How do display a collapsible tree in AngularJS + Bootstrap

Question

I am building a web app where I need to display a tree using lists. My basic structure looks like this:

* Node 1
    * Node 1.1
        * Node 1.1.1
            * Node 1.1.1.1
        * Node 1.1.2
    * Node 1.2

http://jsfiddle.net/QffFm/1/

I'm trying to find something in angular or bootstrap that I can use such that:

• At first view of the list, it is expanded up to the third layer. In my fiddle, I would want to see Node 1, Node 1.1, Node 1.1.1, Node 1.1.2 and Node 1.2 (all but the 4th layer - Node 1.1.1.1)
• On clicking on the list-style icon (not the word name of the node) The node collapses or expands
• Ideally, I would love for the icon to change also dependent on if the item is expanded. A right arrow if there is more underneath, a down arrow if it is already expanded, and maybe a regular list item if there are no children

I am very new to AngularJS and still quite new to Bootstrap as well. I see that Angular has an accordion function which doesn't seem to quite handle everything I need it to.

I would love some direction on the best approach before I code a lot of logic into my web app that handles the different cases. I think this must be a common problem so perhaps there is something ready made that I can utilize. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

HTML code:

<div ng-app="myApp" ng-controller="controller">
    <my-directive></my-directive>
    <table style="width: 100%"><tbody><td>
        <tree items="tree"></tree>
    </td></tbody></table>
</div>

Angular code:

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

app.controller('controller', function ($scope){ 

    $scope.tree=[{"name":"Node 1","items":[{"name":"Node 1.1","items":[{"name":"Node 1.1.1","items":[{"name":"Node 1.1.1.1","items":[]}]},{"name":"Node 1.1.2","items":[]}]},{"name":"Node 1.2","items":[]}]}];

});
app.directive('tree', function() {
    return {
        template: '<ul><tree-node ng-repeat="item in items"></tree-node></ul>',
        restrict: 'E',
        replace: true,
        scope: {
            items: '=items',
        }
    };
});

app.directive('treeNode', function($compile) {
    return { 
        restrict: 'E',
        template: '<li >{{item.name}}</li>',
        link: function(scope, elm, attrs) {
        if (scope.item.items.length > 0) {
            var children = $compile('<tree items="item.items"></tree>')(scope);
            elm.append(children);
        }
    }
    };
});

Answer 1

In followed example I used:

• bootstrap
• AngularJS recursive ng-include or (see second example) recursive directives
• jQuery (will try to avoid in the future)

Demo 1 (ng-include) Plunker

From this model:

 $scope.displayTree =
            [{
            "name": "Root",
            "type_name": "Node",
            "show": true,
            "nodes": [{
                "name": "Loose",
                "group_name": "Node-1",
                "show": true,
                "nodes": [{
                    "name": "Node-1-1",
                    "device_name": "Node-1-1",
                    "show": true,
                    "nodes": []
                }, {
                    "name": "Node-1-2",
                    "device_name": "Node-1-2",
                    "show": true,
                    "nodes": []
                }, {
                    "name": "Node-1-3",
                    "device_name": "Node-1-3",
                    "show": true,
                    "nodes": []
                }]
            }, {
                "name": "God",
                "group_name": "Node-2",
                "show": true,
                "nodes": [{
                    "name": "Vadar",
                    "device_name": "Node-2-1",
                    "show": true,
                    "nodes": []
                }]
            }, {
                "name": "Borg",
                "group_name": "Node-3",
                "show": true,
                "nodes": []
            }, {
                "name": "Fess",
                "group_name": "Node-4",
                "show": true,
                "nodes": []
            }]
        }];
        [{
            "name": "Android",
            "type_name": "Android",
            "icon": "icon-android icon-3",
            "show": true,
            "nodes": []
        }];
    }

---

The 2nd example is based on 2 directives:

app.directive('nodeTree', function() {
      return {
        template: '<node ng-repeat="node in tree"></node>',
        replace: true,
        transclude: true,
        restrict: 'E',
        scope: {
          tree: '=ngModel'
        }
      };
});

app.directive('node', function($compile) {
  return { 
    restrict: 'E',
    replace:true,
     templateUrl: 'the-tree.html',
    link: function(scope, elm, attrs) {
    
      // ....     
     
      if (scope.node.children.length > 0) {
        var childNode = $compile('<ul ><node-tree ng-model="node.children"></node-tree></ul>')(scope)
        elm.append(childNode);
      }
    }
  };
}); 

(Added some checkboxes as well :))

Demo 2 Plunker

How it looks: