libwin32 (work in progress)

Node bindings to native Win32 DLLs through Koffi.

In a nutshell:

• Very simple and intuitive API (see demos), with TypeScript definitions included.
• Bundler friendly, designed with tree-shakeability in mind.
• Opinionated:
  • Only targets 64-bit platforms (Intel/AMD for now, ARM may be added later, no warranty though).
  • Only exposes Unicode functions and data structures (those whose name ends in W in the Win32 API).
• Very easy to extend with additional functions, data structures and constants. I will add some myself time permitting; any help would be mucho appreciated.

How to...

> Use the lib in your code

1. Install the lib in your project: npm install libwin32
2. Import the functions and types you need. You may either import from libwin32 or from libwin32/<dllname> (without the .dll extension) if you know which dll a function belongs to. For example, import { MessageBox } from 'libwin32' and import { MessageBox } from 'libwin32/user32' would both work.
3. (optional) Import some complementary constants. They greatly simplify calls to the Win32 API.
   • All constants are available via the libwin32/consts import.
   • Logically grouped constants are exported as enums, where the prefix is the name of the enum. For instance, WM_DESTROY and WM_KEYDOWN are members of the WM_ enum and can be accessed as WM_.DESTROY and WM_.KEYDOWN, respectively.
4. Call the functions as instructed by the Win32 API documentation. All functions, constants and types are named accordingly.

import { MessageBox } from 'libwin32'
import { MB_ } from 'libwin32/consts'

const result = MessageBox(
    null,
    "Hello, world!",
    "libwin32",
    MB_.ICONINFORMATION | MB_.YESNO
)

> Build the lib

$ git clone https://github.com/Septh/libwin32.git
$ cd libwin32
$ npm install
$ npm run build

The output goes to /dist.

> Run the demos

Build the lib, then:

• Without bundling:

$ node dist/demos/messagebox.js
$ node dist/demos/enumdesktopwindows.js
$ node dist/demos/window.js

• With bundling:

$ npm run build:demos
$ node demos/messagebox/messagebox.js
$ node demos/enumdesktopwindows/enumdesktopwindows.js
$ node demos/window/window.js

Changelog

See releases on Github.

Bindings so far

All functions come with their associated types and constants.

Added in 0.4.0

Many thanks to @shrirajh for the impressive work on b2bf65b!

• user32.dll
  • AppendMenu
  • CheckMenuItem
  • CreatePopupMenu
  • DestroyMenu
  • GetCursorPos
  • SendMessage
  • SetForegroundWindow
  • TrackPopupMenu
• shell32.dll
  • Shell_NotifyIcon

Added in 0.3.0

• user32.dll
  • AdjustWindowRect
  • AdjustWindowRectEx
  • AnimateWindow
  • BringWindowToTop
  • BroadcastSystemMessage
  • BroadcastSystemMessageEx
  • CallWindowProc
  • EnumWindows
  • EnumDesktopWindows
  • FindWindow
  • FindWindowEx
  • GetAncestor
  • GetClassInfo
  • GetClassInfoEx
  • GetClassName
  • GetWindowText

Added in 0.2.0

None.

Since 0.1.0

• kernel32.dll
  • GetLastError
  • GetModuleHandle
• user32.dll
  • CreateWindow
  • CreateWindowEx
  • DefWindowProc
  • DestroyCursor
  • DestroyIcon
  • DispatchMessage
  • GetMessage
  • LoadCursor
  • LoadIcon
  • LoadImage
  • MessageBox
  • PostQuitMessage
  • RegisterClass
  • RegisterClassEx
  • ShowWindow
  • ShowWindowAsync
  • TranslateMessageEx
  • UnregisterClass
  • UpdateWindow

Repository structure

• ./source/win32:
  • The main bindings source files.
• ./source/demos:
  • Some usage examples.
• ./source/rollup:
  • Three Rollup plugins to ease the process of bundling this library with your own code and to boost its tree-shakeability. See rollup.demos.js for an example of usage.