Short story: is there a way to write a desktop application with a GUI in HTML5 and core in a cross-platform language like python (or even C#/Mono)?
Longer story: I'm a C# developer, for small personal projects I seldom do, running both under Windows and OSX, I use C# (Mono) with a frontend leveraging on Eto.Forms
I'd like to understand if there's a mature way to achieve the same results using an HTML5 GUI, since I'd like to learn that and believe it could be a good option for near-future Windows desktop UIs (or otherwise a nice tool to have in my skillset). Of course if the code running behind the scenes is C# I'll be more than happy, but also getting my feet wet in another, maybe more cross-platform like python would be good.
At this stage I'm not interested in any mobile-oriented solution.
Electron (formerly Atom shell) has really matured as of late. In fact it's what VSCode is built on.
There's a great tutorial and starter code on using Angular 2 and Typescript, and you can even use VSCode to write and build it.
For me this is the best way to transition from the WPF world to HTML5.
the NW.js look pretty promising... you might even be able to use TypeScript which would be much closer to C# than plain ol' js. If you're open to using PHP, you can check out the nightrain project https://github.com/naetech/nightrain.
Give http://www.tidesdk.org/ a try.
Your app will run on Windows 8, MacOS and Linux. You can use HTML5, Javascript and CSS3.
But you can also extend the functionality of your app with a scripting language you are comfortable with. TideSDK currently supports Python, PHP, and Ruby.
I have recently worked with Chromium Embedded Framework, basically a browser component for WPF an WinForms. It works very well and provides kind of a two-way interoperability from website to .NET-app and vice versa. Basically, you:
Create a WPF desktop app
Include CEFSharp and place a full-screen browser on the window
Call methods in JavaScript:
// .NET
var mainFrame = browser.GetMainFrame();
mainFrame.ExecuteJavaScriptAsync("any js code");
Bind a .NET-object
// .NET
browser.RegisterJsObject("boundObject", this);
Call methods on a bound .NET-object from the website/JS:
// JS
boundObject.someMethod();
On this basis you could build a mediation layer (ViewModels, controllers, ...) between HTML/JS-UI and .NET logic...
I wrote an APP with http://kivy.org/ it is capable to create apps for different systems.
Qt node https://github.com/arturadib/node-qt seems also interesting, but i did not test it myself.
And last https://chrome.google.com/webstore/launcher
You can create web apps for chrome, which should run in supported systems.
Kivy is a Python solution. Qt node is maybe what you are looking for.
Here are some nice tutorials for kivy:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQVvvaa0QuDe_l6XiJ40yGTEqIKugAdTy
NW.js
But it's Javascript (node), not python nor C#.
A very interesting project I think is Chromium Embedded Framework. You basically embed a (stripped down) web browser in your application. For python, many GUI Toolkits are supported. Check this for more information.
Since you are used to C#, maybe Java with JavaFX and FXML is an option. FXML is not HTML but you can style it with CSS as well. You can also use Scene Builder with it for faster UI creation. Many JVM languages support this toolkit so Jython instead of Java will also work. I will recommend Java however, because the support for other languages, while there, is not perfect yet.
Using C# and the Windows App Store WebView is also an option. You can check MSDN for more information.
I am sure there are other options (Kivy, Node.js, etc.) as well. Some of them are already mentioned in this thread.
I would recommend Node-Webkit which is based on nodejs.You can still use some python scripts to do some backend job integrated with Node-Webkit which is easy to deal with.I've already saw some successful applications using this(like wunderlist).TideSDK is another choice but the python support in TideSDK is not mature enough.The Node-Webkit project hosted at
https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js/
Related
I'm looking for a library that can be used in native .NET code, just like any .NET assembly. The purpose of the library must be to automate Windows (push a button, select a window, send keys, record & playback, that sort of thing).
So: the library is supposed to be used natively in .NET, but the automation itself must be able to target any native or .NET Windows application that can receive user input.
Suggestions so far:
benPearce suggested AutoIt. It has a DLL, which is native Win32 but not native .NET and cannot be used without use of .NET Interop.
Chris Dunaway suggested Global Mouse Keyboard Lib. This came closest, but is not an automation lib. It just helps setting up keyboard and mouse hooks.
pm100 suggested Microsoft's WPF UI Automation. This one is pretty good, albeit that it's not available if you develop in .NET 2.0 and it requires the WPF to be installed on the system. It can, however, automate everything from Win32 apps to HTML in a browser.
JasonTrue suggested WebAI from ArtOfTest. This is a testing framework mainly geared towards browsers and web applications. It is unfortunately not well suitable for use for Windows automation.
If nothing else appears available, I'll probably choose Microsoft's UI Automation and upgrade any projects that require it that are still in .NET 2.0 to .NET 3.5, if possible. But I hope for a more widely applicable automation framework (.NET prior to 2.0 does not need to be supported).
Have you looked at the White framework?
I have used AutoIt in the past with success.
microsoft's own built in one is fine
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms747327.aspx
not restricted to wpf as some seem to think.
If you haven't seen it yet, and a commercial library is acceptable, you might check out Ranorex:
http://www.ranorex.com/
I used Ranorex 1.5 quite a bit to write small C# UI automation utilities. It was pretty effective! Development seemed faster compared to using the MS UI Automation API directly, since Ranorex has a lot of useful convenience methods already available.
I haven't used Ranorex 2 very much yet, though.
In Ranorex 1.5, there was also support for traditional Win32 development in C++, but I didn't use it. As far as I know, that's still available in Ranorex 2.
I can't speak to the quality of the record/playback support in Ranorex since I never used that feature.
One final plus: Their support team was really responsive and helpful anytime I emailed them.
This library is pretty interesting and is fairly simple. Perhaps it will help you.
Check out Tools for automated GUI testing on windows
I would still suggest FlaUI for autoamating .Net Desktop,Mobile apps. Its based on Microsoft UIA libraries and have support for external controls like the DevExpress Grid too
Moreover, it is built on top of TestStack.White so indeed a very good library and has a github page also
I have used WebAii from ArtOfTest with a fair degree of success in automating integration testing for a Silverlight app. It also supports WinForms and Web applications.
Microsoft UI Automation, the successor to Active Accessibility, can do almost all of the Windows UI automation you would need.
How about CSharpScript, here's an article about it on Codeproject, and here's the link to the main website. Furthermore, it is familiar C#, scripted which can be used to automate anything.
Hope this helps,
Best regards,
Tom.
I'm browsing the net now for days, but still couldn't find what I'm looking for. Basically I'd like to develop my application interface, the GUI using HTML and CSS, with of course keeping the events, and the chance to modify parts of the layout at runtime (like a content of a div). The application is a database manager displaying visually the datas, and updating them at runtime.
IE aka using System.Windows.Forms.WebBrowser, this is what I try to avoid, it depends on the client system, stops at version 7, hard to link with the application
HTMLayout - http://www.terrainformatica.com/htmlayout/ : seems interesting, but the .net c# part, the nabu-library is dead
Sciter - http://www.terrainformatica.com/sciter/ : from the same group as HTMLayout, but couldn't really understand the integration, and I'm not sure if this is what I want - also couldn't find .net c# infos
Awesomium - http://awesomium.com/ : which really seems nice at first, but it needs .net 4 , and we have to stay at .net 2 - also it seems too much to handle, to use, and .net wiki is a little weak: http://wiki.awesomium.net/
and finally Gecko http://code.google.com/p/geckofx/ and Webkit http://code.google.com/p/open-webkit-sharp/ - but currently I'm not sure that they can be used to render the whole application, they just seem to be a WebBrowser with another engine.
Did I miss something?
Sciter integration principles are outlined here and here.
Sciter and HTMLayout both use the same integration principles and API architecture.
As of .NET wrapper, check these projects:
https://github.com/midiway/SciterSharp
https://code.google.com/p/expemerent/
Not sure if this fits your requirements but I currently use Webkit.NET http://webkitdotnet.sourceforge.net/
Essentially I use its Webkit Browser Control for the interface, store the HTML/CSS markup as variables and then I use C# to perform server-side logic, then output the results to the Browser Control (C# in this case acting in place of PHP since I am not including a portable web server with my application).
I did want to update it to achieve some newer functionality/standards so this article was most helpful.
http://peterdn.com/post/(First!)-Using-WebKit-nightly-builds-with-WebKit-NET.aspx
I've read about XSS vulnerability in desktop applications like Skype and ICQ.
I wonder why they choose to use html in this kind of applications that can also be written without any html. Is there a simple reason?
Does someone know if Skype uses html on pages like "Skype Home" only or is the whole GUI written in html?
I'm asking because I'm writing a web application that runs within the browser and will be ported to mobile and desktop platforms once finished. You can compare it to instant messengers but it's something different in fact.
I thought about using PhoneGap to simply "copy" the project to mobile platforms and using system functions via the PhoneGap API. But I think it may be slow and/or not good-looking. Also it wouldn't look native, the question then is whether too use our own html GUI on all platforms (so it looks the same everywhere) or to adapt the design concepts of each platform (using native controls in native languages or e.g. Titanium (which is unfortunately too expensive)).
But I never thought about using HTML in desktop applications. How do you embed that anyway? I'm using C#. Using WebBrowser form element or using some kind of web browser rendering engine?
To answer the initial question (in your 1st paragraph):
I assume they chose to wrote it using HTML as a way to make it cross-platform more easily.
You can't make desktop applications using purely HTML/CSS/JS and have them looking native. However you can use Sencha Touch to make your Phonegap applications look native (to an extent).
Mozilla Prism was written with this idea in mind: http://prism.mozillalabs.com/
Have you tried Appcelerator Titanium Desktop/Mobile. They have a similar idea there - http://www.appcelerator.com/
Thanks.
You can use the WebBrowser control to basically host an internet explorer session in your windows application. This is platform specific, but there is a commercial version which is available for some smartphones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_(software)#MonoTouch_and_Mono_for_Android.
You can make an HTML5 application which will give you a lot of the benefits of a fat client while maximizing portability with smartphones. You can still have the user save the application to the desktop: http://miniapps.co.uk/installation/. But, that's clunky and, like the desbest said, it will run in a web browser. If you want to maximize the customization, then it looks like PhoneGap is an choice worth taking a look at to me as well.
I have my main program in C++, but now I need to build a beautiful application and I know that WPF is easy and makes for beautiful apps. Can WPF work with C++ or C# and C++? (If yes, how?) Is WPF the best thing for me?
You can use WPF in a managed C++ project, but you're better off keeping your C++ in a separate assembly and referencing it from a C# or VB WPF project.
Yes, you can develop a GUI using WPF framework in Managed C+ or C++/CLI. But they're not Standard C++, hence not cross-platform.
If you just want a GUI for your application written in C++, then you may try Qt as well. The advantage in Qt is that its completely in C++. Not Microsoft Managed C++. The second advantage is that its cross-platform toolkit. That means, you can run your app in Windows, Linux, Mac, and on other machines as well.
Have a look at its documentation
Qt Reference Documentation
It has lots of tools for fast development such as Qt Creator, Qt Designer and others. You can see all of them by browsing the above link.
WPF is dead along with Silverlight, remember, MS says its HTML5 only from now on :)
Using WPF in your C++ app can be achieved using hwndSource, but its not the optimal solution, for that you will have to create C# or VB.NET GUI app, and use it to communicate with your C++ app via some form of IPC.
There are alternatives, probably the best one is to write your GUI using Qt, which is very well respected. You can get similar features to WPF by writing using QML alongside the old forms-based system (which means you get all the development speed of using the old, boring text boxes and the like, and the fancy GUI benefits of using the new declarative UI system, all in the same system. sweet).
Of course, a decent option is to make your app into a back-end server process and call it from a web-server based HTML5 UI. That's pretty future proof, easy to deploy to clients, and as modern as you're likely to get.
I want to make an application for my phone (Nokia N900) It uses the Maemo Platform, which is a Linux variant. Most applications are made with either QT or Python, i only have experience in C#, and am wondering if it is at all possible to convert C# to QT, or would i have to use something like Mono or Vala to write the code in C# and create the applications for the N900??
Cheers,
Brendan
About "converting C# to Qt": they're not comparable: C# is a language, while Qt is a UI framework.
Mono does run on Maemo and while there are Qt bindings for .Net/Mono, Mono uses Gtk# as the default/recommended/supported UI framework.
If you are already confident with C#/programming in general, then it should not be too much trouble to pick up a new set of tools. One size does not always fit all!
I do not think that exist a tool for convert C# code to the equivalent Qt/C++, Qt/Python, is something that is best done manually. It's best developed on a platform like a Mono for the N900 or find someone with knowledgeable in Qt able to carry out the work.
Note that Qt is the default platform for Nokia, if you want to install this application on other devices easily best using Qt.
C# as a programming language is controlled by Microsoft. While Microsoft has stated that they will provide a "patent convenant" regarding C#, it is hard to believe them since they have been so eager to sue in the past. ;)
If you want to "convert" your C# app, you'll need to incorporate it into Mono. Mono is a 'cross-platform, opensource .NET development framework." http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page
Once you've got your app working in Mono, you'll need to interface into Maemo. There are a couple of routes to do this, but Qt is the most likely one to choose. It might be so much work to port your app to Qt that you decide to re-write it, fortunately Qt supports a number of programming languages so you may be able to find something similar to Mono if not Mono and C# itself.