Ever wondered about using your HTML, CSS and JavaScript skills to build a desktop mapping app? Electron gives you the power to do just that. The really sweet part is that Electron, similar to hybrid web applications such Cordova, gives you access to the underlying operating system in ways that pure web apps can't.
Below I've provided a fun, 5 minute lab that shows you one way to build a bare-bones prototype. I've taken the simplest approach I could think of and used plain-old vanilla JavaScript without any framework. At the end of the post there are a few links to several other approaches that you should also check out. You can definitely use the modern JavaScript framework of your choice once you get going such as Angular, Vue.js, etc.
Pre-reqs - I'm assuming you already have git and node.js installed.
Step 1 - Run the following commands in console, Once you run all the commands the electron-quick-start app should launch and you should have a Hello World app, booyah! If it does launch then control-c in the console to exit the app.
git clone https<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN><SPAN class="operator token">/</SPAN><SPAN class="operator token">/</SPAN>github<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>com<SPAN class="operator token">/</SPAN>electron<SPAN class="operator token">/</SPAN>electron<SPAN class="operator token">-</SPAN>quick<SPAN class="operator token">-</SPAN>start
cd electron<SPAN class="operator token">-</SPAN>quick<SPAN class="operator token">-</SPAN>start
npm install <SPAN class="operator token">&&</SPAN> npm start<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>
Step 2 - Overwrite the index.html file by using this code instead. This is were we start bolting in the ArcGIS API for JavaScript mapping bits.
<SPAN class="doctype token"><!DOCTYPE html></SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>html</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>head</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>meta</SPAN> <SPAN class="attr-name token">charset</SPAN><SPAN class="attr-value token"><SPAN class="punctuation token">=</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN>UTF-8<SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>title</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>Hello World Map!<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>title</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="comment token"><!-- We are adding some new CSS --></SPAN>
<SPAN class="language-css style token"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>style</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="selector token">html,
body,
#viewDiv</SPAN> <SPAN class="punctuation token">{</SPAN>
<SPAN class="property token">padding</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN> 0<SPAN class="punctuation token">;</SPAN>
<SPAN class="property token">margin</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN> 0<SPAN class="punctuation token">;</SPAN>
<SPAN class="property token">height</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN> 100%<SPAN class="punctuation token">;</SPAN>
<SPAN class="property token">width</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN> 100%<SPAN class="punctuation token">;</SPAN>
<SPAN class="punctuation token">}</SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>style</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="comment token"><!-- Add the ArcGIS API for JavaScript and CSS --></SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>link</SPAN> <SPAN class="attr-name token">rel</SPAN><SPAN class="attr-value token"><SPAN class="punctuation token">=</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN>stylesheet<SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN></SPAN> <SPAN class="attr-name token">href</SPAN><SPAN class="attr-value token"><SPAN class="punctuation token">=</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN><A class="jive-link-external-small" href="https://community.esri.com/external-link.jspa?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjs.arcgis.com%2F4.3%2Fesri%2Fcss%2Fmain.css" target="_blank">https://js.arcgis.com/4.3/esri/css/main.css</A><SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="language-javascript script token"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>script</SPAN> <SPAN class="attr-name token">src</SPAN><SPAN class="attr-value token"><SPAN class="punctuation token">=</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN><A class="jive-link-external-small" href="https://community.esri.com/external-link.jspa?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjs.arcgis.com%2F4.3%2F" target="_blank">https://js.arcgis.com/4.3/</A><SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>script</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>head</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>body</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>h1</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>Hello World Map!<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>h1</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="comment token"><!-- All of the Node.js APIs are available in this renderer process. --></SPAN>
We are using Node.js <SPAN class="language-javascript script token"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>script</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>document<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN><SPAN class="token function">write</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>process<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>versions<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>node<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>script</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>,
Chromium <SPAN class="language-javascript script token"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>script</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>document<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN><SPAN class="token function">write</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>process<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>versions<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>chrome<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>script</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>,
and Electron <SPAN class="language-javascript script token"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>script</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>document<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN><SPAN class="token function">write</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>process<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>versions<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN>electron<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>script</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>.
<SPAN class="comment token"><!-- We are adding a div to hold the map --></SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>div</SPAN> <SPAN class="attr-name token">id</SPAN><SPAN class="attr-value token"><SPAN class="punctuation token">=</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN>viewDiv<SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>div</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="comment token"><!-- We are adding a script tag to reference a new index.js file --></SPAN>
<SPAN class="language-javascript script token"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>script</SPAN> <SPAN class="attr-name token">src</SPAN><SPAN class="attr-value token"><SPAN class="punctuation token">=</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN>index.js<SPAN class="punctuation token">"</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>script</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="language-javascript script token"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"><</SPAN>script</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="comment token">// You can also require other files to run in this process</SPAN>
<SPAN class="token function">require</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">'./renderer.js'</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>script</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>body</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="token tag"><SPAN class="punctuation token"></</SPAN>html</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">></SPAN></SPAN>
<SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>Step 3 - Create index.js in the root directory and copy the following code.
<SPAN class="token function">require</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN>
<SPAN class="string token">"esri/Map"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN>
<SPAN class="string token">"esri/views/MapView"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN>
<SPAN class="string token">"dojo/domReady!"</SPAN>
<SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="keyword token">function</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN>Map<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> MapView<SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN> <SPAN class="punctuation token">{</SPAN>
console<SPAN class="punctuation token">.</SPAN><SPAN class="token function">log</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="string token">"ArcGIS require() loaded."</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">;</SPAN>
<SPAN class="keyword token">var</SPAN> map <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="keyword token">new</SPAN> <SPAN class="token class-name">Map</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">{</SPAN>
basemap<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"streets"</SPAN>
<SPAN class="punctuation token">}</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">;</SPAN>
<SPAN class="keyword token">var</SPAN> view <SPAN class="operator token">=</SPAN> <SPAN class="keyword token">new</SPAN> <SPAN class="token class-name">MapView</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">(</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">{</SPAN>
container<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN> <SPAN class="string token">"viewDiv"</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN>
map<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN> map<SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN>
zoom<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN> <SPAN class="number token">4</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN>
center<SPAN class="punctuation token">:</SPAN> <SPAN class="punctuation token">[</SPAN><SPAN class="number token">15</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">,</SPAN> <SPAN class="number token">65</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">]</SPAN>
<SPAN class="punctuation token">}</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">;</SPAN>
<SPAN class="punctuation token">}</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">)</SPAN><SPAN class="punctuation token">;</SPAN><SPAN class="line-numbers-rows"><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>Step 4 - The last step is to run npm start again and you should see a map:
A few other examples using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript:
Angular CLI example - GitHub - TheKeithStewart/ng-cli-electron-esri
Drop Shapefiles into Electron Map - Electron with ArcGIS API for JavaScript - odoenet
And, a few more resources for good measure:
Electron-api-demos
Electron Chrome DevTools Extension
Electron: Cross-platform Desktop Apps Made Easy
