96 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
96 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
# electron-prebuilt
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[](http://travis-ci.org/electron-userland/electron-prebuilt)
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[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/electron-prebuilt)
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Install [electron](https://github.com/electron/electron) prebuilt binaries for command-line use using npm. This module helps you easily install the `electron` command for use on the command line without having to compile anything.
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[Electron](http://electron.atom.io) is a JavaScript runtime that bundles Node.js
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and Chromium. You use it similar to the `node` command on the command line for
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executing JavaScript programs. For more info you can read [this intro blog post](http://maxogden.com/electron-fundamentals.html) or dive into the [Electron documentation](http://electron.atom.io/docs)
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## Installation
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**Note** As of version 1.3.1, this package is published to npm under two names:
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`electron` and `electron-prebuilt`. You can currently use either name, but
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`electron` is recommended, as the `electron-prebuilt` name is deprecated, and
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will only be published until the end of 2016.
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Download and install the latest build of electron for your OS and add it to your
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project's `package.json` as a `devDependency`:
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```
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npm install electron --save-dev
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```
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This is the preferred way to use electron, as it doesn't require users to
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install electron globally.
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You can also use the `-g` flag (global) to symlink it into your PATH:
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```
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npm install -g electron
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```
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If that command fails with an `EACCESS` error you may have to run it again with `sudo`:
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```
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sudo npm install -g electron
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```
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Now you can just run `electron` to run electron:
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```
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electron
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```
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If you need to use an HTTP proxy you can [set these environment variables](https://github.com/request/request/tree/f0c4ec061141051988d1216c24936ad2e7d5c45d#controlling-proxy-behaviour-using-environment-variables)
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If you want to change the architecture that is downloaded (e.g., `ia32` on an `x64` machine), you can use the `--arch` flag with npm install or set the `npm_config_arch` environment variable:
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```
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npm install --arch=ia32 electron
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```
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## About
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Works on Mac, Windows and Linux OSes that Electron supports (e.g. Electron [does not support Windows XP](https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/691)).
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The version numbers of this module match the version number of the [offical Electron releases](https://github.com/electron/electron/releases), which do not follow [semantic versioning](http://semver.org/).
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This module is automatically released whenever a new version of Electron is released thanks to [electron-prebuilt-updater](https://github.com/johnmuhl/electron-prebuilt-updater) written by [John Muhl](https://github.com/johnmuhl/).
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## Usage
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First you have to [write an electron application](https://github.com/electron/electron/blob/master/docs/tutorial/quick-start.md)
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Then you can run your app using:
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```
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electron your-app/
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```
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## Related modules
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- [electron-packager](https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-packager) - package and distribute your electron app in OS executables (.app, .exe etc)
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- [electron-builder](https://github.com/loopline-systems/electron-builder) - create installers for Windows and OS X. It's built to work together with electron-packager
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- [menubar](https://github.com/maxogden/menubar) - high level way to create menubar desktop applications with electron
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Find more at the [awesome-electron](https://github.com/sindresorhus/awesome-electron) list
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## Programmatic usage
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Most people use this from the command line, but if you require `electron` inside
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your **node app** (not your electron app) it will return the file path to the
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binary. Use this to spawn electron from node scripts:
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``` js
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var electron = require('electron')
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var proc = require('child_process')
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// will something similar to print /Users/maf/.../Electron
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console.log(electron)
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// spawn electron
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var child = proc.spawn(electron)
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```
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