Angular 4 Webpack 2 & AOT: Unexpected closing tag “a”

Question

I am getting this weird error when I am making a build, at the time of watch or running server its not giving anything, just only at the time of build giving this error:

Unexpected closing tag "a". It may happen when the tag has already been closed by another tag. For more info see https://www.w3.org/TR/html5/syntax.html#closing-elements-that-have-implied-end-tags ("ref=/user><img class="d-inline-block align-top" [src]="staticUrl + 'v4/img/intouch-logo-name.png'"/>[ERROR ->]</a> <search class="mr-auto col-sm-7 col-md-6 col-lg-5 col-xl-5 p-0"></search> <div id=settings> <div"): ng:///Users/header.html@0:192

And here is my html:

<nav class="navbar d-flex flex-row navbar-light bg-faded fixed-top">
    <a class="navbar-brand" href="/user"><img class="d-inline-block align-top" [src]="staticUrl + 'v4/img/intouch-logo-name.png'" /></a>

    <search class="mr-auto col-sm-7 col-md-6 col-lg-5 col-xl-5 p-0"></search>

    <div id="settings">
        <div class="dropdown clearfix">
            <div class="userProfile dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
                <div class="userDetail">
                    <label>
                        {{loggedUser.icontact.name.given + ((loggedUser.icontact.name.family) ? ' '+loggedUser.icontact.name.family : '')}}
                    </label>
                    <small>
                        {{loggedUser.icontact.user_iid}}
                    </small>
                </div>
                <img class="profilePic rounded-circle" [src]="(loggedUser.icontact.photo) ? loggedUser.icontact.photo.url : staticUrl + 'images/in_img_default_profile_100px.png'" />
            </div>
            <div class="dropdown-menu" aria-labelledby="settings">
                <a class="dropdown-item" [href]="'/' + loggedUser.icontact.user_iid" target="_blank">View profile</a>
                <a class="dropdown-item" href="/user/cards/" target="_blank">
                    Edit Profile
                </a>
                <div class="dropdown-divider"
                    *ngIf="accountInfo.userStatus.currentUserType == accountInfo.userStatus.groupType"></div>
                <a class="dropdown-item" href="/user/notices/" target="_blank"
                    *ngIf="accountInfo.userStatus.currentUserType == accountInfo.userStatus.groupType">Notices</a>
                <div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
                <a class="dropdown-item upgrade-link upgrade-account" href="/user/upgrade/" target="_blank" 
                    *ngIf="accountInfo.userStatus.currentPlan == '001'">Upgrade</a>
                <a class="dropdown-item" href="mailto:support@intouchid.net?Subject=Feedback%20on%20the%20new%20interface">Feedback</a>
                <a class="dropdown-item" href="/user/import/" target="_blank">Import data</a>
                <div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
                <a class="dropdown-item" href="/user/">Switch to old view</a>
                <div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
                <a class="dropdown-item" href="/logout/" 
                    (click)="utilsService.sendEvent('spreadsheet_view', 'logout_clicked', 'clicked on logout')">Logout</a>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</nav>

And this is the script I am using to make a build: npm run cleanup && npm run ngc && webpack --config config/webpack.prod.js -p & my webpack config is:

plugins: [
    new AotPlugin({
      tsConfigPath: './tsconfig.json',
      entryModule: helpers.root('src/app/app.module#AppModule')
    }),
    new webpack.LoaderOptionsPlugin({
      debug: true,  // config.debug has to be passed this way now too!
      htmlLoader: {
        minimize: false
      }
    }),
    new webpack.NoErrorsPlugin(),
    new webpack.optimize.DedupePlugin(),
    new webpack.optimize.UglifyJsPlugin({ // https://github.com/angular/angular/issues/10618
      mangle: {
        keep_fnames: true
      }
    }),
    new ExtractTextPlugin('[name].[hash].css'),
    new webpack.DefinePlugin({
      'process.env': {
        'ENV': JSON.stringify(ENV)
      }
    }),
    new CompressionPlugin()
  ]

Answer 1

There are implied end tags which are being implemented. You can use less end tags. Open up the console in your browser to see the error, it links this: https://www.w3.org/TR/html5/syntax.html#closing-elements-that-have-implied-end-tags

Answer 2

I guess something with your quotes after interpolation or with non-printable characters.

Please check those lines :

<a class="dropdown-item" href="/user/notices/" target="_blank" *ngIf="accountInfo.userStatus.currentUserType == accountInfo.userStatus.groupType">Notices</a>
   <div class="dropdown-divider"></div>

and

<div class="dropdown-divider"></div>
<a class="dropdown-item" href="/logout/" (click)="utilsService.sendEvent('spreadsheet_view', 'logout_clicked', 'clicked on logout')">Logout</a>

Answer 3

In my case the error was due to the minimization of HTML. Turning it off resolved the issue. To turn it off correctly please review the docs here: https://webpack.js.org/loaders/html-loader

module: {
  rules: [{
    test: /\.html$/,
    use: [ {
      loader: 'html-loader',
      options: {
        minimize: false
      }
    }],
  }]
}