AngularJS initialize controller variables

Question

I'm using an initialization function init() within most of my controllers to setup controller specific variables. I'm finding I'm doing it in most controllers so I assuming this is common but I cannot find any documentation. As I see the options are as follows:

leave as is

use run or provider service

(function () {

'use strict';

CompanyController.$inject = ['CompanyFactory','LocationService'];
function CompanyController(CompanyFactory,LocationService) {

    let vm = this;

      // Initialize function  
    function init() {
        vm.company = {
            solutions: CompanyFactory.getSolutions(),
        };
        // set $location 
        LocationService.setLocation('company-page');
    }

    init();

}

angular.module('app.company', [])
    .controller('CompanyController', CompanyController)


})();

There is no options. I believe.You have to make init() calls in each controller. — Nikhil Mohanan
– Nikhil Mohanan, Commented Dec 22, 2017 at 6:28

Estus Flask · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-22 06:37:01Z

3

Controller lifecycle hooks were introduced in AngularJS 1.5. $onInit hook is supposed to play exactly this role:

this.$onInit = function () { ... }

$onInit hook is a replacement for pre-link function. It is executed by the compiler. It may not be executed if a controller doesn't belong to a directive (ng-controller is a directive, too) but is instantiated directly with $controller, like route controller. In this case this.$onInit() should be called explicitly in constructor.

It should be noticed that in original snippet function init() {...} doesn't play significant role. It isn't exposed as a method, so it cannot help a controller to be more testable or extensible.

edited Dec 22, 2017 at 6:37

answered Dec 22, 2017 at 6:30

Estus Flask

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3 Comments

Slava Utesinov Over a year ago

It is related to components not to controllers.

Estus Flask Over a year ago

@SlavaUtesinov Lifecycle hooks were introduced as a step towards A2. It is specific to compiler, not components. Lifecycle hooks are documented in components section because components benefited most from them.

Nolan Over a year ago

@estus thank you! btw, I only placed the function it in the controller for brevity sake

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