57 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
57 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
# Web embeds
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## Overview
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If you want to embed (third-party) web content in an Electron `BrowserWindow`,
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there are three options available to you: `<iframe>` tags, `<webview>` tags,
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and `BrowserViews`. Each one offers slightly different functionality and is
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useful in different situations. To help you choose between these, this guide
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explains the differences and capabilities of each option.
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### Iframes
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Iframes in Electron behave like iframes in regular browsers. An `<iframe>`
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element in your page can show external web pages, provided that their
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[Content Security Policy](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/CSP)
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allows it. To limit the number of capabilities of a site in an `<iframe>` tag,
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it is recommended to use the [`sandbox` attribute](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/iframe#attr-sandbox)
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and only allow the capabilities you want to support.
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### WebViews
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> Important Note:
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[we do not recommend you to use use WebViews](../api/webview-tag.md#warning),
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as this tag undergoes dramatic architectural changes that may affect stability
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of your application. Consider switching to alternatives, like `iframe` and
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Electron's `BrowserView`, or an architecture that avoids embedded content
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by design.
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[WebViews](../api/webview-tag.md) are based on Chromium's WebViews and are not
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explicitly supported by Electron. We do not guarantee that the WebView API will
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remain available in future versions of Electron. To use `<webview>` tags, you
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will need to set `webviewTag` to `true` in the `webPreferences` of your
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`BrowserWindow`.
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WebView is a custom element (`<webview>`) that will only work inside Electron.
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They are implemented as an "out-of-process iframe". This means that all
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communication with the `<webview>` is done asynchronously using IPC. The
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`<webview>` element has many custom methods and events, similar to
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`webContents`, that provide you with greater control over the content.
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Compared to an `<iframe>`, `<webview>` tends to be slightly slower but offers
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much greater control in loading and communicating with the third-party content
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and handling various events.
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### BrowserViews
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[BrowserViews](../api/browser-view.md) are not a part of the DOM - instead,
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they are created in and controlled by your Main process. They are simply
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another layer of web content on top of your existing window. This means
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that they are completely separate from your own `BrowserWindow` content and
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their position is not controlled by the DOM or CSS. Instead, it is controlled
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by setting the bounds in the Main process.
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`BrowserViews` offer the greatest control over their contents, since they
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implement the `webContents` similarly to how the `BrowserWindow` does it.
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However, as `BrowserViews` are not a part of your DOM, but are rather overlaid
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on top of them, you will have to manage their position manually.
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