112 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
112 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
# electron-prebuilt
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[](http://travis-ci.org/electron-userland/electron-prebuilt)
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[](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/Atom/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
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command-line use using npm. This module helps you easily install the `electron`
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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)
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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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```shell
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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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```shell
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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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```shell
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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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```shell
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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
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`x64` machine), you can use the `--arch` flag with npm install or set the
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`npm_config_arch` environment variable:
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```shell
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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
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[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 [official
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Electron releases](https://github.com/electron/electron/releases), which
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[do not follow semantic versioning](http://electron.atom.io/docs/tutorial/electron-versioning/).
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This module is automatically released whenever a new version of Electron is
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released thanks to [electron-prebuilt-updater](https://github.com/electron/electron-prebuilt-updater),
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originally 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](http://electron.atom.io/docs/tutorial/quick-start/).
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Then, you can run your app using:
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```shell
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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) -
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Package and distribute your Electron app with OS-specific bundles
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(.app, .exe etc)
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- [electron-builder](https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder) -
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create installers
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- [menubar](https://github.com/maxogden/menubar) - high level way to create
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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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```javascript
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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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