How do I get Actuate to work in Electron? (re-entered post)

Haxe
#1

Hi,

I have a Haxe project that targets HTML5 and successfully uses an Actuate tween. It works when targeting Windows too. When I build an Electron application, everything works except the tween.

Unfortunately, what’s going on under the hood is not my forte–nor is web development.

To create the Electron app I have been using the steps from @joshtynjala’s FeathersUI documemtation:

I’ve tried to modify the Electron build process as suggested by @singmajesty

Though I have no idea what “yo openfl” is supposed to be.

Here are my steps:

Use VSCode to build HTML5 debug version and verify tween works
In DOS prompt, go to project folder and enter

openfl build electron -debug

I make a copy of bin\electron\haxe\debug.hxml and put it in bin\electron\bin renamed as debugbbw.hxml
I edit debugbbw.hxml to add

     -lib actuate

cd bin/electron/bin

I edit the project.json file in that folder by adding:

            "postinstall": "haxelib --always install debugbbw.hxml"

I run

npm install

I get the message “You already have actuate version 1.8.9 installed”, but no errors.

I run

npm start

or

npm start -s

The tween does not work. No error messages in debug console.

Haxe compiler 4.2.4
haxelib 4.0.2
openfl 9.0.2 [9.1.0]
lime 7.8.0 [7.9.0]
Actuate 1.8.9

Also, I have edited FilterActuator.hx in the Actuate library to use Std.isOfType() rather than Std.is() to avoid warnings about deprecation.

Anyone know where I’m getting it wrong?

Thanks.

#2

Something’s going on within the SimpleActuator.hx constructor, startTime is 0 instead of a real value on Electron target, haxe ifs get messed up, I’m sure someone will take a look at it later (maybe you can create a github issue)

For a quick solution build your app with

openfl build electron -debug -Delectron

or even better add

<haxedef name="electron" />

to your project.xml, it’ll be fine after that. Just tested it, this seemingly fixed it.

Cheers

Edit: I didn’t do any special magic, just created a simple feathers app, built the project for electron target, ran npm install and npm start.

2 Likes
#3

@igazine Thank you so much! I will try as soon as my computer is done doing some long batch stuff.

#4

@igazine They both work!! Thank you so much!

I spent forever trying to figure it out–at least I learned a little more about the build process.

I had tried building to electron from VSCode before too, but quickly gave up on that since the steps I had outlined were working.

I will have a much better demo for my customer tomorrow morning.

Cheers!

1 Like
#5

Okay, I checked Lime source on Github, and looks like -D electron has already been added to the Electron hxml templates. So if you install Lime from github, it’ll be fine without the previously mentioned haxedef or -D build parameter. Or you can wait til the next Lime release or add it to your own hxml templates (debug, final, release) manually

2 Likes