.less files changed from outside of Visual Studio (e.g. Chrome DevTools) don't trigger a recompile of .css files. I have to go back to VS and save the .less file there.
This greatly reduces the usefulness of the use of the source maps in a development workflow. Since LESS CSS is one of the few if not only VS extension that actually produces LESS source maps. having it pick up on external changes seems like a natural feature that would be great to have. At this point it looks like it may be more useful to just use node.js, then at least grunt could watch it and regen the .css when the .less source file changed.
Steps to recreate
Open VS 2017 Project with LESS Compiler installed and working.
Generate .css from .less via LESS Compiler
Browse application in Chrome, with DevTools turned on and workspaces properly set to your working copy.
4 Modify a style in .less file via Chrome DevTools with Workspace enabled (or just in Notepad++ and SAVE it)
Current behavior
Visual Studio notices the file has changed and rereads the new file contents, but LESS Compiler does NOT recompile the CSS.
Expected behavior
LESS Compiler is triggered to rebuild the .css. Then the browser display would change to match the updated .less file
Installed product versions
Description
.less files changed from outside of Visual Studio (e.g. Chrome DevTools) don't trigger a recompile of .css files. I have to go back to VS and save the .less file there.
This greatly reduces the usefulness of the use of the source maps in a development workflow. Since LESS CSS is one of the few if not only VS extension that actually produces LESS source maps. having it pick up on external changes seems like a natural feature that would be great to have. At this point it looks like it may be more useful to just use node.js, then at least grunt could watch it and regen the .css when the .less source file changed.
Steps to recreate
Current behavior
Visual Studio notices the file has changed and rereads the new file contents, but LESS Compiler does NOT recompile the CSS.
Expected behavior
LESS Compiler is triggered to rebuild the .css. Then the browser display would change to match the updated .less file