Angular JS and Directive Link and $timeout

Question

i have a problem with a very basic example with AngularJS and directives. I want to create a directive that show a webcam image with webrtc. My code show the stream perfectly but if i add a timeout ( for example to refresh a canvas ) the $timeout don't work this is the code:

wtffDirectives.directive('scannerGun',function($timeout){
    return {
        restrict: 'E',
        template: '<div>' +
            '<video ng-hide="videoStatus"></video>' +
            '<canvas id="canvas-source"></canvas>' +               
            '</div>',
        replace: true,
        transclude: true,
        scope: false,
        link: function postLink($scope, element){
           $scope.canvasStatus = true;
           $scope.videoStatus = false;

           width = element.width = 320;
           height = element.height = 0;

           /* this method draw the webcam image into a canvas */
           var drawVideoCanvas = function(){
              sourceContext.drawImage(vid,0,0, vid.width, vid.height);
           };

           /* start the timeout that take a screenshot and draw the source canvas */
           var update = function(){
              var timeout = $timeout(function(){
                console.log("pass"); //the console log show only one "pass"
                //drawVideoCanvas();
              }, 2000);
           };

           /* this work perfectly and reproduct into the video tag the webcam */
           var onSuccess = function onSuccess(stream) {
              // Firefox supports a src object
              if (navigator.mozGetUserMedia) {
                 vid.mozSrcObject = stream;
              } else {
                 var vendorURL = window.URL || window.webkitURL;
                 vid.src = vendorURL.createObjectURL(stream);
              }
              /* Start playing the video to show the stream from the webcam*/
              vid.play();
              update();
           };

           var onFailure = function onFailure(err) {

              if (console && console.log) {
                console.log('The following error occured: ', err);
              }
              return;
           };

           var vid = element.find('video')[0];
           var sourceCanvas = element.find('canvas')[0];
           var sourceContext = sourceCanvas.getContext('2d');

           height = (vid.videoHeight / ((vid.videoWidth/width))) || 250;
           vid.setAttribute('width', width);
           vid.setAttribute('height', height);

           navigator.getMedia (
              // ask only for video
              {
                video: true,
                audio: false
              },
              onSuccess,
              onFailure
           );
         }
       }
    });

What is the problem? why the $timeout don't work in this conditions? and finally have a solution?

thank's in advance

Solution 1

In your code your comment says 'show only one "pass"'. Timeout only executes one time, after the specified, delay.

Perhaps you want setInterval (if you're pre angular 1.2)/ $interval (new to 1.2) which sets up a recurring call. Here's the setInterval version:

var timeout = setInterval(function(){
    // do stuff
    $scope.$apply();
}, 2000); 

I included $apply as a reminder that since this is an external jQuery call you need to tell angular to update the DOM (if you make any appropriate changes). ($timeout being an angular version automatically updates the DOM)

Solution 2

You can inject dependencies to the directive like in other modules:

.directive('myDirective', ['$timeout', function($timeout) {
   return {
        ...
        link: function($scope, element){
            //use $timeout
        }
    };
}]);

Solution 3

Not sure if I got your doubt here, but $timeout is pretty much the same thing as javascript plain setTimeout function, and it is supposed run only once, as opposed as setInterval.

If you're using Angular 1.2.0, change $timeout service per $interval. If otherwise you're on 1.0 version, you can make it recursive:

var timeout;
var update = function() {
  // clear previous interval
  timeout && timeout();
  timeout = $timeout(function() {
    // drawSomething(...);
    update();
  }, 2000);
}