Call a controller function from a directive without isolated scope in AngularJS

Question

I cannot seem to find a way to call a function on the parent scope from within a directive without using isolated scope. I know that if I use isolated scope I can just use \

Answer 1

You want to make use of the $parse service in AngularJS.

So for your example:

.directive('confirm', function ($parse) {
    return {
        restrict: 'A',

        // Child scope, not isolated
        scope : true,
        link: function (scope, element, attrs) {
            element.bind('click', function (e) {
                if (confirm(attrs.confirm)) {
                    scope.$apply(function(){

                        // $parse returns a getter function to be 
                        // executed against an object
                        var fn = $parse(attrs.confirmAction);

                        // In our case, we want to execute the statement in 
                        // confirmAction i.e. 'doIt()' against the scope 
                        // which this directive is bound to, because the 
                        // scope is a child scope, not an isolated scope. 
                        // The prototypical inheritance of scopes will mean 
                        // that it will eventually find a 'doIt' function 
                        // bound against a parent's scope.
                        fn(scope, {$event : e});
                    });
                }
            });
        }
    };
});

There is a gotcha to do with setting a property using $parse, but I'll let you cross that bridge when you come to it.