angularjs - How to use `replace` of directive definition?

Question

In this document: http://docs.angularjs.org/guide/directive , it says that there is a replace configuration for directives:

template - replace the current element with the contents of the HTML. The replacement process migrates all of the attributes / classes from the old element to the new one. See the Creating Components section below for more information.

javascript code

app.directive('myd1', function(){
  return {
    template: '<span>directive template1</span>',
    replace: true
  }
});

app.directive('myd2', function(){
  return {
    template: '<span>directive template2</span>',
    replace: false
  }
});

html code

<div myd1>
  original content should be replaced
</div>
<div myd2>
  original content should NOT be replaced
</div>

But the final page is looking like:

directive template1
directive template2

It seems the replace doesn't work. Do I miss anything?

Live demo: http://plnkr.co/edit/rGIgmjO81X2UxJohL4HM?p=preview

Answer 1

You are getting confused with transclude: true, which would append the inner content.

replace: true means that the content of the directive template will replace the element that the directive is declared on, in this case the <div myd1> tag.

http://plnkr.co/edit/k9qSx15fhSZRMwgAIMP4?p=preview

For example without replace:true

<div myd1><span class="replaced" myd1="">directive template1</span></div>

and with replace:true

<span class="replaced" myd1="">directive template1</span>

As you can see in the latter example, the div tag is indeed replaced.