How can I isolate nested form? - html

Question

I'm very new to AngularJS, and new to client side programming.
Context:
I'm implementing a contact form with support for multiple phone numbers and addresses.
It look like this:
<form name="contactInsertForm" ng-controller="contactInsertController as contactCtrlr" ng-submit="contactInsertForm.$valid && contactCtrlr.save()">
<input type="text" name="name" />
<phones-editor></phones-editor>
<addresses-editor></addresses-editor>
<input type="submit" />
</form>
phonesEditor and addressesEditor are custom Angular directives which implement support for adding, removing and editing phones and addresses. The controllers and modules look like this:
Addresses:
(function () {
var app = angular.module("AddressesEditorModule", []);
app.directive("addressesEditor", function () {
return {
restrict: "E",
templateUrl: "/addressesEditorTemplate.html",
controller: function ($scope) {
this.addresses = [
// this will hold addresses.
];
// ...
}
}
})();
Phones:
(function () {
var app = angular.module("PhonesEditorModule", []);
app.directive("phonesEditor", function () {
return {
restrict: "E",
templateUrl: "/phonesEditorTemplate.html",
controller: function ($scope) {
this.phones = [
// this will hold phones.
];
// ...
}
}
})();
And the templates:
Addresses:
<!-- list already added addresses -->
<div ng-repeat="address in addressesEditorCtrlr.addresses">
<p>{{address.address}}</p>
<p>{{address.city}}</p>
</div>
<form name="addressInsertForm" ng-submit="addressInsertForm.$valid && addressesEditorCtrlr.add()">
<!-- inputs for each of the address fields -->
<input type="submit" value="Add" />
</form>
Phones:
<!-- list already added phones -->
<div ng-repeat="phone in phonesEditorCtrlr.addresses">
<p>{{phone.number}}</p>
<p>{{phone.areaCode}}</p>
</div>
<form name="phoneInsertForm" ng-submit="phoneInsertForm.$valid && phonesEditorCtrlr.add()">
<!-- inputs for each of the phone fields -->
<input type="submit" value="Add" />
</form>
As you may have noticed, the generated at the browser HTML looks like this:
<form>
<input type="text" name="name" />
<phones-editor>
<!-- list already added phones -->
<div ng-repeat="phone in phonesEditorCtrlr.addresses">
<p>{{phone.number}}</p>
<p>{{phone.areaCode}}</p>
</div>
<form name="phoneInsertForm" ng-submit="phoneInsertForm.$valid && phonesEditorCtrlr.add()">
<!-- inputs for each of the phone fields -->
<input type="submit" value="Add" />
</form>
</phones-editor>
<addresses-editor>
<!-- list already added addresses -->
<div ng-repeat="address in addressesEditorCtrlr.addresses">
<p>{{address.address}}</p>
<p>{{address.city}}</p>
</div>
<form name="addressInsertForm" ng-submit="addressInsertForm.$valid && addressesEditorCtrlr.add()">
<!-- inputs for each of the address fields -->
<input type="submit" value="Add" />
</form>
</addresses-editor>
</form>
The problem:
I have two form's inside a form. The nested forms work correctly, adding and validating values it should be doing, and refusing to add invalid phones/addresses.
But when I click the submit button at the outer form, it will interpret the inner forms input fields and will raise errors if these fields have invalid values.
How can I use AngularJS form handling and avoid this situation? Is this possible at all?

Answer 1

you would need a directive if you want child form as isolate form. Have a look at answers from this SO question. please have a look at fiddle attached in this answer. I am putting the fiddle link here for you to js-fiddle to see it in action.
putting below code just because SO doesnt accept only fiddle links...
<form name="parent">
<input type="text" ng-model="outside"/>
<ng-form name="subform" isolate-form>
<input type="text" ng-model="inside"/>
</ng-form>
</form>

Answer 2

Working on Angular 1.6
const isolatedFormDirective = () => {
return {
restrict: 'A',
require: '?form',
link: ($scope, $element, $attrs, ctrl) => {
ctrl && ctrl.$$parentForm && ctrl.$$parentForm.$removeControl(ctrl);
}
}
}
app.directive('isolatedForm', isolatedFormDirective);

Answer 3

This article has exactly what you are looking for.
The basic gist is that you want to use the ngForm directive inside your form tag.
<div ng-form="outerForm">
<input type="text" ng-model="main.outerFormText"/>
<div ng-form="innerForm">
<input type="text" ng-model="main.innerFormText" required/>
<button type="button" ng-click="main.submit('innerForm')"
ng-disabled="innerForm.$invalid">Inner Submit</button>
</div>
<button type="button" ng-click="main.submit('outerForm')"
ng-disabled="outerForm.$invalid">Outer Submit</button>
</div>
Example plnkr