Angular.js - search scope for element

I have an input string containing element's name (I mean the "name" attribute). How to search $scope for element with given name?

What I want to do is to make a parametrized directive

<select bindslave="shipping_state" name="billing_state" ng-model="order.billing_state" ng-options="i.name for i in billingRegions" value="{{ order.billing_state.id }}"></select>
<select name="shipping_state" ng-model="order.shipping_state" ng-options="i.name for i in shippingRegions" value="{{ order.shipping_state.id }}"></select>

Currently the code in CoffeeScript looks like this:

app_directives.directive "bindslave", ->
  require: "ngModel"
  link: (scope, element, attrs, ctrl) ->
    ctrl.$parsers.unshift (viewValue) ->
      if scope.sameAsBilling
        switch attrs['bindslave']
          when "shipping_state"
            scope.order.shipping_state = viewValue
          when "shipping_country"
            scope.order.shipping_country = viewValue
      viewValue

I want to get rid of switch statement and search for an element with name==attrs['bindslave']

How to search $scope for element with given name?

Give your form a name, then Angular will publish the FormController onto the current scope under the given name. If your form elements have names, they are available also:

<form name="myForm" novalidate>
<select bindslave="shipping_state" name="billing_state" ...>
<select name="shipping_state" ...>

Then you can access information about the form elements:

console.log($scope.myForm.billing_state, $scope.myForm.shipping_state);

I'm still not sure what you are trying to accomplish, but why don't you replace your switch with something like this:

scope[attrs.bindslave] = viewValue

and then use the proper reference on the HTML:

<select bindslave="order.shipping_state" ... ></select>