Setting selected values for ng-options bound select elements

Question

Fiddle with the relevant code: http://jsfiddle.net/gFCzV/7/

I'm trying to set the selected value of a drop down that is bound to a child collection of an object referenced in an ng-repeat. I don't know how to set the selected option since I can't reference the collection it's being bound to in any way that I'm aware of.

HTML:

<div ng-app="myApp" ng-controller="SomeController">
    <div ng-repeat="Person in People">
        <div class="listheader">{{Person.firstName}} {{Person.lastName}}</div>
        <div class="listitem" ng-repeat="Choice in Person.Choices">
            {{Choice.Name}}: 
            <select 
                ng-model="Choice.SelectedOption"                 
                ng-options="choice.Name for choice in Choice.Options"></select>
            {{Choice.SelectedOption.ID}}
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

JS:

var myApp = angular.module('myApp', []);
myApp.controller("SomeController", function($scope) {
    $scope.People = [{
        "firstName": "John",
        "lastName": "Doe",
        "Choices": [
            {
                "Name":"Dinner",
                "Options":[{Name:"Fish",ID:1}, {Name:"Chicken",ID:2}, {Name:"Beef",ID:3}],
                "SelectedOption":{Name:"Chicken",ID:2} //this doesn't work
            },
            {
                "Name":"Lunch",
                "Options":[{Name:"Macaroni",ID:1}, {Name:"PB&J",ID:2}, {Name:"Fish",ID:3}],
                "SelectedOption":""
            }
        ],        
    }, {
        "firstName": "Jane",
        "lastName": "Doe"
    }];
});

Is this the one case where I should actually be using ng-init with a SelectedIndex on the model?

Answer 1

If using AngularJS 1.2 you can use 'track by' to tell Angular how to compare objects.

<select 
    ng-model="Choice.SelectedOption"                 
    ng-options="choice.Name for choice in Choice.Options track by choice.ID">
</select>

Updated fiddle http://jsfiddle.net/gFCzV/34/

Answer 2

You can use the ID field as the equality identifier. You can't use the adhoc object for this case because AngularJS checks references equality when comparing objects.

<select 
    ng-model="Choice.SelectedOption.ID" 
    ng-options="choice.ID as choice.Name for choice in Choice.Options">
</select>

Answer 3

Using ng-selected for selected value. I Have successfully implemented code in AngularJS v1.3.2

<select ng-model="objBillingAddress.StateId"  >
   <option data-ng-repeat="c in States" value="{{c.StateId}}" ng-selected="objBillingAddress.BillingStateId==c.StateId">{{c.StateName}}</option>
                                                </select>