/ returns to drive root path instead of app root path

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

Sorry if I already opened this, I really don't remember and can't find it. Anyway, if I write "/" in a link, for example

<img src="/logo.png" alt="Logo" />

The image is searched (on windows for example) on path C:\logo.png. I don't know if this is a desired effect, but the biggest problem is that I have to write always relative paths in this way.

Maybe can be changed with a node.js option? I don't know, but I'm really interested because I would like to use node-webkit for a real-world application.

[nprbst]

+1

[BenjaminDobler]

I have the same issue. The problem is that i want to reuse as much code from an existing web app in node-webkit but this would only be possible if /myAsset.png would point to the location where my index.html is located and not to the filesystem root. Is there any way around this?

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

I've done some researches over this. Looks like both node-webkit and phonegap have this "issue", which is not solvable without inserting a domain in /etc/hosts (linux) and run a small web server, maybe once the application started (run it with nodejs system(), after that you can just view the application from the local domain).

Otherwise, I suggest to rework the application to completely avoid the / path. Yes, it's terrible, and I would definitely prefer a solution for this.

You can use SCSS or sprockets to handle CSS paths, for tag you have the option of tag. For AJAX, string concatenation, no other solutions. :\

[katanacrimson]

I don't know if this is a desired effect, but the biggest problem is that I have to write always relative paths in this way.

That isn't a relative path at all, though. That is an absolute path.

Anyways, as with another thread, try the <base> html tag.

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

The base html tag solves the issue only for html, not for ajax calls neither for css.

[kingFighter]

@Fire-Dragon-DoL Relative path is ok. You should use <img src="./logo.png" alt="Logo" />

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

Yes but when you start moving html files around, you'll face the issue ^^

[rogerwang]

I'll provide a protocol "app://", which refers to the root directory of the application. Will this work for you?

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

If the app runs from this "app://" protocol, I think it's perfect. Anyway after looking for solutions to this around the web, I understood why it's not an issue of the software (but a generic problem for this type of apps), anyway if you implement that app://, I'll love it.

[BenjaminDobler]

app:// sounds sweet but i`m not sure if it will help in my situation because i have a code base which i want to run ideally without modifications inside node-webkit. Also thanks to all the others for their explanations and ideas!

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

Yea it won't help me too, but will be helpful, using the app:// instead of using the entire path (../) is a great addition, will speed up writing stylesheets.

[rogerwang]

@BenjaminDobler the 'app' protocol is designed exactly for the code reusing purpose -- if it starts from "app://" then all the '/' will refer to the root of the application directory, right?

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

@rogerwang you are right and I think it's the perfect solution for this. With this, node-webkit can become the main-stream development environment for cross-platform software, at least for me, it's somewhat perfect.

[buschtoens]

So, just that I got it right: In the future the app will be served via the app:// protocol, making it the default protocol for all ressources, effectively making / point to the app's root path? This means that one could take an already existing website and pack it as an nw-app, without having to change it's codebase.

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

@silvinci yes that's the basic idea, the / path refers to the "root of the current url" (toghether with protocol), being app:/// the root path, / will be effectively the root path for app:// protocol, solving all the issues.

[buschtoens]

Great! Looking forward to its implementation. :)

2013/8/2 Francesco Belladonna notifications@github.com

@silvinci https://github.com/silvinci yes that's the basic idea, the / path refers to the "root of the current url" (toghether with protocol), being app:/// the root path, / will be effectively the root path for app:// protocol, solving all the issues.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/rogerwang/node-webkit/issues/363#issuecomment-21986770 .

[BenjaminDobler]

Oh wauw got that wrong but if that`s the case it would be awesome!

[Mithgol]

Rest assured.

Even if the actual change (implied by @rogerwang) does not actually involve loading all application resources as app://whatever by default, you would still be able to get the desired behaviour if you replace {"main": "index.html"} → {"main": "app://index.html"} and the rest are relative URLs that would automatically change to app://whatever.

[buschtoens]

Oh, that's clever!

2013/8/2 Mithgol notifications@github.com

Rest assured.

Even if the actual change (implied by @rogerwanghttps://github.com/rogerwang) does not actually involve loading all application resources as app://whatever by default, you would still be able to get the desired behaviour if you replace {"main": "index.html"} → {"main": "app://index.html"} and the rest are relative URLs that would automatically change to app://whatever.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/rogerwang/node-webkit/issues/363#issuecomment-21998408 .

[BenjaminDobler]

I`ve compiled the latest version eager to try it out but when i set main: app://index.html node-webkit opens like in the attached image. So index.html is not opened but instead i see the content of my app root folder. What do i miss?

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

Maybe you need 3 slashes app:/// the third is / path. Also, try removing the slash after index.html

[BenjaminDobler]

I also tried it with 3 slashes with no luck and the last slash after index.html is not set by me. In the main i just have: main: "app://index.html", The strange thing is if i write app://something/index.html it works even if something does not exists but then the relative paths are not working.

[rogerwang]

@BenjaminDobler the protocol is defined like http protocol: app://<host>/path. The host part is essential. You can define it to anything you want. Will document this in wiki before the release.

[rogerwang]

btw, why do you say "the relative paths are not working"? I tested it a little bit and it works here.

[BenjaminDobler]

@rogerwang thanks for clarifying! I have it now working. Think i was just confused about the host part. Thanks very much this is really nice!

[Mithgol]

Version 0.7.0 was released yesterday.

The app:// protocol is now documented by @rogerwang.