The function below defines a variable in the rootscope.
function MyCtrl($scope, $rootScope) {
$rootScope.buttons = [{href: \'#/students\', icon:\'icon-ok\
Try:
<a class="btn" ng-repeat="b in $root.buttons" href={{b.href}}>
You have an isolate scope in your directive
scope:{}
This means that the directive doesn't have access to upper scopes - remember that isolate scopes don't prototypically inherit from the parent scope. So you either remove the isolate scope or tell the directive to bind some properties to its local scope from the parent scope.
scope: {buttons: '='}
Then invoke the directive like this
<btn-bar buttons="buttons"></btn-bar>
Example: http://plnkr.co/edit/88R66L7uAHoezDZvuoH5?p=preview
Also, rather than modifying the $rootScope
from a controller, you might want to do it from the run
method
var app = angular.module('app', ['btnbar.directive']);
app.run(function($rootScope){
$rootScope.buttons = [{href: '#/students', icon:'icon-ok'},
{href: '#/students', icon:'icon-remove'},
{href: '#/students/new', icon:'icon-plus'}];
});