Grunt Build: CSS not looking in right image directory

Question

I have an angular application generated via yeoman.

When I run grunt build, main.css is looking for files in the /assets/images directory, which is my project structure. The file locations are not getting changed in the css.

My dist directory project structure:

• dist/
  • bower_components/
  • images/
  • scripts
  • styles/
  • index.html

The Problem

main.css is looking for /assets/images instead of /images. I'm not sure which plugin is causing this.

Specifically, I'm using background image.

.landing-container {
    background-image: 
        linear-gradient(to bottom, rgba(0,0,0,1) 0%,rgba(0,0,0,0.25) 52%,rgba(0,0,0,1) 100%),  
        url('/assets/images/bg_landing.jpg');
}

Here is my package.json:

"devDependencies": {
  "grunt": "^0.4.5",
  "grunt-autoprefixer": "^2.0.0",
  "grunt-concurrent": "^1.0.0",
  "grunt-contrib-clean": "^0.6.0",
  "grunt-contrib-compass": "^1.0.0",
  "grunt-contrib-concat": "^0.5.0",
  "grunt-contrib-connect": "^0.9.0",
  "grunt-contrib-copy": "^0.7.0",
  "grunt-contrib-cssmin": "^0.12.0",
  "grunt-contrib-htmlmin": "^0.4.0",
  "grunt-contrib-imagemin": "^1.0.0",
  "grunt-contrib-jshint": "^0.11.0",
  "grunt-contrib-uglify": "^0.7.0",
  "grunt-contrib-watch": "^0.6.1",
  "grunt-filerev": "^2.1.2",
  "grunt-google-cdn": "^0.4.3",
  "grunt-karma": "*",
  "grunt-newer": "^1.1.0",
  "grunt-ng-annotate": "^0.9.2",
  "grunt-svgmin": "^2.0.0",
  "grunt-usemin": "^3.0.0",
  "grunt-wiredep": "^2.0.0",
  "jshint-stylish": "^1.0.0",
  "karma-jasmine": "*",
  "karma-phantomjs-launcher": "*",
  "load-grunt-tasks": "^3.1.0",
  "time-grunt": "^1.0.0"

}

Here are my grunt file tasks:

// Empties folders to start fresh
clean: {
  dist: {
    files: [{
      dot: true,
      src: [
        '.tmp',
        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/{,*/}*',
        '!<%= yeoman.dist %>/.git{,*/}*'
      ]
    }]
  },
  server: '.tmp'
},

// Add vendor prefixed styles
autoprefixer: {
  options: {
    browsers: ['last 1 version']
  },
  server: {
    options: {
      map: true,
    },
    files: [{
      expand: true,
      cwd: '.tmp/styles/',
      src: '{,*/}*.css',
      dest: '.tmp/styles/'
    }]
  },
  dist: {
    files: [{
      expand: true,
      cwd: '.tmp/styles/',
      src: '{,*/}*.css',
      dest: '.tmp/styles/'
    }]
  }
},

// Automatically inject Bower components into the app
wiredep: {
  app: {
    src: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/index.html'],
    ignorePath:  /\.\.\//
  },
  test: {
    devDependencies: true,
    src: '<%= karma.unit.configFile %>',
    ignorePath:  /\.\.\//,
    fileTypes:{
      js: {
        block: /(([\s\t]*)\/{2}\s*?bower:\s*?(\S*))(\n|\r|.)*?(\/{2}\s*endbower)/gi,
          detect: {
            js: /'(.*\.js)'/gi
          },
          replace: {
            js: '\'{{filePath}}\','
          }
        }
      }
  },
  sass: {
    src: ['<%= yeoman.app %>/assets/styles/{,*/}*.{scss,sass}'],
    ignorePath: /(\.\.\/){1,2}bower_components\//
  }
},

// Compiles Sass to CSS and generates necessary files if requested
compass: {
  options: {
    sassDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/assets/styles',
    cssDir: '.tmp/styles',
    generatedImagesDir: '.tmp/images/generated',
    imagesDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/assets/images',
    javascriptsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/scripts', // ????
    fontsDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/styles/fonts',
    importPath: './bower_components',
    httpImagesPath: '/images',
    httpGeneratedImagesPath: '/images/generated',
    httpFontsPath: '/styles/fonts',
    relativeAssets: false,
    assetCacheBuster: false,
    raw: 'Sass::Script::Number.precision = 10\n'
  },
  dist: {
    options: {
      generatedImagesDir: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/generated'
    }
  },
  server: {
    options: {
      sourcemap: true
    }
  }
},

// Renames files for browser caching purposes
filerev: {
  dist: {
    src: [
      '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/{,*/}*.js',
      '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css',
      //'<%= yeoman.dist %>/images/{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,webp,svg}',
      '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/fonts/*'
    ]
  }
},

// Reads HTML for usemin blocks to enable smart builds that automatically
// concat, minify and revision files. Creates configurations in memory so
// additional tasks can operate on them
useminPrepare: {
  html: '<%= yeoman.app %>/index.html',
  options: {
    dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
    flow: {
      html: {
        steps: {
          js: ['concat', 'uglifyjs'],
          css: ['cssmin']
        },
        post: {}
      }
    }
  }
},

// Performs rewrites based on filerev and the useminPrepare configuration
usemin: {
  html: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/{,*/}*.html'],
  css: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/{,*/}*.css'],
  options: {
    assetsDirs: [
      '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
      '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles',
      '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts',
      '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
    ]
  }
},

// The following *-min tasks will produce minified files in the dist folder
// By default, your `index.html`'s <!-- Usemin block --> will take care of
// minification. These next options are pre-configured if you do not wish
// to use the Usemin blocks.
// cssmin: {
//   dist: {
//     files: {
//       '<%= yeoman.dist %>/styles/main.css': [
//         '.tmp/styles/{,*/}*.css'
//       ]
//     }
//   }
// },
uglify: {
  dist: {
    files: {
      '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/scripts.js': [
        '<%= yeoman.dist %>/scripts/scripts.js'
      ]
    }
  }
},
// concat: {
//   dist: {}
// },

imagemin: {
  dist: {
    files: [{
      expand: true,
      cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/assets/images',
      src: '{,*/}*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif}',
      dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
    }]
  }
},

svgmin: {
  dist: {
    files: [{
      expand: true,
      cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/assets/images',
      src: '{,*/}*.svg',
      dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images'
    }]
  }
},

htmlmin: {
  dist: {
    options: {
      collapseWhitespace: true,
      conservativeCollapse: true,
      collapseBooleanAttributes: true,
      removeCommentsFromCDATA: true,
      removeOptionalTags: true
    },
    files: [{
      expand: true,
      cwd: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
      src: ['*.html', 'scripts/**/*.html'],
      dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
    }]
  }
},

// ng-annotate tries to make the code safe for minification automatically
// by using the Angular long form for dependency injection.
ngAnnotate: {
  dist: {
    files: [{
      expand: true,
      cwd: '.tmp/concat/scripts',
      src: '*.js',
      dest: '.tmp/concat/scripts'
    }]
  }
},

// Replace Google CDN references
cdnify: {
  dist: {
    html: ['<%= yeoman.dist %>/*.html']
  }
},

// Copies remaining files to places other tasks can use
copy: {
  dist: {
    files: [{
      expand: true,
      dot: true,
      cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>',
      dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>',
      src: [
        '*.{ico,png,txt}',
        '.htaccess',
        '*.html',
        'scripts/**/*.html',
        'assets/images/{,*/}*.{webp}',
        'assets/styles/fonts/{,*/}*.*'
      ]
    }, {
      expand: true,
      cwd: '.tmp/images',
      dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>/images',
      src: ['generated/*']
    }, {
      expand: true,
      cwd: '.',
      src: 'bower_components/bootstrap-sass-official/assets/fonts/bootstrap/*',
      dest: '<%= yeoman.dist %>'
    }]
  },
  styles: {
    expand: true,
    cwd: '<%= yeoman.app %>/assets/styles',
    dest: '.tmp/styles/',
    src: '{,*/}*.css'
  }
},

// Run some tasks in parallel to speed up the build process
concurrent: {
  server: [
    'compass:server'
  ],
  test: [
    'compass'
  ],
  dist: [
    'compass:dist', // Good - I think
    'imagemin', // Good
    'svgmin' // Good
  ]
},

// Test settings
karma: {
  unit: {
    configFile: 'test/karma.conf.js',
    singleRun: true
  }
}

Answer 1

You can try to change compass option

httpImagesPath: '/images',

to

httpImagesPath: '../images',

Answer 2

imagesDir probably make the issue:

// Compiles Sass to CSS and generates necessary files if requested
compass: {
  options: {
    sassDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/assets/styles',
    cssDir: '.tmp/styles',
    generatedImagesDir: '.tmp/images/generated',
    imagesDir: '<%= yeoman.app %>/assets/images',

be aware that when you make grunt watch it uses .tmp directory probably grunt build makes the dist catalog. bdw. I use gulp and libsass which is much faster.