Javascript on Desktop

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Hi

I've written a "vague clock" (it's nearly quarter to ten in the evening) in JavaScript, and was wondering if there were some way to present this as a desktop widget?

Open to ideas.

 

Thanks

[xfx]

There are hundreds of GUI libraries and frameworks for JS apps.
This is one of them: https://docs.nodegui.org/

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

  On 05/07/2023 at 01:17, xfx said:

There are hundreds of GUI libraries and frameworks for JS apps.
This is one of them: https://docs.nodegui.org/

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I am coming at it from a different angle: that being a desktop widget framework that will allow me to use JS as a language for scripting.

I believe I’ve found a solution; xWidgets

[Matthew S.]

could also use electron (🤮).

[Nick H. Supervisor]

  On 04/07/2023 at 21:01, Dick Montage said:

I've written a "vague clock" (it's nearly quarter to ten in the evening)

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I know this isn't the point of the discussion, but can I ask...

I love applying Marvin the Android personalities to things ("Not that anyone cares, but it's nearly quarter to ten in the evening" and so on) but surely you either want to know the time or you don't? Or is it like I'm guessing, and just a novelty or part of an exercise?

I might take a look at XWidget...there have been a couple of topics about widgets recently that have made me think that while I like a desktop with no icons, I could maybe add some more functionality to it. Thanks for the tip!

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

  On 05/07/2023 at 07:56, Nick H. said:

I know this isn't the point of the discussion, but can I ask...

I love applying Marvin the Android personalities to things ("Not that anyone cares, but it's nearly quarter to ten in the evening" and so on) but surely you either want to know the time or you don't? Or is it like I'm guessing, and just a novelty or part of an exercise?

I might take a look at XWidget...there have been a couple of topics about widgets recently that have made me think that while I like a desktop with no icons, I could maybe add some more functionality to it. Thanks for the tip!  

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You know... it was one of those "This is an interesting little project" things.  I don't care for the exact time (when using this PC) more just "Oh, wow, it's bedtime" sorta thing.  Also, I adore "natural speaking" things - conversant interfaces.

And then it evolved, and I'm giving it a nice little tickle every now and then to improve the code.

[xfx]

Maybe you could share the repo if you decide to make it open-source?

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

  On 05/07/2023 at 23:21, xfx said:

Maybe you could share the repo if you decide to make it open-source?

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I'd gladly share it, but JavaScript is a language I only use for stupid fun stuff - not used it in a commercial environment in years - am sure there are better examples out there.  But like I say, sure - will upload at some point

 

[adrynalyne]

  On 05/07/2023 at 07:38, Matthew S. said:

could also use electron (🤮).

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You are evil.  Pure evil.

[allannyholm]

I would have thought that the Rainmeter software was ideal for this sort of thing; clocks / cpu meters / visualisers ?

Xwidget looks super too.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I really got on with xwidget - it's gui based and a bit fiddly, but it did what I wanted.

 

[pmrd]

  On 06/07/2023 at 14:59, adrynalyne said:

You are evil.  Pure evil.

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Electron is great if you know what you're doing and don't need to rely on the node.js/modules part of it. I use it as a very basic shell for my hosted web apps so I can have a clean ui and seamless printing and other simple os integrations that are all built in electron function. It's still always over 100mb though lol, I should probably take a look at WebView2, however I need it to work on Mac and Linux.

[Matthew S.]

  On 06/07/2023 at 14:59, adrynalyne said:

You are evil.  Pure evil.

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When have I claimed otherwise?

[timdavid]

  On 04/07/2023 at 21:01, Dick Montage said:

Hi

I've written a "vague clock" (it's nearly quarter to ten in the evening) in JavaScript, and was wondering if there were some way to present this as a desktop widget?

Open to ideas.

 

Thanks

Expand  

You have a few options to turn your "vague clock" into a desktop widget:

Electron.js – Package your JavaScript into a cross-platform desktop app.

Rainmeter (Windows) – Convert your script into a Rainmeter skin using Lua.

Plasmoid (Linux KDE) – Create a KDE Plasma widget using QML + JavaScript.

MacOS SwiftBar – Use a simple script in SwiftBar to display it in the menu bar.

HTA (Windows) – Use an HTML Application (.hta) to run it as a lightweight window.

[inshot]

lectron (Windows/Mac/Linux) – Best option. Wraps your HTML/JS as a native app.

Windows Gadgets – Deprecated, only for older Windows.

macOS (WebView/Scriptable) – Use Swift or Scriptable to run JS widgets.

Rainmeter (Windows) – Supports widgets, can use JS with plugins.

PWA (Progressive Web App) – Installable web app, feels like a desktop app.

Browser Extension – Show it in new tabs or as a sidebar widget.