AngularJS How to access elements inside directive before they get replaced

Question

How do I get the input element from within the directive before the template overwrites the contents?

html

  
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Answer 1

I believe you're looking for the transclude function (link is to 1.0.8 docs). You can see what's going on with:

app.directive('xxx', function($log){
    return {
        restrict: 'A',
        transclude: true,
        compile: function(element, attrs, transclude) {

            $log.info("every instance element:", element);

            return function (scope, iElement, iAttrs) {

                $log.info("this instance element:", element);

                transclude(scope, function(clone){

                    $log.info("clone:", clone);

                });
            }
        }
    };
});