Angular2 child property change not firing update on bound property

Question

I have a simple custom directive with an input, that I'm binding to in my component. But for whatever reason, the ngOnchanges() method doesn't fire when changing a child property of the input property.

my.component.ts

import {Component} from 'angular2/core';
import {MyDirective} from './my.directive';

@Component({
    directives: [MyDirective],
    selector: 'my-component', 
    templateUrl: 'Template.html'
})

export class MyComponent {
    test: { one: string; } = { one: "1" }

    constructor( ) {
        this.test.one = "2";
    }
    clicked() {
        console.log("clicked");
        var test2: { one: string; } = { one :"3" };
        this.test = test2; // THIS WORKS - because I'm changing the entire object
        this.test.one = "4"; //THIS DOES NOT WORK - ngOnChanges is NOT fired=
    }
}

my.directive.ts

import {Directive, Input} from 'angular2/core';
import {OnChanges} from 'angular2/core';

@Directive({
    selector: '[my-directive]',
    inputs: ['test']
})

export class MyDirective implements OnChanges {
    test: { one: string; } = { one: "" }

    constructor() { }

    ngOnChanges(value) {
        console.log(value);
    }
}

template.html

<div (click)="clicked()"> Click to change </div>
<div my-directive [(test)]="test">

Can anyone tell me why?

Answer 1

In fact, it's a normal behavior and Angular2 doesn't support deep comparison. It's only based on reference comparison. See this issue: https://github.com/angular/angular/issues/6458.

That said they are some workarounds to notify the directive that some fields in an object were updated.

• Referencing the directive from the component

  export class AppComponent {
    test: { one: string; } = { one: '1' }
    @ViewChild(MyDirective) viewChild:MyDirective;
  
    clicked() {
      this.test.one = '4';
      this.viewChild.testChanged(this.test);
    }
  }
  

  In this case, the testChanged method of the directive is called explicitly. See this plunkr: https://plnkr.co/edit/TvibzkWUKNxH6uGkL6mJ?p=preview.

• Using an event within a service

  A dedicated service defines testChanged event

  export class ChangeService {
    testChanged: EventEmitter;
  
    constructor() {
      this.testChanged = new EventEmitter();
    }
  }
  

  The component uses a service to trigger the testChanged event:

  export class AppComponent {
    constructor(service:ChangeService) {
      this.service = service;
    }
  
    clicked() {
      this.test.one = '4';
      this.service.testChanged.emit(this.test);
    }
  }
  

  The directive subscribes to this testChanged event in order to be notified

  export class MyDirective implements OnChanges,OnInit {
    @Input()
    test: { one: string; } = { one: "" }
  
    constructor(service:ChangeService) {
      service.testChanged.subscribe(data => {
        console.log('test object updated!');
      });
    }
  }
  

Hope it helps you, Thierry