AngularJS validation with no enclosing

Question

Is it possible in Angular to validate a single, isolated <input> in a similar way the forms are validated? I'm thinking about something like this:

<div class="form-group">
    <input name="myInput" type="text" class="form-control" ng-model="bindTo" ng-maxlength="5">
    <span class="error" ng-show="myInput.$error.maxlength">Too long!</span>
</div>

The example above doesn't work. Enclosing it in a <form> and replacing ng-show with ng-show="myForm.myInput.$error.maxlength" helps.

Is it possible to do this without using <form>?

Have you tried it? I don't think it is though, I believe Angular creates a `form.FormController` behind the scenes that keeps track of the input states of a form, things like `valid\invalid & dirty\pristine.` http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng/type/form.FormController — m.e.conroy, Feb 28 '14 at 15:09

score 187 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 09 '14 at 11:54

187

You may use the ng-form angular directive (see docs here) to group anything, even outside a html form. Then, you can take advantage from angular FormController.

<div class="form-group" ng-form name="myForm">
    <input name="myInput" type="text" class="form-control" ng-model="bindTo" ng-maxlength="5">
    <span class="error" ng-show="myForm.myInput.$error.maxlength">Too long!</span>
</div>

Example

edited Nov 09 '14 at 11:54

Community

1
1

answered Aug 16 '14 at 18:30

Silvio Lucas

1,959
1
14
11

1

For future readers who also want to validate such a form on the ng-click event of a button, see here: http://stackoverflow.com/a/24123379/1371408 – Matty J Mar 31 '15 at 05:49
Multiple inputs with individual validations example http://plnkr.co/edit/wuOExkq4LXEiDELm2C6E?p=preview – Nathan Redblur Mar 16 '17 at 21:25
@SilvioLucas - your example still "Executes" even if the field is empty... ? – komodosp Nov 22 '18 at 23:21

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 16 '15 at 14:38

Building on Silvio Lucas' answer, if you are iterating in a loop and need to be able to interpolate form names and valid states:

<div
  name="{{propertyName}}"
  ng-form=""
  class="property-edit-view"
  ng-class="{
    'has-error': {{propertyName}}.editBox.$invalid,
    'has-success':
      {{propertyName}}.editBox.$valid &&
      {{propertyName}}.editBox.$dirty &&
      propertyValue.length !== 0
  }"
  ng-switch="schema.type">
  <input
    name="editBox"
    ng-switch-when="int"
    type="number"
    ng-model="propertyValue"
    ng-pattern="/^[0-9]+$/"
    class="form-control">
  <input
    name="editBox"
    ng-switch-default=""
    type="text"
    ng-model="propertyValue"
    class="form-control">
  <span class="property-type" ng-bind="schema.type"></span>
</div>

score -4 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 08 '15 at 11:38

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html ng-app="plunker">
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <title>AngularJS Plunker</title>
    <script>document.write('<base href="' + document.location + '" />');</script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" />
    <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.2.5/angular.min.js">   </script>

</head>

<body ng-controller="MainCtrl">
    <div class="help-block error" ng-show="test.field.$error.required">Required</div>
    <div class="help-block error" ng-show="test.firstName.$error.required">Name Required</div>
    <p>Hello {{name}}!</p>
    <div ng-form="test" id="test">
        <input type="text" name="firstName" ng-model="firstName" required> First name <br/> 
        <input id="field" name="field" required ng-model="field2" type="text"/>
    </div>
</body>
<script>
    var app = angular.module('plunker', []);

    app.controller('MainCtrl', function($scope) {
      $scope.name = 'World';
      $scope.field = "name";
      $scope.firstName = "FirstName";
      $scope.execute = function() {
        alert('Executed!');
      }
    });

</script>

Is this any different from http://stackoverflow.com/a/25342654/2333214? If so, could you add an explanation how it differs? — T J, Apr 09 '16 at 17:59

AngularJS validation with no enclosing

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