Chromate

Chromate helps you embed a HTML5 user interface in an app.

• The user interface is standard HTML5/CSS/JavaScript.
• The UI runs in a CefSharp browser control.
• The back-end presents a RESTful web API.
• Chromate provides the glue to handle resource requests from CefSharp and route them to the web API.
• There is no TCP/IP transport overhead and latency.
• There is no server to install or manage.

This project is in the form of an example, a Toaster app. A toaster is simple, but it has multiple UI controls, and the toasting process is asynchronous. This example uses:

• Angular 4 UI
• RxJS - reactive extensions for JavaScript
• ASP.NET web API
• C#/.NET back-end
• Rx - reactive extensions for .NET
• Build integration using MSBuild.Npm

Building and Running

Currently the Toaster example can be built using Visual Studio 2015 and NodeJS (6.9.x or later). It runs on 64-bit Windows.

To build and run just the user interface:

• Navigate to the ToasterHTML folder
• npm install
• npm start

To build the complete C#/.NET application:

• Open Toaster.sln in Visual Studio
• Make sure the target platform is x64
• Select ToasterApp as the Startup Project
• Choose Build > Rebuild Solution

Using Chromate

To use Chromate in another Windows application:

• Projects with "Chromate" in the name can be used by reference.
• Projects with "Toaster" in the name are examples. You can create similar projects and selectively copy the code you want.

The build integration uses a custom MSBuild task in ToasterHTML.csproj. Unload the project and search for NpmRun to see where it was added.

The Toaster app happens to use Ninject, NLog4, NUnit 3 and Rhino Mocks. You don't have to. Chromate does not use them, except for one unit test project.

Wish List

• Optimize MSBuild integration - sometimes it triggers on incremental builds
• Enable building the HTML5 UI on a TFS/VSTS server
• UI test integrated app
  • Microsoft Test Manager has a Selenium plugin
• Web socket support
• CefSharp support for Touch Keyboard
  • Need to expose input field type to Accessibility API
• Refactor example code for better reusability
  • Does the web API requester have to be in the web API project?
  • Can EnableHighDPISupport be called in the form instead of the main program?
  • NuGet package for MSBuild.NPMRun
  • What else can be split off into NuGet packages?

Suggestions are welcome. Please create an issue or a pull request.

Would love to see similar projects for other environments.