angular / angular/angular-cli

Running `ng version` outside an Angular project has confusing output

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#16,549 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
area: @angular/cli freq1: low severity1: confusing type: bug/fix
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Description

# 🐞 Bug report

### Command

- [X] update
- [X] version

### Is this a regression?

No

### Description

I have a monorepo where I am adding an Angular project. As a result, it exists in a subdirectory. Since many tools (such as `ng`) expect the project to be the working directory, I often use the pattern `(cd path/to/subproject/ && run some tool)`. The subshell means I'm returned back to my original directory.

This pattern does not play well with `ng version` and `ng update`. I was trying to update to version 9 prerelease and saw the following:

```shell
$ (cd services/ng-frontend/ && ng update @angular/cli @angular/core --next)
# Successful update...
$ ng version
_ _ ____ _ ___
/ \ _ __ __ _ _ _| | __ _ _ __ / ___| | |_ _|
/ △ \ | '_ \ / _` | | | | |/ _` | '__| | | | | | |
/ ___ \| | | | (_| | |_| | | (_| | | | |___| |___ | |
/_/ \_\_| |_|\__, |\__,_|_|\__,_|_| \____|_____|___|
|___/


Angular CLI: 8.3.21
Node: 13.5.0
OS: linux x64
Angular:
...

Package Version
------------------------------------------------------
@angular-devkit/architect 0.803.21
@angular-devkit/core 8.3.21
@angular-devkit/schematics 8.3.21
@schematics/angular 8.3.21
@schematics/update 0.803.21
rxjs 6.4.0
```

This was confusing and made me think the update failed, however the update was actually fine. My mistake here was running `ng version` in the root of my monorepo, rather than the Angular project. After noticing this I tried:

```shell
$ (cd services/ng-frontend/ && ng version)
_ _ ____ _ ___
/ \ _ __ __ _ _ _| | __ _ _ __ / ___| | |_ _|
/ △ \ | '_ \ / _` | | | | |/ _` | '__| | | | | | |
/ ___ \| | | | (_| | |_| | | (_| | | | |___| |___ | |
/_/ \_\_| |_|\__, |\__,_|_|\__,_|_| \____|_____|___|
|___/

Angular CLI: 9.0.0-rc.7
Node: 13.5.0
OS: linux x64

Angular: 9.0.0-rc.7
... animations, cli, common, compiler, compiler-cli, core, forms
... language-service, platform-browser, platform-browser-dynamic
... router
Ivy Workspace: Yes

Package Version
-----------------------------------------------------------
@angular-devkit/architect 0.900.0-rc.7
@angular-devkit/build-angular 0.900.0-rc.7
@angular-devkit/build-optimizer 0.900.0-rc.7
@angular-devkit/build-webpack 0.900.0-rc.7
@angular-devkit/core 9.0.0-rc.7
@angular-devkit/schematics 9.0.0-rc.7
@ngtools/webpack 9.0.0-rc.7
@schematics/angular 9.0.0-rc.7
@schematics/update 0.900.0-rc.7
rxjs 6.5.4
typescript 3.6.4
webpack 4.41.2
```

Which is what I expected post-update.

IMHO this dichotomy is confusing. When the user is in an Angular project, it lists versions of that project. When outside an Angular project, it lists the global versions and it is very easy to look at the wrong one.

I'm not sure what the ideal solution to this problem would be. There could be two different commands, such as an `ng global-version` and `ng project-version`, but this might add too much additional complexity to be worth it. Maybe the output could simply be updated to be more clear? Such as having some big red text saying "No Angular project detected at $PWD"?

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Reproduce the two `ng version` commands from the issue, both inside and outside `services/ng-frontend/`, and trace the Angular CLI version command entry point. The change is done when output outside an Angular project clearly indicates that no project was detected and does not make global versions look like project versions.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
angular, typescript
Domain
cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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