Electronite tips

How to develop quickly on the Electronite app while using a local dev server.

Windows, MacOS, or Linux

Windows, MacOS, or Linux

Prerequisites

See README ‘Environment requirements for this repo’.
Follow the README ‘Setup’.

Electronite Dev Viewer

💡 To create an Electronite viewer for use with your local dev build environment, run this script once while online:
- Linux: cd linux/scripts then ./build_viewer.bsh
- Windows: cd windows\scripts then .\build_viewer.ps1 (use a powershell terminal)
- MacOS: cd macos/scripts the ./build_viewer.zsh
Read the ‘Run …’ and ‘Client Development …’ bullets at the top of app README ‘Use’.
- 💡 When the server is running (the run script), start the Electronite viewer created by the build_viewer script:
- Linux: cd linux/scripts then ./viewer.bsh – Dev Tools: Ctrl + Shift + I
- Windows: cd windows\scripts then .\viewer.bat – Dev Tools: Ctrl + Shift + I
- MacOS: cd macos/scripts then ./viewer.zsh – Dev Tools: Cmd + Option + I

Making dev changes to Electronite

Electronite is a drop-in replacement for electron that provides an enhanced font rendering system. Make your dev changes the same way as for an Electron viewer.

This project works in either a web browser or the Electronite viewer. Only add code to Electron/Electronite that are necessary for it to handle things that web browser already do (e.g., Print, Find, Zoom, Back, Forward). Avoid coding in such a way that prevents web browser use.

💡 The way to develop in Electronite is to start by modifying the code that is used by your dev viewer. The file structure to focus on is below, in particular electronStartup.js and preload.js. Make changes here first to test in local dev:

|-- [linux | windows | macos]
    |-- viewer
        |-- project
            |-- payload
                |-- app
                    |-- appLauncherElectron.sh | appLauncherElectron.bat
                    |-- electron
                        |-- electronStartup.js
                        |-- favicon.png
                        |-- favicon@1.5x.png
                        |-- favicon@1.25x.png
                        |-- favicon@2x.png
                        |-- preload.js

Deploying tested dev changes to Electronite

If changes to electronStartup.js are required, reproduce these changes in the following two files:

|-- buildResources
    |-- electron
        |-- electronDevStartup.js (used by the viewer and the Linux app; launches the viewer without starting the server)
        |-- electronStartup.js (used by the Windows and MacOS apps; starts the server then launches the viewer)

Test electronDevStartup.js by re-running the build_viewer script. See Electronite Dev Viewer above. Also used in the Linux app. Test electronStartup.js by either building locally on Windows or MacOS or by pushing a branch, building via git hub actions, then testing the resulting stand-alone installs for Windows/MacOS.

If a change needs to be made to favicon*.png, make those changes in the globalBuildResources directory. The same test instructions above apply.

If a change needs to be made to the appLauncherElectron script, it will need to be made in 3 different places and tested on three different operating systems. Those file lives at:

linux\buildResources\appLauncherElectron.sh
windows\buildResources\appLauncherElectron.bat
macos\buildResources\appLauncherElectron.sh

Test by either building locally on all three operating systems, or by pushing a branch, building via git hub actions, then testing the resulting stand-alone installs.

Local Installer Build

Prerequisites:

Ensure the server (build_server script) is current!
Windows has an additional requirement for running this bundle_viewer build locally:
- Install Inno Setup -tested with v6.4.3

`bundle_viewer` script

Windows - cd windows\scripts then .\bundle_viewer.ps1
- Optional arguments:
  - .\bundle_viewer.ps1 -ServerOff "Y"
    or: “y”; Will not ask if server is off
- Deletes the last bundles and temp contents for the given OS (if they exist), then on this repo runs git checkout main, git pull, and npm install, runs app_setup.bat to ensure version consistency, runs node build.js, then makes a zip release bundle and a stand-alone exe installer.
MacOS - cd /macos/scripts the ./bundle_viewer.zsh
- Optional arguments:
  - ./bundle_viewer.zsh -s
    Will not ask if server is off
- Deletes the last bundles and temp contents for the given OS (if they exist), then on this repo runs git checkout main, git pull, and npm install, runs app_setup.bat to ensure version consistency, runs node build.js, then makes a zip release bundle and a stand-alone exe installer.
Linux - cd /linux/scripts the ./bundle_viewer.bsh
- Before running:
  - manually delete prior local builds
  - npm install (if not already run)
  - app_setup.bat to ensure version consistency (unless already current)
  - run run ./bundle_tgz.bsh
  - then run ./bundle_viewer.bsh

`bundle_viewer` script Outputs:

Windows: releases\windows\intel64\[app-name]-windows-setup-standalone-[version].exe
MacOS: releases/macos/[intel64|arm64]/[app-name]-macos-installer-standalone-[intel64|arm64]-[version].pkg
Linux: releases/linux/[app-name]-linux-standalone-intel64-[version].deb