Conditionally make input field readonly in Angular 2 or 4: Advice + Best/which way to do it

You need to use the following (Angular 4):

<input [readonly]="isReadOnly">

If you use att.readonly then the input will always be read-only because the readonly attribute will be present even if its value is false. By using [readonly] Angular will only place the attribute if isReadOnly is true.

In HTML, the following is sufficient to cause an input to be read-only:

<input readonly>

None of them worked for me.. Finally found solution by creating custom directive angular.. Directives are powerful feature of angular

1. Create Custom Directive

@Directive({
  selector: '[readonly],[readOnly]',
  host: {
    '[attr.readonly]': '_isReadonly ? "" : null'
  }
})
class ReadonlyDirective {
  _isReadonly = false;

  @Input() set readonly (v) {
     this._isReadonly = coerceBooleanProperty(v);
  };

  ngOnChanges(changes) {
    console.log(changes);
  }
}

2. Add into module declarations

@NgModule({
  ...
  declarations: [ ..., ReadonlyDirective ],
  ...
})

<input [(ngModel)]="name" [readonly]="isReadonly" />
or
<input [(ngModel)]="name" readonly />

Demo https://stackblitz.com/edit/angular-readonly-input-aifncy?file=src/app/app.component.ts

All depends on what you want to achieve. At first look, I would say that pct. 2 is the simplest way to do it:

<input [attr.readonly]= "isReadOnly">

Then, on your component you declare the variable:

isReadOnly: boolean;

After, you assign the value as you wish:

// when you want to be read-only
isReadOnly = true;
// whe you want to be editable
isReadOnly = false;