jfmoy / webapp-packager

Ubuntu Web Application Packager

This node module allows a developer to easily package a web application to run on the Ubuntu Touch platform. It is usable directly from the command line, or directly when imported (through Gulp for example).

CLI

When using the Command Line Interface, a configuration file (written in JSON) must be provided. The correct syntax is the following:

packager configuration file <options>

The configuration file is mandatory and must be provided. It must be a correct JSON file following the format described below. Additional options can also be passed:

• --source: Source directory that contains the web application files to be packaged (overrides the one defined in the configuration)
• --dest: Destination directory where the generated click package will be saved (overrides the one defined in the configuration)
• --inspector: Enable the remote inspector, a port can be specified using --inspector (port number), 9221 is used by default.
• --verbose: Enable the verbose mode providing additional logs when running the packager.

Configuration File

Properties

The configuration file is a simple JSON file with the following properties:

• src : Source directory that contains the web application files to be packaged
• dest : Destination directory where the generated click package will be saved
• main_html : HTML file that needs to be loaded by default when starting the web application (default: index.html)
• manifest : Object that contains information about the application:
  • description: A description of the application, default: Default description for web app
  • maintainer: The maintainer name, default: Ubuntu Developer
  • maintainer_email: The maintainer email, default: [e-mail]
  • id: The application unique identifier, default: com.example.com.untitled
  • title: The application title, will be displayed on the phone homescreen default: Untitled
  • version: The version of the application
  • framework: The Ubuntu framework to be used, default: ubuntu-sdk-14.10-dev2
• apparmor: Object that contains information about the security of the application.
  • policy_version: Version of the policy to be used, default: 1.3
  • policy_groups: Policy groups used by the application, default: ["networking"]
• inspector: Boolean specifying whether or not the web inspector should be enabled when running the web application on the device.
• inspector_port: An integer specifying the port the inspector should run on (default: 9221).
• validate: Boolean specifying whether the generated click package should be validated.
• install: Boolean specifying whether the generated click package should be deployed and installed on the connected device.
• verbose: Boolean enabling the verbose mode providing additional logs when running the packager.

Example

{
  "src": "dist",
  "manifest": {
    "description": "Ubuntu Touch Podcast Application",
    "maintainer": "Jean-Francois Moy",
    "maintainer_email": "[e-mail]",
    "title": "Example Application",
    "id": "com.canonical.example"
  },
  "install": true,
  "apparmor": {
    "policy_version": "1.2"
  }
}

Using with Node.js

It is pretty straightforward to use the packager within one of your node module. Simply import the module and call it providing a javascript object containing the configuration as defined above.

var packager = require('ubuntu-webapp-packager');
packager({
  src: "dist",
  dest: "build",
  main_html: "index.html",
  manifest: {
    title: "Example Application"
  }
});

Alternatively, you can provide the path to a JSON configuration file.

var packager = require('ubuntu-webapp-packager');
packager('ubuntu-packager.json');