Integrating Webpack with an Angular Project for Custom Asset Handling

Angular projects typically use the Angular CLI to manage builds and bundling. However, there are scenarios where you need more granular control over the build process, such as custom asset handling (e.g., specific image optimization, custom font processing), advanced code transformations, or integrating with third-party libraries that require specific webpack configurations. This challenge asks you to create a basic webpack configuration that can be integrated with an existing Angular project to handle a specific asset type – SVG icons – and copy them to a designated output directory.

Problem Description

You are tasked with creating a minimal webpack configuration file (webpack.config.js) that will be used alongside your Angular project. This configuration should:

1. Target SVG Icons: The configuration should be designed to process SVG files located in a specific source directory (e.g., src/assets/icons).
2. Copy to Output Directory: The configuration should copy these SVG files to a designated output directory within your Angular project (e.g., dist/assets/icons).
3. Use file-loader: Utilize the file-loader webpack plugin to handle the copying of the SVG files. You'll need to install file-loader as a development dependency.
4. Basic Configuration: The configuration should include an entry point (even if it's just a placeholder), an output directory, and the file-loader configured within a rules array.

Expected Behavior:

When you run your webpack configuration (e.g., using npx webpack), it should find all SVG files in the specified source directory and copy them to the specified output directory, preserving their original filenames. The Angular CLI build process should then be able to access these copied SVG files.

Edge Cases to Consider:

• What happens if the output directory doesn't exist? Webpack should create it.
• What if there are no SVG files in the source directory? The configuration should not error.

Examples

Example 1:

Input:
Source Directory: src/assets/icons (containing icon1.svg, icon2.svg)
Output Directory: dist/assets/icons

Output:
dist/assets/icons/icon1.svg
dist/assets/icons/icon2.svg

Explanation: The webpack configuration finds icon1.svg and icon2.svg in src/assets/icons and copies them to dist/assets/icons.

Example 2:

Input:
Source Directory: src/assets/icons (empty directory)
Output Directory: dist/assets/icons

Output:
dist/assets/icons/ (empty directory)

Explanation: The webpack configuration finds no SVG files and creates the output directory if it doesn't exist, but doesn't copy any files.

Constraints

• Dependencies: You must use file-loader. Install it using npm install --save-dev file-loader.
• Configuration File: The solution must be a valid webpack.config.js file.
• Source Directory: Assume the source directory is src/assets/icons.
• Output Directory: Assume the output directory is dist/assets/icons.
• No Complex Transformations: The configuration should only copy the files; no modifications or transformations are required.
• Node.js Environment: The configuration should be compatible with a standard Node.js environment.

Notes

• You'll need to integrate this webpack configuration into your Angular project's build process. This challenge focuses solely on the webpack.config.js file itself. You'll likely need to modify your package.json scripts to run webpack as part of your build.
• Consider using a placeholder entry point if you don't need a complex entry.
• Remember to install file-loader before attempting to run the configuration.
• This is a simplified example. Real-world webpack configurations can be significantly more complex. The goal here is to understand the basic structure and how to integrate a plugin.