AngularJS Routing
The ngRoute
module helps your application to become a Single
Page Application.
What is Routing in AngularJS?
If you want to navigate to different pages in your application, but you also
want the application to be a SPA (Single Page Application),
with no page reloading, you can use the ngRoute
module.
The ngRoute
module routes your application to different pages
without reloading the entire application.
Example:
Navigate to "red.htm", "green.htm", and "blue.htm":
<body ng-app="myApp">
<p><a href="#/">Main</a></p>
<a href="#red">Red</a>
<a href="#green">Green</a>
<a href="#blue">Blue</a>
<div ng-view></div>
<script>
var app = angular.module("myApp", ["ngRoute"]);
app.config(function($routeProvider) {
$routeProvider
.when("/", {
templateUrl : "main.htm"
})
.when("/red", {
templateUrl : "red.htm"
})
.when("/green", {
templateUrl : "green.htm"
})
.when("/blue", {
templateUrl : "blue.htm"
});
});
</script>
</body>
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What do I Need?
To make your applications ready for routing, you must include the AngularJS Route module:
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.4.8/angular-route.js"></script>
Then you must add the ngRoute
as a dependency in the
application module::
var app = angular.module("myApp", ["ngRoute"]);
Now your application has access to the route module, which provides the $routeProvider
.
Use the $routeProvider
to configure different routes in your
application:
app.config(function($routeProvider) {
$routeProvider
.when("/", {
templateUrl : "main.htm"
})
.when("/red", {
templateUrl : "red.htm"
})
.when("/green", {
templateUrl :
"green.htm"
})
.when("/blue", {
templateUrl : "blue.htm"
});
});
Where Does it Go?
Your application needs a container to put the content provided by the routing.
This container is the ng-view
directive.
There are three different ways to include the ng-view
directive
in your application:
Applications can only have one ng-view
directive, and this will be the placeholder for all views
provided by the route.
$routeProvider
With the $routeProvider
you can define what page to display when a user
clicks a link.
Example:
Define a $routeProvider
:
var app = angular.module("myApp", ["ngRoute"]);
app.config(function($routeProvider) {
$routeProvider
.when("/", {
templateUrl : "main.htm"
})
.when("/london", {
templateUrl : "london.htm"
})
.when("/paris", {
templateUrl : "paris.htm"
});
});
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Define the $routeProvider
using the config
method of your application. Work
registered in the config
method will be performed when the
application is
loading.
Controllers
With the $routeProvider
you can also define a controller for
each "view".
Example:
Add controllers:
var app = angular.module("myApp", ["ngRoute"]);
app.config(function($routeProvider) {
$routeProvider
.when("/", {
templateUrl : "main.htm"
})
.when("/london", {
templateUrl : "london.htm",
controller : "londonCtrl"
})
.when("/paris", {
templateUrl : "paris.htm",
controller : "parisCtrl"
});
});
app.controller("londonCtrl", function ($scope) {
$scope.msg = "I love London";
});
app.controller("parisCtrl", function
($scope) {
$scope.msg = "I love Paris";
});
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The "london.htm" and "paris.htm" are normal HTML files, which you can add AngularJS expressions as you would with any other HTML sections of your AngularJS application.
The files looks like this:
<h1>London</h1>
<h3>London is the capital city of England.</h3>
<p>It
is the most populous city in the United Kingdom, with a metropolitan area of
over 13 million inhabitants.</p>
<p>{{msg}}</p>
<h1>Paris</h1>
<h3>Paris is the capital city of France.</h3>
<p>The Paris area is one of the largest population centers in Europe, with more than 12 million inhabitants.</p>
<p>{{msg}}</p>
Template
In the previous examples we have used the templateUrl
property in the
$routeProvider.when
method.
You can also use the template
property, which allows you to write HTML
directly in the property value, and not refer to a page.
Example:
Write templates:
var app = angular.module("myApp", ["ngRoute"]);
app.config(function($routeProvider) {
$routeProvider
.when("/", {
template : "<h1>Main</h1><p>Click
on the links to change this content</p>"
})
.when("/banana", {
template : "<h1>Banana</h1><p>Bananas
contain around 75% water.</p>"
})
.when("/tomato", {
template : "<h1>Tomato</h1><p>Tomatoes
contain around 95% water.</p>"
});
});
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The otherwise method
In the previous examples we have used the when
method of the $routeProvider
.
You can also use the otherwise
method, which is the default route
when none of the others get a match.
Example:
If neither the "Banana" nor the "Tomato" link has been clicked, let them know:
var app = angular.module("myApp", ["ngRoute"]);
app.config(function($routeProvider) {
$routeProvider
.when("/banana", {
template : "<h1>Banana</h1><p>Bananas
contain around 75% water.</p>"
})
.when("/tomato", {
template : "<h1>Tomato</h1><p>Tomatoes
contain around 95% water.</p>"
})
.otherwise({
template : "<h1>None</h1><p>Nothing
has been selected</p>"
});
});
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