Failing to build better-sqlite3 for nodejs-mobile on iOS

[Jermolene]

I am writing an iOS app that uses nodejs-mobile to run TiddlyWiki. It uses the full Node.js configuration of TiddlyWiki, not the single file configuration.

In the main branch I have it working. Now I want to be able to use the npm package better-sqlite3 which includes native code.

I have a script that includes running prebuild-for-nodejs-mobile within the node_modules/better-sqlite3 directory:

npx prebuild-for-nodejs-mobile ios-arm64

The prebuild works, and I can see the better_sqlite3.node directory in the prebuilds/ios-arm64/ folder.

Now comes the tricky bit. I am trying to use node-gyp-build to modify the package so that npm rebuild will pick the prebuilds for ios-arm64, and prepare a node_modules folder that works correctly with nodejs-mobile.

After running the script below in the terminal, and then running the app itself in Xcode on an Apple Silicon Mac and an iPad Pro, I get the following error:

[Whitespace inserted for readability]

Error: dlopen(/private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/FB49F9C9-3055-48AF-B69F-2217051F055E/TiddlyWiki.app/nodejs-project/node_modules/better-sqlite3/build/Release/better_sqlite3.node, 0x0001):
 tried: '/usr/lib/system/introspection/better_sqlite3.node' (no such file, not in dyld cache),
'/private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/FB49F9C9-3055-48AF-B69F-2217051F055E/TiddlyWiki.app/nodejs-project/node_modules/better-sqlite3/build/Release/better_sqlite3.node'
(mach-o file (/private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/FB49F9C9-3055-48AF-B69F-2217051F055E/TiddlyWiki.app/nodejs-project/node_modules/better-sqlite3/build/Release/better_sqlite3.node),
but incompatible platform (have 'macOS', need 'iOS')), '/private/preboot/Cryptexes/OS/private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/FB49F9C9-3055-48AF-B69F-2217051F055E/TiddlyWiki.app/nodejs-project/node_modules/better-sqlite3/build/Release/better_sqlite3.node' (no such file),
'/private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/FB49F9C9-3055-48AF-B69F-2217051F055E/TiddlyWiki.app/nodejs-project/node_modules/better-sqlite3/build/Release/better_sqlite3.node' (mach-o file (/private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/FB49F9C9-3055-48AF-B69F-2217051F055E/TiddlyWiki.app/nodejs-project/node_modules/better-sqlite3/build/Release/better_sqlite3.node), but incompatible platform (have 'macOS', need 'iOS'))

I think the crucial part is incompatible platform (have 'macOS', need 'iOS'), which suggests that npm rebuild is ignoring the prebuilds and compiling for the native platform.

I would appreciate any pointers that anyone can give me.

Here's the full code of my script

``` #!/bin/bash # This script downloads and prepares TiddlyWiki 5 for inclusion in the app by compiling native modules # 1. Download the TiddlyWiki5 branch "multi-wiki-support" into the folder ./nodejs-project # 2. Build better-sqlite3 for ios-arm64 in ./TiddlyWiki/nodejs-project/node_modules/better-sqlite3 # Exit immediately if a command exits with a non-zero status set -e # Remove existing nodejs-project rm -rf ./TiddlyWiki/nodejs-project # Download TW5 REPO="Jermolene/TiddlyWiki5" BRANCH="multi-wiki-support" ZIP_URL="https://github.com/$REPO/archive/refs/heads/$BRANCH.zip" TEMP_DIR=$(mktemp -d) TEMP_ZIP="$TEMP_DIR/$BRANCH.zip" curl -L $ZIP_URL -o $TEMP_ZIP unzip -q $TEMP_ZIP -d ./TiddlyWiki mv ./TiddlyWiki/TiddlyWiki5-multi-wiki-support ./TiddlyWiki/nodejs-project rm -rf $TEMP_DIR echo "TW5 downloaded" # Remove existing node_modules rm -rf ./TiddlyWiki/nodejs-project/node_modules # Navigate to project directory pushd "./TiddlyWiki/nodejs-project" # Install the necessary packages npm install better-sqlite3 npm install node-gyp-build # Navigate to the better-sqlite3 directory pushd "node_modules/better-sqlite3" # Run the prebuild command npx prebuild-for-nodejs-mobile ios-arm64 # Update package.json node -e " const fs = require('fs'); const path = 'package.json'; // Read the package.json file fs.readFile(path, 'utf8', (err, data) => { if (err) { console.error('Error reading package.json:', err); return; } // Parse the existing package.json content const packageJson = JSON.parse(data); packageJson.name = 'better-sqlite3'; packageJson.scripts.install = 'node-gyp-build'; // Write the updated package.json back to file fs.writeFile(path, JSON.stringify(packageJson, null, 2), (err) => { if (err) { console.error('Error writing package.json:', err); return; } console.log('package.json updated successfully.'); }); }); " # Return to the project directory popd # Rebuild npm rebuild ```

[Jermolene]

I've updated the OP with some more details, please let me if there's anything else I can add.