How to declare a variable in a template in Angular

I have the following template :

<div>
  <span>{{aVariable}}</span>
</div>

and would like to end up with :

<div "let a = aVariable">
  <span>{{a}}</span>
</div>

Is there a way to do it ?

Update

We can just create directive like *ngIf and call it *ngVar

ng-var.directive.ts

@Directive({
    selector: '[ngVar]',
})
export class VarDirective {
    @Input()
    set ngVar(context: unknown) {
        this.context.$implicit = this.context.ngVar = context;

        if (!this.hasView) {
            this.vcRef.createEmbeddedView(this.templateRef, this.context);
            this.hasView = true;
        }
    }

    private context: {
        $implicit: unknown;
        ngVar: unknown;
    } = {
        $implicit: null,
        ngVar: null,
    };

    private hasView: boolean = false;

    constructor(
        private templateRef: TemplateRef<any>,
        private vcRef: ViewContainerRef
    ) {}
}

with this *ngVar directive we can use the following

<div *ngVar="false as variable">
      <span>{{variable | json}}</span>
</div>

or

<div *ngVar="false; let variable">
    <span>{{variable | json}}</span>
</div>

or

<div *ngVar="45 as variable">
    <span>{{variable | json}}</span>
</div>

or

<div *ngVar="{ x: 4 } as variable">
    <span>{{variable | json}}</span>
</div>

Plunker Example Angular4 ngVar

See also

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/46616334/where-does-angular-4-define-as-local-var-behavior-for-ngif

Original answer

Angular v4

1. div + ngIf + let

   {{variable.a}} {{variable.b}}

2. div + ngIf + as

view

<div *ngIf="{ a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 + x } as variable">
  <span>{{variable.a}}</span>
  <span>{{variable.b}}</span>
  <span>{{variable.c}}</span>
</div>

component.ts

export class AppComponent {
  x = 5;
}

3) If you don't want to create wrapper like div you can use ng-container

view

<ng-container *ngIf="{ a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 + x } as variable">
  <span>{{variable.a}}</span>
  <span>{{variable.b}}</span>
  <span>{{variable.c}}</span>
</ng-container>

As @Keith mentioned in comments

> this will work in most cases but it is not a general solution since it > relies on variable being truthy

See update for another approach.

You can declare variables in html code by using a template element in Angular 2 or ng-template in Angular 4+.

Templates have a context object whose properties can be assigned to variables using let binding syntax. Note that you must specify an outlet for the template, but it can be a reference to itself.

<ng-template #selfie [ngTemplateOutlet]="selfie"
    let-a="aVariable" [ngTemplateOutletContext]="{ aVariable: 123 }">
  <div>
    <span>{{a}}</span>
  </div>
</ng-template>

<!-- Output
<div>
  <span>123</span>
</div>
-->

You can reduce the amount of code by using the $implicit property of the context object instead of a custom property.

<ng-template #t [ngTemplateOutlet]="t"
    let-a [ngTemplateOutletContext]="{ $implicit: 123 }">
  <div>
    <span>{{a}}</span>
  </div>
</ng-template>

The context object can be a literal object or any other binding expression. Other valid examples:

<!-- Use arbitrary binding expressions -->
<ng-template let-sum [ngTemplateOutletContext]="{ $implicit: 1 + 1 }">

<!-- Use pipes -->
<ng-template let-formatPi [ngTemplateOutletContext]="{ $implicit: 3.141592 | number:'3.1-5' }">

<!-- Use the result of a public method of your component -->
<ng-template let-root [ngTemplateOutletContext]="{ $implicit: sqrt(2116) }">

<!--
    You can create an alias for a public property of your component:
    anotherVariable: number = 123; 
-->
<ng-template let-aliased [ngTemplateOutletContext]="{ $implicit: anotherVariable }">

<!--
    The entire context object can be bound from a public property:
    ctx: { first: number, second: string } = { first: 123, second: "etc" }
-->
<ng-template let-a="first" let-b="second" [ngTemplateOutletContext]="ctx">

Ugly, but:

<div *ngFor="let a of [aVariable]">
  <span>{{a}}</span>
</div>

When used with async pipe:

<div *ngFor="let a of [aVariable | async]">
  <span>{{a.prop1}}</span>
  <span>{{a.prop2}}</span>
</div>

update 3

Issue 2451 is fixed in Angular 4.0.0

See also

• https://github.com/angular/angular/pull/13297
• https://github.com/angular/angular/commit/b4db73d
• https://github.com/angular/angular/issues/13061

update 2

This isn't supported.

There are template variables but it's not supported to assign arbitrary values. They can only be used to refer to the elements they are applied to, exported names of directives or components and scope variables for structural directives like ngFor,

See also https://github.com/angular/angular/issues/2451

Update 1

@Directive({
  selector: '[var]',
  exportAs: 'var'
})
class VarDirective {
  @Input() var:any;
}

and initialize it like

<div #aVariable="var" var="abc"></div>

or

<div #aVariable="var" [var]="'abc'"></div>

and use the variable like

<div>{{aVariable.var}}</div>

(not tested)

• #aVariable creates a reference to the VarDirective (exportAs: 'var')
• var="abc" instantiates the VarDirective and passes the string value "abc" to it's value input.
• aVariable.var reads the value assigned to the var directives var input.

I would suggest this: https://medium.com/@AustinMatherne/angular-let-directive-a168d4248138

This directive allow you to write something like:

<div *ngLet="'myVal' as myVar">
  <span> {{ myVar }} </span>
</div>

Here is a directive I wrote that expands on the use of the exportAs decorator parameter, and allows you to use a dictionary as a local variable.

import { Directive, Input } from "@angular/core";
@Directive({
    selector:"[localVariables]",
    exportAs:"localVariables"
})
export class LocalVariables {
    @Input("localVariables") set localVariables( struct: any ) {
        if ( typeof struct === "object" ) {
            for( var variableName in struct ) {
                this[variableName] = struct[variableName];
            }
        }
    }
    constructor( ) {
    }
}

You can use it as follows in a template:

<div #local="localVariables" [localVariables]="{a: 1, b: 2, c: 3+2}">
   <span>a = {{local.a}}</span>
   <span>b = {{local.b}}</span>
   <span>c = {{local.c}}</span>
</div>

Of course #local can be any valid local variable name.

In case if you want to get the response of a function and set it into a variable, you can use it like the following in the template, using ng-container to avoid modifying the template.

<ng-container *ngIf="methodName(parameters) as respObject">
  {{respObject.name}}
</ng-container>

And the method in the component can be something like

methodName(parameters: any): any {
  return {name: 'Test name'};
}

If you need autocomplete support from within in your templates from the Angular Language Service:

Synchronous:

myVar = { hello: '' };

<ng-container *ngIf="myVar; let var;">
  {{var.hello}}
</ng-container>

Using async pipe:

myVar$ = of({ hello: '' });

<ng-container *ngIf="myVar$ | async; let var;">
  {{var.hello}}
</ng-container>

A simple solution that worked for my requirement is:

 <ng-container *ngIf="lineItem.productType as variable">
       {{variable}}
 </ng-container>

OR

 <ng-container *ngIf="'ANY VALUE' as variable">
       {{variable}}
  </ng-container>

I am using Angular version: 12. It seems it may work with other version as well.

I liked the approach of creating a directive to do this (good call @yurzui).

I ended up finding a Medium article Angular "let" Directive which explains this problem nicely and proposes a custom let directive which ended up working great for my use case with minimal code changes.

Here's the gist (at the time of posting) with my modifications:

import { Directive, Input, TemplateRef, ViewContainerRef } from '@angular/core'

interface LetContext <T> {
  appLet: T | null
}

@Directive({
  selector: '[appLet]',
})
export class LetDirective <T> {
  private _context: LetContext <T> = { appLet: null }

  constructor(_viewContainer: ViewContainerRef, _templateRef: TemplateRef <LetContext <T> >) {
    _viewContainer.createEmbeddedView(_templateRef, this._context)
  }

  @Input()
  set appLet(value: T) {
    this._context.appLet = value
  }
}

My main changes were:

• changing the prefix from 'ng' to 'app' (you should use whatever your app's custom prefix is)
• changing appLet: T to appLet: T | null

Not sure why the Angular team hasn't just made an official ngLet directive but whatevs.

Original source code credit goes to @AustinMatherne

For those who decided to use a structural directive as a replacement of *ngIf, keep in mind that the directive context isn't type checked by default. To create a type safe directive ngTemplateContextGuard property should be added, see Typing the directive's context. For example:

import { Directive, Input, TemplateRef, ViewContainerRef } from '@angular/core';

@Directive({
    // don't use 'ng' prefix since it's reserved for Angular
    selector: '[appVar]',
})
export class VarDirective<T = unknown> {
    // https://angular.io/guide/structural-directives#typing-the-directives-context
    static ngTemplateContextGuard<T>(dir: VarDirective<T>, ctx: any): ctx is Context<T> {
        return true;
    }

    private context?: Context<T>;

    constructor(
        private vcRef: ViewContainerRef,
        private templateRef: TemplateRef<Context<T>>
    ) {}

    @Input()
    set appVar(value: T) {
        if (this.context) {
            this.context.appVar = value;
        } else {
            this.context = { appVar: value };
            this.vcRef.createEmbeddedView(this.templateRef, this.context);
        }
    }
}

interface Context<T> {
    appVar: T;
}

The directive can be used just like *ngIf, except that it can store false values:

<ng-container *appVar="false as value">{{value}}</ng-container>

<!-- error: User doesn't have `nam` property-->
<ng-container *appVar="user as user">{{user.nam}}</ng-container>

<ng-container *appVar="user$ | async as user">{{user.name}}</ng-container>

The only drawback compared to *ngIf is that Angular Language Service cannot figure out the variable type so there is no code completion in templates. I hope it will be fixed soon.

I was trying to do something similar and it looks like this has been fixed in newer versions of angular.

    <div *ngIf="things.car; let car">
      Nice {{ car }}!
    </div>
    <!-- Nice Honda! -->

I am using angular 6x and I've ended up by using below snippet. I've a scenerio where I've to find user from a task object. it contains array of users but I've to pick assigned user.

<ng-container *ngTemplateOutlet="memberTemplate; context:{o: getAssignee(task) }">
</ng-container>
<ng-template #memberTemplate let-user="o">
  <ng-container *ngIf="user">
    <div class="d-flex flex-row-reverse">
      <span class="image-block">
        <ngx-avatar placement="left" ngbTooltip="{{user.firstName}} {{user.lastName}}" class="task-assigned" value="28%" [src]="user.googleId" size="32"></ngx-avatar>
      </span>
    </div>
  </ng-container>
</ng-template>

Short answer which help to someone

• Template Reference variable often reference to DOM element within a template.
• Also reference to angular or web component and directive.
• That means you can easily access the varible anywhere in a template

• Declare reference variable using hash symbol(#)
• Can able to pass a variable as a parameter on an event

  show(lastName: HTMLInputElement){
    this.fullName = this.nameInputRef.nativeElement.value + ' ' + lastName.value;
    this.ctx.fullName = this.fullName;
  }

*However, you can use ViewChild decorator to reference it inside your component.

import {ViewChild, ElementRef} from '@angular/core';

Reference firstNameInput variable inside Component

@ViewChild('firstNameInput') nameInputRef: ElementRef;

After that, you can use this.nameInputRef anywhere inside your Component.

Working with ng-template

In the case of ng-template, it is a little bit different because each template has its own set of input variables.

https://stackblitz.com/edit/angular-2-template-reference-variable

With Angular 12 :

  <div *ngIf="error$ | async as error">
     <span class="text-warn">{{error.message}}</span>
   </div>

I'm the author of https://www.npmjs.com/package/ng-let

Structural directive for sharing data as local variable into html component template.

Source code:

import { Directive, Input, TemplateRef, ViewContainerRef } from '@angular/core';

interface NgLetContext<T> {
    ngLet: T;
    $implicit: T;
}

@Directive({
    // tslint:disable-next-line: directive-selector
    selector: '[ngLet]'
})
export class NgLetDirective<T> {

    private context: NgLetContext<T | null> = { ngLet: null, $implicit: null };
    private hasView: boolean = false;

    // eslint-disable-next-line no-unused-vars
    constructor(private viewContainer: ViewContainerRef, private templateRef: TemplateRef<NgLetContext<T>>) { }

    @Input()
    set ngLet(value: T) {
        this.context.$implicit = this.context.ngLet = value;
        if (!this.hasView) {
            this.viewContainer.createEmbeddedView(this.templateRef, this.context);
            this.hasView = true;
        }
    }

    /** @internal */
    public static ngLetUseIfTypeGuard: void;

    /**
     * Assert the correct type of the expression bound to the `NgLet` input within the template.
     *
     * The presence of this static field is a signal to the Ivy template type check compiler that
     * when the `NgLet` structural directive renders its template, the type of the expression bound
     * to `NgLet` should be narrowed in some way. For `NgLet`, the binding expression itself is used to
     * narrow its type, which allows the strictNullChecks feature of TypeScript to work with `NgLet`.
     */
    static ngTemplateGuard_ngLet: 'binding';

    /**
     * Asserts the correct type of the context for the template that `NgLet` will render.
     *
     * The presence of this method is a signal to the Ivy template type-check compiler that the
     * `NgLet` structural directive renders its template with a specific context type.
     */
    static ngTemplateContextGuard<T>(dir: NgLetDirective<T>, ctx: any): ctx is NgLetContext<Exclude<T, false | 0 | '' | null | undefined>> {
        return true;
    }
}

Usage:

import { Component } from '@angular/core';
import { defer, Observable, timer } from 'rxjs';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-root',
  template: `
  <ng-container *ngLet="timer$ | async as time"> <!-- single subscription -->
    <div>
      1: {{ time }}
    </div>
    <div>
      2: {{ time }}
    </div>
  </ng-container>
  `,
})
export class AppComponent {
  timer$: Observable<number> = defer(() => timer(3000, 1000));
}

original answer by @yurzui won't work startring from Angular 9 due to - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/60128458/strange-problem-migrating-angular-8-app-to-9. However, you can still benefit from ngVar directive by having it and using it like

<ng-template [ngVar]="variable">
your code
</ng-template>

although it could result in IDE warning: "variable is not defined"

It is much simpler, no need for anything additional. In my example I declare variable "open" and then use it.

   <mat-accordion class="accord-align" #open>
      <mat-expansion-panel hideToggle="true" (opened)="open.value=true" (closed)="open.value=false">
        <mat-expansion-panel-header>
          <span class="accord-title">Review Policy Summary</span>
          <span class="spacer"></span>
          <a *ngIf="!open.value" class="f-accent">SHOW</a>
          <a *ngIf="open.value" class="f-accent">HIDE</a>
        </mat-expansion-panel-header>
        <mat-divider></mat-divider>
        <!-- Quote Details Component -->
        <quote-details [quote]="quote"></quote-details>
      </mat-expansion-panel>
    </mat-accordion>