This article will guide you through the steps to upgrade your Angular 12 app to Angular 13 and resolve any routing issues that may arise. Angular 13 is the latest version of the popular web framework that brings many improvements and bug fixes. However, upgrading to a new version may also introduce some breaking changes and compatibility issues. One of the common problems that many developers face is the routing not working properly after the upgrade. This article will explain the possible causes and solutions for this problem, as well as provide some useful tips and resources for a smooth upgrade process.
Angular is a web framework that allows you to create dynamic and interactive web applications using TypeScript, HTML, and CSS. Angular uses a component-based architecture that makes it easy to reuse and test your code. Angular also provides a powerful routing system that enables you to navigate between different views and components in your app.
However, Angular is constantly evolving and releasing new versions with new features and enhancements. The latest version, Angular 13, was released on November 3, 2021, and it includes many improvements such as:
- Faster and smaller builds
- Improved developer experience
- Support for TypeScript 4.4
- Removal of deprecated APIs and dependencies
- Better error handling and debugging
- And more
If you have an existing Angular 12 app, you may want to upgrade to Angular 13 to take advantage of the new features and benefits. However, upgrading to a new version may also introduce some challenges and issues, especially if you have a complex app with many dependencies and customizations. One of the common issues that many developers encounter is the routing not working as expected after the upgrade. This can result in blank pages, 404 errors, or incorrect navigation.
In this article, we will show you how to upgrade your Angular 12 app to Angular 13 and fix any routing issues that may occur. We will assume that you have a basic knowledge of Angular and TypeScript, and that you have an Angular 12 app that you want to upgrade. We will also assume that you have Node.js and npm installed on your machine, and that you are using the Angular CLI to manage your project.
Table of Contents
How to Upgrade Angular 12 to 13
The easiest way to upgrade your Angular 12 app to Angular 13 is to use the Angular CLI command ng update. This command will automatically update your dependencies, configuration files, and code to be compatible with the new version. However, before you run this command, you should make sure that your app is in a stable state, that you have committed your changes to a version control system, and that you have backed up your project folder.
To upgrade your Angular 12 app to Angular 13, follow these steps:
- Open a terminal and navigate to your project folder.
- Run the command ng update @angular/core@13 @angular/cli@13. This will update the core Angular packages and the Angular CLI to version 13. You may see some warnings or errors during the process, but you can ignore them for now.
- Run the command ng update. This will update any other Angular-related packages that may have new versions available. You can also specify the packages that you want to update by name, such as ng update @angular/material@13 for Angular Material.
- Run the command npm install to install any new or updated dependencies that may have been added or modified by the update process.
- Run the command ng serve to start your app and check if everything is working as expected. If you encounter any errors or issues, you may need to fix them manually or revert to the previous version.
You can also use the Angular Update Guide website to get more detailed and customized instructions on how to upgrade your app based on your current and target versions, the complexity of your app, and the packages that you are using.
How to Fix Routing Issues in Angular 13
One of the possible issues that you may face after upgrading your Angular 12 app to Angular 13 is the routing not working properly. This can manifest in different ways, such as:
- The app showing a blank page or a 404 error instead of the expected component or view.
- The app not navigating to the correct route or component when clicking on a link or a button.
- The app not updating the URL or the browser history when changing the route or the component.
- The app not loading the child routes or the lazy-loaded modules correctly.
There are many possible causes and solutions for these routing issues, depending on your app’s configuration and code. However, some of the common causes and solutions are:
- Incorrect or missing base href: The base href is a tag that you need to add to the index.html file of your app, and it tells the browser what is the base URL for your app. For example, if your app is hosted at https://example.com/my-app/, then you need to add <base href=”/my-app/”> to your index.html file. If you don’t have this tag, or if you have the wrong value, then the routing may not work correctly. To fix this, make sure that you have the correct base href in your index.html file, and that it matches the actual URL of your app.
- Missing or incorrect router outlet: The router outlet is a directive that you need to add to your component’s template, and it tells Angular where to render the component or view that matches the current route. For example, if you have a app.component.html file that contains your app’s layout, then you need to add <router-outlet></router-outlet> to the place where you want to show the main content of your app. If you don’t have this directive, or if you have it in the wrong place, then the routing may not work correctly. To fix this, make sure that you have the router outlet in your component’s template, and that it is in the right place.
- Missing or incorrect router link: The router link is a directive that you need to add to your links or buttons, and it tells Angular what route or component to navigate to when the user clicks on them. For example, if you have a link that should go to the contact component, then you need to add <a routerLink=”/contact”>Contact Page</a> to your template. If you don’t have this directive, or if you have the wrong value, then the routing may not work correctly. To fix this, make sure that you have the router link in your links or buttons, and that it has the correct value.
- Incorrect or missing path or pathMatch: The path and pathMatch are properties that you need to specify in your routing configuration, and they tell Angular how to match the URL to the route or component. For example, if you have a route that should show the home component when the URL is /, then you need to add { path: ”, component: HomeComponet, pathMatch: ‘full’ } to your routing configuration. If you don’t have these properties, or if you have the wrong values, then the routing may not work correctly. To fix this, make sure that you have the correct path and pathMatch in your routing configuration, and that they match the URL and the component that you want to show.
- Incorrect or missing loadChildren or children: The loadChildren and children are properties that you need to specify in your routing configuration, and they tell Angular how to load the child routes or the lazy-loaded modules. For example, if you have a route that should load a module that contains the about component when the URL is /about, then you need to add { path: ‘about’, loadChildren: () => import(‘./about/about.module’).then(m => m.AboutModule) } to your routing configuration. If you don’t have these properties, or if you have the wrong values, then the routing may not work correctly. To fix this, make sure that you have the correct loadChildren or children in your routing configuration, and that they load the correct module or component that you want to show.
These are some of the common causes and solutions for routing issues in Angular 13, but there may be other factors that affect your app’s routing behavior. To troubleshoot and debug your routing issues, you can use the following tips and tools:
- Use the enableTracing option in your routing configuration to see the routing events and transitions in your browser’s console. For example, you can add { enableTracing: true } to the second argument of the RouterModule.forRoot() method in your app-routing.module.ts file. This will help you to see what routes are being activated or deactivated, and what errors or warnings are being thrown by the router.
- Use the RouterLinkActive directive to highlight the active link or button in your template. For example, you can add <a routerLink=”/contact” routerLinkActive=”active”>Contact Page</a> to your template, and then add some CSS style to the active class to make it stand out. This will help you to see what route or component is currently active, and if it matches the expected one.
- Use the ActivatedRoute service to access the current route’s information and parameters in your component. For example, you can inject the ActivatedRoute service in your component’s constructor, and then use its properties and methods to get the current route’s URL, data, params, query params, fragment, etc. This will help you to see what information and parameters are being passed to your component, and if they match the expected ones.
- Use the Router service to programmatically navigate to a route or component in your component. For example, you can inject the
Router service in your component’s constructor, and then use its methods such as navigate, navigateByUrl, createUrlTree, etc. to navigate to a different route or component. This will help you to control the navigation behavior and logic in your component, and to pass any information or parameters that you need.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some frequently asked questions related to upgrading Angular 12 to 13 and fixing routing issues:
Question: How can I check the current version of Angular and the Angular CLI in my project?
Answer: You can run the command ng version in your terminal to see the current version of Angular and the Angular CLI, as well as the versions of other Angular-related packages in your project.
Question: How can I revert to the previous version of Angular and the Angular CLI if the upgrade process fails or causes too many issues?
Answer: You can use the npm install command with the specific version number that you want to install. For example, if you want to revert to Angular 12 and the Angular CLI 12, you can run the command npm install @angular/core@12 @angular/cli@12. You may also need to update or revert other dependencies or configuration files that may have been changed by the upgrade process.
Question: How can I test and debug my app in different browsers and devices after the upgrade?
Answer: You can use the ng serve command with the –open option to open your app in your default browser, or with the –host and –port options to specify a different host and port for your app. You can also use the ng build command with the –prod option to create a production-ready build of your app, and then deploy it to a server or a hosting service. You can then access your app from different browsers and devices, and use the developer tools or the console to test and debug your app.
Summary
In this article, we have learned how to upgrade your Angular 12 app to Angular 13 and fix any routing issues that may arise. We have covered the following topics:
- How to use the Angular CLI command ng update to automatically update your dependencies, configuration files, and code to be compatible with the new version.
- How to use the Angular Update Guide website to get more detailed and customized instructions on how to upgrade your app based on your current and target versions, the complexity of your app, and the packages that you are using.
- How to fix some of the common causes and solutions for routing issues in Angular 13, such as incorrect or missing base href, router outlet, router link, path, pathMatch, loadChildren, or children.
- How to use some of the tips and tools to troubleshoot and debug your routing issues, such as the enableTracing option, the RouterLinkActive directive, the ActivatedRoute service, and the Router service.
- How to find answers to some of the frequently asked questions related to upgrading Angular 12 to 13 and fixing routing issues.
We hope that this article has helped you to upgrade your Angular 12 app to Angular 13 and resolve any routing issues that you may have encountered. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. The author and the publisher are not liable for any damages or losses that may result from the use of the information or code in this article. You should always test and verify your app before deploying it to production. You should also consult the official Angular documentation and the Angular Update Guide website for more information and guidance on upgrading your app to Angular 13.