Bdev Assetic Bundle Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Steps to Begin

1. Installation Add the bundle to your Laravel project via Composer:

   composer require boltconcepts/bdev-assetic-bundle
   

   Register the bundle in config/app.php under the providers array:

   BoltConcepts\BDevAsseticBundle\BDevAsseticBundle::class,
   

2. Basic Configuration Publish the default configuration:

   php artisan vendor:publish --provider="BoltConcepts\BDevAsseticBundle\BDevAsseticBundle" --tag="config"
   

   Update config/bdev_assetic.php to match your project’s asset pipeline needs.

3. First Use Case: Asset Dumping Define an asset in app/Assetic/config.php (or via YAML/JSON):

   return [
       'bundles' => [
           'app' => [
               'assets' => [
                   'css/app.css' => [
                       'inputs' => ['public/css/style.css'],
                       'filters' => ['cssrewrite', 'yui_css'],
                   ],
               ],
           ],
       ],
   ];
   

   Dump assets to disk:

   php artisan assetic:dump
   

Implementation Patterns

Workflows

1. Asset Grouping Organize assets by logical bundles (e.g., admin, frontend) in config/bdev_assetic.php:

   'bundles' => [
       'admin' => [
           'assets' => [
               'js/admin.js' => ['inputs' => ['resources/js/admin/*.js']],
           ],
       ],
   ],
   

   Use {{ asset('bundles/admin/js/admin.js') }} in Blade templates.

2. Environment-Specific Assets Leverage Symfony’s environment variables (e.g., APP_ENV) to conditionally load assets:

   'bundles' => [
       'dev' => [
           'assets' => ['css/dev-overrides.css' => ['inputs' => ['public/css/dev.css']]],
       ],
   ],
   

3. Integration with Laravel Mix Use the bundle alongside Laravel Mix for hybrid workflows:

   • Compile assets with Mix (npm run dev).
   • Use BDevAsseticBundle for runtime processing (e.g., minification in production).

Integration Tips

• Custom Filters: Extend Assetic filters by creating a service provider:

  use Assetic\Filter\FilterCollection;
  use Assetic\Filter\YuiJsFilter;
  
  public function register()
  {
      $this->app->extend('assetic.filter_collection', function (FilterCollection $collection) {
          $collection->add('custom_js', new YuiJsFilter());
          return $collection;
      });
  }
  

• Dynamic Asset Loading: Fetch asset definitions from a database or API and merge them into the config:

  $dynamicAssets = DB::table('assets')->get();
  $config = array_merge(config('bdev_assetic'), ['bundles' => ['dynamic' => ['assets' => $dynamicAssets]]]);
  

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

1. Caching Quirks

   • Clear Assetic cache after config changes:

     php artisan cache:clear
     php artisan assetic:clear-cache
     

   • Use ?v=<timestamp> in asset URLs to bypass cache during development.

2. Dependency Conflicts

   • Ensure symfony/assetic-bundle is installed (this bundle extends it):

     composer require symfony/assetic-bundle
     

   • Avoid version mismatches between BDevAsseticBundle and AsseticBundle.

3. Laravel-Specific Issues

   • Public Path: Ensure public_path() is correctly set in config/bdev_assetic.php:

     'public_path' => public_path(),
     

   • Blade Integration: Use asset() helper or {{ asset() }} in Blade, not {{ url() }} for processed assets.

Debugging

• Verbose Output: Enable debug mode in config/bdev_assetic.php:

  'debug' => env('APP_DEBUG', false),
  

• Log Filters: Check storage/logs/laravel.log for Assetic filter errors.

Extension Points

1. Custom Asset Dump Command Extend the default assetic:dump command:

   php artisan make:command CustomAsseticDump
   

   Override handle() to add pre/post-processing logic.

2. Asset Versioning Automate versioning with a custom filter:

   use Assetic\Asset\AssetCollection;
   
   $collection = new AssetCollection(['css/app.css']);
   $collection->setTargetPath('public/build/app-' . hash('crc32b', file_get_contents('public/css/app.css')) . '.css');
   

3. Asset Manifest Generate a JSON manifest of processed assets for SPAs:

   $manifest = [];
   foreach (config('bdev_assetic.bundles') as $bundle => $config) {
       foreach ($config['assets'] as $output => $asset) {
           $manifest[$output] = asset($output);
       }
   }
   file_put_contents(public_path('assets.json'), json_encode($manifest));