Import values from package.json into electron/nodejs application.

• Author: Ganesh Rathinavel
• License: MIT
• Repo URL: https://github.com/ganeshrvel/tutorial-electron-nodejs-import-packageinfo
• Contacts: ganeshrvel@outlook.com

Introduction

I have seen many users importing ‘package.json’ directly into the node.js project. This is a programming disaster as it could leak your sensitive information such as “scripts” or private TOKENS into the bundled js files. There is no single clear-cut solution to get this done inside an electron app. It has to be handled intelligently using algorithms and fallback. This was originally implemented inside OpenMTP — Advanced Android File Transfer Application for macOS.

Implementation

• Install npm packages

$ npm install electron-root-path
or 
$ yarn add electron-root-path

• Add the below code inside your webpack.config.js file (for both production and development)

import { rootPath } from 'electron-root-path';
const pkg = require(join(rootPath, 'package.json'));
plugins: [
    new webpack.DefinePlugin({
      PKG_INFO: {
        productName: JSON.stringify(pkg.productName),
        description: JSON.stringify(pkg.description),
        name: JSON.stringify(pkg.name),
        author: JSON.stringify(pkg.author),
        version: JSON.stringify(pkg.version),
        repository: JSON.stringify(pkg.repository),
        homepage: JSON.stringify(pkg.homepage)
      }
    }),
  ]

• Create a file ./app/pkginfo.js and add the below code

'use strict';
import { join } from 'path';
import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
import { rootPath } from 'electron-root-path';
let _pkginfo = {};
// eslint-disable-next-line no-undef
if (typeof PKG_INFO !== 'undefined' && PKG_INFO !== null) {
  // eslint-disable-next-line no-undef
  _pkginfo = PKG_INFO;
} else {
  /* This is a fallback incase the webpack DefinePlugin modules hasn't been initialized yet. */
  /* Developement mode only */
  _pkginfo = JSON.parse(
    readFileSync(join(rootPath, 'package.json'), { encoding: 'utf8' })
  );
}
export const pkginfo = _pkginfo;

More repos

• OpenMTP — Advanced Android File Transfer Application for macOS
• Tutorial Series by Ganesh Rathinavel
• npm: electron-root-path
• Electron React Redux Advanced Boilerplate

License

tutorial-electron-nodejs-import-packageinfo is released under MIT License.

Copyright © 2018-Present Ganesh Rathinavel