Question

I have this fiddle, and can not make this work. I believe that the reason resides in that two li elements with a custom directive edit-in-place share scope.
The solution would be to say to the directive to create a copy of the scope that binds on the parent – can transclude help?

angular.module('bla', [])
    .directive('editInPlace', ['$parse','$compile', function($parse, $compile) {
    return {
        restrict: 'A',
        scope: true,
        link: function (scope, element, attribs) {
            var inputStart = '<input style="border: 2 solid black" name="inPlaceInput" style="display:none" value="';
            var inputEnd = '">';

            scope.editModeAccessor = $parse(attribs.editInPlace);
            scope.modelAccessor = $parse(attribs.ngBind);

            scope.$watch(attribs.editInPlace, function(newValue, oldValue){
                if (newValue){
                    console.debug("click");
                    console.debug("value: " + scope.modelAccessor(scope));
                    var inputHtml = inputStart + scope.modelAccessor(scope) + inputEnd;
                    element.after(inputHtml);
                    jQuery(element).hide();
                    scope.inputElement = jQuery("input[name=inPlaceInput]");
                    scope.inputElement.show();
                    scope.inputElement.focus();
                    scope.inputElement.bind("blur", function() {
                        blur();
                    });
                } else {
                    blur();
                }
            });

            function blur(){
                console.debug("blur secondary");
                if (scope.inputElement){
                    console.debug("blur secondary inputElement found");
                    var value = scope.inputElement.val();
                    console.debug("input value: "+ value);
                    scope.inputElement.remove();
                    jQuery(element).show();
                    scope.editModeAccessor.assign(scope, false);
                    scope.modelAccessor.assign(scope, value);
                }
            }
        }
    }
                            }]);

function ContactsCtrl($scope, $timeout){
    $scope.contacts = [{number:'[phone]', name:'sharon'},{number:'[phone]', name:''}];
    $scope.editMode = false;
    var editedId;
    $scope.edit = function(id){
        $scope.editMode = true;
        jQuery("#"+id).hide();
        editedId = id;
        //TODO show delete button
    }
    $scope.$watch('editMode', function(newValue, oldValue){
        if (!newValue && editedId){
            jQuery("#"+editedId).show();
        }
    });
}


<div ng-app="bla">
<div ng-controller="ContactsCtrl">
<h4>Contacts</h4>
<ul>
    <li ng-repeat="contact in contacts">
        <span edit-in-place="editMode" ng-bind="contact.number"></span>
        <span edit-in-place="editMode" ng-bind="contact.name"></span>
        <span id="{{$index}}" ng-click="edit($index)"><i class="icon-edit">CLICKtoEDIT</i></span>
    </li>
</ul>
</div></div>

Answer 1

I think cloning the scope is not the best solution.

When creating a directive in angular, you should encapsulate all the functionality within the directive. You should also avoid mixing jQuery in when you don’t have to. Most of the time (as in this case) you’re just introducing unnecessary complexity. Lastly, classes are the best way of controlling display, rather than the style attribute on an element.

I took the liberty of rewriting your directive in a more “angular” way – with no jQuery. As you can see from the updated jsFiddle, it is simpler and cleaner. Also, it works!

This directive can be easily modified to add lots of additional awesome functionality.

app.directive( 'editInPlace', function() {
  return {
    restrict: 'E',
    scope: { value: '=' },
    template: '<span ng-click="edit()" ng-bind="value"></span><input ng-model="value"></input>',
    link: function ( $scope, element, attrs ) {
      // Let's get a reference to the input element, as we'll want to reference it.
      var inputElement = angular.element( element.children()[1] );

      // This directive should have a set class so we can style it.
      element.addClass( 'edit-in-place' );

      // Initially, we're not editing.
      $scope.editing = false;

      // ng-click handler to activate edit-in-place
      $scope.edit = function () {
        $scope.editing = true;

        // We control display through a class on the directive itself. See the CSS.
        element.addClass( 'active' );

        // And we must focus the element. 
        // `angular.element()` provides a chainable array, like jQuery so to access a native DOM function, 
        // we have to reference the first element in the array.
        inputElement[0].focus();
      };

      // When we leave the input, we're done editing.
      inputElement.prop( 'onblur', function() {
        $scope.editing = false;
        element.removeClass( 'active' );
      });
   }
};

});