Module: helpers/init-local-protocol

Table of contents

Functions

• initLocalProtocol

Functions

initLocalProtocol

▸ initLocalProtocol(): void

Handles requests to a custom protocol for serving local files in an Electron application. This function is part of the setup to allow Electron to serve local files using a custom protocol, identified by LOCAL_PROTOCOL, which is a constant containing the protocol name (e.g., 'captain').

The custom protocol handler is designed to intercept requests made to this protocol, parse the requested file's path from the URL, and serve the file directly from the disk. This approach enables the loading of local resources in a secure and controlled manner, bypassing the limitations of the file:// protocol in web contexts, and providing more flexibility in handling file requests.

Usage:

1. Register the custom protocol and its handler early in the application's lifecycle, ideally in the main process's app.whenReady() callback.
2. Construct URLs using the custom protocol to request local files, formatting the path as follows: ${LOCAL_PROTOCOL}://<absolutePathOnDisk>, where <absolutePathOnDisk> is the full path to the file, with backslashes (\) replaced by forward slashes (/) and properly URL-encoded to handle spaces and special characters.

This function normalizes the file path extracted from the URL, reads the file from the disk, and returns a response object containing the file content. If the file cannot be found or read, it logs an error and returns a 404 response.

The Content-Type header is set to "application/octet-stream" by default, which treats the file as binary data. You may need to adjust this based on the type of files you are serving to ensure proper handling by the client.

Important:

• Ensure the custom protocol is registered using protocol.registerSchemesAsPrivileged before setting up the handler to grant it necessary privileges, such as bypassing CSP restrictions.
• Proper error handling and validation are crucial to prevent security issues, such as directory traversal attacks.
• This setup assumes that the application has permission to access the files it attempts to serve, and appropriate security measures are in place to safeguard sensitive data. @example

<img src={`${LOCAL_PROTOCOL}://C:/path/to/your/image.png`} />

Returns

void

Defined in

src/electron/helpers/init-local-protocol.ts:49 (opens in a new tab)