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

So I found a solution. I created an angularJS service, we'll call it MyDataRepository and I created a module for it. I then serve up this javascript file from my server-side controller:

HTML:

<script src="path/myData.js"></script>

Server-side:

@RequestMapping(value="path/myData.js", method=RequestMethod.GET)
public ResponseEntity<String> getMyDataRepositoryJS()
{
    // Populate data that I need into a Map
    Map<String, String> myData = new HashMap<String,String>();
    ...
    // Use Jackson to convert it to JSON
    ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
    String myDataStr = mapper.writeValueAsString(myData);

    // Then create a String that is my javascript file
    String myJS = "'use strict';" +
    "(function() {" +
    "var myDataModule = angular.module('myApp.myData', []);" +
    "myDataModule.service('MyDataRepository', function() {" +
        "var myData = "+myDataStr+";" +
        "return {" +
            "getData: function () {" +
                "return myData;" +
            "}" +
        "}" +
    "});" +
    "})();"

    // Now send it to the client:
    HttpHeaders responseHeaders = new HttpHeaders();
    responseHeaders.add("Content-Type", "text/javascript");
    return new ResponseEntity<String>(myJS , responseHeaders, HttpStatus.OK);
}

I can then inject MyDataRepository where ever I need it:

someOtherModule.service('MyOtherService', function(MyDataRepository) {
    var myData = MyDataRepository.getData();
    // Do what you have to do...
}

This worked great for me, but I am open to any feedback if anyone has any. }

Answer 2

The "manual bootstrap" case can gain access to Angular services by manually creating an injector before bootstrap. This initial injector will stand alone (not be attached to any elements) and include only a subset of the modules that are loaded. If all you need is core Angular services, it's sufficient to just load ng, like this:

angular.element(document).ready(
    function() {
        var initInjector = angular.injector(['ng']);
        var $http = initInjector.get('$http');
        $http.get('/config.json').then(
            function (response) {
               var config = response.data;
               // Add additional services/constants/variables to your app,
               // and then finally bootstrap it:
               angular.bootstrap(document, ['myApp']);
            }
        );
    }
);

You can, for example, use the module.constant mechanism to make data available to your app:

myApp.constant('myAppConfig', data);

This myAppConfig can now be injected just like any other service, and in particular it's available during the configuration phase:

myApp.config(
    function (myAppConfig, someService) {
        someService.config(myAppConfig.someServiceConfig);
    }
);

or, for a smaller app, you could just inject the global config directly into your service, at the expense of spreading knowledge about the configuration format throughout the application.

Of course, since the async operations here will block the bootstrap of the application, and thus block the compilation/linking of the template, it's wise to use the ng-cloak directive to prevent the unparsed template from showing up during the work. You could also provide some sort of loading indication in the DOM , by providing some HTML that gets shown only until AngularJS initializes:

<div ng-if="initialLoad">
    <!-- initialLoad never gets set, so this div vanishes as soon as Angular is done compiling -->
    <p>Loading the app.....</p>
</div>
<div ng-cloak>
    <!-- ng-cloak attribute is removed once the app is done bootstrapping -->
    <p>Done loading the app!</p>
</div>

I created a complete, working example of this approach on Plunker, loading the configuration from a static JSON file as an example.

Answer 3

What you can do is in your .config for the app is create the resolve object for the route and in the function pass in $q (promise object) and the name of the service you're depending on, and resolve the promise in the callback function for the $http in the service like so:

ROUTE CONFIG

app.config(function($routeProvider){
    $routeProvider
     .when('/',{
          templateUrl: 'home.html',
          controller: 'homeCtrl',
          resolve:function($q,MyService) {
                //create the defer variable and pass it to our service
                var defer = $q.defer();
                MyService.fetchData(defer);
                //this will only return when the promise
                //has been resolved. MyService is going to
                //do that for us
                return defer.promise;
          }
      })
}

Angular won't render the template or make the controller available until defer.resolve() has been called. We can do that in our service:

SERVICE

app.service('MyService',function($http){
       var MyService = {};
       //our service accepts a promise object which 
       //it will resolve on behalf of the calling function
       MyService.fetchData = function(q) {
             $http({method:'GET',url:'data.php'}).success(function(data){
                 MyService.data = data;
                 //when the following is called it will
                 //release the calling function. in this
                 //case it's the resolve function in our
                 //route config
                 q.resolve();
             }
       }

       return MyService;
});

Now that MyService has the data assigned to it's data property, and the promise in the route resolve object has been resolved, our controller for the route kicks into life, and we can assign the data from the service to our controller object.

CONTROLLER

  app.controller('homeCtrl',function($scope,MyService){
       $scope.servicedata = MyService.data;
  });

Now all our binding in the scope of the controller will be able to use the data which originated from MyService.

Answer 4

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.

(SO related post)