iv

This project explores features of current Chromium-based UI libraries, namely those of nw.js and Electron.

A sample native application -- a lightweight image viewer -- is implemented using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, leveraging APIs provided by these frameworks. The app can be run using either nw.js or Electron, as there is a very thin compatibility facade that allows writing cross-toolkit code.

The main goal here is to learn how to develop a native app using Web technology; nw.js/Electron comparison is a side product.

Features, planned and implemented

• Fullscreen viewing
  • Keyboard controls
  • Mouse magnifier
  • Panning
• Grid-based directory viewing
  • Keyboard controls
  • Image file info
  • EXIF
• Filesystem traversal/tree
• Clipboard support
• Image operations
  • File operations (rename, delete, ...)
  • Geometry adjustments (rotation, mirroring)
  • Pixel adjustments (brightness, desaturation, colorization, blur, ...)
  • Saving

Running

1. Clone this project
2. npm install electron-prebuilt if you want to run it using Electron
3. ./run-electron.sh [path-to-image-file]
4. if this fails, adjust your path in the file above
5. npm install nw if you want to run it using nw.js
6. ./run-nw.sh [path-to-image-file]
7. if this fails, adjust your path in the file above

FAQ

No ES6/ES2015?

There is a limited ES6 support in Electron, but almost none in nw.js. Once nw.js 0.13 (with recent V8) is out, the code will be re-written in ES6.

Only one FAQ question?

No, two of them.