How can I specify an explicit ScriptBundle include order?

Question

I'm trying out the MVC4 System.Web.Optimization 1.0 ScriptBundle feature.

I have the following configuration:

public class BundleConfig
{
    public static void RegisterBundles(BundleCollection bundles)
    {
        // shared scripts
        Bundle canvasScripts =
            new ScriptBundle(BundlePaths.CanvasScripts)
                .Include("~/Scripts/modernizr-*")
                .Include("~/Scripts/json2.js")
                .Include("~/Scripts/columnizer.js")
                .Include("~/Scripts/jquery.ui.message.min.js")
                .Include("~/Scripts/Shared/achievements.js")
                .Include("~/Scripts/Shared/canvas.js");
        bundles.Add(canvasScripts);
    }
}

and the following view:

<script type="text/javascript" src="@Scripts.Url(BundlePaths.CanvasScripts)"></script>

where BundlePaths.CanvasScripts is "~/bundles/scripts/canvas". It renders this:

<script type="text/javascript" src="/bundles/scripts/canvas?v=UTH3XqH0UXWjJzi-gtX03eU183BJNpFNg8anioG14_41"></script>

So far so good, except ~/Scripts/Shared/achievements.js is the first script in the bundled source. It depends on every script included before it in the ScriptBundle. How can I ensure that it honors the order in which I add include statements to the bundle?

Update

This was a relatively new ASP.NET MVC 4 application, but it was referencing the optimization framework pre release package. I removed it and added the RTM package from http://nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization. With the RTM version with debug=true in web.config, @Scripts.Render("~/bundles/scripts/canvas") renders the individual script tags in the correct order.

With debug=false in web.config, the combined script has the achievements.js script first, but since its a function definition (object constructor) that's called later, it runs without error. Perhaps the minifier is smart enough to figure out dependencies?

I also tried the IBundleOrderer implementation that Darin Dimitrov suggested with RTM with both debug options and it behaved the same.

So the minified version is not in the order I expect, but it works.

Answer 1

You could write a custom bundle orderer (IBundleOrderer) that will ensure bundles are included in the order you register them:

public class AsIsBundleOrderer : IBundleOrderer
{
    public virtual IEnumerable<FileInfo> OrderFiles(BundleContext context, IEnumerable<FileInfo> files)
    {
        return files;
    }
}

and then:

public class BundleConfig
{
    public static void RegisterBundles(BundleCollection bundles)
    {
        var bundle = new Bundle("~/bundles/scripts/canvas");
        bundle.Orderer = new AsIsBundleOrderer();
        bundle
            .Include("~/Scripts/modernizr-*")
            .Include("~/Scripts/json2.js")
            .Include("~/Scripts/columnizer.js")
            .Include("~/Scripts/jquery.ui.message.min.js")
            .Include("~/Scripts/Shared/achievements.js")
            .Include("~/Scripts/Shared/canvas.js");
        bundles.Add(bundle);
    }
}

and in your view:

@Scripts.Render("~/bundles/scripts/canvas")

Answer 2

Thank you Darin. I've added an extension method.

internal class AsIsBundleOrderer : IBundleOrderer
{
    public virtual IEnumerable<FileInfo> OrderFiles(BundleContext context, IEnumerable<FileInfo> files)
    {
        return files;
    }
}

internal static class BundleExtensions
{
    public static Bundle ForceOrdered(this Bundle sb)
    {
        sb.Orderer = new AsIsBundleOrderer();
        return sb;
    }
}

Usage

bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/bundles/jquery").Include(
                    "~/Scripts/jquery-{version}.js",
                    "~/Scripts/jquery-migrate-{version}.js",

                    "~/Scripts/jquery.validate.js",
                    "~/Scripts/jquery.validate.messages_fr.js",
                    "~/Scripts/moon.jquery.validation-{version}.js",

                    "~/Scripts/jquery-ui-{version}.js"
                    ).ForceOrdered());

Answer 3

Updated the answer provided by SoftLion to handle changes in MVC 5 (BundleFile vs FileInfo).

internal class AsIsBundleOrderer : IBundleOrderer
{
    public virtual IEnumerable<BundleFile> OrderFiles(BundleContext context, IEnumerable<BundleFile> files)
    {
        return files;
    }
}

internal static class BundleExtensions
{
    public static Bundle ForceOrdered(this Bundle sb)
    {
        sb.Orderer = new AsIsBundleOrderer();
        return sb;
    }
}

Usage:

    bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/content/js/site")
        .Include("~/content/scripts/jquery-{version}.js")
        .Include("~/content/scripts/bootstrap-{version}.js")
        .Include("~/content/scripts/jquery.validate-{version}")
        .ForceOrdered());

I like using fluent syntax but it also works with a single method call and all the scripts passed as parameters.

Answer 4

I'm not seeing this behavior on the RTM bits, are you using the Microsoft ASP.NET Web Optimization Framework 1.0.0 bits: http://nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization ?

I used a similar repro to your sample, based off of a new MVC4 Internet application website.

I added to BundleConfig.RegisterBundles:

        Bundle canvasScripts =
            new ScriptBundle("~/bundles/scripts/canvas")
                .Include("~/Scripts/modernizr-*")
                .Include("~/Scripts/Shared/achievements.js")
                .Include("~/Scripts/Shared/canvas.js");
        bundles.Add(canvasScripts); 

And then in the default index page, I added:

<script src="@Scripts.Url("~/bundles/scripts/canvas")"></script>

And I verified that in the minified javascript for the bundle, the contents of achievements.js was after modernizr...