Introduction

Bootstrap and package your project with Angular 5(+) and Electron (Typescript + SASS + Hot Reload) for creating Desktop applications.

Currently runs with:

• Angular v5.2.5
• Angular-CLI v1.6.4
• Electron v1.8.2
• Electron Builder v20.0.4

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

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 desactivate "Developer Tools" by commenting win.webContents.openDevTools(); in main.ts.

Manage your environment variables

• Using local variables : npm start or cross-env ENV=local npm start
• Using development variables : cross-env ENV=dev npm start
• Using production variables : cross-env ENV=rod npm start

Included Commands

Command	Description
npm run ng:serve	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.

Browser mode

Maybe you want to execute the application in the browser (WITHOUT HOT RELOAD ACTUALLY...) ? You can do it with npm run ng:serve.
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.

Contributors

Maxime GRIS