NWGO - CLI

a command-line tool, that is aiming to combine the flexibility of a NW.JS (https://nwjs.io) UI with the power of a Go based backend and compile everything into one Executable in the End.

• Installation
• Creating a Project
• Command-Reference
• Roadmap

Installation

make sure you use GO 1.22.0 or later

clone this Repo:

git clone https://github.com/rocco-gossmann/nwgo-cli

switch into the folder, that was just created

cd nwgo-cli

Run the Install command. Sadly Gos install does not support changing the target binary name yet, so nwgo-cli comes with its own install command to compensate for that.

run this command

go run . install

That is it. If everything went well, you should now have the nwgo command installed.

Do I need to install NW.JS ?

No, you don't. The first time you use the nwgo run, nwgo init or nwgo build command, this tool will automatically download the fiting NW.JS Files for your system. (Only Mac ARM, Linux x86_64 and Windows x86_64 are are supported at the moment)

everything this tool downloads is stored in ~/.local/state/nwgo

Creating a Project

1.) create a new Project in a Directory of you choice.

nwgo init [ProjectDirectoryName]

2.) you'll be asked for a "NWJS - Package" name this is the name that represents the NWJS-Frontend part of your application.

3.) then you'll be asked for as "Go-Package" name this is the Go-Backend side of your application. an example would be github.com/your-account/your-project-directory

4.) last, you'll be asked for an Application Title. This is the Title, that your OS will show as the Window-Title

Note

both inputs give you rules on what characters are allowed in the respective names

5.) if everything fits, you should now have a Folder, containing the following structure

[ProjectDirectoryName]
    │
    ├── backend
    ├── go.mod
    ├── goapi
    │   └── server.go
    ├── index.html
    ├── main.go
    ├── package.json
    └── static
        ├── index.html
        └── logo.png

5.) Switch into the folder that was created.

cd [ProjectDirectoryName]

6.) Run the Project to see if everything works

nwgo run .

Note

The first time you run this command, it will download and set up the NWJS-SDK-For your Platform. This may take a while, depending on your Download speed.

7.) your Project will live in the goapi folder. You define all your Backend-Routes in goapi/server.go. The Entry Point for your Application is the GET / Route. There should already be an example created for you.

Command-Reference

Once you installed it, you can access the

nwgo

command.

typing it by itself gives you a help, for what it can do.

Command	Description
nwgo install	Installs the nwjs binary into your $GOPATH/bin
nwgo init [path]	creates a new NWJS - Project at the given [path]
nwgo run [path]	launchens the given NWJS - Project at the given [path]
nwgo build [path]	create a deployment ready package from the given NWJS - Project at the given [path]
nwgo uninstall	Removes everything, that has been downloaded or installed via this tool Your Projects will stay untouched

Uninstall

for Mac / Linux

just call

nwgo uninstall

for Windows

please use the provided uninstall.bat Batch-Script. Windows does not allow a running binary to delete itself, so we need some help from the native window CMD to truely clean everything.

Roadmap

Step 1:

• ✅nwgo install
• ✅ auto-download NWJS - Binaries on first run
  • ✅ for Window
  • ✅for Mac (arm)
  • for Mac (x86) (can't verify due to missing Hardware)
  • ✅ for Linux (x86)
  • for Linux (arm) (NW.JS does not seem to have a Linux-Arm64 Build)

Step 2:

• ✅ add a go based server template to the project created by nwgo init
• ✅ have nwgo automatically compile that go-server project
• ✅ have nwjs launch that go server on a free port uppon start
• ✅ pass the port of the launched file back to nwjs
• ✅ make sure the server is killed when nwjs closes
• ✅ fix Error-Output during backend compile process

Step 3:

• ▢ add a nwgo build [path] [target] command
• ✅ download the none SDK version of NWJS
• ✅ combine the project into a 'nw' file
• ✅ link the nw-file together with the download NWJS to create one application.

Step 4

• ✅ fix window-close-detection, when switching to a different domain
• ▢ deployment to none packaged version, for platforms not supported by NWJS