Edge WebView2 support

[r0x0r]

Windows Forms support for Chromium based WebView2 has finally arrived. Implementing this for pywebview should be doable at this point.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/gettingstarted/winforms

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[kvnxiao]

Any chance of this being done any time soon?

[r0x0r]

@kvnxiao I am not working on this actively at the moment, not sure when I have time and energy to devote to this issue.

However, if you want to see this implemented fast, consider sponsoring this issue.

[kvnxiao]

Suppose if I have time to contribute to this, what exactly is required to get WebView2 up and running together?

[r0x0r]

1. WebView2 implementation is to be done in the same manner as EdgeHTML, ie no changes would be needed to made to window logic. WebView2 component would be attached as a child to the form.

2. WebView2 detection logic is needed (checking for .NET and Window 10 versions ), as it is done with Edge

   pywebview/webview/platforms/winforms.py

   Line 68 in 746fd6a

   is_edge = _is_edge() and forced_gui_ != 'mshtml'

3. winforms.py will require a refactor at some point, as it is already too large for a single file. In practice that would be mean splitting renderer code to separate files.

4. renderer value for WebView2 can be chromium

5. EdgeHTML is buggy af, not sure if WebView2 is any better. In any case, one should prepare for all kinds of quirks and funky solutions.

[kvnxiao]

WebView2 uses Chromium so it should not be buggy in any way; it would be as buggy as using chromium on other platforms.

[dmwyatt]

@kvnxiao Are you going to work on this?

[kvnxiao]

@dmwyatt I don't think I have the time to contribute on this one, but just simply wanted to ask for a clear roadmap in case someone else would like to work on it.

[tshemeng]

Announcing Microsoft Edge WebView2 General Availability

[Ksengine]

https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/WebView2Samples/blob/master/SampleApps/WebView2WindowsFormsBrowser

?

[Ksengine]

webview2 latest
dlls

[Ksengine]

users should install webview2 runtime
we can programatically install it
get a link from https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/#download-section

[sbbosco]

I have created a working first draft with Edge Webview2 support.
The modified files and notes are here https://github.com/sbbosco/pywebviewx

I am new to Github, so let me know if I break any protocols.
Thanks

[tshemeng]

@sbbosco I tested on Windows10 20H2, it works well, maybe you can send PR to this repo.

[martinlombana]

I have created a working first draft with Edge Webview2 support.
The modified files and notes are here https://github.com/sbbosco/pywebview

I am new to Github, so let me know if I break any protocols.
Thanks

Hi!, Just out of curiosity. With this approach, could we ship the DLLS with the app when freezing it with pyinstaller, so that we can use that webview, but if the final user does not have it, it can still work?

Thanks!

[tshemeng]

Edge 87 stable will release end of 2020 which includes webview2, soon user don't need to install webview2 runtime or Edge insider version.

[sbbosco]

@tshemeng I'm glad you were able to successfully test the webview2 changes. I am new to Github and I may need some guidance on how to submit a PR. I may also want to wait for a blessing from @r0x0r. My intention was always to directly contribute to this repo.

I hope you a right about Edge 87!

[sbbosco]

@martinlombana There are 2 separate requirements.

• The 3 SDK DLLs that I image would be included in a future release of pywebview.
• The Webview2 Runtime or supported Edge browser.

If you distributed a frozen program, you would probably need to check if the runtime is installed and programmatically install a runtime if it is not present.

Hopefully the comment from @tshemeng about Edge 87 will save us from this extra requirement in most cases.

Here's a link about app distribution https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/concepts/distribution

[tshemeng]

@sbbosco Sorry I check webview2 docs again, it does not say Edge 87 contains webview2.
I decide emmbed a webview2 runtime web installer in my exe.

[r0x0r]

@sbbosco Good work. Please create a PR.

I was hoping to refactor the whole winforms.py for better handling of different renderers. With four different renderers it is becoming unruly. Alas I don't have a Windows development machine at the moment.
If anyone has got ideas for a better architecture, please share your thoughts here.

[sbbosco]

@r0x0r Please take a look here and let me know if this is what you had in mind for refactoring. Any suggestions are welcome.

https://github.com/sbbosco/pywebview/tree/edge-webview2/webview/platforms

[r0x0r]

@sbbosco yes, this would do for now. chromium.py can have a more descriptive name to indicate that it is not cross-platform, maybe edgechromium.py

[sbbosco]

@r0x0r Thanks. I will create a PR after the noblock changes are stable.

[r0x0r]

@sbbosco The noblock might take a while, as there is no solution in sight. So no need to wait for it.

[r0x0r]

Chromium support merged into master. Many thanks to @sbbosco for the outstanding work.

I have updated documentation here https://github.com/r0x0r/pywebview/blob/master/docs/guide/renderer.md

Feel free to test this and report your findings. I will release a new pywebview version next week or so.

[Ksengine]

I need a help for noblock
Can anyone find a method to do multiprocessing using spawn method on frozen apps

[sbbosco]

@r0x0r You may want to consider updating the edgehtml evaluate_js function similar to the chromium method.

I have an app that works well with cef and chromium, but has lots of errors when using edgehtml. After updating the code, edgehtml also runs without errors.

winforms.py
edgehtml.py
edgehtml.py oops

[r0x0r]

@sbbosco Could you create a PR?

[martinlombana]

Hi,

Any idea on how to package the DLLs with pywebview, and froze it with pyinstaller in an standalone/controlled manner? Has anyone done that?
@sbbosco, @r0x0r

Thanks!

[r0x0r]

You can specify a data dir that would be embedded with the exe in pyinstaller

[martinlombana]

@r0x0r , thanks. But how do I instruct pywebview to load the runtime from that exact folder?
That is my doubt :)

[r0x0r]

You can use pyinstaller's sys._MEIPASS to obtain the current directory of the executable. You may look at pywebview's code for example usages of this variable.

[martinlombana]

Thanks,

I can't seem to be able to locate the example that you are referring to, in order to set the executable to be used by Pywebview. Could you point me to it? Thanks in advance.

[r0x0r]

@martinlombana Check this

pywebview/webview/util.py

Line 44 in c2d3435

def get_app_root():