ElectronNET.API 0.0.2

Master:

Build cross platform desktop apps with .NET Core and ASP.NET NET Core.

Usage:

To activate and communicate with the "native" (sort of native...) Electron API include the ElectronNET.API NuGet package in your ASP.NET Core app.

PM> Install-Package ElectronNET.API

Program.cs

You start Electron.NET up with an UseElectron WebHostBuilder-Extension.

public static IWebHost BuildWebHost(string[] args)
{
    return WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
        .UseElectron(args)
        .UseStartup<Startup>()
        .Build();
}

Startup.cs

Open the Electron Window in the Startup.cs file:

public async void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IHostingEnvironment env)
{
    if (env.IsDevelopment())
    {
        app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();
        app.UseBrowserLink();
    }
    else
    {
        app.UseExceptionHandler("/Home/Error");
    }

    app.UseStaticFiles();

    app.UseMvc(routes =>
    {
        routes.MapRoute(
            name: "default",
            template: "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");
    });

    // Open the Electron-Window here
    await Electron.WindowManager.CreateWindowAsync();
}

Start the Application

For the tooling you will need your dotnet-electronize package ElectronNET.CLI NuGet package. This package must be referenced in the .csproj like this:

    <ItemGroup>
       <DotNetCliToolReference Include="ElectronNET.CLI" Version="*" />
    </ItemGroup>

After you edited the .csproj-file, you need to restore your NuGet packages within your Project. Run the follwoing command in your ASP.NET Core folder:

dotnet restore

• Make sure you have node.js v8.6.0 and on OSX/Ubuntu the electron-packager installed (via "sudo npm install electron-packager --global")

At the first time, you need an Electron.NET Project initialization. Type the following command in your ASP.NET Core folder:

    dotnet electronize init

• Now a electronnet.manifest.json should appear in your ASP.NET Core project
• Now run the following:

    dotnet electronize start

Note

Only the first electronize start is slow. The next will go on faster.

Debug

Start your Electron.NET application with the Electron.NET CLI command. In Visual Studio attach to your running application instance. Go in the Debug Menu and click on Attach to Process.... Sort by your projectname on the right and select it on the list.

Usage of the Electron-API

A complete documentation will follow. Until then take a look in the source code of the sample application: ElectronNET.WebApp

Build

Here you need the Electron.NET CLI too. Type following command in your ASP.NET Core folder:

    dotnet electronize build

In your default setting we just build the application for the OS you are running (Windows builds Windows, OSX builds OSX etc.), but this can be changed with:

    dotnet electronize build win
    dotnet electronize build osx
    dotnet electronize build linux

The end result should be an electron app under your /bin/desktop folder.

Note

An OS X App can only be built on a host OS X platform.

Dev Notes:

Currently there are two main projects and a "WebApp" that serves as a demo playground.

• ElectronNET.API: Defines the Electron / .NET API bridge
• ElectronNET.CLI: Responsible for the dotnet "electronize" tooling.

Both projects create their own nuget package. The resulting nuget packages are saved under "/artifacts".

Currently the packages are just build with version 1.0.0 on your machine. NuGet might pick the wrong version from its own cache, so please read the dev notes if you want to develop!

ElectronNET.WebApp:

The WebApp now has referenced the API NuGet package and via the .csproj reference the CLI:

<ItemGroup>
   <DotNetCliToolReference Include="ElectronNET.CLI" Version="*" />
</ItemGroup>

Dev Notes: Dev Workflow

(at least for the CLI extension)

• Change something in the CLI project
• rebuild the project (a nuget package should now appear in the /artifacts directory)
• make sure there is no ElectronNET.CLI package in your %userprofile%.nuget\packages cache with the same version
• execute dotnet restore in the WebApp
• execute dotnet electronize