Problems importing native modules (for Electron app)

[kevinbuhmann]

OS?

Windows 7, 8 or 10. Linux (which distribution). Mac OSX (Yosemite? El Capitan?)

Windows 10 x64

Versions.

Please run ng --version. If there's nothing outputted, please run in a Terminal: node --version and paste the result here:

>ng --version
angular-cli: 1.0.0-beta.22-1
node: 6.9.1
os: win32 x64

Repro steps.

Was this an app that wasn't created using the CLI? What change did you do on your code? etc.

I am building an electron app, but I am having trouble importing the "child_process" core module. Each of the follow result in a compile time "can't resolve 'child_process'" error (see error 1 below).

• import * as childProcess from 'child_process';
• import { exec } from 'child_process';
• const exec: any = require('child_process').exec;

However, the following don't result in a compile time error, but it results in an uncaught type error at run time.

• import { ipcRenderer, remote } from 'electron'; (see error 2 below)
• import * as fs from 'fs'; (see error 3 below)

This workaround/hack works but 1) uses eval and 2) doesn't have type system support:

• const exec: any = eval("require('child_process').exec");
• const fs: any = eval("require('fs')");
• const ipcRenderer: any = eval('require(\'electron\').ipcRenderer');

The log given by the failure.

Normally this include a stack trace and some more information.

1. Compile time error when importing "child_process."

ERROR in ./src/app/shared/services/shell.service.ts
Module not found: Error: Can't resolve 'child_process' in 'C:\path\to\app\shared\services'
 @ ./src/app/shared/services/some.service.ts 10:0-46
 @ ./src/app/shared/shared.module.ts
 @ ./src/app/app.module.ts
 @ ./src/app/index.ts
 @ ./src/main.ts
 @ multi main

2. Run time error when importing "electron."

"Uncaught TypeError: fs.readFileSync is not a function"

3. When importing "fs"

Uncaught TypeError: __WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_0_fs__.lstatSync is not a function

Mention any other details that might be useful.

---

Thanks! We'll be in touch soon.

[hansl]

We will not support universal or electron officially until addon themselves are supported.

You're better off using a seed or implementing your own webpack config for Electron builds. Sorry.

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