"Parent" SCSS no longer recompiled to CSS when editing @use'd sub-scss

[JeroenNX]

Apache NetBeans version

Apache NetBeans 29

What happened

In NetBeans 27 (and many previous versions), when making and saving a change to /scss/base/_reset.scss, /css/main.css (based on /scss/main.scss) automatically gets recompiled, because main.scss @use's base/reset.
In NetBeans 28 this functionality was broken, which is why I had to keep using 27.
Now many months later, I gave 29 a try, and unfortunately still the same, not working anymore.
So still have to use 27.

In both 28 and 29, when making a change to blah.scss, it still recompiles to blah.css, but making a change to _blah.scss that is @use'd by another .scss file, no longer recompiles that scss file to css.

Language / Project Type / NetBeans Component

scss

How to reproduce

• Setup a CSS preprocessor, for example dart-sass
• Enable 'Compile Sass Files on Save' for Sass
• Add the scss folder (input) to watch-settings, with css folder as output
• In the scss folder, create a main.scss with contents: '@use "base/reset";'
• In the scss folder, create a subfolder 'base' with a file '_reset.scss';
• Add/change some CSS in _reset.scss => this should trigger a recompile of scss/main.scss to /css/main.css (works in 27, does not in 28/29)

Did this work correctly in an earlier version?

Apache NetBeans 27

Operating System

Windows 11 25H2

JDK

openjdk 26 2026-03-17

Apache NetBeans packaging

Apache NetBeans binary zip

Anything else

Same problem with various version of openjdk and dart-sass, only difference: NetBeans 27 vs 28/29.

Are you willing to submit a pull request?

No

[matthiasblaesing]

Not reproducible on Linux (Ubuntu, JDK 24) + current master and not reproducible on Windows 10 with OpenJDK 26 (the reference build linked from openjdk.org) and NetBeans 27.

Please start with an empty userdir (run netbeans64.exe with --userdir and --cachdir parameter pointing to temporary directories) and try to reproduce again.

[JeroenNX]

@matthiasblaesing thanks for the quick reply.

Tried your suggestion, can confirm:

Running with any of the following, it works:
C:\Program Files\NetBeans 27\bin\netbeans64.exe
C:\Program Files\NetBeans 29\bin\netbeans64.exe --userdir "D:\nbtemp" --cachedir "D:\nbtemp"

Runing with any of the below, it does not work:
C:\Program Files\NetBeans 28\bin\netbeans64.exe
C:\Program Files\NetBeans 29\bin\netbeans64.exe

Any idea what would need to be changed/reconfigured/emptied?

Previously, for example when updating from 26 to 27, I simply deleted contents of the NetBeans folder in Program Files, replaced it with the contents of the new release binary zip, set path to openjdk in /etc/netbeans.conf, run => on first run it detects that there are settings from a previous version => import => done, working.

But for 28 & 29 that somehow breaks the auto-compile of 'parent' SCSS when making changes to included _scss files, unless I run it with --userdir "D:\nbtemp" --cachedir "D:\nbtemp" like you suggested.

[JeroenNX]

Did some more testing, does seem to work now, also in 29.
What I think happened is: on first launch, it does the 'Background scanning projects' bottom right.
I have like a 120 projects open, so this can take a while.
Might have tested/used SCSS too soon/perhaps the background scanning was not complete yet for the project in question.

Ticket can be closed/marked as invalid.

[matthiasblaesing]

Did some more testing, does seem to work now, also in 29. What I think happened is: on first launch, it does the 'Background scanning projects' bottom right. I have like a 120 projects open, so this can take a while. Might have tested/used SCSS too soon/perhaps the background scanning was not complete yet for the project in question.

Yes that makes sense. Dependency tracking works on the basis of the indices and if they are not available dependencies are not available. Indices are not migrated between versions, so they need to be rebuilt.