ng-admin

Plug me to your RESTFul API to get a complete administration tool (CRUD, multi-model relationships, dashboard, complex form widgets) in no time!

Check out the online demo (source), and the launch post.

Installation
Example Configuration
Entity Configuration
View Configuration
Reusable Directives
Relationships
Customizing the API Mapping
Theming
Contributing
License

Installation

Retrieve the module from bower:

bower install ng-admin --save

Include the ng-admin CSS, and the ng-admin JS (after the angular.js JS):

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/path/to/bower_components/ng-admin/build/ng-admin.min.css">
<script src="/path/to/bower_components/angular/angular.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="/path/to/bower_components/ng-admin/build/ng-admin.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

Make your application depend on it:

var app = angular.module('myApp', ['ng-admin']);

Configure ng-admin:

app.config(function (NgAdminConfigurationProvider, Application, Entity, Field, Reference, ReferencedList, ReferenceMany) {
    // set the main API endpoint for this admin
    var app = new Application('My backend')
        .baseApiUrl('http://localhost:3000/');

    // define an entity mapped by the http://localhost:3000/posts endpoint
    var post = app.addEntity('posts');

    // set the list of fields to map in each post view
    post.dashboardView().addField(/* see example below */);
    post.listView().addField(/* see example below */);
    post.creationView().addField(/* see example below */);
    post.editionView().addField(/* see example below */);

    NgAdminConfigurationProvider.configure(app);
});

Your application should use a ui-view:

<div ui-view></div>

Example Configuration

We chose to define the entities & views directly in JavaScript to allow greater freedom in the configuration.

Here is a full example for a backend that will let you create, update, and delete some posts (posts entity). Those posts can be tagged (tags entity) and commented (comments entity).

var app = angular.module('myApp', ['ng-admin']);

app.config(function (NgAdminConfigurationProvider, Application, Entity, Field, Reference, ReferencedList, ReferenceMany) {

    var app = new Application('ng-admin backend demo') // application main title
        .baseApiUrl('http://localhost:3000/'); // main API endpoint

    // define all entities at the top to allow references between them
    var post = new Entity('posts') // the API endpoint for posts will be http://localhost:3000/posts/:id
        .identifier(new Field('id')); // you can optionally customize the identifier used in the api ('id' by default)

    // set the application entities
    app.addEntity(post);

    // customize entities and views

    post.menuView()
        .icon('<span class="glyphicon glyphicon-file"></span>'); // customize the entity menu icon

    post.dashboardView() // customize the dashboard panel for this entity
        .title('Recent posts')
        .order(1) // display the post panel first in the dashboard
        .limit(5) // limit the panel to the 5 latest posts
        .fields([new Field('title').isDetailLink(true).map(truncate)]); // fields() called with arguments add fields to the view

    post.listView()
        .title('All posts') // default title is "[Entity_name] list"
        .description('List of posts with infinite pagination') // description appears under the title
        .infinitePagination(true) // load pages as the user scrolls
        .fields([
            new Field('id').label('ID'), // The default displayed name is the camelCase field name. label() overrides id
            new Field('title'), // the default list field type is "string", and displays as a string
            new Field('published_at').type('date'), // Date field type allows date formatting
            new Field('views').type('number'),
            new ReferenceMany('tags') // a Reference is a particular type of field that references another entity
                .targetEntity(tag) // the tag entity is defined later in this file
                .targetField(new Field('name')) // the field to be displayed in this list
        ])
        .listActions(['show', 'edit', 'delete']);

    post.creationView()
        .fields([
            new Field('title') // the default edit field type is "string", and displays as a text input
                .attributes({ placeholder: 'the post title' }) // you can add custom attributes, too
                .validation({ required: true, minlength: 3, maxlength: 100 }), // add validation rules for fields
            new Field('teaser').type('text'), // text field type translates to a textarea
            new Field('body').type('wysiwyg'), // overriding the type allows rich text editing for the body
            new Field('published_at').type('date') // Date field type translates to a datepicker
        ]);

    post.editionView()
        .title('Edit post "{{ entry.values.title }}"') // title() accepts a template string, which has access to the entry
        .actions(['list', 'show', 'delete']) // choose which buttons appear in the top action bar. Show is disabled by default
        .fields([
            post.creationView().fields(), // fields() without arguments returns the list of fields. That way you can reuse fields from another view to avoid repetition
            new ReferenceMany('tags') // ReferenceMany translates to a select multiple
                .targetEntity(tag)
                .targetField(new Field('name'))
                .cssClasses('col-sm-4'), // customize look and feel through CSS classes
            new Field('views')
                .type('number')
                .cssClasses('col-sm-4'),
            new ReferencedList('comments') // display list of related comments
                .targetEntity(comment)
                .targetReferenceField('post_id')
                .targetFields([
                    new Field('id'),
                    new Field('body').label('Comment')
                ])
        ]);

    post.showView() // a showView displays one entry in full page - allows to display more data than in a a list
        .fields([
            new Field('id'),
            post.editionView().fields(), // reuse fields from another view in another order
            new Field('custom_action')
                .type('template')
                .template('<other-page-link></other-link-link>')
        ]);

    NgAdminConfigurationProvider.configure(app);
});

You can find a more detailed configuration in the blog demo configuration.

Entity Configuration

Each entity maps to a different API endpoint. The name of the entity, defines the endpoint:

// set the main API endpoint for this admin
var app = new Application('My backend')
    .baseApiUrl('http://localhost:3000/');

// define an entity mapped by the http://localhost:3000/posts endpoint
var post = new Entity('posts');

label() Defines the name of the entity, as displayed on screen
```
var comment = new Entity('comments').label('Discussions');
```
readOnly() A read-only entity doesn't allow access to the mutation views (editionView, creationView, deletionView). In addition, all links to the editionView are replaced by links to the showView.
```
var tag = new Entity('tags').readOnly();
```

baseURL() Defines the base API endpoint for all views of this entity

var comment = new Entity('comments').baseURL('http://localhost:3001/');

url() Defines the API endpoint for all views of this entity. It can be a string or a function.

var comment = new Entity('comments').url(function(view, entityId) {
    return '/comments/' + view.name() + '/' + entityId; // Can be absolute or relative
});

View Configuration

View Types

Each entity has 7 views that you can customize:

listView
creationView
editionView
showView (unused by default)
deletionView
dashboardView: another special view to define a panel in the dashboard (the ng-admin homepage) for an entity.
menuView: another special view to define the appearance of the entity menu in the sidebar

General View Settings

These settings are available on all views.

fields([field1, field2, ...]) Add fields to a view (columns to a list, or a form controls to a form). Each field maps a property in the API endpoint result.
```
listView.fields([
    new Field('first_name'),
    new Field('last_name'),
    new Field('age').type('number')
]);
```
fields() Retrieve the list of fields added to a view. The result can be added to another view, to avoid repetition.
title(String) The title of the view. ng-admin sees it as a template, and compiles it with the view scope. That means you can customize the title of a view using details from the current entry.
```
editionView.title('Edit item "{{ entry.values.title }}"');
```
description(String) A text displayed below the title.
actions(String|Array) Customize the list of actions for this view. You can pass a list of button names among 'back', 'list', 'show', create', 'edit', 'delete':
```
editionView.actions(['show', 'list', 'delete']);
```

Alternately, if you pass a string, it is compiled just like an Angular template, with access to the current entry in the scope. This allows to easily add custom actions, or customize the buttons appearance:

var template = '<show-button entry="entry" entity="entity" size="sm"></show-button>' +
               '<delete-button entry="entry" entity="entity" size="sm"></delete-button>' +
               '<my-custom-directive entry="entry"></my-custom-directive>' +
               '<back-button></back-button>';
editionView.actions(template);

disable() Disable this view. Useful e.g. to hide the panel for one entity in the dashboard, or to disable views that modify data and only let the listView enabled

url() Defines the API endpoint for a view. It can be a string or a function.

comment.listView().url(function(entityId) {
    return '/comments/id/' + entityId; // Can be absolute or relative
});

dashboardView Settings

The dashboardView also defines sortField and sortDir fields like the listView.

limit(Number) Set the number of items.
order(Number) Define the order of the Dashboard panel for this entity in the dashboard

menuView Settings

icon(String) Override the default icon for the Entity in the sidebar menu. You can use any of Bootstrap's Gmyphicons, or any HTML markup that fits your need.
```
post.menuView().icon('<span class="glyphicon glyphicon-file"></span>');
```
order(Integer) Set the menu position in the sidebar. By default, Entities appear in the order in which they were added to the application.
disable() Hide the entity from the sidebar.

listView Settings

perPage(Number) Define the number of element displayed in a page
sortField(String) Set the default field for list sorting. Defaults to 'id'
sortDir(String) Set the default direction for list sorting. Defaults to 'DESC'
infinitePagination(boolean) Enable or disable lazy loading.

filters()[field1, field2, ...]) Add filters to the list. Each field maps a property in the API endpoint result.

listView.filters([
    new Field('first_name'),
    new Field('last_name'),
    new Field('age').type('number')
]);

listActions(String|Array) Add an action column with action buttons on each line. You can pass a list of button names among 'show', 'edit', and 'delete'.
```
listView.listActions(['edit', 'delete']);
```

Alternately, if you pass a string, it is compiled just like an Angular template, with access to the current entry in the scope. This allows to add custom actions on each line:

var template = '<show-button entry="entry" entity="entity" size="xs"></show-button>'+
               '<my-custom-directive entry="entry"></my-custom-directive>';
listView.listActions(template);

Fields

A field is the representation of a property of an entity.

Field Classes

Field: simple field (possible types: number, string, text, boolean, wysiwyg, email, date, choice, choices, template)
Reference: one-to-many association with another entity
ReferencedList: many-to-one association
ReferenceMany: many-to-many association

General Field Settings

type(string ['number'|'string'|'text'|'boolean'|'wysiwyg'|'email'|'date'|'choice'|'choices'|'template']) Define the field type. Default type is 'string', so you can omit it.
label(string label) Define the label of the field. Defaults to the uppercased field name.
editable(boolean) Define if the field is editable in the edition form. Usefult to display a field without allowing edition (e.g for creation date).
order(number|null) Define the position of the field in the view.
format(string ['yyyy-MM-dd' by default]) Define the format for date type.
isDetailLink(boolean) Tell if the value is a link in the list view. Default to true for the identifier and references field, false otherwise. The link points to the edition view, except for read-only entities, where it points to the show view.
detailLinkRoute(string) Define the route for a link in the list view, i.e. isDetailLink of the field is true. The default is edit, hence the link points to the edition view. The other option is show to point to the show view.
choices([{value: '', label: ''}, ...]) Define array of choices for choice type. A choice has both a value and a label.

map(function) Define a custom function to transform the value. It receive the value and the corresponding entry. Works in list, edit views and references.

myView.addField(new Field('characters')
    .map(function truncate(value, entry) {
        return value + '(' + entry.values.subValue + ')';
    })
);

Multiple map can be defined for a field:

myView.addField(new Field('comment')
    .map(stripTags)
    .map(truncate)
);

validation(object) Tell how to validate the view
- required: boolean
- validator: function(value){}
- minlength: number
- maxlength: number

attributes(object) A list of attributes to be added to the corresponding field.

editionView.addField(new Field('title')
    .attributes({ placeholder: 'fill me !'})
);

cssClasses(String|Function) A list of CSS classes to be added to the corresponding field. If you provide a function, it will receive the current entry as first argument, to allow dynamic classes according to values.
```
editionView.addField(new Field('title')
    .cssClasses(function(entry) {
       return entry.values.needsAttention ? 'bg-warning' : '';
    })
);
```
defaultValue(*) Define the default value of the field in the creation form.
template(*) Define the template to be displayed for fields of type template (can be a string or a function).

Reusable Directives

The template field type allows you to use any HTML tag, including custom directives. ng-admin provides ready-to-use directives to easily add interactions to your admin views:

<ma-show-button>
<ma-edit-button>
<ma-delete-button>

Buttons linking to the related view for the given entry.

entity.listView()
   //
   .addField(new Field('actions').type('template').template('<ma-show-button entry="entry" entity="entity" size="xs"></ma-show-button>'));

<ma-create-button>
<ma-list-button>

A button linking to the related view for the given entity.

`listView.listActions()`

The listActions() method available on the listView is a shortcut to adding a template field with one of the directives listed above. In practice, calling:

listView.listActions(['edit', 'delete']);

Is equivalent to:

var template = '<ma-edit-button entry="entry" entity="entity" size="xs">' +
               '</ma-edit-button>' +
               '<ma-delete-button entry="entry" entity="entity" size="xs">' +
               '</ma-delete-button>';
listView.addField(new Field('actions').type('template').template(template));

Relationships

Reference

The Reference type also defines label, order, map, list & validation options like the Field type.

targetEntity(Entity) Define the referenced entity.

targetLabel(string) Define the target field name used to retrieve the label of the referenced element.

myView.addField(new Reference('post_id')
    .label('Post title')
    .map(truncate) // Allows to truncate values in the select
    .targetEntity(post) // Select a target Entity
    .targetField(new Field('title')) // Select a label Field
);

singleApiCall(function(entityIds) {} Define a function that returns parameters for filtering API calls. You can use it if you API support filter for multiple values.

// Will call /posts?post_id[]=1&post_id[]=2&post_id%[]=5...
commentList.addField(new Reference('post_id').singleApiCall(function (postIds) {
  return {
    'post_id[]': postIds
  };
})

ReferencedList

The ReferencedList type also defines label, order, map, list & validation options like the Field type.

targetEntity(Entity) Define the referenced entity.
targetReferenceField(string) Define the field name used to link the referenced entity.

targetFields(Array(Field)) Define an array of fields that will be displayed in the list of the form.

myEditionView.addField(new ReferencedList('comments') // Define a N-1 relationship with the comment entity
    .label('Comments')
    .targetEntity(comment) // Target the comment Entity
    .targetReferenceField('post_id') // Each comment with post_id = post.id (the identifier) will be displayed
    .targetFields([ // Display comment field to display
        new Field('id').label('ID'),
        new Field('body').label('Comment')
    ])
    )
);

perPage(integer) Define the maximum number of elements fetched and displayed in the list

ReferenceMany

The ReferenceMany type also defines label, order, map & validation options like the Field type.

targetEntity(Entity) Define the referenced entity.

targetField(Field) Define the field name used to link the referenced entity.

myView.addField(new ReferenceMany('tags')
   .label('Tags')
   .isEditLink(false)
   .targetEntity(tag) // Targeted entity
   .targetField(new Field('name')) // Label Field to display in the list
)

singleApiCall(function(entityIds) {} Define a function that returns parameters for filtering API calls. You can use it if you API support filter for multiple values.

// Will call /tags?tag_id[]=1&tag_id[]=2&tag_id%[]=5...
postList.addField(new ReferenceMany('tags').singleApiCall(function (tagIds) {
  return {
    'tag_id[]': tagIds
  };
})

Contributing

Your feedback about the usage of ng-admin in your specific context is valuable, don't hesitate to open GitHub Issues for any problem or question you may have.

All contributions are welcome. New applications or options should be tested with the make test command.

Installing Dependencies

Install bower and npm dependencies (for tests) wi calling the install target:

make install

Running the example app

To test your changes, run the example app, which is bundled with a sample REST api, by calling:

make run

Then, connect to http://localhost:8000/ to browse the admin app.

Rebuilding the Compiled JS and CSS Files

Concatenate and minify the app with:

make build-dev

The two files build/ng-admin.min.css and build/ng-admin.min.js will be updated, without minification. Use make build instead to build a minified, production-ready version of the two files.