BrowserLink does not work for ASP.NET Core on Visual Studio 2017 RTM

[Eilon]

From @mrtaikandi on March 9, 2017 12:22

I'm not sure if this is the right repo for this issue.
I get the following error in the browser when I enable BrowserLink for my ASP.Net Core 1.1 application and I think because of that the BrowserLink does not work.

Browser Link: Exception thrown when trying to invoke Browser Link extension callback "microsoft.visualstudio.web.browserlink.sourcemappingextensionfactory.getCssMappingData":
System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation. ---> System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.VsWebUrlUtil.EnsureAbsoluteUrl(IVsHierarchy hierarchy, Uri& path)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.VsWebUrlUtil.GetSimpleVsWebUrlFromUrl(IVsHierarchy hierarchy, Uri url, ILocationContainer& container)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.VsWebUrlUtil.GetVsWebUrlFromUrl(IVsHierarchy hierarchy, Uri url)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.LazyLocationContainer.LazyLocationContainerFromUrl.CreateActualLocationContainer()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.LazyLocationContainer.GetPhysicalPath(Uri& physicalPath)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.DocumentLocation.Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.IDocumentLocation.GetPhysicalPath(Uri& physicalPath)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink.SourceMappingExtension.getCssMappingData(String cssUrl, String[] selectors)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at System.RuntimeMethodHandle.InvokeMethod(Object target, Object[] arguments, Signature sig, Boolean constructor)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.UnsafeInvokeInternal(Object obj, Object[] parameters, Object[] arguments)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink.ClientMessaging.DispatchMessage(BrowserLinkConnection connection, MessageArgs obj)

Browser Link: Exception thrown when trying to invoke Browser Link extension callback "microsoft.visualstudio.web.browserlink.autosyncextensionfactory.trackCssDocuments":
System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation. ---> System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.VsWebUrlUtil.EnsureAbsoluteUrl(IVsHierarchy hierarchy, Uri& path)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.VsWebUrlUtil.GetSimpleVsWebUrlFromUrl(IVsHierarchy hierarchy, Uri url, ILocationContainer& container)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.VsWebUrlUtil.GetVsWebUrlFromUrl(IVsHierarchy hierarchy, Uri url)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.LazyLocationContainer.LazyLocationContainerFromUrl.CreateActualLocationContainer()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.LazyLocationContainer.GetPhysicalPath(Uri& physicalPath)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.DocumentLocation.Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.IDocumentLocation.GetPhysicalPath(Uri& physicalPath)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.DocumentLocation.Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Extensions.Common.Helpers.IDocumentLocation.get_PhysicalFileExists()
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink.AutoSyncExtension.trackCssDocuments(String[] trackHrefs, String[] untrackHrefs)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at System.RuntimeMethodHandle.InvokeMethod(Object target, Object[] arguments, Signature sig, Boolean constructor)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.UnsafeInvokeInternal(Object obj, Object[] parameters, Object[] arguments)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink.ClientMessaging.DispatchMessage(BrowserLinkConnection connection, MessageArgs obj)

Browser Link: Failed to invoke return value callback:
TypeError: Cannot read property 'files' of null

I have configured my App as follow:

.csproj config:

<ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="AutoMapper" Version="5.2.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="AutoMapper.Extensions.Microsoft.DependencyInjection" Version="1.2.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="BundlerMinifier.Core" Version="2.4.337" />
    <PackageReference Include="IdentityModel" Version="2.5.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.Cookies" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.OpenIdConnect" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Diagnostics" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc" Version="1.1.2" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design" Version="1.1.1" PrivateAssets="All" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer.Design" Version="1.1.1" PrivateAssets="All" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools" Version="1.1.0" PrivateAssets="All" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.EnvironmentVariables" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Json" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Console" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Debug" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Options.ConfigurationExtensions" Version="1.1.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design" Version="1.1.0" PrivateAssets="All" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink" Version="1.1.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="Serilog.Extensions.Logging.File" Version="1.0.0" />
</ItemGroup>

<ItemGroup>
    <DotNetCliToolReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools.DotNet" Version="1.0.0" />
    <DotNetCliToolReference Include="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Tools" Version="1.0.0" />
</ItemGroup>

<Target Name="PrepublishScript" BeforeTargets="PrepareForPublish">
    <Exec Command="bower install" />
    <Exec Command="dotnet bundle" />
</Target>

And in the Startup.cs file in Configure method I have called app.UseBrowserLink();.

UPDATE

It seems the error is related to the *.css files. If I remove all my CSS links I only get the following error:

Browser Link: Failed to invoke return value callback:
TypeError: Cannot read property 'files' of null

Copied from original issue: aspnet/Mvc#5933

[Eilon]

From @pranavkm on March 9, 2017 14:5

cc @barrytang \ @YangLyu89

[Eilon]

From @DamianEdwards on March 9, 2017 16:5

I can certainly reproduce that Browser Link doesn't work in a brand new project in VS2017 RTM. This is what I see in the Chrome debug console:

[mrtaikandi]

I have to add that I was created this project using VS2015 with preview 2 tooling and with that I was only got the TypeError: Cannot read property 'files' of null error. After migrating to MSBuild by VS2017 RTM I am getting the above error.

[mrtaikandi]

Any news on this issue?

[RassulYunussov]

I generate a project using CLI
dotnet new mvc
then try to start

dotnet restore
dotnet run

And I get an error

Unhandled Exception: System.IO.FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembly 'System.Runtime, Version=4.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)

When i change the package reference to Browser link inside my csproj file to an older version

<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.BrowserLink" Version="1.0.1" />

I can successfully run my aspnet mvc web application.

My environment:

dotnet --version
1.0.1

dotnet --info
.NET Command Line Tools (1.0.1)

Product Information:
 Version:            1.0.1
 Commit SHA-1 hash:  005db40cd1

Runtime Environment:
 OS Name:     Mac OS X
 OS Version:  10.12
 OS Platform: Darwin
 RID:         osx.10.12-x64
 Base Path:   /usr/local/share/dotnet/sdk/1.0.1

[barrytang]

@mlorbetske, can you take a look?

[mlorbetske]

@RassulYunussov please try clearing your NuGet cache, you can do with with the command line
dotnet nuget locals all --clear, then set the environment variable DOTNET_SKIP_FIRST_TIME_EXPERIENCE to 1, and then run dotnet restore on the project - this will force the set of packages needed by the template to be downloaded fresh from NuGet. You may then clear the environment variable that lets the CLI do its first time experience.

[RassulYunussov]

@mlorbetske Thank You! It solved my problem!

[rezamohamed]

Seeing the same issue. @mlorbetske can you clarify the steps for VS2017 please? Where do you set that Environment Variable?

[do0om]

I have the same issue on VS 2017 15.1 with an Asp.net Core 1.1 app 👍

"Browser Link: Failed to invoke return value callback:
TypeError: Cannot read property 'files' of null"

Is there a fix for this issue?

[mlorbetske]

@rezamohamed in Visual Studio, simply go to Tools -> Options -> NuGet Package Manager -> General and click the Clear All NuGet Cache(s) button. After it completes, dismiss the Tools -> Options dialog, right click on the solution containing the project and select Restore NuGet Packages. This will cause VS to populate the package cache. Later, if the CLI does its first run experience, the good BrowerLink package will not be overwritten - no environment variables required.

@jodavis any ideas about what @do0om is seeing?

[dotnetshadow]

I'm still seeing the same issue, tried the steps above about clearing nuget but still doesn't work
This happens on multiple machines VS 2017 15.1 with an Asp.net Core 1.1 app

[do0om]

I used the last browser reload on save extension referenced in this related issue.
I still have the same error message for browserlink but everything is working except reload on save for cshtml files but this is not a browserlink issue.

[genusP]

Any news on this issue?

[cgountanis]

This is still an issue with latest tooling and Firefox Developer. Any word on this or where do we go? I can not stand Chrome's restore last page error every single load and Firefox Developer is much easier to use for most things.