iboffa/os-check

Angular-Electron Template

Effortlessly start your project using Angular 17 and Electron 27, and create your amazing desktop applications!

Features

• 📦 Packaging: electron-builder is already configured for packaging and distributing applications;
• 🔥 Hot Reload: Watch live changes in your Angular application without restarting the electron app, while developing!;
• 🛡 Safety: This template enforces context isolation principle, making Electron app safer;
• 🏎 High performances: both Angular and Electron applications are compiled using esbuild, reducing bundle size and improving app performance;
• ⚙ Storage: Persist data through executions using embedded AppStore;
• 🧪Test suite: jest is already configured for unit tests.

Setting up the project

1. Create a repository from this template clicking on Use this template button at the top of this page;

2. Clone the newly generated repository;

3. Install dependencies

   npm install

4. Set a proper productName and appId in electron-builder.json file;

Et voila! You are ready to build your amazing desktop app with Angular!

If you want to start the application in development mode, enabling hot reload, you will just need to run npm start.

Calling Node features from Renderer process

As stated in the Features section, using Node packages directly in the renderer process is not possible, since context isolation is enforced.

But there is an easy way to enable our Angular application to use packages like fs or childProcess:

1. Configure ipcMain listener in Electron process (main.ts in electron folder). For example:

   import {ipcMain} from 'electron';
   import {spawn} from 'child_process';
   ...
   ipcMain.on('start-process', (event, args) => spawn('myProcess', args))
   

2. Expose a new API in preload.ts file:

   import { contextBridge, ipcRenderer } from 'electron';
   contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('runProcess', {
       run: (...args: any[]) => ipcRenderer.send('start-process', ...args)
   });
   

3. Extend window object in src/renderer.d.ts file:

   export {};
   
   interface RunProcessApi {
       run: (...args: any[]) => void;
   }
   
   declare global{
       interface Window{
           runProcess: RunProcessApi
       }
   }
   

4. Add preload option to your BrowserWindow in main.ts file

   const  win = new BrowserWindow({
       ...
       webPreferences: {
           ...
           preload:  path.join(__dirname, './preload.js'),
           ...
       },
       ...
      });
   

After that, you will be able to call window.runProcess.run(...) in your Angular application.

You can different preload scripts for different windows, but don't forget to update esbuild-electron script in package.json, to include all the scripts to be compiled.