Introduction

Bootstrap and package your project with Angular 8 and Electron (Typescript + SASS + Hot Reload) for creating Desktop applications.

Currently runs with:

Angular v8.0.0
Electron v5.0.2
Electron Builder v20.41.0

With this sample, you can :

Run your app in a local development environment with Electron & Hot reload
Run your app in a production environment
Package your app into an executable file for Linux, Windows & Mac

/!\ Angular 8.0 CLI needs Node 10.9 or later to work.

Getting Started

Clone this repository locally :

git clone https://github.com/maximegris/angular-electron.git

Install dependencies with npm :

npm install

There is an issue with yarn and node_modules that are only used in electron on the backend when the application is built by the packager. Please use npm as dependencies manager.

If you want to generate Angular components with Angular-cli , you MUST install @angular/cli in npm global context. Please follow Angular-cli documentation if you had installed a previous version of angular-cli.

npm install -g @angular/cli

To build for development

in a terminal window -> npm start

Voila! You can use your Angular + Electron app in a local development environment with hot reload !

The application code is managed by main.ts. In this sample, the app runs with a simple Angular App (http://localhost:4200) and an Electron window. The Angular component contains an example of Electron and NodeJS native lib import. You can disable "Developer Tools" by commenting win.webContents.openDevTools(); in main.ts.

Included Commands

Command	Description
`npm run ng:serve:web`	Execute the app in the browser
`npm run build`	Build the app. Your built files are in the /dist folder.
`npm run build:prod`	Build the app with Angular aot. Your built files are in the /dist folder.
`npm run electron:local`	Builds your application and start electron
`npm run electron:linux`	Builds your application and creates an app consumable on linux system
`npm run electron:windows`	On a Windows OS, builds your application and creates an app consumable in windows 32/64 bit systems
`npm run electron:mac`	On a MAC OS, builds your application and generates a `.app` file of your application that can be run on Mac

Your application is optimised. Only /dist folder and node dependencies are included in the executable.

You want to use a specific lib (like rxjs) in electron main thread ?

You can do this! Just by importing your library in npm dependencies (not devDependencies) with npm install --save. It will be loaded by electron during build phase and added to the final package. Then use your library by importing it in main.ts file. Easy no ?

Browser mode

Maybe you want to execute the application in the browser with hot reload ? You can do it with npm run ng:serve:web. Note that you can't use Electron or NodeJS native libraries in this case. Please check providers/electron.service.ts to watch how conditional import of electron/Native libraries is done.

Branch & Packages version

Angular 4 & Electron 1 : Branch angular4
Angular 5 & Electron 1 : Branch angular5
Angular 6 & Electron 3 : Branch angular6
Angular 7 & Electron 3 : Branch angular7
Angular 8 & Electron 5 : (master)