AngularJS: How do I create controllers in multiple files

Question

I'm trying to split my controllers into multiple files, but when i try to register them at my module im getting an error:

groupcontroller.coffee

app = angular.module('WebChat', []);
app.controller 'GroupController', ($scope) -> 

usercontroller.coffee

app = angular.module('WebChat', []);
app.controller 'UserController', ($scope) -> 

Error

Error: Argument 'GroupController' is not a function, got undefined

From the documentation I dont really get what the module method does anyway. Does it store my controller with the key 'Webchat'?

Edit: It also seems that passing [] creates a new module and overwrites the previous one

app = angular.module('WebChat', []);

To prevent this, you have to leave out the [] like

app = angular.module('WebChat');

Answer 1

Check other places in your code where you're referencing 'GroupController' (probably in your route). Chances are you have it as there as a variable, but when you declare a controller inside a module you'll have to wrap it quotes. EG:

MyCtrl1() = -> ()
...
$routeProvider.when('/view1', {templateUrl: 'partials/partial1.html', controller: MyCtrl1})

works fine because MyCtrl1 is a variable. But when declaring controllers in a module as you are:

app = angular.module('WebChat', []);
app.controller 'GroupController', ($scope) ->
   # ...

$routeProvider.when('/view1', {templateUrl: 'partials/partial1.html', controller: 'GroupController'})

'GroupController' needs quotes in the route.

Answer 2

here is what I did:

index.html

<script src="js/angular.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="js/myApp.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="js/myCtrlA.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script src="js/myCtrlB.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>

app.js

myApp = angular.module('myApp', [])
myApp.config ($routeProvider) ->
    $routeProvider.when('/a', {controller: 'myCtrlA', templateUrl: 'a.html'})
    $routeProvider.when('/b', {controller: 'myCtrlB', templateUrl: 'b.html'})

myCtrlA.js

angular.module('myApp').controller 'myCtrlA', ($scope) ->
    console.log 'this is myCtrlA'

myCtrlB.js

angular.module('myApp').controller 'myCtrlB', ($scope) ->
    console.log 'this is myCtrlB'

as you can see, if I have a lot of controller js files, that will be a lot of script elements in index.html too.
I don't know how to deal with that yet.

FYI: http://briantford.com/blog/huuuuuge-angular-apps.html
but this article did not mention the html file too.

Answer 3

I have my app var definied in my app.js file witch is first referenced and after that the controller files for example FirstCtrl.js.

so in app.js ex

var app = angular.module(...

in FirstCtrl.js

app.controller('FirstCtrl',

Answer 4

There is a simple solution to this problem. Concatenate your *.coffee files before compile. If you use 'gulp' you may create task like this:

 gulp.src(['./assets/js/ng/**/*.coffee'])
    .pipe(concat('main.coffee'))
    .pipe(coffee())
    .pipe(ngmin())
    .pipe(gulp.dest('./public/static/js/app'))
    .pipe(livereload(server));

For example:

chat.coffee

myChat = angular.module 'myChat', []

msg.coffee

myChat
.directive 'message', () ->
    return {
        restrict: 'E'
        replace : true
        transclude: true
        scope: true
        template: '<div></div>' 
    }

After concatenate and compile we have:

(function () {
  var myChat;
  myChat = angular.module('myChat', []);
  myChat.directive('message', function () {
    return {
      restrict: 'E',
      replace: true,
      transclude: true,
      scope: true,
      template: '<div></div>'
    };
  });

}.call(this));

Enjoy!