Object reference not set to an instance of an object in _Layout.cshtml after updated packages

39
votes

The project was running fine until I updated all NuGet packages via NuGet Manager(I was trying to get the latest OWIN packages).

This error is in the _Layout.cshtml and I have not touched on it at all.

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Source Error: 

Line 13:  
Line 14:     <!-- Custom Fonts -->
Line 15:     @Scripts.Render("~/Content/fonts")

Source File: f:\Workplace\lrc\lrc\Views\Shared_Layout.cshtml Line: 15

Update

Here is the code in the _Layout.cshtml (they are automatically generated when creating the project)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="LRC - We are aiming at building up a healthier life style.">
    <meta name="author" content="Winston Fan">
    <title>@ViewBag.Title - LRC</title>
    @Styles.Render("~/Content/css")
    @Scripts.Render("~/bundles/modernizr")


    <!-- Custom Fonts -->

        @Scripts.Render("~/Content/fonts")

    <link href="http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lora:400,700,400italic,700italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
    <link href="http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Montserrat:400,700" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">

So it is complaining this line of code : @Scripts.Render("~/Content/fonts")

But as you can see that, this is VS generated code, how could I make it wrong?

I also checked the content in the Conntent/font-awesome/fonts folder and all required resources are there.

Here is the code inside the BundleConfig (which is also the auto-generated code)

bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/Content/fonts").Include(
              "~/Content/font-awesome/fonts/fontawesome-*",
              "~/Content/font-awesome/fonts/FontAwesome.otf"));

My Microsoft.OWin.Security, Microsoft.OWin.Security.Google and Microsoft.OWin are version 3.0.1.0

Update 2

Here is the Stack Trace:

Stack Trace:

[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.] Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.ParseExpression(AstNode leftHandSide, Boolean single, Boolean bCanAssign, JSToken inToken) +1007 Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.ParseExpressionStatement(Boolean fSourceElement) +268
Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.ParseStatement(Boolean fSourceElement, Boolean skipImportantComment) +1552
Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.ParseBlock() +164
Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.ParseStatement(Boolean fSourceElement, Boolean skipImportantComment) +498
Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.ParseBlock() +164
Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.ParseStatement(Boolean fSourceElement, Boolean skipImportantComment) +498
Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.ParseBlock() +164
Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.ParseStatement(Boolean fSourceElement, Boolean skipImportantComment) +498
Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.ParseStatements(Block block) +159
Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.InternalParse() +1011
Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.Parse(DocumentContext sourceContext) +123 Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.JSParser.Parse(DocumentContext sourceContext, CodeSettings settings) +54
Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.Minifier.MinifyJavaScript(String source, CodeSettings codeSettings) +987
System.Web.Optimization.JsMinify.Process(BundleContext context, BundleResponse response) +310
System.Web.Optimization.Bundle.ApplyTransforms(BundleContext context, String bundleContent, IEnumerable1 bundleFiles) +263
System.Web.Optimization.Bundle.GenerateBundleResponse(BundleContext context) +355
System.Web.Optimization.Bundle.GetBundleResponse(BundleContext context) +104
System.Web.Optimization.BundleResolver.GetBundleContents(String virtualPath) +254
System.Web.Optimization.AssetManager.DeterminePathsToRender(IEnumerable1 assets) +252
System.Web.Optimization.AssetManager.RenderExplicit(String tagFormat, String[] paths) +75
System.Web.Optimization.Scripts.RenderFormat(String tagFormat, String[] paths) +292
System.Web.Optimization.Scripts.Render(String[] paths) +51
ASP._Page_Views_Shared__Layout_cshtml.Execute() in f:\Workplace\lrc\lrc\Views\Shared_Layout.cshtml:15
System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy() +271
System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage.ExecutePageHierarchy() +121
System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy(WebPageContext pageContext, TextWriter writer, WebPageRenderingBase startPage) +145
System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy(WebPageContext pageContext, TextWriter writer) +41
System.Web.WebPages.<>c__DisplayClass3.b__2(TextWriter writer) +335 System.Web.WebPages.HelperResult.WriteTo(TextWriter writer) +42
System.Web.WebPages.WebPageExecutingBase.WriteTo(TextWriter writer, HelperResult content) +45
System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.Write(HelperResult result) +53
System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.RenderSurrounding(String partialViewName, Action1 body) +178
System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.PopContext() +229
System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy(WebPageContext pageContext, TextWriter writer, WebPageRenderingBase startPage) +154
System.Web.Mvc.RazorView.RenderView(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer, Object instance) +695
System.Web.Mvc.BuildManagerCompiledView.Render(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer) +382
System.Web.Mvc.ViewResultBase.ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context) +431 System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResult(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +39
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +116
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +529
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultWithFilters(ControllerContext controllerContext, IList1 filters, ActionResult actionResult) +106
System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass2b.b__1c() +321 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass21.b__1e(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +185
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +42
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +133
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +56
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeAction(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +40
System.Web.Mvc.Controller.b__1d(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ExecuteCoreState innerState) +34
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +70
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +139
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +59
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +40
System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecuteCore(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +44 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.b__15(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Controller controller) +39
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +62
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +139
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +59
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +40 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +39
System.Web.Mvc.Controller.System.Web.Mvc.Async.IAsyncController.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +39
System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.b__5(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ProcessRequestState innerState) +39
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncVoid1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +70
System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResultBase1.End() +139
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +59
System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +40
System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +40 System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result) +38
System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +932 System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +188

Update 3

Here is the Content folder.

enter image description here

Update 4

Here is the content of the packages.config

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<packages>
  <package id="Antlr" version="3.5.0.2" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="bootstrap" version="3.3.4" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="EntityFramework" version="6.1.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="jQuery" version="2.1.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="jQuery.Validation" version="1.13.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.Core" version="2.2.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.EntityFramework" version="2.2.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.Owin" version="2.2.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc" version="5.2.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.Razor" version="3.2.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization" version="1.1.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi" version="5.2.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client" version="5.2.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Core" version="5.2.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.WebHost" version="5.2.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages" version="3.2.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.jQuery.Unobtrusive.Validation" version="3.2.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Owin" version="3.0.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Owin.Host.SystemWeb" version="3.0.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Owin.Security" version="3.0.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Owin.Security.Cookies" version="3.0.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Owin.Security.Facebook" version="3.0.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Owin.Security.Google" version="3.0.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Owin.Security.MicrosoftAccount" version="3.0.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Owin.Security.OAuth" version="3.0.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Owin.Security.Twitter" version="3.0.1" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure" version="1.0.0.0" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Modernizr" version="2.8.3" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Newtonsoft.Json" version="6.0.8" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Owin" version="1.0" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="Respond" version="1.4.2" targetFramework="net451" />
  <package id="WebGrease" version="1.6.0" targetFramework="net451" />
</packages>
7
c#asp.net-mvcrazorasp.net-mvc-5owin
Add some more information, from what version to what version did you update. Show your layout file. And put a breakpoint in the file and figure out exactly what is null now. – Yishai Galatzer
@YishaiGalatzer Hi thank you for your reply. Please see my update. – Franva
When you updated did you also update your version of MVC? In any case, what happens when you comment out the offending line? – DWright
Layout is template code, not generated code. You are free to modify it. Adding try catch is obviously not your solution. And you still need to share what exactly is null? – Yishai Galatzer
I was getting a very similar JSParser.ParseExpression exception - it turned out it was the contents of 1 of the .js files being minified! i had mistyped an expression x = ?a.foo?bar:barfoo; deleting the incorrect ? after the equals sign fixed the problem! – Brent

7 Answers

70
votes

Here it was fixed by replacing "ScriptBundle" with "Bundle" in BundleConfig.

We replaced the following:

bundles.Add(new ScriptBundle("~/bundles/mybundle").Include(
            "~/Scripts/...",
            "~/Scripts/..."));

with:

bundles.Add(new Bundle("~/bundles/mybundle").Include(
            "~/Scripts/...",
            "~/Scripts/..."));
31
votes

Check javascript for errors. Mine was a half written line ending with 'function'

7
votes

This looks like a bug in the javascript minifier.

Microsoft.Ajax.Utilities.Minifier.MinifyJavaScript(String source, CodeSettings codeSettings) +987

Please file a connect bug (i'll forward this thread internally in Microsoft as well).

As a workaround you can minify the scripts manually and include them directly instead of using the bundler.

Can you share your packages.config please? It will help with tracking this potential bug.

6
votes

So I ran into this bug earlier today and was able to track down the offending code. For myself, the minifier was choking on a bad line of javascript that was incorrectly using a ternary statement of the form:

var test = condition ? true_value ? false_value;

Obviously, the second question mark should have been a colon to make a valid ternary statement. This caused the entire application to crash throwing the same error above. Perhaps this isn't the same issue you ran into, but it gives the same results.

1
votes

ScriptBundleclass can be used for bundling scripts and cannot be used for bundling styles. It is coupled with @Scripts.Render("~/scripts/bundle") that renders a <script> tag.

For styles there is StyleBundle class

bundles.Add(new StyleBundle("~/bundles/mybundle").Include(
        "~/Content/...",
        "~/Content/..."));

and it is coupled with @Styles.Render("~/content/bundle") that creates a <link> tag.

1
votes

In my case, it's due to changes in verdor libs so I can't fix the js file directly.

My work around is to use the min version which is indicate to the bundle: DO not minify this file.

For example: Simply move from select2.js to select2.min.js

1
votes

There must be a javascript error.

Undo your changes and just check your changes by putting one by one and check the browser with those changes as well.