ coworker.city }}</li>
        </ul>

        <p>You are searching for <em>{{ name }}</em></p>


    </div>


</div>

<div ng-app="fruiter">
    <div ng-controller="SomeFruit">

        <ul>
            <li ng-repeat="fruit in fruits">{{ fruits }}</li>
        </ul>

    </div>

</div>

I think because it comes first in the document, my "searchModule" app works and the second app does not. When I comment out the first app, the second works. So it looks like I'm confirming my most unfortunate suspicions. Regardless... if this is the case, then what is the best approach I can bear in mind to make the functionality on my projects as modular as possible?

Answer 1

you only want one ng-app on a page, but you can insert your other modules as dependencies of the main ng-app module.

var app=angular.module('myNgAppName', ['searchModule']);

This will expose any directives , controllers etc you have in your 'searchModule'