slamj1 / angular-electron

Ultra-fast bootstrapping with Angular and Electron (Typescript + SASS + Hot Reload) :speedboat:

Introduction

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

Currently runs with:

• Angular v8.2.14
• Electron v7.1.7
• Electron Builder v21.2.0

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

/!\ Hot reload only pertains to the renderer process. The main electron process is not able to be hot reloaded, only restarted.

/!\ Angular 8.x CLI needs Node 10.9 or later to works correctly.

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 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 ?

YES! You can do it! Just by importing your library in npm dependencies section (not devDependencies) with npm install --save. It will be loaded by electron during build phase and added to your final package. Then use your library by importing it in main.ts file. Quite simple, isn't it ?

Browser mode

Maybe you want to execute the application in the browser with hot reload ? Just run 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 7 : (master)