I've integrated Sentry with my website a few days ago and I noticed that sometimes users receive this error in their console:
ChunkLoadError: Loading chunk <CHUNK_NAME> failed.
(error: <WEBSITE_PATH>/<CHUNK_NAME>-<CHUNK_HASH>.js)
So I investigated the issue around the web and discovered some similar cases, but related to missing chunks caused by release updates during a session or caching issues.
The main difference between these cases and mine is that the failed chunks are actually reachable from the browser, so the loading error does not depend on the after-release refresh of the chunk hashes but (I guess), from some network related issue.
This assumption is reinforced by this stat: around 90% of the devices involved are mobile.
Finally, I come to the question: Should I manage the issue in some way (e. g. retrying the chunk loading if failed) or it's better to simply ignore it and let the user refresh manually?
2021.09.28 edit:
A month later, the issue is still occurring but I have not received any report from users, also I'm constantly recording user sessions with Hotjar but nothing relevant has been noticed so far.
I recently had a chat with Sentry support that helped me excluding the network related hypotesis:
Our React SDK does not have offline cache by default, when an error is captured it will be sent at that point. If the app is not able to connect to Sentry to send the event, it will be discarded and the SDK will no try to send it again.
Rodolfo from Sentry
I can confirm that the issue is quite unusual, I share with you another interesting stat: the user affected since the first occurrence are 882 out of 332.227 unique visitors (~0,26%), but I noticed that the 90% of the occurrences are from iOS (not generic mobile devices as I noticed a month ago), so if I calculate the same proportion with iOS users (794 (90% of 882) out of 128.444) we are near to a 0,62%. Still small but definitely more relevant on iOS.
This is most likely happening because the browser is caching your app's main HTML file, like index.html which serves the webpack bundles and manifest.
First I would ensure your web server is sending the correct HTTP response headers to not cache the app's index.html file (let's assume it is called that). If you are using NGINX, you can set the appropriate headers like this:
location ~* ^.+.html$ {
add_header Cache-Control "no-store max-age=0";
}
This file should be relatively small in size for a SPA, so it is ok to not cache this as long as you are caching all of the other assets the app needs like the JS and CSS, etc. You should be using content hashes on your JS bundles to support cache busting on those. With this in place visits to your site should always include the latest version of index.html with the latest assets including the latest webpack manifest which records the chunk names.
If you want to handle the Chunk Load Errors you could set up something like this:
import { ErrorBoundary } from '#sentry/react'
const App = (children) => {
<ErrorBoundary
fallback={({ error, resetError }) => {
if (/ChunkLoadError/.test(error.name)) {
// If this happens during a release you can show a new version alert
return <NewVersionAlert />
// If you are certain the chunk is on your web server or CDN
// You can try reloading the page, but be careful of recursion
// In case the chunk really is not available
if (!localStorage.getItem('chunkErrorPageReloaded')) {
localStorage.setItem('chunkErrorPageReloaded', true)
window.location.reload()
}
}
return <ExceptionRedirect resetError={resetError} />
}}>
{children}
</ErrorBoundary>
}
If you do decide to reload the page I would present a message to the user beforehand.
The chunk is reachable doesn't mean the user's browser can parse it. For example, if the user's browser is old. But the chunk contains new syntax.
Webpack loads the chunk by jsonp. It insert <script> tag into <head>. If the js chunk file is downloaded but cannot parsed. A ChunkLoadError will be throw.
You can reproduce it by following these steps. Write an optional chain and don't compile it. Ensure it output to a chunk.
const obj = {};
obj.sub ??= {};
Open your app by chrome 79 or safari 13.0. The full error message looks like this:
SyntaxError: Unexpected token '?' // 13.js:2
MAX RELOADS REACHED // chunk-load-handler.js:24
ChunkLoadError: Loading chunk 13 failed. // trackConsoleError.js:25
(missing: http://example.com/13.js)
Is there a way I can put some code on my page so when someone visits a site, it clears the browser cache, so they can view the changes?
Languages used: ASP.NET, VB.NET, and of course HTML, CSS, and jQuery.
If this is about .css and .js changes, then one way is "cache busting" by appending something like "_versionNo" to the file name for each release. For example:
script_1.0.css // This is the URL for release 1.0
script_1.1.css // This is the URL for release 1.1
script_1.2.css // etc.
or after the file name:
script.css?v=1.0 // This is the URL for release 1.0
script.css?v=1.1 // This is the URL for release 1.1
script.css?v=1.2 // etc.
You can check this link to see how it could work.
Look into the cache-control and the expires META Tag.
<META HTTP-EQUIV="CACHE-CONTROL" CONTENT="NO-CACHE">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="EXPIRES" CONTENT="Mon, 22 Jul 2002 11:12:01 GMT">
Another common practices is to append constantly-changing strings to the end of the requested files. For instance:
<script type="text/javascript" src="main.js?v=12392823"></script>
Update 2012
This is an old question but I think it needs a more up to date answer because now there is a way to have more control of website caching.
In Offline Web Applications (which is really any HTML5 website) applicationCache.swapCache() can be used to update the cached version of your website without the need for manually reloading the page.
This is a code example from the Beginner's Guide to Using the Application Cache on HTML5 Rocks explaining how to update users to the newest version of your site:
// Check if a new cache is available on page load.
window.addEventListener('load', function(e) {
window.applicationCache.addEventListener('updateready', function(e) {
if (window.applicationCache.status == window.applicationCache.UPDATEREADY) {
// Browser downloaded a new app cache.
// Swap it in and reload the page to get the new hotness.
window.applicationCache.swapCache();
if (confirm('A new version of this site is available. Load it?')) {
window.location.reload();
}
} else {
// Manifest didn't changed. Nothing new to server.
}
}, false);
}, false);
See also Using the application cache on Mozilla Developer Network for more info.
Update 2016
Things change quickly on the Web.
This question was asked in 2009 and in 2012 I posted an update about a new way to handle the problem described in the question. Another 4 years passed and now it seems that it is already deprecated. Thanks to cgaldiolo for pointing it out in the comments.
Currently, as of July 2016, the HTML Standard, Section 7.9, Offline Web applications includes a deprecation warning:
This feature is in the process of being removed from the Web platform.
(This is a long process that takes many years.) Using any of the
offline Web application features at this time is highly discouraged.
Use service workers instead.
So does Using the application cache on Mozilla Developer Network that I referenced in 2012:
Deprecated This feature has been removed from the Web standards.
Though some browsers may still support it, it is in the process of
being dropped. Do not use it in old or new projects. Pages or Web apps
using it may break at any time.
See also Bug 1204581 - Add a deprecation notice for AppCache if service worker fetch interception is enabled.
Not as such. One method is to send the appropriate headers when delivering content to force the browser to reload:
Making sure a web page is not cached, across all browsers.
If your search for "cache header" or something similar here on SO, you'll find ASP.NET specific examples.
Another, less clean but sometimes only way if you can't control the headers on server side, is adding a random GET parameter to the resource that is being called:
myimage.gif?random=1923849839
I had similiar problem and this is how I solved it:
In index.html file I've added manifest:
<html manifest="cache.manifest">
In <head> section included script updating the cache:
<script type="text/javascript" src="update_cache.js"></script>
In <body> section I've inserted onload function:
<body onload="checkForUpdate()">
In cache.manifest I've put all files I want to cache. It is important now that it works in my case (Apache) just by updating each time the "version" comment. It is also an option to name files with "?ver=001" or something at the end of name but it's not needed. Changing just # version 1.01 triggers cache update event.
CACHE MANIFEST
# version 1.01
style.css
imgs/logo.png
#all other files
It's important to include 1., 2. and 3. points only in index.html. Otherwise
GET http://foo.bar/resource.ext net::ERR_FAILED
occurs because every "child" file tries to cache the page while the page is already cached.
In update_cache.js file I've put this code:
function checkForUpdate()
{
if (window.applicationCache != undefined && window.applicationCache != null)
{
window.applicationCache.addEventListener('updateready', updateApplication);
}
}
function updateApplication(event)
{
if (window.applicationCache.status != 4) return;
window.applicationCache.removeEventListener('updateready', updateApplication);
window.applicationCache.swapCache();
window.location.reload();
}
Now you just change files and in manifest you have to update version comment. Now visiting index.html page will update the cache.
The parts of solution aren't mine but I've found them through internet and put together so that it works.
For static resources right caching would be to use query parameters with value of each deployment or file version. This will have effect of clearing cache after each deployment.
/Content/css/Site.css?version={FileVersionNumber}
Here is ASP.NET MVC example.
<link href="#Url.Content("~/Content/Css/Reset.css")?version=#this.GetType().Assembly.GetName().Version" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
Don't forget to update assembly version.
I had a case where I would take photos of clients online and would need to update the div if a photo is changed. Browser was still showing the old photo. So I used the hack of calling a random GET variable, which would be unique every time. Here it is if it could help anybody
<img src="/photos/userid_73.jpg?random=<?php echo rand() ?>" ...
EDIT
As pointed out by others, following is much more efficient solution since it will reload images only when they are changed, identifying this change by the file size:
<img src="/photos/userid_73.jpg?modified=<? filemtime("/photos/userid_73.jpg")?>"
A lot of answers are missing the point - most developers are well aware that turning off the cache is inefficient. However, there are many common circumstances where efficiency is unimportant and default cache behavior is badly broken.
These include nested, iterative script testing (the big one!) and broken third party software workarounds. None of the solutions given here are adequate to address such common scenarios. Most web browsers are far too aggressive caching and provide no sensible means to avoid these problems.
Updating the URL to the following works for me:
/custom.js?id=1
By adding a unique number after ?id= and incrementing it for new changes, users do not have to press CTRL + F5 to refresh the cache. Alternatively, you can append hash or string version of the current time or Epoch after ?id=
Something like ?id=1520606295
<meta http-equiv="pragma" content="no-cache" />
Also see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/126772/how-to-force-a-web-browser-not-to-cache-images
Here is the MDSN page on setting caching in ASP.NET.
Response.Cache.SetExpires(DateTime.Now.AddSeconds(60))
Response.Cache.SetCacheability(HttpCacheability.Public)
Response.Cache.SetValidUntilExpires(False)
Response.Cache.VaryByParams("Category") = True
If Response.Cache.VaryByParams("Category") Then
'...
End If
Not sure if that might really help you but that's how caching should work on any browser. When the browser request a file, it should always send a request to the server unless there is a "offline" mode. The server will read some parameters like date modified or etags.
The server will return a 304 error response for NOT MODIFIED and the browser will have to use its cache. If the etag doesn't validate on server side or the modified date is below the current modified date, the server should return the new content with the new modified date or etags or both.
If there is no caching data sent to the browser, I guess the behavior is undetermined, the browser may or may not cache file that don't tell how they are cached. If you set caching parameters in the response it will cache your files correctly and the server then may choose to return a 304 error, or the new content.
This is how it should be done. Using random params or version number in urls is more like a hack than anything.
http://www.checkupdown.com/status/E304.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_ETag
http://www.xpertdeveloper.com/2011/03/last-modified-header-vs-expire-header-vs-etag/
After reading I saw that there is also a expire date. If you have problem, it might be that you have a expire date set up. In other words, when the browser will cache your file, since it has a expiry date, it shouldn't have to request it again before that date. In other words, it will never ask the file to the server and will never receive a 304 not modified. It will simply use the cache until the expiry date is reached or cache is cleared.
So that is my guess, you have some sort of expiry date and you should use last-modified etags or a mix of it all and make sure that there is no expire date.
If people tends to refresh a lot and the file doesn't get changed a lot, then it might be wise to set a big expiry date.
My 2 cents!
I implemented this simple solution that works for me (not yet on production environment):
function verificarNovaVersio() {
var sVersio = localStorage['gcf_versio'+ location.pathname] || 'v00.0.0000';
$.ajax({
url: "./versio.txt"
, dataType: 'text'
, cache: false
, contentType: false
, processData: false
, type: 'post'
}).done(function(sVersioFitxer) {
console.log('Versió App: '+ sVersioFitxer +', Versió Caché: '+ sVersio);
if (sVersio < (sVersioFitxer || 'v00.0.0000')) {
localStorage['gcf_versio'+ location.pathname] = sVersioFitxer;
location.reload(true);
}
});
}
I've a little file located where the html are:
"versio.txt":
v00.5.0014
This function is called in all of my pages, so when loading it checks if the localStorage's version value is lower than the current version and does a
location.reload(true);
...to force reload from server instead from cache.
(obviously, instead of localStorage you can use cookies or other persistent client storage)
I opted for this solution for its simplicity, because only mantaining a single file "versio.txt" will force the full site to reload.
The queryString method is hard to implement and is also cached (if you change from v1.1 to a previous version will load from cache, then it means that the cache is not flushed, keeping all previous versions at cache).
I'm a little newbie and I'd apreciate your professional check & review to ensure my method is a good approach.
Hope it helps.
In addition to setting Cache-control: no-cache, you should also set the Expires header to -1 if you would like the local copy to be refreshed each time (some versions of IE seem to require this).
See HTTP Cache - check with the server, always sending If-Modified-Since
There is one trick that can be used.The trick is to append a parameter/string to the file name in the script tag and change it when you file changes.
<script src="myfile.js?version=1.0.0"></script>
The browser interprets the whole string as the file path even though what comes after the "?" are parameters. So wat happens now is that next time when you update your file just change the number in the script tag on your website (Example <script src="myfile.js?version=1.0.1"></script>) and each users browser will see the file has changed and grab a new copy.
Force browsers to clear cache or reload correct data? I have tried most of the solutions described in stackoverflow, some work, but after a little while, it does cache eventually and display the previous loaded script or file. Is there another way that would clear the cache (css, js, etc) and actually work on all browsers?
I found so far that specific resources can be reloaded individually if you change the date and time on your files on the server. "Clearing cache" is not as easy as it should be. Instead of clearing cache on my browsers, I realized that "touching" the server files cached will actually change the date and time of the source file cached on the server (Tested on Edge, Chrome and Firefox) and most browsers will automatically download the most current fresh copy of whats on your server (code, graphics any multimedia too). I suggest you just copy the most current scripts on the server and "do the touch thing" solution before your program runs, so it will change the date of all your problem files to a most current date and time, then it downloads a fresh copy to your browser:
<?php
touch('/www/sample/file1.css');
touch('/www/sample/file2.js');
?>
then ... the rest of your program...
It took me some time to resolve this issue (as many browsers act differently to different commands, but they all check time of files and compare to your downloaded copy in your browser, if different date and time, will do the refresh), If you can't go the supposed right way, there is always another usable and better solution to it. Best Regards and happy camping. By the way touch(); or alternatives work in many programming languages inclusive in javascript bash sh php and you can include or call them in html.
For webpack users:-
I added time with chunkhash in my webpack config. This solved my problem of invalidating cache on each deployment. Also we need to take care that index.html/ asset.manifest is not cached both in your CDN or browser. Config of chunk name in webpack config will look like this:-
fileName: [chunkhash]-${Date.now()}.js
or If you are using contenthash then
fileName: [contenthash]-${Date.now()}.js
This is the simple solution I used to solve in one of my applications using PHP.
All JS and CSS files are placed in a folder with version name. Example : "1.0.01"
root\1.0.01\JS
root\1.0.01\CSS
Created a Helper and Defined the version Number there
<?php
function system_version()
{
return '1.0.07';
}
And Linked JS and SCC Files like below
<script src="<?= base_url(); ?>/<?= system_version();?>/js/generators.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="<?= base_url(); ?>/<?= system_version(); ?>/css/view-checklist.css" />
Whenever I make changes to any JS or CSS file, I change the System Verson in Helper and rename the folder and deploy it.
I had the same problem, all i did was change the file names which are linked to my index.html file and then went into the index.html file and updated their names, not the best practice but if it works it works. The browser sees them as new files so they get redownloaded on to the users device.
example:
I want to update a css file, its named styles.css, change it to styless.css
Go into index.html and update , and change it to
in case interested I've found my solution to get browsers refreshing .css and .js in the context of .NET MVC (.net fw 4.8) and the use of bundles.
I wanted to make browsers refresh cached files only after a new assembly is deployed.
Buinding on Paulius Zaliaduonis response, my solution is as follows:
store your application base url in the web config app settings (the HttpContext is not yet available at runtime during the RegisterBundle...), then make this parameter changing according to the configuration (debug, staging, release...) by the xml transform
In BundleConfig RegisterBundles get the assembly version by the means of reflection, and...
...change the default tag format of both styles and scripts so that the bundling system generates link and script tags appending a query string parameter on them.
Here is the code
public static void RegisterBundles(BundleCollection bundles)
{
string baseUrl = system.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["by.app.base.url"].ToString();
string assemblyVersion = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Version.ToString();
Styles.DefaultTagFormat = $"<link href='{baseUrl}{{0}}?v={assemblyVersion}' rel='stylesheet'/>";
Scripts.DefaultTagFormat = $"<script src='{baseUrl}{{0}}?v={assemblyVersion}'></script>";
}
You'll get tags like
<script src="https://example.org/myscriptfilepath/script.js?v={myassemblyversion}"></script>
you just need to remember to to build a new version before deploying.
Ciao
Do you want to clear the cache, or just make sure your current (changed?) page is not cached?
If the latter, it should be as simple as
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Pragma" CONTENT="no-cache">
more often than not, I get a list of ERR_CACHE_READ_FAILURE errors when loading a web page in google chrome - this results in assets not being loaded, images, style sheets etc.
what would be the cause of this? I have tried disabling browser extensions, clearing cache etc.
It is causing me issues when testing websites, as they work fine on other machines or browsers
In my case a tool called Dell SupportAssist has cleaned up browser caches by deleting their temp folder contents, meanwhile the browser had database entries to those cached files somewhere else and thought the cached data is still available.
Solution was to delete those references to inexisting files by cleaning the browser cache within Chrome
In my case, Norton 360 was deleting the temp Chrome files.
Right-click on the Norton icon from the taskbar
Open Norton 360
Settings
Tasks Scheduling
Uncheck the 'Chrome Temp Files'
Apply
Update:
This flag is no longer available.
Try typing in chrome url bar: chrome://flags/#enable-simple-cache-backend,
Then enable Simple Cache for HTTP.
Reference to google forum with the issue (link).
I had this problem some years ago and fixed it changing dynamically the name of the elements I needed to prevent from being cached, this is how it works.
I defined a variable getting its value by the integer format of the current datetime (you can put whatever you want), that variable was attached to the source path of my elements to be used
This can be a JavaScript...
var cacheVersion = new Date().getTime();
This is how you include the variable...
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="${styleSheet}?${cacheVersion}">
<img src="${imagePath}?${cacheVersion}">
... etc.
Having extra text after '?' does not modifies the file location.
The point is that when the file name changes the browser is forced to reload it no matter what it cached before or what browser you are using.
Enjoy!
Pretty straight-forward, I'm developing an MVC5 application and have noticed (lately) that my Browser appears to be caching the JavaScript code I have on the view within #section Scripts { }.
Currently I am developing with Chrome and I have tried CTRL+F5 & CTRL+SHFT+R which reloads the page, but the alert() I uncommented within the javascript code is still rendering as commented. I also tried going to my localhost through Incognito Mode as well as other Browsers (Firefox, IE) and am getting the same behavior. This is my /Home/Index.cshtml View, which is the default View which loads when the application starts. I have also tried adding some extra HTML text into the page and again the new code is not taking effect/showing.
My current Chrome version is Version 41.0.2272.118 m if anyone has any ideas what might be going on?
UPDATE:
I have gone under the Developer Tools => General Settings in Chrome and checked [X] Disable cache (while DevTools is open) and then repeatedly (with DevTools still open) tried CTRL+SHFT+R and CTRL+F5 with the same results of before where my changes are not taking effect.
UPDATE 2:
With DevTools open I have also held the Refresh button down and tried Normal/Hard/and Empty Cache & Hard Reload options all with the same result. For simplicity of testing I added an alert in the below to dispaly as soon as the page loads (and currently no alert comes up):
$(document).ready(function () {
alert("Test");
// Other Code/Functions -- No Error showing in Console
});
If you are using Bundling from MVC, you have two options to disable caching:
Use BundleTable.EnableOptimizations. This instructs the bundling to minify and optimize your bundle even while debugging. It generates a hash in the process, based on the content of the script, so your customers browsers can cache this file for a long time. It will generate a whole different hash the next time your file changes, so your customers can see your changes. The downside is that your script will become unreadable and you won't be able to debug it, so this might not be your best option.
Use System.Web.Optimization.BundleTable.Bundles.ResolveBundleUrl("url", true) to resolve your script's URL, the second parameter (true) is requiring a hash to be generated with the URL, thus, preventing caching from your browser when you change the file. This is exactly the same hash generated in the first option, but without minifying.
I created a small demo showing that the second option prevents caching from happening, the trick is getting the hash generated from your script's content without minifying your script.
I created a script file called myscript.js with this content:
$(document).ready(function () {
alert('a');
});
Then I added this to my BundleConfig.cs:
// PLEASE NOTE this is **NOT** a ScriptBundle
bundles.Add(new Bundle("~/bundles/myscripts").Include(
"~/Scripts/myscript*"));
If you add a ScriptBundle, you will get a minified response again, since ScriptBundle is just a Bundle using JsMinify transformation (source). That's why we just use Bundle.
Now you can just add your script using this method to resolve the script URL with the hash appendend. You can use the Script.Render
#Scripts.Render(System.Web.Optimization.BundleTable.Bundles.ResolveBundleUrl("~/bundles/myscripts", true))
Or the script tag:
<script src="#System.Web.Optimization.BundleTable.Bundles.ResolveBundleUrl("~/bundles/myscripts", true)"></script>
Either way will generate a URL with a hash to prevent caching:
After editing my file:
You might want to add a no_cache variable after your script url like:
<script src="js/stg/Stg.js?nocache=#random_number"></script>
If you manage to put a random number to the place i indicated, the browser will automatically download the latest version of the script after an F5
A quick trick that solves this problem consists of opening the script file in a new tab, then refresh it on this page.
If you happen to have Chrome dev tools open it will even refresh it there.
From dev tool you can even easily right click-open in new tab the script.
I've been having trouble with browsers caching assets (static files, like css and js) and not updating them when they are updated on web server. I imagine that web server (IIS 6.0 unfortunately) should report last changed date so browser would refresh, but it's not happening.
I'm thinking on force refresh when web app's version is changed. Maybe store version on a cookie or HTML5 storage (works in IE?) and force refresh when JavaScript sees version is outdated.
Is it reliable to use cookie for JavaScript storage? Or should I use other way?
And how can I use JavaScript to force refresh? Browser's F5 seems to do the job, how can I do that from JavaScript?
I use this to reload the main CSS file on a particular project:
var reloadStyle = function(el) {
// reload CSS resource without refreshing the whole page
var updateRandomQuery = function(s) {
return(s.replace(/nocache=.*$/,'nocache=' + (Math.random()*1000).toFixed()));
}
el.setAttribute('href', updateRandomQuery(el.getAttribute('href')));
}
// TODO: reload images, etc
reloadStyle(document.getElementById('MainStyle'));
This script can be extended to generically reload all CSS and then go through images and background-images and reload them. It would just need some time, which I don't have right now!
So just to make things clear, it will not work "out of the box" for any other project. But if you understand JavaScript it can give you an idea.
I have mapped this bit of JavaScript to the "Alt-R" key combination using the Chrome Shortkey plugin.