I'm not sure I understand the question but here is some working code that maps the first ng-repeat to records and the second ng-repeat to records2. Is this what you are trying to accomplish? The second ng-repeat was attached to mainCtrl and did not have an inc function on the scope. I set the second to use itemCtrl2 controller.
<body ng-app="test1">
<div>
<div ng-controller="mainCtrl">
<div ng-repeat="record in records" ng-controller="itemCtrl">
<span>{{record.val}}</span><a ng-click="inc()">inc</a>
</div>
<p></p>
<div ng-repeat="record in records2" ng-controller="itemCtrl2">
<span>{{record}}</span><a ng-click="inc()">inc</a>
</div>
</div>
<script>
var app = angular.module("test1", []);
app.controller("mainCtrl", function ($scope) {
$scope.records = [
{ val: 1 },
{ val: 2 },
{ val: 3 }
];
$scope.records2 = [1, 2, 3];
});
app.controller("itemCtrl", function ($scope) {
$scope.inc = function () {
$scope.record.val++;
};
});
app.controller("itemCtrl2", function ($scope) {
$scope.inc = function () {
$scope.record++;
};
});
</script>
</div>