ASP.NET MVC Reference script file with version wildcard (without bundling)

Question

In a ASP.NET MVC 4 project, I'd like to reference a versioned script file like this:

// Just some pseudo-code:
<script src="@Latest("~/Scripts/jquery-{0}.min.js")"></script>

// Resolves to the currently referenced script file
<script src="/Scripts/jquery-1.10.2.min.js"></script>

so that when a new Script version is updated via NuGet, the reference is updated automatically. I know of the bundling-and-minification feature, but it's just to much. I just want the little part which resolves the wildcards. My files are already minified, and also I don't want the bundles.

Do you have some smart ideas how to solve this?

use the bundles , create a new bundle with one file in it (jquery), and that's it. — Nikola Sivkov
– Nikola Sivkov, Commented Sep 25, 2013 at 13:36
@Aviatrix this seems pragmatic but i think it doesn't make much sense to me to use a feature called "bundling and minification" without any need for the actual bundles and nothing to minify. Then that's a quite overhead, isn't it? — thmshd
– thmshd, Commented Sep 25, 2013 at 13:47
It's already there if you use it or not. And i suspect there is internal caching for this , so the overhead should be close to none. you always have the option to write the tool you need :) — Nikola Sivkov
– Nikola Sivkov, Commented Sep 25, 2013 at 15:01
I think I'll have a look at it, I'm curious if there's a fairly simple way to, for example, scan one's Scripts directory. — thmshd
– thmshd, Commented Sep 25, 2013 at 15:59

inVINCEble · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-01 18:18:30Z

5

Even though it's a little over kill to use the Bundling in MVC, but I think that will be your best bet. It's already been done and proven so why spend more time to write some proprietary code.

That being said, if you want a simple sample of what you can do, then you can try the following.

public static class Util
{
    private const string _scriptFolder = "Scripts";

    public static string GetScripts(string expression)
    {
        var path = HttpRuntime.AppDomainAppPath;
        var files = Directory.GetFiles(path + _scriptFolder).Select(x => Path.GetFileName(x)).ToList();
        string script = string.Empty;
        expression = expression.Replace(".", @"\.").Replace("{0}", "(\\d+\\.?)+");
        Regex r = new Regex(@expression, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);

        foreach (var f in files)
        {
            Match m = r.Match(f);
            while (m.Success)
            {
                script = m.Captures[0].ToString();

                m = m.NextMatch();
            }
        }

        return script;
    }
}

This will return you the last match in your Scripts director or it will return empty string.

Using this call

@Html.Raw(MvcApplication1.Util.GetScripts("jquery-{0}.min.js"))

Will get you this result if 1.8.2 is the last file that matched your string.

jquery-1.8.2.min.js

Hope this will help you get started.

answered Nov 1, 2013 at 18:18

inVINCEble

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1 Comment

thmshd Over a year ago

Excellent, thank you for providing both, your personal opinion and advice but also a solution script.

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