AngularJS : Initialize service with asynchronous data

Question

I have an AngularJS service that I want to initialize with some asynchronous data. Something like this:

myModule.service(\'MyService\', function($http) {
            


        

Answer 1

I had the same problem: I love the resolve object, but that only works for the content of ng-view. What if you have controllers (for top-level nav, let's say) that exist outside of ng-view and which need to be initialized with data before the routing even begins to happen? How do we avoid mucking around on the server-side just to make that work?

Use manual bootstrap and an angular constant. A naiive XHR gets you your data, and you bootstrap angular in its callback, which deals with your async issues. In the example below, you don't even need to create a global variable. The returned data exists only in angular scope as an injectable, and isn't even present inside of controllers, services, etc. unless you inject it. (Much as you would inject the output of your resolve object into the controller for a routed view.) If you prefer to thereafter interact with that data as a service, you can create a service, inject the data, and nobody will ever be the wiser.

Example:

//First, we have to create the angular module, because all the other JS files are going to load while we're getting data and bootstrapping, and they need to be able to attach to it.
var MyApp = angular.module('MyApp', ['dependency1', 'dependency2']);

// Use angular's version of document.ready() just to make extra-sure DOM is fully 
// loaded before you bootstrap. This is probably optional, given that the async 
// data call will probably take significantly longer than DOM load. YMMV.
// Has the added virtue of keeping your XHR junk out of global scope. 
angular.element(document).ready(function() {

    //first, we create the callback that will fire after the data is down
    function xhrCallback() {
        var myData = this.responseText; // the XHR output

        // here's where we attach a constant containing the API data to our app 
        // module. Don't forget to parse JSON, which `$http` normally does for you.
        MyApp.constant('NavData', JSON.parse(myData));

        // now, perform any other final configuration of your angular module.
        MyApp.config(['$routeProvider', function ($routeProvider) {
            $routeProvider
              .when('/someroute', {configs})
              .otherwise({redirectTo: '/someroute'});
          }]);

        // And last, bootstrap the app. Be sure to remove `ng-app` from your index.html.
        angular.bootstrap(document, ['NYSP']);
    };

    //here, the basic mechanics of the XHR, which you can customize.
    var oReq = new XMLHttpRequest();
    oReq.onload = xhrCallback;
    oReq.open("get", "/api/overview", true); // your specific API URL
    oReq.send();
})

Now, your NavData constant exists. Go ahead and inject it into a controller or service:

angular.module('MyApp')
    .controller('NavCtrl', ['NavData', function (NavData) {
        $scope.localObject = NavData; //now it's addressable in your templates 
}]);

Of course, using a bare XHR object strips away a number of the niceties that $http or JQuery would take care of for you, but this example works with no special dependencies, at least for a simple get. If you want a little more power for your request, load up an external library to help you out. But I don't think it's possible to access angular's $http or other tools in this context.

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