ScriptBundle dependencies

Question

I'm having difficulties getting the ScriptBundle to work properly (if this is supposed to work at all). What I'm trying to do is add another bundle (jQuery) as a dependency to my bundle, like so:

bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/js/myscripts")
                    .Include("~/js/jquery",
                             "~/Content/scripts/myscript.js"));

~/js/jquery is the "name" (virtual path) of the jQuery bundle, registered as so (before my dependent bundle):

bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/js/jquery")
                    .Include("~/Content/scripts/jquery-{version}.js"));

When I do @Scripts.Render("~/js/myscripts") in my view, only myscript.js is rendered to the HTML. If I change the virtual path to jQuery from the one in the name of the bundle to the physical, existing one, it works:

bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/js/myscripts")
                    .Include("~/Content/scripts/jquery-{version}.js",
                             "~/Content/scripts/myscript.js"));

Also, doing @Scripts.Render("~/js/jquery") in the view, works. It's just referencing the non-existing virtual path (name) of another ScriptBundle that doesn't work. Is this supposed to work at all? If not, I would like to know where I can post a bug report saying that this scenario should throw an exception if it's not supported. If it is supported, where does it say and why doesn't it work?

dove · Answer 1 · 2012-10-26T09:47:37.150

1

Going by what your dependency all you have to put in your layout (view) is

@Scripts.Render("~/js/jquery")
@Scripts.Render("~/js/myscripts")

Update after your comment:

You cannot nest bundles, that is you can't Include a bundle within a bundle, that virtual path is most likely not available while the parent bundle is being created.

Typically I have a separate jquery bundle (including some other infrequently changing js) anyway and then one other js bundle for everything else. works well for browser caching.

On a side note, have you looked at requireJS, which is not really needed if you are bundling everything but it does make your js files better documented as it makes the dependencies explicit

edited Oct 26 '12 at 09:47

answered Oct 26 '12 at 08:49

dove

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I don't want two entries in my view, I want one, for `~/js/myscripts`. This is possible if I `Include` the physical path to jQuery, but not if I `Include` the virtual path (used in jQuery's bundle name). – Asbjørn Ulsberg Oct 26 '12 at 09:35
ah, I get you. this is not a bug of bundling. you can't include a bundle path within a bundle. it's not my call but when/if you log this with microsoft I'd say it is a feature request. typically I have a separate jquery bundle (including some other infrequently changing js) anyway and then one other js bundle for everything else. works well for browser caching. On a side note, have you looked at requireJS, which is not really needed if you are bundling everything but it does make your js files better documented as it makes the dependencies explicit. – dove Oct 26 '12 at 09:42
It's a bug when an unsupported scenario doesn't throw an exception. All other mis-spellings of virtual paths, references to files that don't exist etc., throw exceptions, so this should as well. Yea, I'm using RequireJS in many of my projects, but this one is so simple I'd like to have jQuery and my own JS bundled into a single `.js` file. – Asbjørn Ulsberg Oct 26 '12 at 11:51
fair enough about exception, that would be good, though I imagine it would be hard for them to deduce that it was meant to be a bundle and not a folder to be included. For both in same file you have the answer in your question in the third example. – dove Oct 26 '12 at 13:40
if you provide a virtual path that both doesn't exist physically and doesn't exist as a name of another `ScriptBundle`, an exception will be thrown. So there is logic in there to check the virtual path against already registered virtual paths, but it just doesn't do anything with it. This is clearly a bug, imo. – Asbjørn Ulsberg Oct 28 '12 at 18:59

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 22 '13 at 18:53

It's not supported, but you could come up with your own solution to this, right? Something like:

var jquery = new[] { "~/Content/scripts/jquery-{version}.js" };
var myScripts = jquery.Concat(new[] { "~/Content/scripts/myscript.js" }).ToArray();
var myOtherScripts = myScripts.Concat(new[] { "~/Content/scripts/otherscript.js").ToArray();

bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/js/jquery").Include(jquery));
bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/js/myscripts").Include(myScripts));
bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/js/other").Include(myOtherScripts));

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 26 '12 at 12:05

0

Seems like this is an unsupported feature, so I've reported an issue for it.

answered Oct 26 '12 at 12:05

Asbjørn Ulsberg

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ScriptBundle dependencies

3 Answers3