RazorGenerator not using files on disk if newer

We currently have an issue where we always have to build our project to see changes to razor files, despite UsePhysicalViewsIfNewer being set to true.

I’ve set up a scenario where I can debug RazorGenerator.MVC and, putting a breakpoint into IsPhysicalFileNewer() I can see that it’s not even being called by the framework after the first build for the particular view that I’m interested in.

I’m not sure where to progress to next in order to fix this - any ideas?

[pranavkm]

Views in a separate assembly wouldn’t work. The view engine has no idea where your app is located to cause the refresh.

[nicholashead]

Just wanted to add that we’re seeing a similiar/related issue-- but in our case it’s causing an exception to fire; we’re getting an “Object reference not set to an instance of an object.” error about a partial view (_LandingPageFloorContent.cshtml) that uses a model, that actually has nothing to do with the view being rendered/requested (hence empty Model and object reference error). Very odd. Here’s the stack trace:

[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]
   ASP._Views_Shared_PinklesResponsiveElements__LandingPageFloorContent_cshtml.Execute() in C:\_repos\Hireahelper\Hireahelper.Mvc\obj\CodeGen\Views\Views\Shared\PinklesResponsiveElements\_LandingPageFloorContent.cshtml:35
   System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy() +252
   System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage.ExecutePageHierarchy() +147
   System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy(WebPageContext pageContext, TextWriter writer, WebPageRenderingBase startPage) +121
   System.Web.Mvc.Html.PartialExtensions.Partial(HtmlHelper htmlHelper, String partialViewName, Object model, ViewDataDictionary viewData) +136
   ASP._Views_Home_Index_cshtml.Execute() in C:\_repos\Hireahelper\Hireahelper.Mvc\obj\CodeGen\Views\Home\Index.cshtml:16
   System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy() +252
   System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage.ExecutePageHierarchy() +147
   System.Web.WebPages.StartPage.ExecutePageHierarchy() +88
   System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy(WebPageContext pageContext, TextWriter writer, WebPageRenderingBase startPage) +106
   System.Web.Mvc.ViewResultBase.ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context) +374
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +89
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +833
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +833
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +833
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +833
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultWithFilters(ControllerContext controllerContext, IList`1 filters, ActionResult actionResult) +81
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass21.<BeginInvokeAction>b__1e(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +186
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeAction(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +38
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.<BeginExecuteCore>b__1d(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ExecuteCoreState innerState) +29
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +67
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecuteCore(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +53
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +36
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +38
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.<BeginProcessRequest>b__5(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ProcessRequestState innerState) +44
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +67
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +38
   System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +399
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +137

We’re getting this error after building -> making a change to .cshtml file -> reloading the page. If we build again, the view works properly again until it’s changed.

I think perhaps RazorGenerator is getting confused/collisions on view names – we are trying to load an Home/Index.cshtml view inside of an Area-- but we also have a non-area Home/Index.cshtml in our general Views folder.

I’m going to try and dig further on it, but if this helps anyone on the team with diagnosing, great.