Ember.js How to get controller in needs which is nested controllerName

Question

I want to use this.get('controllers.pack.query'); to get App.PackQueryController in App.PackController, but failed.

I think the problem is Ember use pack not pack.query as controllerName when it tries to get the controller. Although I can get the controller by this.controllerFor('pack.query'), but Ember says it is deprecated, please use needs instead

My router map likes below and I've defined needs: ['pack.query'] in App.PackController

App.Router.map(function () {
    this.resource('pack', function () {
        this.route('index', {path: '/:pack_id'})
        this.route('query');
    });
});

App.PackController = Ember.ObjectController.extend({
    needs: ['pack.query'],
    queryPack: function () {
        var packQueryCtrller = this.get('controllers.pack.query');            

        Ember.debug('packQueryCtrller: ' + packQueryCtrller);
        //DEBUG: packQueryCtrller: undefined

        packQueryCtrller.queryPack(); //faild packQuery is undefined
    }
});

App.PackQueryController = Ember.ArrayController.extend({
    queryPack: function (queryKey) {
        //...do query pack
    }
});

Answer 1

You should use camel case, not dot notation for this.

Your pack controller should be

 App.PackController = Ember.ObjectController.extend({
   needs: ['packQuery'],
   queryPack: function () {
     var packQueryCtrller = this.get('controllers.packQuery');            

     Ember.debug('packQueryCtrller: ' + packQueryCtrller);
     //DEBUG: packQueryCtrller: undefined

     packQueryCtrller.queryPack(); //faild packQuery is undefined
   }
});

Answer 2

Ember.inject.controller() should be used to access a controller. Use it like so:

Setting

...
myController: Ember.inject.controller('pack'),
nestedController: Ember.inject.controller('pack/query')
...

Getting

...
this.get('myController');
this.get('nestedController');
...

The answer above was updated to reflect the needs deprecation in Ember 1.13.5 (released July 19, 2015). I've left the old answers below, but shouldn't be used unless you're using an older version of Ember.

---

[DEPRECATED] Accessing nested controllers from other controllers using needs:

Set needs on the controller:

...
needs: ['pack/query'],
...

Then access it using:

this.get('controllers.pack/query');

---

[DEPRECATED] Accessing nested controllers from routes:

Ideally, actions should be put on a Route. If you're using the needs pattern outlined above in your actions on a controller, consider refactoring.

You can access nested controllers from a Route using controllerFor like so:

this.controllerFor('pack/query')

Answer 3

There's a newer, inject, syntax for same use case

accountQueueController: Ember.inject.controller('account/queue'),
...
this.get('accountQueueController.model.myProperty')

source: http://discuss.emberjs.com/t/needs-with-nested-controller/8083/6