I'm having a problem with trying to use Angular's *ngFor and *ngIf on the same element.
When trying to loop through the collection in the *ngFor, the collection is seen as null and consequently fails when trying to access its properties in the template.
@Component({
selector: 'shell',
template: `
<h3>Shell</h3><button (click)="toggle()">Toggle!</button>
<div *ngIf="show" *ngFor="let thing of stuff">
{{log(thing)}}
<span>{{thing.name}}</span>
</div>
`
})
export class ShellComponent implements OnInit {
public stuff:any[] = [];
public show:boolean = false;
constructor() {}
ngOnInit() {
this.stuff = [
{ name: 'abc', id: 1 },
{ name: 'huo', id: 2 },
{ name: 'bar', id: 3 },
{ name: 'foo', id: 4 },
{ name: 'thing', id: 5 },
{ name: 'other', id: 6 },
]
}
toggle() {
this.show = !this.show;
}
log(thing) {
console.log(thing);
}
}
I know the easy solution is to move the *ngIf up a level but for scenarios like looping over list items in a ul, I'd end up with either an empty li if the collection is empty, or my lis wrapped in redundant container elements.
Example at this plnkr.
Note the console error:
EXCEPTION: TypeError: Cannot read property 'name' of null in [{{thing.name}} in ShellComponent@5:12]
Am I doing something wrong or is this a bug?
Angular v2 doesn't support more than one structural directive on the same element.
As a workaround use the <ng-container> element that allows you to use separate elements for each structural directive, but it is not stamped to the DOM.
<ng-container *ngIf="show">
<div *ngFor="let thing of stuff">
{{log(thing)}}
<span>{{thing.name}}</span>
</div>
</ng-container>
Updates for Angular v17 and beyond
The <ng-container> approach can no longer be recommended, since the introduction of the control flow in Angular v17.
@if(show){
@for(thing of stuff; track thing.id){
<div>
{{log(thing)}}
<span>{{thing.name}}</span>
</div>
}
}