Chilkat for Electron

Install

The package name says which Electron version and platform it is for. For Electron 45 on 64-bit Windows:

npm install @chilkat/ck-electron45-win64

Load it with require in the main process, using the name of the package you installed:

const chilkat = require('@chilkat/ck-electron45-win64');

Packages

Each name links to the package on npmjs.com.

npm refuses to install a package on an operating system or CPU other than the one in its name (the os and cpu fields of the package). Each package also contains license.pdf and THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt.

Quick start

Load Chilkat in the main process and give the pages of your application the calls they need through a preload script. main.js:

const { app, BrowserWindow, ipcMain } = require('electron');
const path = require('path');
const chilkat = require('@chilkat/ck-electron45-win64');

// Once per process. Any string starts the fully functional 30-day trial.
new chilkat.Global().UnlockBundle('Anything for 30-day trial');

// A quick call: answer directly.
ipcMain.handle('sha256', function (event, text) {
    const crypt = new chilkat.Crypt2();
    crypt.HashAlgorithm = 'sha256';
    crypt.EncodingMode = 'hex';
    return crypt.HashStringENC(text);
});

// A call that can take a while: use the Async method, so the main process stays responsive.
ipcMain.handle('httpGet', function (event, url) {
    const http = new chilkat.Http();
    const task = http.QuickGetStrAsync(url);
    return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
        task.Run(function () {
            if (task.TaskSuccess) resolve(task.GetResultString());
            else reject(new Error(task.ResultErrorText));
        });
    });
});

app.whenReady().then(function () {
    const win = new BrowserWindow({
        webPreferences: { preload: path.join(__dirname, 'preload.js') }
    });
    win.loadFile('index.html');
});

preload.js:

const { contextBridge, ipcRenderer } = require('electron');

contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('chilkat', {
    sha256: function (text) { return ipcRenderer.invoke('sha256', text); },
    httpGet: function (url) { return ipcRenderer.invoke('httpGet', url); }
});

In a page (index.html):

// in an async function:
const hash = await window.chilkat.sha256('Hello, Chilkat');
const html = await window.chilkat.httpGet('https://www.chilkatsoft.com/');

Chilkat methods do not throw when an operation fails: they return false or null, and the object's LastErrorText property (for an Async call, the task's ResultErrorText) explains what happened.

One project, several platforms

For an application that is built for more than one platform, list the packages as optionalDependencies in package.json. npm install then installs the one that matches the machine it runs on and skips the others:

"optionalDependencies": {
    "@chilkat/ck-electron45-win64": "^11.7.0",
    "@chilkat/ck-electron45-linux-x64": "^11.7.0",
    "@chilkat/ck-electron45-mac-universal": "^11.7.0"
}

and build the package name at run time:

const major = process.versions.electron.split('.')[0];
const platform = {
    win32: 'win64',
    darwin: 'mac-universal',
    linux: 'linux-x64'
}[process.platform];
const chilkat = require('@chilkat/ck-electron' + major + '-' + platform);

Async methods

A Chilkat method call is synchronous: it blocks the process it is called in until it returns, and a blocked main process freezes every window of the application. Quick operations (JSON, XML, hashing, encoding) are fine. For network and file operations, use the method's Async form, as httpGet does in the quick start: it returns a chilkat.Task, and task.Run(callback) runs the call on a background thread and calls the function when it has finished. Progress and cancellation go through the task's PercentDone property and Cancel() method. The details are on the Node.js page: Async methods.

Licensing

This is the full-version Chilkat product. Chilkat is fully functional for a 30-day evaluation; passing any string to UnlockBundle starts the trial, and a purchased unlock code removes the time limit. The license terms are in license.pdf in every package. For questions, contact Chilkat support.