Understanding ASP.NEt MVC Script Bundling path specification

Question

So I am working on learning how to use the script bundling utility in MVC and I have one problem - I don't quite get how to structure the virtual path for each of my ScriptBundle objects. For instance, when using the constructor which allows one to specify a CDN, I have the following set up

in Global.asax, I have the following call

  BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleTable.Bundles);

then in the BundleConfig class, I have

public static void RegisterBundles(BundleCollection bundles)
{    
    //add link to jquery on the CDN
    const string jqueryCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/jquery-2.1.0.min.js";
    const string jqueryUiCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.10.4/jquery-ui.min.js";
    const string jqueryColorCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/color/jquery.color-2.1.2.min.js";
    var jqueryQunitCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/qunit/qunit-1.14.0.js"; 

    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery", jqueryCdnPath)
       .Include("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/jquery-{version}.js"));
    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/ui", jqueryUiCdnPath)
       .Include("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/ui/j-{version}/jquery-ui.js"));
    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/color", jqueryColorCdnPath)
       .Include("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/color/jquery.color-{version}.js"));
    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/jqueryval")
         .Include("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery.unobtrusive*", "~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery.validate*"));
}

When I build and run my page however, I get the following error message on the first Add.

**Directory does not exist.
Parameter name: directoryVirtualPath
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code. 
Exception Details: System.ArgumentException: Directory does not exist.
Parameter name: directoryVirtualPath

Source File: c:\######.Web\App_Start\BundleConfig.cs    Line: 30 

Stack Trace: 


[ArgumentException: Directory does not exist.
Parameter name: directoryVirtualPath]
   System.Web.Optimization.Bundle.Include(String virtualPath, IItemTransform[] transforms) +90
   Network.Web.BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleCollection bundles) inc:\######.Web.Web\App_Start\BundleConfig.cs:30
   Network.Web.MvcApplication.Application_Start() in c:\######.Web\Global.asax.cs:27

[HttpException (0x80004005): Directory does not exist.
Parameter name: directoryVirtualPath]
   System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.EnsureAppStartCalledForIntegratedMode(HttpContext context, HttpApplication app) +9936761
   System.Web.HttpApplication.RegisterEventSubscriptionsWithIIS(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context, MethodInfo[] handlers) +118
   System.Web.HttpApplication.InitSpecial(HttpApplicationState state, MethodInfo[] handlers, IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context) +172
   System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.GetSpecialApplicationInstance(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context) +336
   System.Web.Hosting.PipelineRuntime.InitializeApplication(IntPtr appContext) +296

[HttpException (0x80004005): Directory does not exist.
Parameter name: directoryVirtualPath]
   System.Web.HttpRuntime.FirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +9915300
   System.Web.HttpRuntime.EnsureFirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +101
   System.Web.HttpRuntime.ProcessRequestNotificationPrivate(IIS7WorkerRequest wr, HttpContext context) +254**

Are there configuration requirements that I may be missing here? Are my paths wrongly formatted?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Is bundling and minification enabled? Bundling and minification is enabled or disabled by setting the value of the debug attribute in the compilation Element in the Web.config file. — SBirthare, Feb 23 '14 at 21:48
Try commenting bundles.Add statement one by one and locate the statement that's giving this error. CDN paths are correct, surely one of these statement referring wrong local path. — SBirthare, Feb 23 '14 at 21:50
When I do that, only the first add statement passes, all others fail. So I am trying to understand what it is I may have right for the first that isn't right for the others, it seems. — user272671, Feb 24 '14 at 06:12

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 24 '14 at 17:16

I figured out what the problem is. It seems the bundlecollection does not like the specification of an include directory when using a CDN. Once I removed the removed the additional include statements, the problem disappeared.

BEFORE

public static void RegisterBundles(BundleCollection bundles)
{    
    //add link to jquery on the CDN
    const string jqueryCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/jquery-2.1.0.min.js";
    const string jqueryUiCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.10.4/jquery-ui.min.js";
    const string jqueryColorCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/color/jquery.color-2.1.2.min.js";
    var jqueryQunitCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/qunit/qunit-1.14.0.js"; 

    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery", jqueryCdnPath)
       .Include("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/jquery-{version}.js"));
    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/ui", jqueryUiCdnPath)
       .Include("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/ui/j-{version}/jquery-ui.js"));
    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/color", jqueryColorCdnPath)
       .Include("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/color/jquery.color-{version}.js"));
    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/jqueryval")
         .Include("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery.unobtrusive*", "~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery.validate*"));
}

AFTER

public static void RegisterBundles(BundleCollection bundles)
{    
    //add link to jquery on the CDN
    const string jqueryCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/jquery-2.1.0.min.js";
    const string jqueryUiCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.10.4/jquery-ui.min.js";
    const string jqueryColorCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/color/jquery.color-2.1.2.min.js";
    var jqueryQunitCdnPath = @"http://code.jquery.com/qunit/qunit-1.14.0.js"; 

    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery", jqueryCdnPath));
    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/ui", jqueryUiCdnPath));
    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/color", jqueryColorCdnPath));
    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery/jqueryval")
         .Include("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery.unobtrusive*", "~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery.validate*"));
}

So, when you specify you want to use a CDN, do not bother including any local file paths, it seems.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 23 '14 at 22:18

0

change your directories in the bundles to something that doesnt exist.

bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Resources/Scripts/js/jquery", jqueryCdnPath

could be changed to

bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/BUNDLES/jquery", jqueryCdnPath)

answered Feb 23 '14 at 22:18

Matt Tabor

1,053
8
10

I am not certain I understand why I would want to change the directory to something that doesn't exist. – user272671 Feb 24 '14 at 06:25
if the directory exists then MVC will try to get the file from the existing directory, and it will not be found. so you have to give it a virtual path. – Matt Tabor Feb 24 '14 at 07:08
oh! but what if it does exist? Then shouldn't MVC use the existing file? I think I am trying to understand how this really should work and there does not seem to be much on it apart from a couple of blogs which all seem to be posting the same examples and not much on the actual mechanism. – user272671 Feb 24 '14 at 17:04

Understanding ASP.NEt MVC Script Bundling path specification

2 Answers2