Problem with [node_notifier] in [Electron + React] Project

Question

I decided to use node_notifier to handle OS notifications of my electron application. The whole project is based on Electron JS alongside with React JS and the package.json is something like this.

{
  ...

  "build": {
    "appId": "pod.talk.land"
  },
  "main": "public/electron.js",
  "homepage": "./",
  "dependencies": {
    "cross-env": "^6.0.0",
    "electron-is-dev": "^1.1.0",
    "node-notifier": "^6.0.0",
    "podauth": "^1.2.4",
    "podchatweb": "^0.48.2",
    "react": "^16.9.0",
    "react-dom": "^16.9.0",
    "react-scripts": "3.1.2"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "release": "yarn react-build && electron-builder --publish=always",
    "build": "yarn react-build && yarn electron-build",
    "start": "concurrently \"cross-env BROWSER=none yarn react-start\" \"wait-on http://localhost:3000 && electron .\""
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "concurrently": "^4.1.2",
    "electron": "^6.0.10",
    "electron-builder": "^21.2.0",
    "wait-on": "^3.3.0"
  }
}

Project tree structure looks like this:

- Project
|  + node_modules
|
|  - public
|  |  + assets
|  |  * electron.js
|  |  * index.html
|
|  - src
|  |  * App.js
|  |  * App.css
|  |  * index.js
|
|  * package.json

Problem is, when I try to use node_notifier in App.js as below:

const notifier = require('node-notifier');

notifier.notify('Some Notification');

It throws an error and says:

TypeError: net.connect is not a function
    at push../node_modules/node-notifier/lib/checkGrowl.js.module.exports (checkGrowl.js:14)
    at Growl.push../node_modules/node-notifier/notifiers/growl.js.Growl.notify (growl.js:70)
    at onNewMessage (App.js:40)
    at t.value (index.js:11702)
    at commitLifeCycles (react-dom.development.js:21157)
    at commitLayoutEffects (react-dom.development.js:24138)
    at HTMLUnknownElement.callCallback (react-dom.development.js:363)
    at Object.invokeGuardedCallbackDev (react-dom.development.js:412)
    at invokeGuardedCallback (react-dom.development.js:466)
    at commitRootImpl (react-dom.development.js:23903)
    at unstable_runWithPriority (scheduler.development.js:674)
    at runWithPriority$2 (react-dom.development.js:11834)
    at commitRoot (react-dom.development.js:23723)
    at runRootCallback (react-dom.development.js:22809)
    at react-dom.development.js:11886
    at unstable_runWithPriority (scheduler.development.js:674)
    at runWithPriority$2 (react-dom.development.js:11834)
    at flushSyncCallbackQueueImpl (react-dom.development.js:11881)
    at flushSyncCallbackQueue (react-dom.development.js:11869)
    at scheduleUpdateOnFiber (react-dom.development.js:22667)
    at Object.enqueueSetState (react-dom.development.js:13710)
    at l.b.setState (index.js:38267)
    at l.onStateChange (index.js:2630)
    at g (index.js:18791)
    at index.js:43241
    at index.js:147155
    at dispatch (index.js:18928)
    at e.onMessageEvents (index.js:6864)
    at Object.ad7ed17e-d748-476c-9fbf-70153cf3f50f (index.js:123573)
    at fireEvent (index.js:126717)
    at newMessageHandler (index.js:125444)
    at chatMessageHandler (index.js:124885)
    at receivedAsyncMessageHandler (index.js:124870)
    at Object.0d539f41-9266-4489-e794-c3b154d86521 (index.js:124458)
    at Z (index.js:128606)
    at U (index.js:128520)
    at Object.message (index.js:128451)
    at WebSocket.r.onmessage (index.js:128722)

The package author mentioned this in the issues part of his project:

This seems like being run from Webpack or something similar? Inside either electron or on a page. In any case, node-notifier needs to be run in a node-context, having access to child processes.

How should I run and build the code in a node context?

Answer 1

You can make use of preload argument in webPreferences while creating the main BrowserWindow. In the main.js,

  mainWindow = new BrowserWindow({
    webPreferences: {
      nodeIntegration: false,
      preload: path.join(__dirname, 'preload.js')
    }
  })

In the preload.js

   window.notify= function notify(msg) {
   return require('node-notifier').notify(msg);
   };

In this way, you can avoid ejecting the webpack & access the electron/node function in your react project.