webview.cr

A library for creating desktop applications using Crystal and web technologies. It uses a lightweight web view for rendering HTML and CSS, and features a utility for ergonomic calls to Crystal from Javascript and vice-versa.

Installation

1. (Linux/BSD only) Install webkit2gtk from your package manager:

   OS	Package name	Notes
   Arch/Manjaro	webkit2gtk
   Ubuntu	webkit2gtk-4.0-dev
   OpenSUSE	webkit2gtk3-devel
   Fedora	webkit2gtk3-devel
   Alpine	webkit2gtk-dev
   Debian	libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev
   OpenBSD/FreeBSD	webkit2-gtk3	requires wxallowed mount(8) option

2. Add the dependency to your shard.yml:

dependencies:
  webview:
  github: dscottboggs/webview

3. Run shards install

Usage

require "webview.cr"

class SimpleWebWindow < Webview::Window
  def script
    <<-JS
      console.log("hello, there")
      some_callback("Hello to Crystal from Javascript")
    JS
  end

  @[Webview::Callback]
  def some_callback(text : String)
    puts text
  end

  def run
    run do
      puts "running"
      go_to "https://crystal-lang.org/reference"
      sleep 1
      eval <<-JS
        console.log("evaluating arbitrary code")
      JS
      some_callback "can also be called from Crystal!"
    end
    puts "done"
  end
end

SimpleWebWindow.new.run

There is a runnable version of this example in the samples directory. All samples can be built by running make from the project directory.

make
sample/simple
sample/render

Development

Contributions are welcome. Since this a graphical tool, and the results are usually visual as opposed to something that can be tested in code, please write a runnable example which exercises any new code paths. See the samples directory.

Of course, if your contributions can be tested with crystal spec, those tests are more than welcome.

Planned/desired features:

• Webpack integration
• Scripts for bootstrapping the yarn environment and having a smooth and defined process for integrating complicated environments that come with web projects.
• Integration with existing Crystal web frameworks like Lucky, Athena, or Amber.

Contributing

1. Fork it (https://github.com/dscottboggs/webview/fork)
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b my-new-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add some feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin my-new-feature)
5. Create a new Pull Request

Contributors

• D. Scott Boggs - creator and maintainer