Electron is a framework for creating native applications using web technologies like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. More info here.

Electron Install

BSP 2.7

Update the system package manager and install some required dependencies and packages:

opkg update
opkg install libxss1 libcups2 nodejs nodejs-npm git

Execute the command “npm init” inside a folder called “electron” to create the package.json file. That will be the repository for the following install. Keep pressing “enter” so "npm init" keeps the default configuration:

mkdir electron
cd electron
npm init
name: (electron)
version: (1.0.0)
description:
entry point: (index.js)
test command:
git repository:
keywords:
author:
license: (ISC)
About to write to /home/root/electron/package.json:
{
"name": "electron",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "",
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {
"test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
},
"author": "",
"license": "ISC"
}

Install the pre-built Electron package:

npm install electron-prebuilt

BSP 2.8+

With BSP 2.8 libxss1 is not part of the Angström feeds anymore. You have to compile the library manually with OpenEmbedded. Check the following article on how to setup the OpenEmbedded build system for your module: OpenEmbedded (core)

You don't have to build the whole BSP but only the missing libxscrnsaver:

bitbake libxscrnsaver

After compiling libxscrnsaver, you copy the file ../deploy/ipk/armv7at2hf-neon/libxss1_1.2.2-r0_armv7at2hf-neon.ipk to your module (For example, through SCP)

Now you need to install the general dependencies and libraries needed for Electron:

opkg update
opkg install libcups2 nodejs nodejs-npm git nss

Install libxss1 built with OpenEmbedded:

opkg install libxss1_1.2.2-r0_armv7at2hf-neon.ipk

To install Electron you can use a prebuilt version 3.x.x:

wget https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/download/v3.1.7/electron-v3.1.7-linux-armv7l.zip
mkdir electron
cd electron
unzip ../electron-v3.1.7-linux-armv7l.zip
chmod 755 electron

Note: Newer versions of Electron don't work because of an incompatible glibc version

Run Samples

Clone the repository of samples inside a folder:

mkdir Samples
cd Samples
git clone https://github.com/hokein/electron-sample-apps.git

To execute a sample, enter a specific sample directory and execute the command, for instance:

cd electron-sample-apps
cd frameless-window

BSP 2.7:

~/electron/node_modules/.bin/electron .

BSP 2.8:

~/electron/electron .

The videos below present some demos created in Electron: