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AngularJS Controllers

A controller prepares state and operations for a view. controllerAs gives that state an explicit name and helps avoid accidentally reading or shadowing unrelated scope properties.

How it works

The desk counts submitted local previews. A named operation increments the controller field instead of making the template responsible for the update rule. Controllers should not become a home for every API request, formatting rule and DOM manipulation in the application. Shared behavior can move behind an injected service, and reusable view boundaries can use components.

Run the code

AngularJS 1.8.3 is a legacy framework whose official support ended in January 2022. These examples teach maintenance, not a recommendation for a new application. They need a separate local browser page; Bhylu has no AngularJS playground.

In an empty folder save the HTML below as controllers.html and the server as lab-server.mjs. Make a vendor folder and save the four pinned libraries there, retaining their MIT notices. With Node 22 or later run node lab-server.mjs controllers.html, then open http://127.0.0.1:8136/. Stop that lab before running a different lesson. The server supplies fixed read-only HTTP fixtures; no data is saved and it does not connect to SQL. No PHP, Apache or MySQL configuration changes are needed.

Example

controllers.html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en" ng-app="repairLab" ng-strict-di>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1" />
    <title>AngularJS Controllers</title>
    <style>
      :root {
        font:
          18px/1.55 system-ui,
          sans-serif;
        color: #0f3464;
        background: #fff;
        color-scheme: light;
      }
      * {
        box-sizing: border-box;
      }
      body {
        margin: 0;
      }
      main {
        max-width: 50rem;
        margin: auto;
        padding: 1.2rem;
      }
      h1 {
        font-size: 1.65rem;
      }
      label {
        display: block;
        margin: 0.6rem 0;
      }
      input,
      select,
      textarea,
      button {
        font: inherit;
        max-width: 100%;
        padding: 0.35rem;
        margin: 0.2rem;
      }
      button {
        border: 1px solid #034fa0;
        border-radius: 0.25rem;
        background: #034fa0;
        color: white;
      }
      button:disabled {
        opacity: 0.55;
      }
      output,
      [role="status"] {
        display: block;
        min-height: 1.5rem;
      }
      table {
        border-collapse: collapse;
        width: 100%;
      }
      td,
      th {
        padding: 0.4rem;
        border: 1px solid #a5bbd4;
        text-align: left;
      }
      pre {
        white-space: pre-wrap;
        overflow-wrap: anywhere;
      }
      :focus-visible {
        outline: 3px solid #0078d4;
        outline-offset: 3px;
      }
      [ng-cloak] {
        display: none !important;
      }
      .marked {
        font-weight: 700;
      }
      .error {
        color: #a02424;
      }
      :root[data-theme="dark"] {
        color: #d6e7fb;
        background: #061d30;
        color-scheme: dark;
      }
      :root[data-theme="dark"] .error {
        color: #ffb4b4;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <main ng-controller="DeskController as vm" ng-cloak>
      <h1>Community repair desk</h1>
      <p>AngularJS 1.8.3 · Legacy maintenance lab · Local demonstration</p>
      <button type="button" ng-click="vm.record()">Record preview</button>
      <p data-result>{{ vm.count }} previews</p>
    </main>
    <script src="/vendor/angular.min.js"></script>
    <script>
      (function () {
        "use strict";
        var app = angular.module("repairLab", []);
        app.controller("DeskController", [
          function () {
            var vm = this;
            vm.count = 0;
            vm.record = function () {
              vm.count += 1;
            };
          },
        ]);
      })();
    </script>
  </body>
</html>
Focus on the bindings and controller

This excerpt leaves out the document shell, styles and library files. Use the complete download to run it.


<button type="button" ng-click="vm.record()">Record preview</button>
<p data-result>{{ vm.count }} previews</p>
<script>
  (function () {
    "use strict";
    var app = angular.module("repairLab", []);
    app.controller("DeskController", [
      function () {
        var vm = this;
        vm.count = 0;
        vm.record = function () {
          vm.count += 1;
        };
      },
    ]);
  })();
</script>

Expected result

0 previews

The click changes the controller value and AngularJS updates the paragraph during its event-driven digest work. The test triggers the actual directive rather than directly writing expected DOM text. This counter is in memory and resets when the page reloads.

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