Angular2 access another components methods without loading its template with #ViewChild - methods

Question

I am trying to access a child components method with #ViewChild, and it works, but I am forced to load its template as well, which I don't want to do, because that also forces that child components OnInit, AfterViewInit and other system functions to run.
I want them to run only when I call this child component in a different scenario, but I want to access this childs custom methods on demand in AppComponent.
So how do I do it?
This is a plunker which depicts the problem: http://plnkr.co/edit/FT6GTJ8mmUnyFxJAPbGV
You can see that dashboards test() function is called, thats what I want, however, its ngOnInit function is also initialized, which I don't want.
template: <h1>AppComponent</h1><my-dashboard></my-dashboard>
I though it was pretty obvious to remove <my-dashboard></my-dashboard> from AppComponent template, to not load dashboards template, but then I get error that dashboard itself is not defined (you can see the error if u remove <my-dashboard></my-dashboard> and run the plunker again) even though I have included it through import statement.
What am I missing?
EDIT-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, in the end, you have to use a service to store reusable data/functions to work without a hick up.

Answer 1

Not entirely sure why you would want this, but you can try and use the Component as a provider. Although i fail to see how this can fall under the, "if it looks stupid, but it works, it ain't stupid", rule.
import { Component, OnInit, AfterViewInit, ViewChild } from '#angular/core';
import { DashboardComponent } from './dashboard.component';
#Component({
selector: 'my-app',
template: `
<h1>AppComponent</h1>
`,
providers: [DashboardComponent]
})
export class AppComponent implements OnInit {
constructor(public dashboardComponent: DashboardComponent){}
ngOnInit() {
this.dashboardComponent.test();
}
}
plnkr
Another way I assume, could be to simply initiate a new class instance, this would result in something like this:
import { Component, OnInit, AfterViewInit, ViewChild } from '#angular/core';
import { DashboardComponent } from './dashboard.component';
#Component({
selector: 'my-app',
template: `
<h1>AppComponent</h1>
`
})
export class AppComponent implements OnInit {
public dashboardComponent: DashboardComponent = new DashboardComponent();
constructor(){}
ngOnInit() {
this.dashboardComponent.test();
}
}
plnkr
But again I fail to see why you would want to do something like this. Apparently there is logic in your component which shouldn't be there