electron-better-ipc

Simplified IPC communication for Electron apps

The biggest benefit of this module over the built-in IPC is that it enables you to send a message and get the response back in the same call. This would usually require multiple IPC subscriptions.

You can use this module directly in both the main and renderer process.

Install

$ npm install electron-better-ipc

Usage

Using the built-in IPC

Here, as an example, we use the built-in IPC to get an emoji by name in the renderer process from the main process. Notice how it requires coordinating multiple IPC subscriptions.

Main

const {ipcMain: ipc} = require('electron');

ipc.on('get-emoji', async (event, emojiName) => {
	const emoji = await getEmoji(emojiName);
	event.sender.send('get-emoji-response', emoji);
});

Renderer

const {ipcRenderer: ipc} = require('electron');

ipc.on('get-emoji-response', (event, emoji) => {
	console.log(emoji);
	//=> '🦄'
});

ipc.send('get-emoji', 'unicorn');

Using this module

As you can see below, this module makes it much simpler to handle the communication. You no longer need multiple IPC subscriptions and you can just await the response in the same call.

Main

const ipc = require('electron-better-ipc');

ipc.answerRenderer('get-emoji', async emojiName => {
	const emoji = await getEmoji(emojiName);
	return emoji;
});

Renderer

const ipc = require('electron-better-ipc');

(async () => {
	const emoji = await ipc.callMain('get-emoji', 'unicorn');
	console.log(emoji);
	//=> '🦄'
})();

Here we do the inverse of the above, we get an emoji by name in the main process from the renderer process:

Renderer

const ipc = require('electron-better-ipc');

ipc.answerMain('get-emoji', async emojiName => {
	const emoji = await getEmoji(emojiName);
	return emoji;
});

Main

const electron = require('electron');
const ipc = require('electron-better-ipc');

const win = electron.BrowserWindow.getFocusedWindow();

(async () => {
	const emoji = await ipc.callRenderer(win, 'get-emoji', 'unicorn');
	console.log(emoji);
	//=> '🦄'
})();

API

The export is just the built-in ipc module with some added methods, so you can use it as a replacement for electron.ipcMain/electron.ipcRenderer.

The API is different in the main and renderer process.

Main process

ipc.callRenderer(window, channel, [data])

Send a message to the given window. Returns a Promise for the response.

In the renderer process, use ipc.answerMain to reply to this message.

window

Type: BrowserWindow

The window to send the message to.

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

data

Type: any

Data to send to the receiver.

ipc.answerRenderer(channel, callback)

This method listens for a message from ipc.callMain defined in a renderer process and replies back.

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

callback([data], window)

Type: Function AsyncFunction

The return value is sent back to the ipc.callMain in the renderer process.

ipc.sendToRenderers(channel, [data])

Send a message to all renderer processes (windows).

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

data

Type: any

Data to send to the receiver.

Renderer process

ipc.callMain(channel, [data])

Send a message to the main process. Returns a Promise for the response.

In the main process, use ipc.answerRenderer to reply to this message.

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

data

Type: any

Data to send to the receiver.

ipc.answerMain(channel, callback)

This method listens for a message from ipc.callRenderer defined in the main process and replies back.

channel

Type: string

The channel to send the message on.

callback([data])

Type: Function AsyncFunction

The return value is sent back to the ipc.callRenderer in the main process.

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