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# Sharing data between child and parent directives and components
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A common pattern in Angular is sharing data between a parent component and one or more child components.
You can implement this pattern by using the `@Input()` and `@Output()` directives.
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< div class = "alert is-helpful" >
See the < live-example > < / live-example > for a working example containing the code snippets in this guide.
< / div >
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Consider the following hierarchy:
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```html
< parent-component >
< child-component > < / child-component >
< / parent-component >
```
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The `<parent-component>` serves as the context for the `<child-component>` .
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`@Input()` and `@Output()` give a child component a way to communicate with its parent component.
`@Input()` allows a parent component to update data in the child component.
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Conversely, `@Output()` allows the child to send data to a parent component.
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{@a input}
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## Sending data to a child component
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The `@Input()` decorator in a child component or directive signifies that the property can receive its value from its parent component.
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< div class = "lightbox" >
< img src = "generated/images/guide/inputs-outputs/input.svg" alt = "Input data flow diagram" >
< / div >
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To use `@Input()` , you must configure the parent and child.
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### Configuring the child component
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To use the `@Input()` decorator in a child component class, first import `Input` and then decorate the property with `@Input()` , as in the following example.
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< code-example path = "inputs-outputs/src/app/item-detail/item-detail.component.ts" region = "use-input" header = "src/app/item-detail/item-detail.component.ts" > < / code-example >
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In this case, `@Input()` decorates the property < code class = "no-auto-link" > item</ code > , which has a type of `string` , however, `@Input()` properties can have any type, such as `number` , `string` , `boolean` , or `object` .
The value for `item` comes from the parent component.
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Next, in the child component template, add the following:
< code-example path = "inputs-outputs/src/app/item-detail/item-detail.component.html" region = "property-in-template" header = "src/app/item-detail/item-detail.component.html" > < / code-example >
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### Configuring the parent component
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The next step is to bind the property in the parent component's template.
In this example, the parent component template is `app.component.html` .
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1. Use the child's selector, here `<app-item-detail>` , as a directive within the
parent component template.
2. Use [property binding ](guide/property-binding ) to bind the `item` property in the child to the `currentItem` property of the parent.
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< code-example path = "inputs-outputs/src/app/app.component.html" region = "input-parent" header = "src/app/app.component.html" > < / code-example >
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3. In the parent component class, designate a value for `currentItem` :
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< code-example path = "inputs-outputs/src/app/app.component.ts" region = "parent-property" header = "src/app/app.component.ts" > < / code-example >
With `@Input()` , Angular passes the value for `currentItem` to the child so that `item` renders as `Television` .
The following diagram shows this structure:
< div class = "lightbox" >
< img src = "generated/images/guide/inputs-outputs/input-diagram-target-source.svg" alt = "Property binding diagram" >
< / div >
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The target in the square brackets, `[]` , is the property you decorate with `@Input()` in the child component.
The binding source, the part to the right of the equal sign, is the data that the parent component passes to the nested component.
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### Watching for `@Input()` changes
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To watch for changes on an `@Input()` property, you can use `OnChanges` , one of Angular's [lifecycle hooks ](guide/lifecycle-hooks ).
See the [`OnChanges` ](guide/lifecycle-hooks#onchanges ) section of the [Lifecycle Hooks ](guide/lifecycle-hooks ) guide for more details and examples.
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{@a output}
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## Sending data to a parent component
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The `@Output()` decorator in a child component or directive allows data to flow from the child to the parent.
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< div class = "lightbox" >
< img src = "generated/images/guide/inputs-outputs/output.svg" alt = "Output diagram" >
< / div >
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`@Output()` marks a property in a child component as a doorway through which data can travel from the child to the parent.
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The child component uses the `@Output()` property to raise an event to notify the parent of the change.
To raise an event, an `@Output()` must have the type of `EventEmitter` , which is a class in `@angular/core` that you use to emit custom events.
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The following example shows how to set up an `@Output()` in a child component that pushes data from an HTML `<input>` to an array in the parent component.
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To use `@Output()` , you must configure the parent and child.
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### Configuring the child component
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The following example features an `<input>` where a user can enter a value and click a `<button>` that raises an event. The `EventEmitter` then relays the data to the parent component.
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1. Import `Output` and `EventEmitter` in the child component class:
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```js
import { Output, EventEmitter } from '@angular/core';
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```
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1. In the component class, decorate a property with `@Output()` .
The following example `newItemEvent` `@Output()` has a type of `EventEmitter` , which means it's an event.
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< code-example path = "inputs-outputs/src/app/item-output/item-output.component.ts" region = "item-output" header = "src/app/item-output/item-output.component.ts" > < / code-example >
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The different parts of the above declaration are as follows:
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* `@Output()` — a decorator function marking the property as a way for data to go from the child to the parent
* `newItemEvent` — the name of the `@Output()`
* `EventEmitter<string>` — the `@Output()` 's type
* `new EventEmitter<string>()` — tells Angular to create a new event emitter and that the data it emits is of type string.
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For more information on `EventEmitter` , see the [EventEmitter API documentation ](api/core/EventEmitter ).
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1. Create an `addNewItem()` method in the same component class:
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< code-example path = "inputs-outputs/src/app/item-output/item-output.component.ts" region = "item-output-class" header = "src/app/item-output/item-output.component.ts" > < / code-example >
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The `addNewItem()` function uses the `@Output()` , `newItemEvent` , to raise an event with the value the user types into the `<input>` .
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### Configuring the child's template
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The child's template has two controls.
The first is an HTML `<input>` with a [template reference variable ](guide/template-reference-variables ) , `#newItem` , where the user types in an item name.
The `value` property of the `#newItem` variable stores what the user types into the `<input>` .
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< code-example path = "inputs-outputs/src/app/item-output/item-output.component.html" region = "child-output" header = "src/app/item-output/item-output.component.html" > < / code-example >
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The second element is a `<button>` with a `click` [event binding ](guide/event-binding ).
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The `(click)` event is bound to the `addNewItem()` method in the child component class.
The `addNewItem()` method takes as its argument the value of the `#newItem.value` property.
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### Configuring the parent component
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The `AppComponent` in this example features a list of `items` in an array and a method for adding more items to the array.
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< code-example path = "inputs-outputs/src/app/app.component.ts" region = "add-new-item" header = "src/app/app.component.ts" > < / code-example >
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The `addItem()` method takes an argument in the form of a string and then adds that string to the `items` array.
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### Configuring the parent's template
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1. In the parent's template, bind the parent's method to the child's event.
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1. Put the child selector, here `<app-item-output>` , within the parent component's template, `app.component.html` .
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< code-example path = "inputs-outputs/src/app/app.component.html" region = "output-parent" header = "src/app/app.component.html" > < / code-example >
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The event binding, `(newItemEvent)='addItem($event)'` , connects the event in the child, `newItemEvent` , to the method in the parent, `addItem()` .
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The `$event` contains the data that the user types into the `<input>` in the child template UI.
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To see the `@Output()` working, you can add the following to the parent's template:
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```html
< ul >
< li * ngFor = "let item of items" > {{item}}< / li >
< / ul >
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```
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The `*ngFor` iterates over the items in the `items` array.
When you enter a value in the child's `<input>` and click the button, the child emits the event and the parent's `addItem()` method pushes the value to the `items` array and new item renders in the list.
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## Using `@Input()` and `@Output()` together
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You can use `@Input()` and `@Output()` on the same child component as follows:
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< code-example path = "inputs-outputs/src/app/app.component.html" region = "together" header = "src/app/app.component.html" > < / code-example >
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The target, `item` , which is an `@Input()` property in the child component class, receives its value from the parent's property, `currentItem` .
When you click delete, the child component raises an event, `deleteRequest` , which is the argument for the parent's `crossOffItem()` method.
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The following diagram shows the different parts of the `@Input()` and `@Output()` on the `<app-input-output>` child component.
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< div class = "lightbox" >
< img src = "generated/images/guide/inputs-outputs/input-output-diagram.svg" alt = "Input/Output diagram" >
< / div >
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The child selector is `<app-input-output>` with `item` and `deleteRequest` being `@Input()` and `@Output()`
properties in the child component class.
The property `currentItem` and the method `crossOffItem()` are both in the parent component class.
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To combine property and event bindings using the banana-in-a-box
syntax, `[()]` , see [Two-way Binding ](guide/two-way-binding ).