ng-model for `` (with directive DEMO)

Question

I tried to use ng-model on input tag with type file:

<input type="file" ng-model="vm.uploadme" />

But after selecting a file, in controller, $scope.vm.uploadme is still undefined.

How do I get the selected file in my controller?

Answer 1

I created a workaround with directive:

.directive("fileread", [function () {
    return {
        scope: {
            fileread: "="
        },
        link: function (scope, element, attributes) {
            element.bind("change", function (changeEvent) {
                var reader = new FileReader();
                reader.onload = function (loadEvent) {
                    scope.$apply(function () {
                        scope.fileread = loadEvent.target.result;
                    });
                }
                reader.readAsDataURL(changeEvent.target.files[0]);
            });
        }
    }
}]);

And the input tag becomes:

<input type="file" fileread="vm.uploadme" />

Or if just the file definition is needed:

.directive("fileread", [function () {
    return {
        scope: {
            fileread: "="
        },
        link: function (scope, element, attributes) {
            element.bind("change", function (changeEvent) {
                scope.$apply(function () {
                    scope.fileread = changeEvent.target.files[0];
                    // or all selected files:
                    // scope.fileread = changeEvent.target.files;
                });
            });
        }
    }
}]);

Answer 2

I use this directive:

angular.module('appFilereader', []).directive('appFilereader', function($q) {
    var slice = Array.prototype.slice;

    return {
        restrict: 'A',
        require: '?ngModel',
        link: function(scope, element, attrs, ngModel) {
                if (!ngModel) return;

                ngModel.$render = function() {};

                element.bind('change', function(e) {
                    var element = e.target;

                    $q.all(slice.call(element.files, 0).map(readFile))
                        .then(function(values) {
                            if (element.multiple) ngModel.$setViewValue(values);
                            else ngModel.$setViewValue(values.length ? values[0] : null);
                        });

                    function readFile(file) {
                        var deferred = $q.defer();

                        var reader = new FileReader();
                        reader.onload = function(e) {
                            deferred.resolve(e.target.result);
                        };
                        reader.onerror = function(e) {
                            deferred.reject(e);
                        };
                        reader.readAsDataURL(file);

                        return deferred.promise;
                    }

                }); //change

            } //link
    }; //return
});

and invoke it like this:

<input type="file" ng-model="editItem._attachments_uri.image" accept="image/*" app-filereader />

The property (editItem.editItem._attachments_uri.image) will be populated with the contents of the file you select as a data-uri (!).

Please do note that this script will not upload anything. It will only populate your model with the contents of your file encoded ad a data-uri (base64).

Check out a working demo here: http://plnkr.co/CMiHKv2BEidM9SShm9Vv

Answer 3

How to enable <input type="file"> to work with ng-model

Working Demo of Directive that Works with ng-model

The core ng-model directive does not work with <input type="file"> out of the box.

This custom directive enables ng-model and has the added benefit of enabling the ng-change, ng-required, and ng-form directives to work with <input type="file">.

angular.module("app",[]);

angular.module("app").directive("selectNgFiles", function() {
  return {
    require: "ngModel",
    link: function postLink(scope,elem,attrs,ngModel) {
      elem.on("change", function(e) {
        var files = elem[0].files;
        ngModel.$setViewValue(files);
      })
    }
  }
});

<script src="//unpkg.com/angular/angular.js"></script>
  <body ng-app="app">
    <h1>AngularJS Input `type=file` Demo</h1>
    
    <input type="file" select-ng-files ng-model="fileArray" multiple>

    <code><table ng-show="fileArray.length">
    <tr><td>Name</td><td>Date</td><td>Size</td><td>Type</td><tr>
    <tr ng-repeat="file in fileArray">
      <td>{{file.name}}</td>
      <td>{{file.lastModified | date  : 'MMMdd,yyyy'}}</td>
      <td>{{file.size}}</td>
      <td>{{file.type}}</td>
    </tr>
    </table></code>
    
  </body>

Answer 4

This is an addendum to @endy-tjahjono's solution.

I ended up not being able to get the value of uploadme from the scope. Even though uploadme in the HTML was visibly updated by the directive, I could still not access its value by $scope.uploadme. I was able to set its value from the scope, though. Mysterious, right..?

As it turned out, a child scope was created by the directive, and the child scope had its own uploadme.

The solution was to use an object rather than a primitive to hold the value of uploadme.

In the controller I have:

$scope.uploadme = {};
$scope.uploadme.src = "";

and in the HTML:

 <input type="file" fileread="uploadme.src"/>
 <input type="text" ng-model="uploadme.src"/>

There are no changes to the directive.

Now, it all works like expected. I can grab the value of uploadme.src from my controller using $scope.uploadme.

Answer 5

I create a directive and registered on bower.

This lib will help you modeling input file, not only return file data but also file dataurl or base 64.

{
    "lastModified": 1438583972000,
    "lastModifiedDate": "2015-08-03T06:39:32.000Z",
    "name": "gitignore_global.txt",
    "size": 236,
    "type": "text/plain",
    "data": "data:text/plain;base64,DQojaWdub3JlIHRodW1ibmFpbHMgY3JlYXRlZCBieSB3aW5kb3dz…xoDQoqLmJhaw0KKi5jYWNoZQ0KKi5pbGsNCioubG9nDQoqLmRsbA0KKi5saWINCiouc2JyDQo="
}

https://github.com/mistralworks/ng-file-model/

Answer 6

This is a slightly modified version that lets you specify the name of the attribute in the scope, just as you would do with ng-model, usage:

    <myUpload key="file"></myUpload>

Directive:

.directive('myUpload', function() {
    return {
        link: function postLink(scope, element, attrs) {
            element.find("input").bind("change", function(changeEvent) {                        
                var reader = new FileReader();
                reader.onload = function(loadEvent) {
                    scope.$apply(function() {
                        scope[attrs.key] = loadEvent.target.result;                                
                    });
                }
                if (typeof(changeEvent.target.files[0]) === 'object') {
                    reader.readAsDataURL(changeEvent.target.files[0]);
                };
            });

        },
        controller: 'FileUploadCtrl',
        template:
                '<span class="btn btn-success fileinput-button">' +
                '<i class="glyphicon glyphicon-plus"></i>' +
                '<span>Replace Image</span>' +
                '<input type="file" accept="image/*" name="files[]" multiple="">' +
                '</span>',
        restrict: 'E'

    };
});

Answer 7

function filesModelDirective(){
  return {
    controller: function($parse, $element, $attrs, $scope){
      var exp = $parse($attrs.filesModel);
      $element.on('change', function(){
        exp.assign($scope, this.files[0]);
        $scope.$apply();
      });
    }
  };
}
app.directive('filesModel', filesModelDirective);

Answer 8

For multiple files input using lodash or underscore:

.directive("fileread", [function () {
    return {
        scope: {
            fileread: "="
        },
        link: function (scope, element, attributes) {
            element.bind("change", function (changeEvent) {
                return _.map(changeEvent.target.files, function(file){
                  scope.fileread = [];
                  var reader = new FileReader();
                  reader.onload = function (loadEvent) {
                      scope.$apply(function () {
                          scope.fileread.push(loadEvent.target.result);
                      });
                  }
                  reader.readAsDataURL(file);
                });
            });
        }
    }
}]);

Answer 9

I had to do same on multiple input, so i updated @Endy Tjahjono method. It returns an array containing all readed files.

  .directive("fileread", function () {
    return {
      scope: {
        fileread: "="
      },
      link: function (scope, element, attributes) {
        element.bind("change", function (changeEvent) {
          var readers = [] ,
              files = changeEvent.target.files ,
              datas = [] ;
          for ( var i = 0 ; i < files.length ; i++ ) {
            readers[ i ] = new FileReader();
            readers[ i ].onload = function (loadEvent) {
              datas.push( loadEvent.target.result );
              if ( datas.length === files.length ){
                scope.$apply(function () {
                  scope.fileread = datas;
                });
              }
            }
            readers[ i ].readAsDataURL( files[i] );
          }
        });

      }
    }
  });

Answer 10

I had to modify Endy's directive so that I can get Last Modified, lastModifiedDate, name, size, type, and data as well as be able to get an array of files. For those of you that needed these extra features, here you go.

UPDATE: I found a bug where if you select the file(s) and then go to select again but cancel instead, the files are never deselected like it appears. So I updated my code to fix that.

 .directive("fileread", function () {
        return {
            scope: {
                fileread: "="
            },
            link: function (scope, element, attributes) {
                element.bind("change", function (changeEvent) {
                    var readers = [] ,
                        files = changeEvent.target.files ,
                        datas = [] ;
                    if(!files.length){
                        scope.$apply(function () {
                            scope.fileread = [];
                        });
                        return;
                    }
                    for ( var i = 0 ; i < files.length ; i++ ) {
                        readers[ i ] = new FileReader();
                        readers[ i ].index = i;
                        readers[ i ].onload = function (loadEvent) {
                            var index = loadEvent.target.index;
                            datas.push({
                                lastModified: files[index].lastModified,
                                lastModifiedDate: files[index].lastModifiedDate,
                                name: files[index].name,
                                size: files[index].size,
                                type: files[index].type,
                                data: loadEvent.target.result
                            });
                            if ( datas.length === files.length ){
                                scope.$apply(function () {
                                    scope.fileread = datas;
                                });
                            }
                        };
                        readers[ i ].readAsDataURL( files[i] );
                    }
                });

            }
        }
    });

Answer 11

If you want something a little more elegant/integrated, you can use a decorator to extend the input directive with support for type=file. The main caveat to keep in mind is that this method will not work in IE9 since IE9 didn't implement the File API. Using JavaScript to upload binary data regardless of type via XHR is simply not possible natively in IE9 or earlier (use of ActiveXObject to access the local filesystem doesn't count as using ActiveX is just asking for security troubles).

This exact method also requires AngularJS 1.4.x or later, but you may be able to adapt this to use $provide.decorator rather than angular.Module.decorator - I wrote this gist to demonstrate how to do it while conforming to John Papa's AngularJS style guide:

(function() {
    'use strict';

    /**
    * @ngdoc input
    * @name input[file]
    *
    * @description
    * Adds very basic support for ngModel to `input[type=file]` fields.
    *
    * Requires AngularJS 1.4.x or later. Does not support Internet Explorer 9 - the browser's
    * implementation of `HTMLInputElement` must have a `files` property for file inputs.
    *
    * @param {string} ngModel
    *  Assignable AngularJS expression to data-bind to. The data-bound object will be an instance
    *  of {@link https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/FileList `FileList`}.
    * @param {string=} name Property name of the form under which the control is published.
    * @param {string=} ngChange
    *  AngularJS expression to be executed when input changes due to user interaction with the
    *  input element.
    */
    angular
        .module('yourModuleNameHere')
        .decorator('inputDirective', myInputFileDecorator);

    myInputFileDecorator.$inject = ['$delegate', '$browser', '$sniffer', '$filter', '$parse'];
    function myInputFileDecorator($delegate, $browser, $sniffer, $filter, $parse) {
        var inputDirective = $delegate[0],
            preLink = inputDirective.link.pre;

        inputDirective.link.pre = function (scope, element, attr, ctrl) {
            if (ctrl[0]) {
                if (angular.lowercase(attr.type) === 'file') {
                    fileInputType(
                        scope, element, attr, ctrl[0], $sniffer, $browser, $filter, $parse);
                } else {
                    preLink.apply(this, arguments);
                }
            }
        };

        return $delegate;
    }

    function fileInputType(scope, element, attr, ctrl, $sniffer, $browser, $filter, $parse) {
        element.on('change', function (ev) {
            if (angular.isDefined(element[0].files)) {
                ctrl.$setViewValue(element[0].files, ev && ev.type);
            }
        })

        ctrl.$isEmpty = function (value) {
            return !value || value.length === 0;
        };
    }
})();

Why wasn't this done in the first place? AngularJS support is intended to reach only as far back as IE9. If you disagree with this decision and think they should have just put this in anyway, then jump the wagon to Angular 2+ because better modern support is literally why Angular 2 exists.

The issue is (as was mentioned before) that without the file api support doing this properly is unfeasible for the core given our baseline being IE9 and polyfilling this stuff is out of the question for core.

Additionally trying to handle this input in a way that is not cross-browser compatible only makes it harder for 3rd party solutions, which now have to fight/disable/workaround the core solution.

...

I'm going to close this just as we closed #1236. Angular 2 is being build to support modern browsers and with that file support will easily available.

Answer 12

Alternatively you could get the input and set the onchange function:

<input type="file" id="myFileInput" />

document.getElementById("myFileInput").onchange = function (event) {
   console.log(event.target.files);                        
};

Answer 13

Try this,this is working for me in angular JS

    let fileToUpload = `${documentLocation}/${documentType}.pdf`;
    let absoluteFilePath = path.resolve(__dirname, fileToUpload);
    console.log(`Uploading document ${absoluteFilePath}`);
    element.all(by.css("input[type='file']")).sendKeys(absoluteFilePath);