@import statements are not moved to the top of the file anymore

[tommueller]

Versions

    _                      _                 ____ _     ___
   / \   _ __   __ _ _   _| | __ _ _ __     / ___| |   |_ _|
  / △ \ | '_ \ / _` | | | | |/ _` | '__|   | |   | |    | |
 / ___ \| | | | (_| | |_| | | (_| | |      | |___| |___ | |
/_/   \_\_| |_|\__, |\__,_|_|\__,_|_|       \____|_____|___|
               |___/

Angular CLI: 1.6.4
Node: 8.9.4
OS: linux x64
Angular: 5.2.0
... animations, common, compiler, compiler-cli, core, forms
... http, platform-browser, platform-browser-dynamic
... platform-server, router

@angular/cdk: 5.0.4
@angular/cli: 1.6.4
@angular/material: 5.0.4
@angular-devkit/build-optimizer: 0.0.38
@angular-devkit/core: 0.0.25
@angular-devkit/schematics: 0.0.48
@ngtools/json-schema: 1.1.0
@ngtools/webpack: 1.9.4
@schematics/angular: 0.1.13
@schematics/schematics: 0.0.13
typescript: 2.4.2
webpack: 3.10.0

Repro steps

• import a css file using the angular-cli.json styles field
• build project using angular cli version 1.5.0
• build project using angular cli version 1.6.4

Observed behavior

This is a regression bug. Building the project using cli version 1.5.0 pushes the @import ... statement of the imported css to the top of the generated *.bundle.css-file. Doing the same with cli version 1.6.4 does not push the import up and hence the browsers don't import the css file.

Desired behavior

Also version 1.6.4 should push the @import's to the top of the file, so that browsers import the dependencies.

[clydin]

Can you provide the content of the css file described in the above repro steps?

[tommueller]

I cannot paste the whole file, as it is very large and not open source but I think the important point is that it starts like this:

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Material+Icons');
html {
   height: 100%
}
...

[tommueller]

In order to get my CI back working, I ran the ng build command downgrading versions step by step to find a CLI version that I can use, here is the results:

• from 1.6.2 to 1.6.3: comments in bundle.css are not removed anymore, but import statement is still on top of file
• from 1.6.3 to 1.6.4: import statement is not pushed to top of file anymore

Concerning the css-bundling I did not find any changes in 1.6.5 and 1.6.6.

I will pin to 1.6.2 until this is resolved.

[bampakoa]

I can confirm that it also happens in 1.6.7

[clydin]

We'll definitely look into this. However, it's important to note that adding the fonts via absolute URL imports will have performance implications on the application. The browser will not be aware that it needs to fetch the assets until it parses the stylesheet. This can cause a delay of first render. Adding them to index.html allows the browser to become more quickly aware of the need to fetch and improve visual performance for the end user.

As an example for index.html:

<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/icon?family=Material+Icons" rel="stylesheet">

[bampakoa]

@clydin Thanks for the tip. @tommueller I noticed that the guide for Material fonts has changed from version 1.4.0 and onwards. Version 1.1.0 of the Angular Material wiki storie stated to add them in styles.css but in the Angular Material official website they now suggest to do it in index.html https://material.angular.io/guide/getting-started#step-6-optional-add-material-icons

[tommueller]

@clydin Thanks for the reply. I am aware that it is better to not use css imports. For now we use @import just for the font-imports in our internal css-framework. I still hesitate about removing it because it is a nice feature of a framework, when it only needs to be added to the page and resolves it's dependencies automatically ( I think). I will reconsider this, though.
Regardless of this best practice discussion I think this bug should be fixed.

[PTC-JoshuaMatthews]

@clydin Any update on this? We use a bootstrap theme that has the font prebuilt into the css. Modifying the theme isn't really good practice. Would be nice if prod build could handle it even if there is performance hit.

[alan-agius4]

Thanks for reporting this issue. This issue is now obsolete due to changes in the recent releases. Please update to the most recent Angular CLI version.

If the problem persists after upgrading, please open a new issue, provide a simple repository reproducing the problem, and describe the difference between the expected and current behavior.