Visual Studio fails to acknowledge changes made to TypeScript files and incorrectly assumes that the project is up to date

Question

Visual Studio fails to acknowledge changes made to TypeScript files and incorrectly assumes that the project is up to date

I am currently utilizing TypeScript in a project based on ASP.NET Core 3 (preview 5), using the latest version of VS 2019 16.1.1 (tsc: 3.4).

Whenever I perform a "Rebuild All" or make changes to any C# files or even modify the tsconfig.json file, all my TypeScript files compile without any issues.

However, when I make modifications to any of the .ts files, save them, and then try to "Build" in VS 2019, it just displays "all up to date" and does not trigger a compilation process.

Things I've already attempted:

I experimented with changing the order of compileOnSave and compilerOptions, but it had no effect.
I also tried setting compileOnSave to either true or false, but that did not solve the issue. Although having compileOnSave set to true doesn't matter much to me personally (I would be satisfied if it compiles during build), it could offer some diagnostic insights.

Contents of tsconfig.json:

"compileOnSave": false, // whether true or false doesn't impact
"compilerOptions": {
  "module": "none",
  "noImplicitAny": true,
  "noEmitOnError": true,
  "sourceMap": true,
  "experimentalDecorators": true,
  "emitDecoratorMetadata": true,
  "target": "es2015",
  "lib": [
    "es2015",
    "es5",
    "dom"
  ],
  "outDir": "wwwroot/js/gen-ts",
  "typeRoots": [
    "./wwwroot/lib/@types"
  ]
},
"include": [
  "./Scripts"
]

visual-studio typescript msbuild tsc tsconfig

Answer 1

Answer №1

Shut down Visual Studio.
Locate the file named yourprojectname.csproj.
Open yourprojectname.csproj with any text editor of your choice.

Modify the line

<None Include="tsconfig.json" /> TO <Content Include="tsconfig.json" />

I hope you find this information helpful.

Answer 2

Shut down Visual Studio.
Locate the file named yourprojectname.csproj.
Open yourprojectname.csproj with any text editor of your choice.

Modify the line

<None Include="tsconfig.json" /> TO <Content Include="tsconfig.json" />

I hope you find this information helpful.

Answer 3

Answer №2

Thank you for sharing your project with us. I encountered a similar issue on my end as well.

Based on my observations, here are some suggestions that might help resolve the issue:

1. Consider moving your .ts files from the Common folder to the Scripts folder, given that your tsconfig.json file specifies:

"include": [
  "./Scripts"

2. Navigate to Tools => Options => Projects and Solutions => .NET Core => Up-To-Date Checks => Ensure that the option

Don't call msbuild if a project appears to be up-to-date

is checked.

3. Try deleting the bin and obj folders, then rebuild the solution.

(Although I'm uncertain which of these steps truly contributed to resolving the issue, through various modifications and tests, I have seen improvements)

4. Following these steps, the build output should typically show a successful build message even without any code changes.

Yet, it seems that only certain files are regenerated upon specific changes:

1. Modifying an xx.ts file will regenerate only the corresponding xx.js file (Check the modified timestamps of the .js files).

2. Changes made to an xx.cs file will trigger regeneration of the .dll and other related files, excluding the xx.js file.

Overall, it appears that the build process is nearly back to normal functionality, despite occasionally misleading build outputs. Should this persist, consider reporting the issue via the Help menu => Send Feedback => Report a Problem option.

Please feel free to correct me if I've misunderstood anything in my explanation.

Answer 4

Thank you for sharing your project with us. I encountered a similar issue on my end as well.

Based on my observations, here are some suggestions that might help resolve the issue:

1. Consider moving your .ts files from the Common folder to the Scripts folder, given that your tsconfig.json file specifies:

"include": [
  "./Scripts"

2. Navigate to Tools => Options => Projects and Solutions => .NET Core => Up-To-Date Checks => Ensure that the option

Don't call msbuild if a project appears to be up-to-date