electron_packager

Electron Packager

A Electron packager that packages your .app bundle smaller than 1 MB.

How does it works?

The packaged .app bundle doesn't include (e.g. Electron Framework.framework) huge files like big frameworks but store them globally in the library of the system.

These global required resources are accessible from every .app that is packaged in this way. Therefore you just have to install the required resources one times.

Works out of the box

Yes. The packaged .app bundle contains a small downloading process for the required resources. The specific mirrors are explained more detailed below.

Install

npm install electron_packager -g

Command Line Interface

All CLI arguments are optional except the src.

electron_packager src=/path/to/app/folder

Argument	Value	Default
src	/path/to/app	Required
target	/path/to/output	Parent folder of src
platform	'darwin' || 'win' || 'linux' || 'all'	'all'
name	Custom Name	{package.json->name}
icon	/path/to/icon/file	false
identifier	com.developer.myapp	com.{package.json->author}.{package.json->name}

Please make sure that the packager actually only suppports macOS (darwin)!

Support for windows and linux is in development.

Functionality

The functionality is very modular.

In AppBundle.app/Contents/Bundle.json you'll find a file that contains within the object resources all resources that are required but not included in the .app bundle. Therefore it's theoretically possible to set custom required resources with custom mirrors. And yes, the electron_packager supports custom requirements but mostly it doesn't matters and there is no use case for it. But that's how it works.

This is, how the Bundle.json normally looks like:

{
  "resources": [
    {
      "resource": "Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework",
      "src": "~/Library/Electron/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework",
      "error": {
        "download": "http://amina-koyim.de/electron_runtime/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework.zip"
      }
    },
    {
      "resource": "Frameworks/ReactiveCocoa.framework",
      "src": "~/Library/Electron/Frameworks/ReactiveCocoa.framework",
      "error": {
        "download": "http://amina-koyim.de/electron_runtime/Frameworks/ReactiveCocoa.framework.zip"
      }
    },
    {
      "resource": "Frameworks/Squirrel.framework",
      "src": "~/Library/Electron/Frameworks/Squirrel.framework",
      "error": {
        "download": "http://amina-koyim.de/electron_runtime/Frameworks/Squirrel.framework.zip"
      }
    },
    {
      "resource": "Frameworks/Mantle.framework",
      "src": "~/Library/Electron/Frameworks/Mantle.framework",
      "error": {
        "download": "http://amina-koyim.de/electron_runtime/Frameworks/Mantle.framework.zip"
      }
    }
  ],
  "executable": "MacOS/Electron"
}

As you can see, it's a very simple structure. And you shouldn't touch it normally. In the error key of a resource item, there is a key named download. That is the mirror that will be used if the required resource can't be found.

Module

const packager = require('electron_packager');

packager.package({
 source: __dirname + "/electron-quick-start", // Optional.  This is an example that will work with the git repository
 platforms: ["darwin"], // Optional. "darwin" ||
 target: __dirname,
 name: "Test App",
 icon: __dirname + "/customIcon.icns",
 identifier: "com.mauriceconrad.testApp"/*,
 resources: { Don't use this property by default!
   darwin: Custom Requirements
 }*/
});

Custom requirements

As already explained, the possibility to set a custom array of required resources that are not included is still there because it's a modular technique but I don't think that you need a custom array for the most scenarios. The path in the resource key is a relative path from the /Contents/ folder of the .app bundle. The src key is a global path that points on a folder named Electron in user's library by default.

By default the following resources are required:

1. (Bundle.app/Contents/)Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework
2. (Bundle.app/Contents/)Frameworks/ReactiveCocoa.framework
3. (Bundle.app/Contents/)Frameworks/Squirrel.framework
4. (Bundle.app/Contents/)Frameworks/Mantle.framework