Angular 5/ASP.NET - “No ResourceLoader implementation has been provided. Can't read the URL” - asp.net

Question

I'm trying to build a new Angular5/ASP.NET SPA on Visual Studio 2017. Therefore i created a .NET Core->ASP.NET Core-Web Application with Angular, which results in a project containing an Angular4 sample application.
Running this application is no problem at all, the problems start when i try to go on Angular 5 (5.0.1 or 5.0.0, does not matter) with this application.
After doing all necessary steps, the app runs fine in Debug mode. But trying to build and start it in Release (or deploy it to azure) leads to the following error:
An unhandled exception occurred while processing the request.
NodeInvocationException: No ResourceLoader implementation has been provided. Can't read the url "app.component.html"
Error: No ResourceLoader implementation has been provided. Can't read the url "app.component.html"
at Object.get (E:\angular4_spielwiese\vs spielwiese\myAngularApp\myAngularApp\ClientApp\dist\vendor.js:98069:15)
at DirectiveNormalizer.module.exports.DirectiveNormalizer._fetch (E:\angular4_spielwiese\vs spielwiese\myAngularApp\myAngularApp\ClientApp\dist\vendor.js:44087:43)
at DirectiveNormalizer.module.exports.DirectiveNormalizer._preParseTemplate (E:\angular4_spielwiese\vs spielwiese\myAngularApp\myAngularApp\ClientApp\dist\vendor.js:44142:29)
at DirectiveNormalizer.module.exports.DirectiveNormalizer.normalizeTemplate (E:\angular4_spielwiese\vs spielwiese\myAngularApp\myAngularApp\ClientApp\dist\vendor.js:44122:36)
at CompileMetadataResolver.module.exports.CompileMetadataResolver.loadDirectiveMetadata (E:\angular4_spielwiese\vs spielwiese\myAngularApp\myAngularApp\ClientApp\dist\vendor.js:55794:75)
at E:\angular4_spielwiese\vs spielwiese\myAngularApp\myAngularApp\ClientApp\dist\vendor.js:74510:72
at Array.forEach (native)
at E:\angular4_spielwiese\vs spielwiese\myAngularApp\myAngularApp\ClientApp\dist\vendor.js:74509:72
at Array.forEach (native)
at JitCompiler.module.exports.JitCompiler._loadModules (E:\angular4_spielwiese\vs spielwiese\myAngularApp\myAngularApp\ClientApp\dist\vendor.js:74506:75)
Microsoft.AspNetCore.NodeServices.HostingModels.HttpNodeInstance+<InvokeExportAsync>d__7.MoveNext()
What i do for moving to Angular5 is:
Change Versions in package.json for all Angular-Modules to 5.0.1, also go to newer version for typescript, rxjs, angular/cli and #ngtools/webpack (1.5.0 -> 1.8.0)
So my new package.json looks like this:
{
"name": "myAngularApp",
"private": true,
"version": "0.0.0",
"scripts": {
"test": "karma start ClientApp/test/karma.conf.js"
},
"dependencies": {
"#angular/animations": "^5.0.1",
"#angular/common": "^5.0.1",
"#angular/compiler": "^5.0.1",
"#angular/core": "^5.0.1",
"#angular/forms": "^5.0.1",
"#angular/http": "^5.0.1",
"#angular/platform-browser": "^5.0.1",
"#angular/platform-browser-dynamic": "^5.0.1",
"#angular/platform-server": "^5.0.1",
"#angular/router": "^5.0.1",
"#types/webpack-env": "^1.13.0",
"angular2-template-loader": "^0.6.2",
"aspnet-prerendering": "^3.0.1",
"aspnet-webpack": "^2.0.1",
"awesome-typescript-loader": "^3.2.1",
"bootstrap": "^3.3.7",
"css": "^2.2.1",
"css-loader": "^0.28.7",
"es6-shim": "^0.35.3",
"event-source-polyfill": "0.0.9",
"expose-loader": "^0.7.3",
"extract-text-webpack-plugin": "^3.0.2",
"file-loader": "^1.1.5",
"html-loader": "^0.5.1",
"html-webpack-plugin": "^2.30.1",
"isomorphic-fetch": "^2.2.1",
"jquery": "^3.2.1",
"json-loader": "^0.5.4",
"preboot": "^5.1.7",
"raw-loader": "^0.5.1",
"reflect-metadata": "^0.1.10",
"rxjs": "^5.5.2",
"style-loader": "^0.19.0",
"to-string-loader": "^1.1.5",
"typescript": "^2.6.1",
"zone.js": "^0.8.18"
},
"devDependencies": {
"#angular/cli": "1.5.0",
"#angular/compiler-cli": "^5.0.1",
"#ngtools/webpack": "1.8.0",
"#types/chai": "4.0.1",
"#types/jasmine": "2.6.3",
"chai": "4.0.2",
"jasmine-core": "2.6.4",
"karma": "1.7.0",
"karma-chai": "0.1.0",
"karma-chrome-launcher": "2.2.0",
"karma-cli": "1.0.1",
"karma-jasmine": "1.1.0",
"karma-webpack": "2.0.3",
"url-loader": "0.6.2",
"webpack": "3.8.1",
"webpack-hot-middleware": "2.20.0",
"webpack-merge": "4.1.1"
}
}
Then i change AotPlugin in webpack.config.js to AngularCompilerPlugin
This is my webpack.config.js:
const path = require('path');
const webpack = require('webpack');
const merge = require('webpack-merge');
const AngularCompilerPlugin = require('#ngtools/webpack').AngularCompilerPlugin;
const CheckerPlugin = require('awesome-typescript-loader').CheckerPlugin;
module.exports = (env) => {
// Configuration in common to both client-side and server-side bundles
const isDevBuild = !(env && env.prod);
const sharedConfig = {
stats: { modules: false },
context: __dirname,
resolve: { extensions: [ '.js', '.ts' ] },
output: {
filename: '[name].js',
publicPath: 'dist/' // Webpack dev middleware, if enabled, handles requests for this URL prefix
},
module: {
rules: [
{ test: /\.ts$/, include: /ClientApp/, use: isDevBuild ? ['awesome-typescript-loader?silent=true', 'angular2-template-loader'] : ['awesome-typescript-loader?silent=true', 'angular2-template-loader'] },// '#ngtools/webpack' },
{ test: /\.html$/, use: 'html-loader?minimize=false' },
{ test: /\.css$/, use: [ 'to-string-loader', isDevBuild ? 'css-loader' : 'css-loader?minimize' ] },
{ test: /\.(png|jpg|jpeg|gif|svg)$/, use: 'url-loader?limit=25000' }
]
},
plugins: [new CheckerPlugin()]
};
// Configuration for client-side bundle suitable for running in browsers
const clientBundleOutputDir = './wwwroot/dist';
const clientBundleConfig = merge(sharedConfig, {
entry: { 'main-client': './ClientApp/boot.browser.ts' },
output: { path: path.join(__dirname, clientBundleOutputDir) },
plugins: [
new webpack.DllReferencePlugin({
context: __dirname,
manifest: require('./wwwroot/dist/vendor-manifest.json')
})
].concat(isDevBuild ? [
// Plugins that apply in development builds only
new webpack.SourceMapDevToolPlugin({
filename: '[file].map', // Remove this line if you prefer inline source maps
moduleFilenameTemplate: path.relative(clientBundleOutputDir, '[resourcePath]') // Point sourcemap entries to the original file locations on disk
})
] : [
// Plugins that apply in production builds only
new webpack.optimize.UglifyJsPlugin(),
new AngularCompilerPlugin({
tsConfigPath: './tsconfig.json',
entryModule: path.join(__dirname, 'ClientApp/app/app.module.browser#AppModule'),
exclude: ['./**/*.server.ts']
})
])
});
// Configuration for server-side (prerendering) bundle suitable for running in Node
const serverBundleConfig = merge(sharedConfig, {
resolve: { mainFields: ['main'] },
entry: { 'main-server': './ClientApp/boot.server.ts' },
plugins: [
new webpack.DllReferencePlugin({
context: __dirname,
manifest: require('./ClientApp/dist/vendor-manifest.json'),
sourceType: 'commonjs2',
name: './vendor'
})
].concat(isDevBuild ? [] : [
// Plugins that apply in production builds only
new AngularCompilerPlugin({
tsConfigPath: './tsconfig.json',
entryModule: path.join(__dirname, 'ClientApp/app/app.module.server#AppModule'),
exclude: ['./**/*.browser.ts']
})
]),
output: {
libraryTarget: 'commonjs',
path: path.join(__dirname, './ClientApp/dist')
},
target: 'node',
devtool: 'inline-source-map'
});
return [clientBundleConfig, serverBundleConfig];
};
When i now start the application (performing npm install, then run webpack with --env.prod switch) with Release-config out of VS2017 i get the stacktrace above. The same thing happens when i deploy the application to Azure.
On localhost if i wait a few seconds and force-reload my browser, the application suddenly works. This does not work on Azure, which is kinda strange to me.
Do you have any suggestions what i might have done wrong or what i am missing?

Answer 1

I had the same issues for few days, I found a VS2017 - Angular 5 project in GitHub (don't have the exact URL), from which I have copied the webpack.config.js
I have also updated my Angular to 5.0.3
I than ran the 'dotnet publish' which worked (or 'dotnet publish -c Release')
The only problem I faced (and still facing) is during the complication, the compiler messes up the main-server.js, so as a workaround I have copied the main-server.js before the complication (10MB vs 2MB).
When running 'dotnet mydll.dll' - works great.
The webpack.config.js:
/*
* Webpack (JavaScriptServices) with a few changes & updates
* - This is to keep us inline with JSServices, and help those using that template to add things from this one
*
* Things updated or changed:
* module -> rules []
* .ts$ test : Added 'angular2-router-loader' for lazy-loading in development
* added ...sharedModuleRules (for scss & font-awesome loaders)
*/
const path = require('path');
const webpack = require('webpack');
const merge = require('webpack-merge');
const AngularCompilerPlugin = require('#ngtools/webpack').AngularCompilerPlugin;
const CheckerPlugin = require('awesome-typescript-loader').CheckerPlugin;
//const BundleAnalyzerPlugin = require('webpack-bundle-analyzer').BundleAnalyzerPlugin;
module.exports = (env) => {
// Configuration in common to both client-side and server-side bundles
const isDevBuild = !(env && env.prod);
const sharedConfig = {
stats: { modules: false },
context: __dirname,
resolve: { extensions: ['.js', '.ts'] },
output: {
filename: '[name].js',
publicPath: 'dist/' // Webpack dev middleware, if enabled, handles requests for this URL prefix
},
module: {
rules: [
{ test: /\.ts$/, use: isDevBuild ? ['awesome-typescript-loader?silent=true', 'angular2-template-loader', 'angular2-router-loader'] : '#ngtools/webpack' },
{ test: /\.html$/, use: 'html-loader?minimize=false' },
{ test: /\.css$/, use: ['to-string-loader', isDevBuild ? 'css-loader' : 'css-loader?minimize'] },
{ test: /\.(png|jpg|jpeg|gif|svg)$/, use: 'url-loader?limit=25000' } ]
},
plugins: [new CheckerPlugin()]
};
// Configuration for client-side bundle suitable for running in browsers
const clientBundleOutputDir = './wwwroot/dist';
const clientBundleConfig = merge(sharedConfig, {
entry: { 'main-client': './ClientApp/boot.browser.ts' },
output: { path: path.join(__dirname, clientBundleOutputDir) },
plugins: [
new webpack.DllReferencePlugin({
context: __dirname,
manifest: require('./wwwroot/dist/vendor-manifest.json')
})
].concat(isDevBuild ? [
// Plugins that apply in development builds only
new webpack.SourceMapDevToolPlugin({
filename: '[file].map', // Remove this line if you prefer inline source maps
moduleFilenameTemplate: path.relative(clientBundleOutputDir, '[resourcePath]') // Point sourcemap entries to the original file locations on disk
})
] : [
// new BundleAnalyzerPlugin(),
// Plugins that apply in production builds only
new webpack.optimize.UglifyJsPlugin(),
new AngularCompilerPlugin({
tsConfigPath: './tsconfig.json',
entryModule: path.join(__dirname, 'ClientApp/app/app.module.browser#AppModule'),
exclude: ['./**/*.server.ts']
})
]),
devtool: isDevBuild ? 'cheap-eval-source-map' : false,
node: {
fs: "empty"
}
});
// Configuration for server-side (prerendering) bundle suitable for running in Node
const serverBundleConfig = merge(sharedConfig, {
// resolve: { mainFields: ['main'] },
entry: { 'main-server': './ClientApp/boot.server.ts' },
plugins: [
new webpack.DllReferencePlugin({
context: __dirname,
manifest: require('./ClientApp/dist/vendor-manifest.json'),
sourceType: 'commonjs2',
name: './vendor'
}),
new webpack.ContextReplacementPlugin(
// fixes WARNING Critical dependency: the request of a dependency is an expression
/(.+)?angular(\\|\/)core(.+)?/,
path.join(__dirname, 'src'), // location of your src
{} // a map of your routes
),
new webpack.ContextReplacementPlugin(
// fixes WARNING Critical dependency: the request of a dependency is an expression
/(.+)?express(\\|\/)(.+)?/,
path.join(__dirname, 'src'),
{}
)
].concat(isDevBuild ? [] : [
new webpack.optimize.UglifyJsPlugin({
compress: false,
mangle: false
}),
// Plugins that apply in production builds only
new AngularCompilerPlugin({
tsConfigPath: './tsconfig.json',
entryModule: path.join(__dirname, 'ClientApp/app/app.module.server#AppModule'),
exclude: ['./**/*.browser.ts']
})
]),
output: {
libraryTarget: 'commonjs',
path: path.join(__dirname, './ClientApp/dist')
},
target: 'node',
// switch to "inline-source-map" if you want to debug the TS during SSR
devtool: isDevBuild ? 'cheap-eval-source-map' : false
});
return [clientBundleConfig, serverBundleConfig];
};
EDIT -
In addition to the changes on the webpack.config.js, I did the following two changes which solved my problem!:
In index.cshtml:
change from
<app asp-prerender-module="ClientApp/dist/main-server">Loading...</app>
to:
<app>Loading...</app>
In boot.server.ts:
change from:
const zone = moduleRef.injector.get(NgZone);
to:
const zone: NgZone = moduleRef.injector.get(NgZone);
Read http://www.talkingdotnet.com/upgrade-angular-4-app-angular-5-visual-studio-2017/ for more info.