Exclude node_modules directory from a Web project

Question

If I right click on my project and select Publish Web Project, I will get an error about directory name lengths. I've traced it to the node_modules. I want to exclude this directory and its contents from the process.

We use a .pubxml file and I've tried adding either or a combination of the following:

<ExcludeFoldersFromDeployment>node_modules</ExcludeFoldersFromDeployment>
<ExcludeFilesFromDeployment>node_modules\**\*.*</ExcludeFilesFromDeployment>

Neither seem to do the trick. Still get the same error. If you're really interested in the error, here it is:

The "CollectFilesinFolder" task failed unexpectedly.
System.IO.PathTooLongException: The specified path, file name, or both are too long. The fully qualified file name must be less than 260 characters, and the directory name must be less than 248 characters.
   at System.IO.PathHelper.GetFullPathName()
   at System.IO.Path.NormalizePath(String path, Boolean fullCheck, Int32 maxPathLength, Boolean expandShortPaths)
   at System.IO.Path.GetFullPathInternal(String path)
   at System.Security.Util.StringExpressionSet.CanonicalizePath(String path, Boolean needFullPath)
   at System.Security.Util.StringExpressionSet.CreateListFromExpressions(String[] str, Boolean needFullPath)
   at System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission.AddPathList(FileIOPermissionAccess access, AccessControlActions control, String[] pathListOrig, Boolean checkForDuplicates, Boolean needFullPath, Boolean copyPathList)
   at System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission..ctor(FileIOPermissionAccess access, String path)
   at System.IO.FileSystemInfo.get_FullName()
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.CollectAllFiles(String rootPath, DirectoryInfo dirinfo, Boolean recursive, List`1 result, Boolean defaultInclude, Regex[] fullPathMatchs, Regex[] relativePathMatchs, Regex[] excludeFullPathMatchs, Regex[] excludeRelativePathMatchs)
   at Microsoft.Web.Publishing.Tasks.CollectFilesinFolder.Execute()
   at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.TaskExecutionHost.Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.ITaskExecutionHost.Execute()
   at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.TaskBuilder.<ExecuteInstantiatedTask>d__20.MoveNext()

Update

I've also tried setting the node_modules Hidden property (and its contents) to true and refreshing in VS. Same results.

Answer 1

I had the same issue with an ASP.NET Website Project and one of the comments(@robd) in this SO post suggested to mark the folder as Hidden. I was then able to publish my website and continue using Gulp.